Pimp my Chevy Van

ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-08-06T16:35:00.000-07:00

There's been a change of plans. Having to fly home to get married, my fiance and I decided that rather than shipping the van to the Yukon, we'd just drive it back and have an awesome camping road trip filled with disc golf adventures.

We fly out tomorrow on the 7am.

See you later!

Happy thoughts!! :)

Shipping fees...........

2010-04-19T23:39:00.000-07:00

NEWSFLASH!!!! ATTENTION!! ATTENTION!!

I just wanted to pop in to let you all know that I am planning to ship my van up to me in the Yukon this August.................yeah baby!!

I miss my van so much it hurts! Though I don't always remember, I'm pretty sure I dream about my van every single night.

The other day I was sitting in my 1997 Mazda MPV on my lunch break. I got thinking about my van and I found myself imagining myself in it. The scary thing was that it felt so real! Lifthing your leg around to get from the front seat to the rear of the van, cranking the window down, the feel of the red crushed velvet of the doghouse on my knee, sipping my coffee from my custom made drink tray, the feel of my hands on the go kart steering wheel.....oh god it hurts so bad!

The truth is that I've only got one shot at this as I need to ship it in the summer while it's warm and I need to be with the van to a)put a new battery in it, b) get a trip permit and c) get it to its rendez-vous drop-off point.

Turns out shipping a van across the country isn't cheap, I hope I can afford it.

Wanna help? It will keep this blog going. Paypal me at didgeman.ca@gmail.com and I promise you that it will go straight into the 'ship the van fund'. $1, $2, $10, anything helps.

FORD is cramping my style............

2009-07-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

Well,

Howdy all, it's been a while but here I am, back again.

As some of you might know, I relocated from Ontario to the Yukon; the sad part is that my van is in storage in Ontario. I will likely go and get next summer and drive from Ontario to the Yukon.........can anyone say: "ROADTRIP"!!!!!

There aren't too many chev vans here......I've seen maybe 4 shortboxes, the rest full size and barely done up at all. There are many cool trucks here though. There is no emissions testing in the Yukon so you can pretty much drive what you want. Also, this town is small so you can get away with driving a big boat, (if you want to), and all in all, the extra gas isn't so bad. This really is the place to drive a classic. Also, they do not use salt on the roads in the winter time so the bodies will last quite a bit longer here; It's also pretty dry here too.

There is a once loved rusty old shortbox a few blocks away from me with all of the fixings to build a sweet van. It's got the old school grille , port hole windows , louvers , the windshield valiance , busted up flares (can be repaired with TLC ) , It even has a rear roof rack with chevy bow ties cut out of the metal , I don't think that's an after market rack. I'd like to talk to the owner and see if I can get him to let me go at it for a day, removing the pieces to build a new one.........you never know unless you try. I'd be sad if it was towed away to the scrap yard :(

I think I may need to re-name this blog: "Miss my Chevy Van". ;)

So get this, FORD 's 2010 Mustang seems to have a similar paint job as mine!?!?!@#?!??##??

They stole it from me, I was first, you're all my witnesses!!

Check it out:

I got a good deal on a '97 Mazda MPV with 4wheel drive at the click of a button so that's what I'm currently in. I had planned to, once again, do the $50 paint job on it but, I lost my mojo for it all. I even did a walk around 'before' video and everything!! I went out to Canadian Tire, I bought everything for the project but when it came down to it, I just didn't care to do it.........It's just not a Chevy van.........there's just no passion in it.....sob! .....sob! I need my van back. So I returned all of the supplies except for the fact that I lost one receipt. Well, my goodness!!! I bought the paint weeks in advance because it was on sale and somehow, lost the receipt. They would not take it back, they wouldn't even give me store credit. Despite the fact that I had all the fixings for a paint project , they would not take it back without a receipt. I even told them that this was a let down and that I chose them over Walmart who is located right beside them and who has a no fuss return policy.....still wouldn't take it back!!! GEEEEEZZZUUSSSS CRISTO!!!!!!!!! Finally, I found the purchase on my Canadian Tire MasterCard and finally, the manager ok'd the return. This was like pulling teeth, I tell ya!!!

So, what is the fate of this blog????? I can't say......I've got no vans to work right now. These days I am in to kite flying and I'm now tinkering with building kites. I want to work up to being able to build 3D kites.

