17,250 mile late winter car-camp

[klroger]

Well ... this weekend I got to do some experimenting. This doesn't involve the Mirage. But it was in alignment with this thread. I wonder if it would hurt the engine at all to idle it for 6 to 8 hours to keep the inside comfortable...

It shouldn't hurt it to idle, police / fleet vehicles do this all the time. But for camping / sleeping, I wonder if you would be better off with something like a "Parking Heater"??? https://www.vevor.ca/s/parking-heater I think Fummins has one in his van, & they are really common on Transports. They even come with thermostats so it would keep it comfortable... Just Thoughts...

[Fummins]

It shouldn't hurt it to idle, police / fleet vehicles do this all the time. But for camping / sleeping, I wonder if you would be better off with something like a "Parking Heater"??? https://www.vevor.ca/s/parking-heater I think Fummins has one in his van, & they are really common on Transports. They even come with thermostats so it would keep it comfortable... Just Thoughts...

Our drivers are asked to not idle if not necessary, shut the engine off if stopped at a long train or when dropping off parts etc...

I idled mine for hours on end on camping trips, not to stay comfortable though. The first trip I idled it for hours here and there to charge up the crap we brought along as well as a deep cycle battery. The other time was idling for hours with the heater cranked to try and dehumidify the interior.

Those diesel heaters work great! I saw them down to $96 the other day on the jungle site. I have one in my van, ran it for two nights on low and it kept it at 20c/68f inside when it was -5c/23f outside. I had to open a window. Running it for 2 full nights burnt about 4L of diesel if that. The fuel pump tick can get annoying for some people but it beats freezing.

I wonder if 7milesout would be wanting to cool off instead of keeping hot? Someone needs to come up with a compact diesel burning ac unit. Which is stupid cause it's snowing here right now.

[7milesout]

I wonder if 7milesout would be wanting to cool off instead of keeping hot? Someone needs to come up with a compact diesel burning ac unit. Which is stupid cause it's snowing here right now.

Yes, stay cool. It was cool at night this weekend, and it was awesome. That temp would have slept good inside a car too. Might have fogged the winders maybe. But very soon down here it will be a sweat-fest. And in a car at night with the winders up would be very unpleasant. Maybe I could consider the canopy thing, but my idea related to the Mirage, is to make the car as "original" during the day for use (meaning, have it look totally normal, all seats in place, etc), but be able to convert to a cute little huggable camperette at night. Which, I don't think is possible. As I understand, removal of the rear seat backs is almost a must, so the back seat would not be useable during the day.

That is, unless a person were willing to do the assembly/disassembly of the rear seat backs daily in order to make the conversion. Which I think most would not. Me too. If I were going to use the Blueberry as a camperette for a few days (and had already figured out my sleeping layout), I believe the rear seat backs would have to come out for the duration of using it as a camperette. If I did remove the rear seat backs, then I could likely carry the canopy, put it up, park the car under it, and strap the canopy to the car. Then the winders could be left open on warm summer nights even if it rained, and the breeze through the car might keep a person alive. My canopy is about 5 feet tall when folded up and bagged.

[Eggman]

As I understand, removal of the rear seat backs is almost a must, so the back seat would not be useable during the day.

A suggestion: take out the seat bottom and the seat backs ought to fold flat. The rear seat bottom is easily removed in seconds. Store the seat bottom somewhere temporarily, maybe under the car or on top, until it's time to hit the road again.

[Basic]

I wonder if 7milesout would be wanting to cool off instead of keeping hot? Someone needs to come up with a compact diesel burning ac unit. Which is stupid cause it's snowing here right now.

Most of my trucking fleets use these ThermoKing APUs. They save the fleets a gajillion dollars in saved fuel from not idling.

https://www.thermoking.com/na/en/roa...wer-units.html

[7milesout]

Them thangs probably cost as much as a used Mirage, and are very large.

[Fummins]

Most of my trucking fleets use these ThermoKing APUs. They save the fleets a gajillion dollars in saved fuel from not idling.

https://www.thermoking.com/na/en/roa...wer-units.html

[Basic]

Them thangs probably cost as much as a used Mirage, and are very large.

Not the ones I see... maybe 2'x3'