Chris Sroka's 1998 Mitsubishi Delica L400

A.D.D. Misconception

A decade ago when I worked at a small, out-of-place bikeshop in the rental bike district of Vancouver, a frustrated customer came in looking for a solution to his car problem. It wasn't that he didn't know what he was after but after exhausting his options at car parts stores and mechanic's benches, I was his last resort. He needed a part for his rather unique van that had an out of commision fuel pump. He needed a way to attach a wire and hold it in place for it to operate, at least well enough to get him back on the road. The part he was looking for was a knarp. A very familiar part for any bmx rider with U Brakes from the decade previous to the story.

After discussing his options to go on Ebay to get a new pump, he told me that the pump cost $2500 to buy even a refurbished one. With my jaw on the floor, I asked him what the van was. He said it was a Mitsubishi Delica that spent more of its time on the side of the road than between the lines cruising. Sensing his anger and noticing a pattern for the next few years with every Delica driver's expression. I named them the ADDs.. Angry Delica Drivers. Whichever direction I looked, I noticed these joy machines and their frowning drivers. I was convinced that every Delica owner, much like the Land Rover or Mercedes or literally anybody but a Toyota owner, was angry at their money sucking vehicle pits. Then I started buying 60s British Cars myself and joined the club.

The reality was different. As the popularity of the Delicas grew, and e-commerce became more efficient and reliable, the ADDs frowns starting turning upside down; ear to ear grins. Much like the friendly guy Chris Sroka I met during a sweet ride at the Whistler Bike Park. Chris works for the Whistler Bike Park and drives a sweet, sensible and grin-inducing 1998 Delica Super Exceed L400 SWB. Check it out...

Hi Chris, Please introduce yourself and the VanDiesel the Delica you drive around.

I'm Chris Sroka and I drive a 1998 Mitsubishi Delica Super Exceed L400 Short Wheel Base. It's the series 2 facelift model with a diesel turbocharged 2.4 litre under the bonnet. I am the first Canadian owner of the van after purchasing it in 2017 from a very sketchy used car lot in Vancouver who imported the van from Japan. It had so many problems when I first bought it but the used car lot did a great job of hiding them all when I purchased it. A red flag should be raised if the used car lot will only show you the van while it's already running, and hide the startup sequence until after you purchase it. If only I knew then what I know now! 

Turns out the new to me van needed new injector seals, a very typical problem for diesel Delicas. It would stall out after a cold start because air was seeping through the cracked and crusty injector seals. After the van was running for a short while, the seals would expand and re-seal, but would stall out a few times before getting there. Which is why the used car dealership would only show me the van after it was running for a prolonged period of time. 

For those keeping scores at home, injector seals are about a $30 part, but an 8 to 10 hour job as you need to pull the entire engine out. I took it to a shop in Whistler who reluctantly did the work for me. It took them way longer than quoted but they honoured the initial quote. I later took the van back to the same shop for an oil change and they then refused to work on Delicas. I am confident I am still the reason they refuse to work on Delicas. 

Luckily for me I found a few Delica specific shops around Vancouver who have resurrected the van to what it is today. It's sitting at 260xxx km and is much more reliable after replacing the injector seals, most top end gaskets and mostly all the suspension and brake components. Hoping to see the engine drive to 400xxx!

What is your driving background? What vehicles have you grown up around and owned?

My family is traditionally a Volvo family. Grew up around primarily station wagons. The first car I learned to drive on was an 850 Sportswagon turbo. Dad drives an XC90 Recharge right now, sister drives an XC40. My first car was a Volvo C30 that I ended up lowering (slamming) to the ground on Borbet Type As. I blew up my oil pan and learnt the hard (static) way that "low is a lifestyle" was not the lifestyle for me. I modified the Volvo to the point of not being able to drive on Vancouver streets and needed something that was 100% more practical.

For my next car, I wanted something on the completely other end of the spectrum. Ultra practicality. I had intentions of keeping it in the Volvo family so started looking at v70 R AWD wagon. I liked the idea of having a quick versatile wagon that I could throw a mattress in the back of if I wanted to camp. It wasn’t the only vehicle on my radar though and being in the sea2sky, Tacomas also crossed my mind. And right around that time "Van Life" really started picking up attention so I ended up looking at a few VW Westfalia Syncros, although they immediately priced themselves out of my ideal price range combined with difficult maintenance records.

I ended up landing on a Mitsubishi Delica with it being in the middle of the Venn diagram between the Volvo wagon, Toyota truck and VW van. The Delica was the middle ground for all of those vehicles in the right price range. I really wanted something that I could adapt to my lifestyle, not afraid of beating it up on the forest service roads with the option of living in it for extended periods of time. I've only had these two vehicles!    

What was the purpose and how's the build journey?

As mentioned, the van was built for versatility and flexibility. I wanted it to be a Swiss army knife for any adventure I threw at it. It needs to be anything from an indoor change room for snowboard trips, a rock crawler if needed to a full glamping rig at music festivals. Its small wheelbase is still perfect for driving around the city, and the 4low crawl mode can get me up just about any service road. The go anywhere, do anything rig that isn’t afraid of getting bent out of shape.    