I am also very in to RC ornithopters at the moment. I brake them, I re-build them, and then I brake them again......it's really a labour of love but at last, I have rounded the learning curve and am now able to fly them with face planting them in to the ground and losing hours a day rebuilding them.

Maybe I will start showing you guys my ornithopter projects for a while.....with the odd kite project in there too??

Anywho, that's it for now.........

Oh, if you like my blog, feel free to click around....especially on those links on the right side of the page, they will take you to cool sites. The more you click, the happier I am!! :)

I live you with a somewhat older video of my homemade wings for my Thunder Roc P2 Cybird clone . I don't fly this particular bird anymore , I've moved on to bigger and better things....

Time to go.......

2009-01-13T17:07:00.000-08:00

So, I am just about ready to get up and move out to Whitehorse, Yukon. My partner has finished her Masters and now we are ready for a new adventure in a winter wonderland.

But,......just before I vanish for a little while, here are some pics of the almost, finished white van. This is as complete as I can get it as I am officially out of time and must leave it. I had a chance to install the rear flares but the problem is that the front flares extend downward to join with the downspoiler. The downspoiler can't be put on during the winter because it acts as a snow plow!! So that part will have to wait. The front door panels never got done so they will have to wait too.

Here are some pics as well as a video; I love the reflective tint on the windows, nice touch:

See you all in what I hope will not be too long of a wait. Next posting will be from the Yukon!!

Heavy Chevy :)

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

2008-12-24T07:49:00.000-08:00

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.....................

2008-12-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

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?..........

Slow and steady wins the race..

2008-11-19T19:16:00.000-08:00

Howdy folks! I know.....it's been far too long since my last entry. I try to do an entry every week but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way.

The paint is all done on the white van....the stripes are on, all accesories are back on, the chrome grille is on, the chrome exaust tip is on, she's had a wax job.....I'm just waiting for my friend's flare kit to arrive.

I've been working like a dog on the interior. It has been tons of work even though my back is feeling it.

My idea for this one was to go with carpet tiles and to do a checker board interior. I found my friend some carpet tiles at a good price on www.kijiji.ca as well as some speakers. I've been having some super long days working on this interior. Luckily I've had the CBC on the radio to keep me company, (although, for a guy who doesn't often listen to the news, I'm starting to think that the world is falling apart). You know it's tough times when you hear that Whitehorse can't afford to recycle and GM is ready to crash and burn...sigh....at least I still have custom vans.

Anyways, My back is sore from getting in and out of the van all day long and from installing each individual piece of carpet in this van and I'll tell you one thing, I 'aint getting paid enough for this one. I wonder what west coast customs or 'gas' would charge for an interior like this? I'd guess something in the range of $3000 or more, probably more. For the most part it's enjoyable but I really can't wait to get this done so that I can hand it back over to the owner and regain my life.

I even made a video to show you guys the interior but when I played it back just now I realized that there wasn't enough light and that you can't really see anything so for now, you will all have to settle for pictures.....I'll try to do a video tomorrow.

More pics to come and I promise to update more often.

Tah tah for now.

Keep on Truckn'!!

:)

PS: Ok, so here is the video......I think it's too dark though.....oops!

Watch out for a white van!!!!

2008-10-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, so, as promised, here is a look at my friend's new van. It is a 1993 G10 Chevy van shortbox cargo van with 81,000 original miles on it. This thing is in superb shape, no really, it is very nice. My friend is a lucky guy to have such a nice machine. I really can't get over it, there is almost no rust on it.

So I immediately began painting this beast, (again with the $50 paint job method), because the weather is starting to change. It is staying white but is getting a nice fresh coat. After that it will have blue stripes of a sort of it down the hood. The same blue used on my van will be the color of the stripe so infact, it could be that this van will be the opposite of my van. The headlight housings will be white and it will get a nice chrome aftermarket grille to remind everyone who sees it that it is a wicked van and demands respect.

