Introducing the 4MISCH

Greetings all,

We imported our 1995 Super Custom Limited just about a month ago. We've put some work into it, specifically some body work to rid it of some corrosion around the wheel wells, as well as removing the cracked and peeling decals. We found some recreation decals from a later SCL model that we plan to put on at some point in the near future.

This past weekend we decided to take it on a trip to Steens Mountain and the Alvord Playa which lays just below the peak of the mountain in Southeastern Oregon. It was a long drive, crossing several mountain ranges in a record high heat wave here in the Pacific North West. It got to a high of 105F (41C)! Luckily from the plethora of information shared here on this forum we knew the issues surrounding the cooling system with the 1KZ-TE, not to mention in a mid engine configuration on an extremely non aerodynamic vehicle. We kept a close eye on the temperature gauge, which from what I understand is overly dampened. I'm not sure if it's the case for the digital dash which this Hiace has, but I wasn't wanting to make that assumption. It struggled going over some of the passes during the day in the heat. We gave it some extra help by turning the heater on and rolling down the many windows and roofs on the vehicle when going uphill. On our final stretch back to the Willamette Valley, we decided to let it cool off a bit before crossing the last and most extreme of all the passes, which definitely seemed to help with the lack of performance experienced previously. The temperature gauge never went beyond the balanced point, and we were able to take an amazing trip in the heat and return without a cracked head!

Since arriving back in the valley, strong winds blew smoke from distant wildfires into the valley. Along with the old smoke; new and fast spreading wildfires started just outside town last night and has spread to evacuate all those up until city limits. Really looking post apocalyptic here, I may have to post another picture of the Hiace tomorrow morning in the smoke.