Steampunk Van has begun..
Apr. 6th, 2008 01:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabrinageekSo the van is mechanically sound and I can drive it. Now that means it's time to begin decorating it and re-styling it into the Steampunk Mode of Transportation I've been thinking about.. So, without further adieu, the first little bits o' steampunk I've added to my already brassy-colored refrigerator on wheels!
Lots of pictures, so I'll put an lj-cut..
First, my co-pilot, the Smiley Faced Aethernaut Antenna Ball!
I've been waiting to put this on, cos I wanted to make sure the van was gonna
come back to me before I wasted it -- bought from the Secret Stash itself in NJ (see
my NJ Trip posts) and serving dual purpose as a geek-icon and my badge of Furry,
it's "Bear who drives van!"
I am fortunate enough to have an old style sticking-up-from-the hood honest-to-goodness Hood Ornament.. none of these streamlined plastic badges on the front of the grill thing, oh no, and actual Gun sight pop-up Hood ornament. Of course, the Chrysler Pentastar isn't all that steamy.. so it had to go and get replaced by something a little more steampunk-ish.. How about, say, your own Hood Zeppelin?
And while it certainly doesn't -look- all that steampunkish yet.. Any steampunk van has to have a multitude of gadgetry and electronics and things that go "Bing!" So here's the humble beginnings of my media center, carputer station, and other such things. Soon to be added, a TomTom GPS unit (TomTom 'cos it's opensource and hackable!) a car laptop with wifi/wardriving/gps capabilities, a Bluetooth wireless handsfree kit for cell phone,(posicat has this same model as I do permanently mounted in his van above the rear-view mirror, I'm thinking of doing the same. Maybe also a CB radio, more power ports, etc.. Currently all that's there is my portable Cell Phone charger. I have a nifty little "pocket" compartment that I can mount gadgetry in, and I also have to point out that I replaced the crappy cup holders that Chrysler used with the "better" cup holders that they used in the 1994-Only Town & Country minivan. A quick, cheap, down and dirty hack, but considering the cup-holder wouldn't handle larger cup sizes (or even 20 oz. bottles!) and I kept having issues with drinks flying all over the cabin and spilling all over the place, I think this is a vast, grand improvement.
Steamy Fun!
Lots of pictures, so I'll put an lj-cut..
First, my co-pilot, the Smiley Faced Aethernaut Antenna Ball!
I've been waiting to put this on, cos I wanted to make sure the van was gonna
come back to me before I wasted it -- bought from the Secret Stash itself in NJ (see
my NJ Trip posts) and serving dual purpose as a geek-icon and my badge of Furry,
it's "Bear who drives van!"
I am fortunate enough to have an old style sticking-up-from-the hood honest-to-goodness Hood Ornament.. none of these streamlined plastic badges on the front of the grill thing, oh no, and actual Gun sight pop-up Hood ornament. Of course, the Chrysler Pentastar isn't all that steamy.. so it had to go and get replaced by something a little more steampunk-ish.. How about, say, your own Hood Zeppelin?
And while it certainly doesn't -look- all that steampunkish yet.. Any steampunk van has to have a multitude of gadgetry and electronics and things that go "Bing!" So here's the humble beginnings of my media center, carputer station, and other such things. Soon to be added, a TomTom GPS unit (TomTom 'cos it's opensource and hackable!) a car laptop with wifi/wardriving/gps capabilities, a Bluetooth wireless handsfree kit for cell phone,(
posicat has this same model as I do permanently mounted in his van above the rear-view mirror, I'm thinking of doing the same. Maybe also a CB radio, more power ports, etc.. Currently all that's there is my portable Cell Phone charger. I have a nifty little "pocket" compartment that I can mount gadgetry in, and I also have to point out that I replaced the crappy cup holders that Chrysler used with the "better" cup holders that they used in the 1994-Only Town & Country minivan. A quick, cheap, down and dirty hack, but considering the cup-holder wouldn't handle larger cup sizes (or even 20 oz. bottles!) and I kept having issues with drinks flying all over the cabin and spilling all over the place, I think this is a vast, grand improvement.