From my friend's old van, which was my first van (the orange one), we salvaged the spoiler, my original tear drop windows, the overhead valiance, the back door louvers and some other little things. All of the accessories will be painted white. I've painted as much white on this van as possible, so that it doesn't look like a cargo van. In the end, once the add-ons are on it, it won't look like a cargo van. It will most likely end up with a flare kit and a downspoiler....it's just a matter of finding some second hand if possible. The ones that I had were from my old van so I kind of got lucky because I wouldn't have been able to afford what they charge for them new ;)

I've had to pull the van in to the garage and to the rolling there. It's a tight space to work in but it stays much warmer in there; without, I wouldn't have been able to paint this van at all. Already, I'm worried that it will be too cold to paint once it's time for the stripes, we'll see. I'm hoping to get the last of the white put on tomorrow because after that, the weather is looking to be getting chilly for days to come and it may not get better. I've done a little bit of spray painting on the spots that need to be cleaned up. The spray will help achieve a unifrom coating faster and right now I need all the help I can get if I'm going to get this done before it's too late.

I had an impossible time getting the emblems off before paiting; actually, I didn't get them off. I couldn't let myself get stuck on them as I knew cold was coming so after an hour of failed attempts, I decided to go with plan B: leave them on, paint them and then remove the paint on the very top surface of the chrome. I even brushed a little bit of "PAM" on to the surface to help keep the paint from sticking. In the end, I think that this will look good and hey, it's just yet another excuse to have something custom and a little less stock.

Other than that, I've pulled the mini me model out of my own van as I need to update it's paint job ;)

That's it for now, more pics to come.

Keep on Truckn!!

Keeping it trim.............

2008-10-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

Howdie folks!

