On a long trip with a friend of mine, I came up with a sort of cool idea. It involves taking an old piece of crap and making it crappier, but cool.
The plan is to get a Diesel Volkswagen Van, and convert it to run on Vegetable oil. My friend, Matt, said he would be able to do it himself and it'd cost about $150 in materials and whatnot. After that, I plan to attach two large pontoons (large enough to support the van when loaded.. so, pretty large) in some way that they could be raised above the roof for traveling on roads, and lowed near the wheels for traveling on water. Also, in some way, attach paddles to the rear axles and rudders to the front wheels, or create a different steering system altogether. After this is done, and it's got a neat paintjob, we have a semi-cool vehicle that can travel on both water and land for dirt cheap (insurance, as long as we don't stray too far from McDonalds).
So, other than "That's really stupid", can anyone think of any flaws with this plan? Would it still be street legal after attaching the pontoons to the top? Is there a smarter way to get the van to be propelled or steered across water? Want us to pick you up when we drive through your state?
