Fifty150

Where I live, we have been staying home since Monday. Mayor's orders. Today is Sunday. Anyone else sitting at home? Boredom has set in. I'm now thinking of performing unneeded service on the cars. Oil change, spark plugs.......For no reason. Then there is no eating out. I have had to make my own food. Today's meal was born out of cabin fever. I like steak and eggs. I like tomato beef. I like tomato and eggs. Then there's my lunch of all 3 combined.

When I shop, I use a couple of ice chest. It keeps everything cool and fresh until I get home.

I don't know if a tailgate net will contain dogs in a Transit Connect.

Santa Clara County has a lot of cases. You may need a cool, hipster messenger bag. Timbuk2 is Made In San Francisco. Have your son pick 1 up at the factory outlet store, and send it to you. I use mine when I go grocery shopping on the Harley. Other guys on Harleys think it's not consistent with the image they are trying to cultivate. But I don't care. That's why I don't join their clubs, and wear their patches. Nobody is allowing you to buy online, and pickup in store. Once it's at the store, it's 1st come, 1st served. All luck of the draw. If you show up when it's still on the shelf, it's yours. Once everybody has 100 rolls in their house, they will stop buying. Then we can all go back to buying 6 rolls at a time. I'm not sure what happened. I think the bank was robbed today. Cops everywhere.

Costco $16.99 30 rolls. Target $17.49 12 rolls. Sure, it's not the same. Thicker paper, softer, 2 ply, linear feet, sheets per roll........ Sometimes you don't have a choice. If toilet paper is sold out everywhere, then you buy whatever is available, where ever you find it, and at whatever the price. People hoard out of instinct. I don't blame them. If I could, I would stock up on fuel while the price of gas is low. Sugar, flour, rice.......the list is long. It does create an artificial change in supply vs demand, and causes a temporary inflation. When so many people are suddenly without income, the poor have to pay more. Feelings of desperation and hopelessness. Depression soars. People behave out of character. Some people will find ways to profit at another's misery. This whole experience has been insightful.

I see a lot of commercial grade equipment. Most of these mount permanently, meaning that you have to bolt them in. It may not be what you really want. You could have something made by a metal shop.

Welcome to the party, pal.

Brembo are good. I think more than double what low price brakes cost. I was recently on the phone with a tech support guy from Centric. He told me that for most cars, OEM type rotors are the best. Drilled and slotted rotors do not stop better from 60-0, pads don't wear as well, you can't resurface them, and they can warp & fracture. According to the tech support guy, even their own brands of drilled and slotted rotors were just clever marketing, as people pay more because they look good. All these years, I have been spending extra money. Wasted.

10 months, running fine. I wouldn't worry about it. That could have been something overlooked from install at the factory. A piece of stray garbage that wasn't noticed. Or you could stress out, and never really figure it out.

Looking forward to your update. Thanks for keeping us informed. If you are doing a drain & fill, you may want to swirl a magnet in the drained fluid. Curious how much metal is in suspension in the fluid. Since we can't drop the pan to clean the magnet inside, like on other transmission models. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Now we know that Dexron low viscosity works also.

Yet, people still think that 4 bolts attached is strong enough. All the weight is on those 4 bolts. Or maybe 6 bolts. Or 8 bolts. To lift and support 1 corner, equipment should be rated higher than the vehicle weight. Yet, people choose to believe that the weight rating is for 1/4 of the vehicle. I see it all the time. A 1/2 ton truck weighing 5,000 - 6,000 pounds needs at least a 3 ton jack. It's the 1.5 ton lightweight racing jack from Harbor Freight. A lot of people like it because it's light weight and inexpensive. They don't understand that it's for small cars like Mazda Miata, Toyota Yaris, or a Smart Car. There are people who believe that a 1.5 ton jack is fine, since you are only lifting less than 1 ton on any given corner of the truck. Even with a Transit Connect, you need at least a 2 ton jack. And support with jackstands. Hydraulic jacks can fail. I don't want to think about something going wrong. Be safe.

Best to check with local highway patrol 1st.

How did you choose Dexron VI? I am using Valvoline, which was inexpensive at Wal-Mart. $18 per gallon. My next service will he with Mercon LV, because I got a 6 gallon box at a reasonable price. Mag1 and Phillips are available from my local distributor, but I think price is high. I recall that someone was using Triax. I wonder how that is working.

If you don't overload the van, and service the transmission, you can expect a reasonable service life. Automatic transmissions don't last forever. But no reason to expect less than 100,000 miles. I have seen hundreds of thousands of miles. Only problem is with a used car, you can expect that the last owner did not change the ATF, and the van may have been overloaded. You hear about reported failure. You don't hear about vans that keep working, because those people rarely speak up to say, "it still runs". Some forum members are changing ATF at 30,000 miles. FordTechMakULoco on YouTube, who a lot of people look to for advice, also recommends 30,000 miles for the 6F35 transmission. My local dealership service advisor said 30,000 miles. Some owners will do it every 25,000 miles. The process is so easy, that you can drain & fill 4 liters with every oil change. There is conventional wisdom that you should only use Mercon LV. Some forum members are using other fluid. I'm sure that you will make the right choice for yourself.

Some distributors deliver free. Call around. Lumber yards, electrical suppliers, plumbing..... Sometimes you need to have a commercial account. My experience has been that if they want your business, then they have to provide service.

I hereby nominate Slamsit for doing the most to a Transit Connect. Not that other people's builds aren't nice. Surely, we've seen some great work by all. But the overall volume, mod after mod, is overwhelming. And "1-of-a-kind", "One-Off" designs like the headlights. Now nitrous. I shudder at the thought of how much has already gone into his 1st generation van. Truly living the dream.

Wow. Recaro?

Awesome if you could post photos. It would help a lot of people out.

If you were near me, I would take your steel wheels.

That sounds like something worth posting in it's own thread. Wiring. Mounting. Technical details. Photos. You can write a "how to".

You should have no problem. Plenty available. Get a 2nd generation, LWB Wagon. You will want the interior, HVAC ductwork, and windows. You may not have to build anything at all. I fold down the seats, use a small futon mattress, and sleeping bag. I don't need to build anything just to lay out and sleep. But you can go crazy building slide out kitchen, foldaway bed, hidden panel gun safe, flip down screen, whatever.

That is worth a video. I want to see that in action.

For FORScan, you will need a computer. Most guys prefer a laptop.

I thought it was more popular with Mustang & Focus owners. It seems to work well with Transit Connect.

That sounds weird. It could be true. But really, how thick can OEM wheels from a Wind Star Van be?