In this posting: New chrome trim, Destruction Derby, and coming soon -- new van to do!!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post, I didn't have my camera for a while. I don't like to post without pics.......you just need that eye candy, especially all you chevy vanners needing their fix. I know I'm guilty of it; some people look at porn on the net while others, like myself, look at van porn. My girlfriend has caught me many a times, late night she walks in and says: "what are you doing?" , I say "nothing".......she says, "looking at van porn?" and I say: "yup".......and I love it, I can't get enough of it. Those sexy, spoilers, those flare kits, that all around 'bad ass' look........but I got to say, my turn off is shag, too stereotypical.

~~~~~

Yup, the more I do on my van, the more addicted I truly feel, needing more vans to get out all of the ideas that I have. Sometimes I figure I should just get model kits and release my van demons that way but then I never get around to it. Sometimes I go on to http://www.ebay.com/ and I search things like "chevy van" and I feel stuck until I get through every listing there is........

Other times I google "custom van" just to see what I can find. Then there's the famous google search for "chevy van kijiji" just to see what http://www.kijiji.ca/ has to offer.......the forbidden fruit if you will. This is actually how I found my buddy his new 1993 G10 Chevy van that we just went to pick up together 6 hours away but more on that in a later post; I'm a little behind in my posts and I need to catch up....but really, it is 99.5% rust free and has 130,000 original kms on it, get ready for it, oh yeah, you know what I'm talking about ;)

So, first thing first, I happened to be in Canadian Tire, as I usually am, and I found this stick on chrome trim stuff for $15.99. As soon as I saw it, I knew where it had to go......it was like destiny. The image of each oval on my tail light covers, chromed with trim flashed through my head like lightning hitting the waters during some wacko, intense storm. Needless to say, I bought this stuff and went to work with it. I did the tail lights first and figured that any left over was a bonus. Well, in the end, I had enough to do the tail lights, the marker lights and my dash which has really spruced things up. The key with this stuff is to pre-bend it all before applying; it is flexible but it may need some help before you stick it on. It's a little tight around the smaller, circular gauges but it looks way better than before.

Check it out:

This stuff is well worth the money. It came with a good amount and was easy to work with. Just make sure your surface is clean before you stick to it.

Anyone wondering, those green switches control the lights on the downspoiler while the other will shut the interior lights off when the door is open, as to not drain the battery. When I'm working on the van with the doors open all day long, I don't like to have the lights on so this switch takes care of that.

------

Yesterday, my G-friend and I went out to Rockland, Ontario for the fourth annual destructive derby.
What is better than a bunch of custom vehicles smashing in to eachother until they can't anymore?
It was awesome and I hadn't been to one since I was 13.....too long. I will go to one every chance I have. Here are some pics and a vid which is bad quality, sorry, it's all I got.

I still intend on doing a video tour of my van but I need to sort out a better camera to do it with so stay tuned for that.

*Also, WANTED: My buddy is looking for a mud style flare kit and a downspoiler for a '93 G10 chevy van. The price for them new is insane and completely unreasonable. Do you have some that you'd like to sell???? Even if they're a little beat up, we may buy them for the right low, low price and then put the work into restoring them. Contact me: didgeman.ca@gmail.com

Ok guys, that's it for now. Plenty more to come, I promise.

Shout out to my KW pals, I'm missing yo' sexy butts.......... ;)

TA-DAH!!!!

2008-10-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

Ok all, here it is in all its glory. For an $89 paint job and an enjoyable time to do it, I'm very happy with it.

I really wanted to do a video for this posting but I was having problems with the camera. The next blog update will be a video tour of my van, inside and out.

Here are a bunch of pictures:

Oh baby!! Check out the street glow!!

SO, I know, underlights are totally 'fast and furious' cheesy but they do look cool. I bought these years ago off of ebay and having used them on two different past vehicles, it would be a shame to leave them in a box collecting dust on the shelf.

Next posting is a video tour, stay tuned............................

The Eagle has landed..............

2008-09-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

Above: the hood ornament is in place. It had no eyes so I stuck in some diamond earing studs for a little 'bling bling'.

Howdy all!!

The van is looking pretty sweet!! The hood ornament is on, the flares are on, the stripes are done, the emblems are in place and the van is all waxed up. All I need to do now is to install the underlights.

Maybe I'll make a video for the official presentation of the finished product.

Here are some shots of the process:

Above and below: Masking and painting the stripes. I used glossy white Tremclad spray.

Below: A glimpse of the paint surface....it's got some nice shine to it ;)

Below: The emblems are on, these are the old school emblems.

Okay.....so, next update will feature a video and pics of the van all finished!!

Keep on Truckn'!!!!

Getting down with the spoiler..............

2008-09-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings all!

The down spoiler is attached and the lights are wired up and are very bright. I never thought I'd have a downspoiler on my van but one came along and I couldn't say no.

