I am converting my 2004 Mini cooper into an ice cream mini
Not as elaborate as the edy's ice cream mini from a few years back, as it will have a double life as a daily driver for days when not in service for ice cream.

Planning:
remove front passengers seat (need T40), disconnecting that air bag.
The freezer I've found fits nicely with a few inches to spare all around, it runs off of the cigarette lighter with backup to a power inverter-from boot- to keep power source from either the front or back. and is lightweight enough to transfer indoors at days end.
Power inverter 500 watts planned wrapped in a rubber floormat-3 plugs.
Fire extinguisher mounted in boot.
Clothes Rod for dry sales good-chips, jerky, ect
back seat cooler for water/soft drinks, sandwiches.-will plug into second power plug on inverter.
roof rack.
Giant plastic/fiberglass ice cream cone mounted to roof rack.
bubble machine mounted inside giant ice cream cone-power from third inverter plug. wire running though boot. will have to do some fiddling to get this right.
For graphics, I am putting on some tall white side stripes with reflective dark blue edging. this will protect paint from magnetic signage.
magnetic signage from sign-o-rama-2 24" circles with logo on the magnetic material that doesn't scratch paint like some of the thiinner stock. one logo on bonnet, one on drivers door. passenger side will have a thinner magnetic sign with waterproof lables displaying ice cream picture and price, change price-just peel up and exchange label.
I will also need a smaller price list for taller people to go onto the passenger side roof.
vinyl eyes for front headlights (day use only).
probably getting the air/horn music player with pre-programmed ice cream songs instead of hooking it up to installed aux adaptor-that way interior music can be different from constant ice cream music blaring. I plan on mounting it to roof rack, power from front adaptor cigarette lighter, with switch between center console cup holders. had thought of mounting it to grill. or a light bar
looking at the Garmin 350 for route planning, with text to speech, wish it had live traffic updates as well though, or may find a similar model with that feature for similar price.
Will retain the back seat behind driver for use as a baby seat-stuffed animal when not in use of child.
When not in use as ice cream will convert to daily use
for family use, the backseat passenger will be primary passenger space for adult use, I worry about the large empty space created by removel of the passenger seat.
Seeing how this business goes. If goes well, I have a woody stripe and side designed out for vinyl sticker replacement. a mac mini with bluetooth keyboard and lilliput touchscreen for ordering and calculations.
I am limited to having only about 120 ice creams in freezer and maybe 40 waters, 10 sandwiches, 12 gatorades in other cooler. so will plan on a mid stop for replenishing stock midday.

hoping to get it set up and running before august ends.
any suggestions?

 

Send an email to every major magazine that will feature your car because if you pull this off, you may have the most unique MINI ever made.

 

i think an ice cream roof graphic is in order...

 

I hereby invite you to bring your Ice Cream Truck MINI to AMVIV in March! I haven't ever done any changes of that magnitude, but it sounds like you've planned everything out. Best of luck with it, and I hope to buy an ice cream from you at a MINI event soon.

 

Very cool.

Note that the Garmin 350 (which I have) isn't awesome for route planning, per se. Works fine for getting you from point A to point B along the quickest route. But not what I'd want if I were trying to program in residential loops to hit specific "hot" areas for ice cream (parks, pools, near schools, etc.). For that you'd want a GPS that allowed you to plan routes on the PC and download - only the more advanced (and expensive) Garmins do that. The more expensive units (like the Nuvi 780) also have traffic and can record history of your route, in case you just decide to meander around and want to be able to see where you went at the end of the day, to either make sure you visited some of those places again or avoided some.

 

Can't wait to see pictures, sounds like one COOL mini (ouch!)
You can get very good prices on GARMIN at www.tigergps.com

 

ill take a fudge bar and..... hmmm... a sundae cone.

Thanks

 

Do you have any Rocket Pops in there?

 

Sounds amazing!! Good luck...we're cheering you on!!

 

Um.. Ok..

 

You could get Eyes for Day and Night at www.eyesformyride.com

 

Go all out like this one:



I occasionally see it parked at my Uni, its pretty funny in person.

 

Thanks for all of the input.
Great place and better kinds for GPS, BlimeyCabrio and bobj.
Everything is coming along nicely so far, the business plan and expenses are looking good. bubble machines to mount on roof inside of ice cream cone sounded kinda complicated, as I will pretty much have to customize either an existing plastic ice cream cone or make my own with a top mount bracket to support the bubble machine. Found a nice bubble machine with remote control and a timer from chauvet: http://www.coolstuffcheap.com/bubblemachines.html Of course there are less powerful battery powered ones but the output of bubbles is pretty awesome for these.

 

sounds like it will be a crowd pleaser everywhere u go..

 

Sweet idea!

 

Are you sure this isn't going to be a problem with power? I mean, it sounds like you've got things planned well, but i'd be concerned about the drain on the car itself if you're out for sustained time periods.

Good luck though!

 

power drain is a concern, the freezer I'm favoring is made rugged for this type of use though, can get to -08 degrees with pretty low Wattage requirements. It is the kind designed for solar panel usage. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]65 watts 4.5 amps/2.5amps. [/SIZE][/FONT]The bubble machine I think will be the biggest drain, as it takes more power, fortunately with a remote control on it, it won't be a constant drain..

 

Is this your first adventure into the Ice Cream business

 

pretty much. I worked a spring for an ice cream truck a decade ago. was a pretty easy gig. I think with gas being kinda high, those big gas guzzling vans running around are cutting back or raising prices. Also, we only did ice cream at the time when everyone was asking for water, drinks, or sandwiches, so we were a little limited to just neighborhoods.
We won't be dependent on it for our primary means of revenue of course, which helps.
I'm also thinking mounting a wooden surfboard to the roof racks and mounting the speaker, ice cream cone and bubble machine to the board will work best for t all the stuff up there

 

For backup power, would you be able to use an Optima as an alternative power source? Or would it still have to run through a converter to be done properly? A Blue Optima Marine battery can take a lot of abuse.

 

Running everything through the inverter I think is the better option for convenience and ability. inverters do have more safety features to reduce risk of overload than a direct to battery would. pretty much have to go green with the appliance selection to keep it under the wattage.

 

The surfboard idea sounds like a good idea, too - iconic of summer & beaches, but practical when you need to dismount the speakers, cone, and bubble machine for daily driving...

 

Had read previously of someone removing the seat and shorting out the air bag sensor to keep the light from showing on dash:
"You have to "fool" the OBD computer into thinking the airbags are still installed, which is achieved with a 4ohm shunt resistor across the airbag connector under the seat."
thing is, finding an 4 ohm shunt resistor
anybody know what one is?
http://gandini.unm.edu/PGpages/Interests/Seats.htm
The Shunt manufacturers I've contacted don't deal with automotive power consumptions.

got some eye bolts to place in floor where seat went to secure freezer.
but resetting the airbag sensor is probably something a Autoenginuity tool can do. Will have to find a shunt still though. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AutoE...Z1218742481145
Chalk those up to live and learn I guess.

 

Hey, Beavr - I was also thinking about it...instead of a surf-board on top, you could also use a small (decorative) canoe or kyak or something. The lipped-sides could conceal all the devices (speakers, etc.) you might want out of sight, yet still be removable for daily use.

 

4ohms made from 4 @ 1ohms =
color coding wasn't easy.