The van has been lifted 2” with ball joint spacers and larger rear springs with new shocks all around. Most notably, the bottom half of the van has been painted with black bed liner. It used to be green and silver but now it is green and black. The bed liner is still holding up well for almost 5 years of wear and tear. A Rig’d rear tire swing with a 1up Bike rack has been added to the hitch receiver. Tint all around, custom ladder, custom captain chair up front, Thule roof box, ARB awning. Steel rims with Ko2 31 x 10.5 tires. Most recently I installed a heavy duty skid plate after absolutely blowing up the stock plate from a rock.

Any memorable roadtrip/adventure stories ?

The van has taken me all over the west coast. All through Oregon. Two trips down to California. Rode bikes in Santa Cruz and around Lake Tahoe. Driven down to San Francisco, through Big Sur, surfed in Santa Barbara with a pit stop at Disneyland Anaheim. Driven to Alberta and up to Jasper. Lots of trips to the island and then lots of local logging roads around the Sea2Sky.

Only time I’ve ever been stuck in the van was behind Mount Hood in the spring. There was a logging road around the back of the volcano that had a patch of snow about 100m long that we needed to get through. Being overly confident I lead the charge through the patch of snow. 6 hours of shoveling, getting progressively more stuck and doing everything except lowering the pressure in our tires. Eventually, as the sun began to set the snow hardened up and we were able to make it out. You can watch the chaos below.

What is the story of VanDiesel?

The obvious Instagram account for the van (https://www.instagram.com/_van.diesel/) came about from COVID. I was really fortunate to be able to social distance from the general public by camping in the van most weekends. As a proud father, I end up taking way too many photos of the van and being stuck at home the other half of the time, I had plenty of time to throw all my van content on the new page. My real intention was to avoid clogging my personal Instagram account (@chr.sro) with van content that none of my friends really cared about.

It didn’t take long before my van account had more followers than my regular account, really solidifying the idea that people care more about my van than me. In the van community, pun van names are all the rage; Jean Claude Van Delica, Medelica, Nelson Van Delica, Psydelica, Vandalorian are some of the “Only Van” accounts you can follow. Van Diesel came out of binge watching the Fast and the Furious franchise during the pandemic. Vin Diesel became Van Diesel. I live my life a quarter mile at a time, for those 28 seconds, I’m free.

Tell us a little about your bike background. 

So professionally, I am the marketing manager at the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. A lot of my time is spent riding the bike park. Lots of bike parks. The van has taken me on plenty of product testing trips to the various bike parks around including Sun Peaks, Revelstoke, Coast Gravity Park, Big White, Silverstar, Nakusp, Rossland and even out to Fernie and all the way down to Northstar Bike Park in Lake Tahoe.

I learnt to ride downhill in the bike park and spent my first few years avoiding climbing all together. I’ve become a much better all-around rider although technical climbing is still a challenge. Maybe that's the point. I can aim the bike down decently well though. A-Line is still my bread and butter. A big shout out to the entire Bike Park team at Whistler Blackcomb.

What bikes have you owned and what's the current rig?

So being Bike Park staff, we are on the Whistler Mountain Bike Park Commencal staff bikes.

META SX V5

Short specs

Frame 2024 Meta SX, 165mm travel

Shock SRAM Super Deluxe Ultimate
Matte Polar Foil stickers

Fork SRAM Zeb Ultimate, 170mm travel
Shiny Red, White Stickers

Headset ACROS ZS56/ZS56

Stem SRAM Descendant

Bar SRAM Descendant DH

Grips ODI Reflex

Brakes SRAM Maven Ultimate*

Rotors SRAM HS2 200mm

Shifter SRAM AXS Pod Controller

Rear derailleur SRAM X0 Eagle Transmission

Bottom Bracket SRAM DUB

Cranks SRAM X0 Eagle Transmission

Chainring SRAM X0 Eagle Transmission

Chain SRAM X0 Eagle Transmission

Cassette SRAM X0 Eagle Transmission

Rear rim CRANK BROTHERS Synthesis Alloy Enduro

Front rim CRANK BROTHERS Synthesis Alloy Enduro

Rear hub INDUSTRY NINE 1/1

Front hub INDUSTRY NINE 1/1

Spokes SAPIM Race SAPIM D-Light

Rear tire MAXXIS DHR II

Front tire MAXXIS Assegai

Tire Insert Cushcore Pro

Seatpost SRAM Reverb AXS

Saddle SDG Bel Air V3 Whistler Edition

Color Glittery White

Commencal is the bike park’s new frame partner, and it’s a real pleasure getting back on a Commencal. My first bike was a 2016 Commencal Meta so I’m happy to be back on one. Between my first and current Commencal, I had a pair of GT Forces that were the previous Bike Park staff bikes.