I've put yet another coat of paint on so now, I have one more application to do (two coats). After that's done, I'm going to put on the racing stripe. I still have two flares to rebuild and then I will install those, I can't wait.

That's it for now........short and sweet, just like my van ;)

Keep on truck'n

I've got a flare for blue..................

2008-09-17T17:11:00.000-07:00

Howdy all!!

I'm back again, sorry I've been away for a bit, working on the van's paint job and the flares.

I've started the paint job and I've done 3 applications. Each application is 2 coats followed by a wet sanding when it's dry.

The weather has been total crap so the whole thing has been slower than I had planned but you absolutely can't rush this part.

I've been re-building the flares which has been long but it will be well worth it. They are the mud style flares and will really give the van a beefy look ;) I still have two to finish.

I've attached some fog lights to the down spoiler which is yet to be installed, maybe I'll get it on tomorrow between applications.

Here are some pics of it all:

Right: Two coats

Above: after 3 coats.

Above: The flares getting re-built

Above: This is the style of stripe that I'm going to put on the van only it will be wider than this one.

I've chosen the wider stripe because it will work best with the hood ornament but more on that later ;) ....................

I've got a few days of good weather so lots of painting will get done. After all coats are applied, the van will have to be left alone for a week to let the paint totally harden up. Because the coats are so thin, the paint dries very quickly but you should give it time anyways.

After the drying period, then next step is to sand with 1000-1500 grit and then to buff with compound and then to wax it all up.

Stay tuned...............

King of the World!!!!!!!!

2008-08-24T05:01:00.000-07:00

Feeling good about the grille set up working out!!!

Gotta go pack now.

Getting all up in my grille..........

2008-08-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

So here it is!!!! I can't get over the grille and lights!! It looks awesome!!

It took a while but it was well worth it. I am exausted and I will spend the next few days moving and then off to Calgary or a week for a wedding.

After I get back from Calgary, I will be painting the van.

Gotta go to bed now...................mission accomplished..........again, with help from "Rusty", "Lady" and "Horseshoe/Bucket".

Time is ticking...........

2008-08-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

Windshield is in......chrome grilled is painted black in the right spots........windshield visor is ready.......and I'm moving on Monday....*gulp*

Above: New glass!! Headlight holes are cut out only to be bracketed back in and aligned for the old school grille and then fibre glassed in to place.

Above: Hood pins were installed and then removed for painting and need to be re-installed.

Above: Here's a champion of a guy!! I'm not going to lie to you, he is a gentlemen and a scholar, he is a world class kind of guy and ladies.....he is single!! ;) We will call him: "Bucket/Horseshoe" and he is not only a great guy but also, he is a wonderful person and I feel lucky to be buds with him.

He is responsible for many trips to Canadian Tire, (for those on the spot demands and needs), as well as various trips to Timmy's and showing up with surprise iced caps adn timbits to keep me going. He's given his time for the cause and has done a fine job on the down spoiler not to mention shining my rims up for me. This guy tought me the saying: 'the cat's ass' and that's what we're working on ;)

Above: 1976 Hood and grille are installed and painted on the 1995, Headlight holes are aligned and fibre glassed. I'm trying to paint the awkward spots with the spray can so that I can just easily use the roller later after I move........I think that will be fine.

Today, I installed the grille and lights and though it took a long time, it looks dead sexy!

Tomorrow, I have maybe half a day to switch my tires, install the hood pins, finish the left bottom side...........sigh, pop a few bolts in the front bumper........and god knows what else!!

The rest of the weekend is for the move on Monday.

Keep on Truck'n!!!

I get by with a little help from my friends.....

2008-08-18T21:11:00.000-07:00

Well, the windshield is out!! It was hard work and took a while but that bugger is out! The new one should be dropped in tomorrow by a pro.

After a failed attempt to remove the windshield, my buddy, (we'll call him Rusty), vowed to come back the next day and that the windshield would be out; he is a man of his word ;) You know you have great friends when they stick with you for this kind of crap work.

Here is a series of photos:

Below: At this point we were worried that we were going to have to kick the glass out; luckily, we didn't have to.

Below: For a while, we used a wire and tried to cut it out like cheese or clay but it only moderately worked. We ended up getting it out with a fine cutting wood saw, this worked the best when you get one guy to lift the already cut part while the other guy contiues to cut.

Below: The power of the mighty saw was the best method.

Above: Rusty letting off some steam!! He put that windshield in it's place.....or I guess he took it out of it's place ;)

Below: Cleaning up the body around the seal......didn't take too long.

Above: Two very happy boys!! Victory is ours!!

Below: Fixed and painted............drying and then ready for glass. I actually had the glass dropped in today and it looks great. Pics to come........

Below: The grille conversion is now underway. Here is the basic idea:

step one: cut out the area needed for the headlight and it's adjustment screws......................................cont..

Below: Step two: bracket it in place where it aligns with the the headlight housing piece and then cover the open areas with fibre glass so that water does not get in to places that it should not be. Note: In this picture, I do not have the brackets in place at all.....I am just holding it for a visual.

