Santa drives a Chevy van...............

Howdy bloggers and vanners!!

Just a quick update before X-Mas. It's been cold and snowy, just the way it should be for this time of the year. The white van is out of my possesion for a the holidays. Before it was picked up, I managed to get the rear flares installed as well as the carpet panels on the side cargo doors. All that is left is the CD player, the panels on the front doors and the installation of the front flares and downspoiler. I'm concerned that the downspoiler will act as a mini plow and may get damaged so if there's no time left for something, it will be this.

You may have noticed my new custom van up above, let me tell you, it sure is sweet!

A friend of mine took some pictures while on vacation. He got some juicy pics of the Chevy van that they used in the movie. "Scooby-Doo". I think it was "monsters unleashed" which is the second one but don't quote me on this stuff. Anywho, it's a fully customized short box Chev/GMC van and it looks awesome. There have been many, many Mystery Machines however, this one is authentic........

***********Many thanks to 'The Big C' for these shots.

Above: Though he was asked, this guy in the shot wouldn't move.....he wouldn't even respond....that's pretty rude ;)

Above: Custom front end looks great! Love the mesh behind the grille!

Above: Scooby poses with his favorite ride. I find it odd that this van has roof racks on it.....fair enough though as the original one did too. It's just that roof racks on a van like this don't usually do much for it but, for some reason, they seem to work well for this beast.

__________

So my van is officially off the road :(

I stopped driving it as soon as the salt came out. I just couldn't see the point of salting it up just to store it for 2 years. I also failed the third part of my emmissions test, they say it's the cats (fair enough, they've been on there for a while), but what's the point of putting the money in to it now just to store it? It just means that I'll have to get it all done later when I bring it out again. I did get a 12V 'aoooogha!' horn as a birthday gift last week!! I'm pretty happy about that!

Well, I have to sign off now so I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Stay safe on the roads, don't drink and drive and remember: "seatbelts save lives" so buckle up!!!!

Heavy Chevy :)

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Above: My new custom van.....I crashed it.............straight in to my mouth ;)

Almost done.....................

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, the white van is almost finished.

The interior carpet tile/checker board idea has turned out beautifully, I'll use this technique again.
Any staples visible will be removed..they were there while the glue dried.

Me, looking cool by the newly crafted interior.

I installed a trim piece on the side barn doors to give it a complete look.

The stripe over the louvers came out well and looks deadly!!!

All it needs now is for the flare kit to be painted and istalled, the CD player to be put in, front door panels and speakers to be mounted and side door panels to be fabricated and installed. It doesn't seem like much but it sure takes a freakn' long time!!

Speaker grilles will be purchased and installed on these Pioneers. There are matching 3 1/2's for the fronts which will go on the doors. The ropes keep the doors from swinging all the way open.


As I was installing the trim piece for the carpet at the rear doors, the drill snagged some carpet and tore some of the seams out.....I was bummed about this but I came up with a fix. I cut the section out and added some more fun furr giving it a 'hairy butt crack' look........it actually works and looks good.

A little custom work done on the tail lights using that stick on Chrome trim from Canadian Tire . I used it around all of the marker lights as well.

I'm taking a break this weekend while the van gets a full rust proofing/undercoating.

I've given the flare kit their first coat of paint but they will need one or two more before I can install them. They also will have to dry out in the cold garage before installation.....should happen next week. Body kits and flare kits are amazing things; they completely transform the look/shape of a car. This van looks great right now but once that kit goes on, it will level up and maximize it's HP points!!! This thing looks like a super hero van to me. I picture it exploding out of a secret garage and fish tailing around a corner and motoring off to save the day!

After pulling the van out of the garage, here is how it looks in the garage........flares waiting for paint......lumber and garbage.....tools all around....if only I had my own workshop let alone my own garage. Big thanks to my folks for letting me take the garage over for this project. I'm with them for X-Mas and then I will be moving to Whitehorse, Yukon where who knows what vehicle awaits me there?..........