Sometimes it's nice to see yourself when you comb your hair or brush your teeth, so we wanted to put up a mirror in the van that would not fall off when driving but is removeable when you need it to be. We looked at mirror decals but you just can't get as clear of a reflection as you can with a real mirror, plus nobody made one small enough. We wanted to put it on the inside door of the medicine cabinet which is 10"x15". You wouldn't believe what companies want to charge for a smallish mirror. Finally, we went to the Dollar Tree where I found a mirror for $1 that fit almost perfectly. We decided to put on some velcro on the back of it that would keep the mirror secure but with a little effort we could pull it out and put it anywhere. I think with the velcro, we spent under $5 for this simple mod.
We also wanted to have a chalkboard decal so that if the wife and I seperate out and want to leave notes, we could write it on the chalkboard. We could also add items we needed on a visibile list as we remembered them for the next trip we go on. We found the perfect decal in the shake of a bag of groceries here:
It was a 9"x12" decal which is perfect as it will hang on the outside of the medicine cabinet. We spent $12.81 on it.
The next thing I wanted to do was to have wall to wall carpeting that was durable, good looking, easy to clean, and a low profile since the rear set has to slide forward to make the bed. Rugs can be very expensive, not low profile, and certainly not wall-to-wall. You have to keep this in mind, the inside of the EVC is not all straight lines. There are too many curves to deal with that this option would have uncovered spots. Next was using real carpet. We had some scraps for putting in new carpet in the house, however it was going to be painful to cut just right, and painful to clean. I think the thickness might be an issue too. Finally, I saw carpet tile. You custom fit them by using a utility knife. They are definitely low profile, you only have to replace one piece if it gets ruined, and you can just pick up the pieces that are dirty and shake them off. They only problem is that they don't sell them individually in hardware or carpeting stores so you would have to get a box for $36 to $72 dollars. After a search on Craigslist, I found a carpet store with a surplus of carpet tiles for $1 a tile. It didn't matter what size the tile was. We decided to go there and found something that worked. We needed 5 tiles that were 24"x24" to cover the floor. They only had 5 tiles that were similar, so we bought them. We would have liked to have more just in case one of the tiles gets ruined, but no such luck. However, for a $5 investment and about 4 hours of my time, we thought it was a good gamble.
The next two mods are going will be done before we head out on our next camping trip in a few weeks.
Winnebago states that for the EVC you cannot have more than 3 degrees from left to right or 6 degrees from front to pack in order to operate the LP propane tank. The tank operates the fridge, the heater, and the stove. Exceeding it could be a costly mistake. I ended up buying these inclinometers because of their 1 degree accuracy:
We need to get the van level to install these, so we are waiting on the arrival of some RV leveling blocks before I put these in. I plan to color the danger areas with red so it is fairly obvious when you are able to operate the propane devices.
Finally, the last mod is an awning. This is going to be handy next year when we are travelling through the southern states where there might not be as much shade. However, most awnings are expensive and require drilling into the body of the EVC. You definitely don't want to mess up. I can't stand the thought of drilling into the van to put on a permanent awning, plus the last owner of the EVC said that a permanent awning will make too much noise while driving. Awnings like the Fiamma F35 or F45 are very expensive at around $700 to $900 and require permanent mounting. The Shady Boy awning was the next option at $500 but it too was more than I wanted to pay and was permanent. On our first camping trip and maiden voyage of Moby, we ran into a friend that had a Westy and this collapsible tent-like awning from busdepot.com. He spent under $200 for the whole setup and nothing was permament. The awning can be moved around as well. We decided to go for this option because it was very affordable and packs down small. But the real kicker was the ability to add walls and make a screen room or almost a tent (minus the floor). We were thinking of times were we might go camping and take 2 more people with us. Yes, the top of the EVC pops up into a 2 person tent, but there is a weight restriction of 400lbs, so if you have some bigger people or if you just want some room to move around it isn't possible. Therefore this option was very appealing to us.
It is mounted with strong suction cups. As you can see you can put it on other cars and there is even a kit to have 4 legs and have a complete standalone awning (perfect for covering picnic tables). Heck, if we add the walls, you have a private space where you can even take a shower using a portable solar shower.
Well that's it for now. We have lots of other ideas brewing in our heads for small mods, as we have been learning so far that keeping things organized and off the floor is the key to living in the EVC.
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