Below: Here is another friend, we'll call her "Lady", who has given me so much help with this project. Here she is cleaning out the rubber gasket for the windshield; I am amazed at how clean she got it. She is responsible for many areas in the van where I would have rushed through; she took the time and did a quality job!!! Hats off.

Overhead visors and down spoilers are being cleaned and painted..........

Grilles are being taped and sprayed in the right spots...................

Hoods are being cleaned and painted.......hood pins to be installed.....

Chrome rims and being polished and oh my god do they ever get shiny!!

More coming soon,

Keep on Truckn!!!!!

PS: The expanding foam was a failure.....though it worked on my first van, this time I bondod and primed and thought I was done but it continued to expand and cracked.....boo! Rework sucks but must be done.

Let's get Physical..........Let me hear your body talk.

2008-08-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

Project Chevy Van facelift is very much happening. It's been many a long days but it is really getting there. I am not a pro and I have very limited time but I think she' s coming along nicely. Basically, I've been grinding and cutting and removing all of my rust away. After the rust is gone, I spray tons of 'rust converter' and then I prime......sanding in between all of that as well. I'm hoping that this will add a bunch more years to my van.

I've been lucky enough to have three specific awesome friends who understand that I am in need as I have to finish the body before moving towards the end of August. They have come out and have lent me a hand and I love them dearly :* (This probably wouldn't have been finished in time had they not helped me out, so le't hear it for friends!!).

Here are some pics!!

above: My friend working away, removing rust.

above: although I am going to use the $50 paint job technique using a roller, I've sprayed the matching color behind the bumper before putting the new one on. It's much easier to spray the cracks and tight areas now.
That chrome bumper is the one that I salvaged from my black '81 van before having it towed away.

above: The bumper is on with only two bolts for the moment. I'm hoping that when the others are in, the whole thing will straighten itself out.

above: A small dent......can't really be seen unless you get down on your knees so I'll let it go; again, time is of the essence here.

above: This back corner was rotted out pretty badly; I cut a lot away. A while ago, I bought a primed hood from a guy and low and behold, he even had a replacement piece for this very corner. The replacement panel was for a full size van and not a stubby but I cut and trimmed it and bondo'd the crack. I used a rivet gun to attach it..........I am not a pro and I really don't mind the rivets being visible so this is the finished product.

above: Here's what my weekend has in store.....the windshield is coming out and the overhead visor is temporarily coming off to get to these repairs. I have a much newer winshield with no cracks that I picked up for $50 around X-Mas time.
I've been collecting everything I need to build my van, hoods, windshields, taillight covers, old shcool grilles, radical headlights. All I need now are flares or those chrome trim pieces around the wheel wells that the conversion vans have...........anyone know where to get them?
Let me know, please :)

above: A bad spot to be repaired this weekend.

above: I bet you're wondering what the heck this crap is!?!? This is how I repaired this section on my first van. This is the bottom side of the van on the driver's side between the driver's door and the back tire; This spot always rusts out. I cut and remove a big strip here because it makes it easier to have access to clean out what lies behind. After cutting and grinding and cleaning and rust converting, I duct tape these sections and then fill it with expanding foam and then cover the holes so that the whole area is covered. Leave this to dry over night and by the next day, it should be dry. Make sure to put paper behind the duct tape where it doesn't stick to the van. Once you remove the tape, the foam will have expanded and all you have to do it shave the foam back and then fill it with body filler. The foam has little bubble holes so the bondo gets in to those holes and sticks well. Now you just have to fill it in and sand it smooth. I'm not going to bother putting in the lip on the underside, it's way easier to skip it and most people won't even notice. I have no plans for running boards ever anyways.

above: My neighbours thought that I was crazy the first time I did this and my current neighbours feel the same way. :p

Note all of that rusty crap that came out from inside and behind the cutaway section. This is a great way to clean that spot out.

I'm telling ya; this works and saves a lot of time and sanding. ;)

above: I forgot to flip this image so rotate it once clockwise and you are looking at the front of my van as it looks right now with the hood open. I had some down time to kill so I began fitting the old shcool one piece chrome grille to the van. I had to remove over an inch from the nose of my '95. The hardest thing will be getting the lights to fit. The old grilled is set up for circular lights, which look so cool!! The circles that you see here for the headlights don't line up with the circles on the grille; so.............because I need to be able to adjust and aim my headlights, I am going to cut the headlight hole section right out on the van, align them and then re-attach them with a bracket or a sort. This will totally work and will be awesome, more on this later.

above and below: The guy who developed the $50 paint job technique used it on his charger and Beatle. These are the kinds of results that you can expect when done properly.

My Van, to be continued...............................

INSANE IN THE MEMBRANE!!!!

2008-08-12T05:55:00.000-07:00

So long story short.....I am moving very soon and I was going to sell my van for a shortbox v6 conversion van but after going to see it......I felt much better about my van. I think that it was just what I needed to remind myself that my van is in pretty good shape and that I have put a lot in to it.

So longer story even shorter.....I've got just less than two weeks to do the body and paint but I am determined. I've been putting in some long days and I've made a bunch of progress. I have finished almost the whole right side and some of the van and have started the grille conversion. Everything is going well, some things take longer than I want and some things don't take long enough but hey, I have no time to be picky right now. I never said I was a body man......just a crafty person.

I've got plenty of empty cans of rust converter and primer and it looks like I've fried my angle grinder from removing an inch of metal off of the nose to fit the grille. I still plan to use the $50 paint job method using 'tremclad medium blue'. I am pretty excited about it all !!!

Things to do:

-Remove windshield and visor to do the body work......pay $80 to have my new one proffesionally installed.

-grind bolts away to remove the rear bumper to do the body. I already got the front one off. These will be replaced with the chrome bumpers off of my '81.

-The obstacle with the grille conversion is that the wholes for the headlights do not line up with the holes on the body. The solution is to cut out the headlight holes on the body; cut the whole thing out in a section and align it and then attach it with a custom bracket; this will work.

-small sections of body.

Wish me luck and keep me in our vannin' prayers!! Pictures to come!!

Chevy Van Facelift part 1

2008-05-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

Here's a quick video of my first step in the plan of attack. The thing about body work is the time that you have to put in to it!

Sorry that the quality is not that great but it's all I have for now.

So now is the time to prep. I have to clean the van and lay out all of the tools that I will need that I have. I figure I should make a list of materials that I will need and go out and get them as well. After those things are done I'll be clear to start on the body.

Stay tuned for more; I'll try to make the video quality better ;)

Transportation Alterations.....

2008-05-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

So for those who don't know, this is the summer that I plan to do the body and paint to the van. For this project I am dropping the insurance to fire and theft and parking the van. That way I can pull off the bumpers and really do a good job. I'm doing the paint job using the $50 paint job technique....if you don't know it, google it ;)

So I realized that with no van I still need a way to get around. I have to go to work five days a week plus I still plan to go busking at the market with my didge and drums. How do I transport all of my stuff? I still need to be able to get cat litter, tubs of ice cream for sundaes, pales of body filler....you know the basics ;)

A friend of mine at work recently bought an electric bicycle. The thing looks more like a scooter than a bike but it's legally classified as a bicycle. I did some searching and ended up ordering an electric bike conversion kit. I decided that I need one of these things because I will be hauling my busking gear plus doing the usual errands that life demands. To keep my energy level up and to keep things fairly reasonable I need some electric help. With gas prices rising and insurance dropped my kit will pay for itself.

So long story short, I set out to find an aluminum framed cruiser bicycle....I found one used on kijiji.ca . I love kijiji.ca !!!!!!!

I got a schwinn 5speed aluminum framed bike used but almost new for $125 and I love it. It was actually the Tim Horton's 40th anniversary roll up the rim to win bike.

Here's a pic:

So I just got word that my electric kit has been shipped so it should show up this week, hope, hope. I decided to paint the bike before I put the kit on it and having taken friday off from work, well, it presented the best time to jump right in to this project.

Ok, Here's the plan: how to get a glittery metallic look on a budget.

1. Paint the bike with tremclad

2. sprinkle it with lots of glitter, let it dry

3. spray it with varathane a couple times

4.cover the whole thing with spar varathane.

This has been a technique on my mind for a while and this was the best time to try it out.

Did it work? Well you be the judge........

Here are some pictures of the process:

The bike

Classic red paint.....radio flyer style.......time for a change!!

The tools, (minus the spar varathane)

Four more tubes of sparkle was needed to finish the job.

The test subject: the chain guard.

The completed chain guard.

Close up of the chain guard, looks good!!

Another close up shot of the back of the bike.

Chain guard installed

Finished , very happy with the result.

Bling! Bling!

Schwinn!!

Well, all in all I'm super happy how it turned out. I'm still building up thin coats of spar just to add a good strong protective layer to last for many years.

I'll post the features of this bike later on this week as well as some pictures. Maybe I'll add a youtube video of the bike and it's glow lights and it's on board sound system!!

Once I get my E-kit I will be set up and then it will be back to project van.

Until next time.

Cue the outro music.............

!!!Pictures!!!

2008-01-17T14:53:00.000-08:00

I was heading to the van to take some pictures for a friend so I took some extra snaps of the model. I originally wired a green light in there with it but never got the picture for it after dark....so here it is.

and another..........

~~~~~~

Here's a shot of the back doors...mind the skis. I may put more woodtrim half way up the doors.

~~~

A while ago, my ignition switch quit. I had all my power but no crank. The switch itself is on the top of the steering column.......*sigh*.......that's not an easy spot to get to. I read my manual and started to go for it but then decided against it and to go with plan b. Plan B worked great. I wired a push button ignition, (looks the same as the horn button), straight to the starter, bypassing the ignition switch. All the safety is still there as you must insert the key in to the key ignition and thurn it to 'run' and this also unlocks the colums.....then push the button which cranks. I'm thrilled about it because once again...this is old school, (push button start on dash), meets new school, (steering column lock/anti-theft).

I also re-located the 12 volt cig. lighter as it was taken out with the engine hub cover piece. It's now placed just further down from the starting button.

Here's a picture.........

~~~~

Here are the new green lights I put last weekend............

They add a nice mood in combination with the dome light.

~~~

And here are the LED parking lights...they look much brighter in this picture....

I can't wait for the new headlights and front end!!!!!!!!!

Here are my new tail light covers, freshly won off ebay......been looking for these babies for a while ;) Never thought I'd score them so cheap, ($17!!!!!!!)(yes!!!)

And here is my still kind of new keychain, also from ebay....$5 It's actually a dinky car, probably from the dollar store, with a screw i hook in the back but it's a full circle instead of a hook...I guess a 'loop'. That's a good idea.......someone I know should do this and sell them on his website with his URL on the side of the van ;)

~~~

And finally, here's the van in full on winter mode....even though most of the snow is melted away, boo......If it's going to be winter and I can't do body work...at least let it snow so I can cross country ski and enjoy it.....*sigh*

Winter mode = winter tires and rims, 12 volt heater (only comes out for winter), dirty, dirty sides....just can't keep it clean in the winter...but hey, at least she's undercoated.

That's it for this instalment.....Keep it real

*cue the phat music*

The Winter Blues.....

2008-01-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

Well, there's not too much to report on. The van is currently in winter mode with it's winter rims and tires. She's been running great other than a strange smoke stream that came from the toggle switch for the heater followed by a burning plastic smell followed by the heater quiting except for when it's set on high.....or as it is written, 'HI'. I'm not too worried about it; I have a 12volt heater. "HI" works so my windshield will remain clear and that's all that matters.

I think I've settled on a color for the van.....

"DUN --da da da!!" (drum roll) "trtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrt"

Superman blue is what I'm calling it...but it's listed as "Ford blue" so "Superman blue" it is!!

I'm pretty pumped about it......I can just picture the blue with the all chrome old school grille, the amber LED parking and signal lights and the all chrome bumpers and rims.....sigh...if only it was warm enough to start the body work.......I'd be all over it. Of course, this means that I need to remove the mini me and re-paint it.....it's a labour of love ;)

I got esepecially exited when I found the picture (below) on line. It shows what my headlights will look like when you turn on the outer bulb of the headlight......super sexy!!

Now combine that with the LED's and the chrome grille and you got yourself a good lookn' front end ;)

I also scored a new windshield with a factory tinted upper first 6"...if that makes sense to you, congratulations!

Seeing how I need to pull the old winshield out to do some body work around the seal, (that old goose ;) ) , I may as well drop in a better one and get rid of the one with two cracks and scratches. Oh yeah, and I got it from a really nice guy for $50! Which is great because it's probably all that I'm willing to spend ;)

I now have a CB radio and a nice tall arial on top of the van...between two yard sales it only cost me $17 .........man, I love a bargain!! I think that's half the fun of all of this ;) The radio will be installed directly underneath the mini me model....where you currently see the piece of wood.

I also installed two 4" green tube lights up front right above the doors. I wired them in to the dome light/interior lights.....they add a little mood lighting for whatever mood that you may be in....Happy, sad, angry or just green. I have two more that I will locate in the back somewhere. I actually did them by fluke while I was waiting for 'captain underpants', (if you know me, you know who I mean), at the doctor. I had the lights under a back seat, my tool kit with a philips and that was it. 20-30 mins. later, they were up and running. Just to add, they only costed me $3 each, cheap!!

I've disconnected my amp and I plan on pulling it out. It has a buzz, I can hear the engine acceleration through the speakers that it powers.....never had this happen before.........but I really don't care to fix it. The 'loud' feature on my deck and the mids and hi's with filters sound great to me plus there is a lot less drain on the battery and less work for the alternator to do. I'll save the power for the underlights ;)

One of my X-mas gifts was a stainless steel travel mug; this is great as plastic causes cancer...don't believe me? Number 5 plastic.......it's everywhere......it's even lining your cans of pop....it has been found in cancer. But really, does it take a genius to figure out that plastic and heat don't mix? What does your common sense tell you? Mine says, "Holy Crap, let's avoid plastics wherever possible!!" Anywho, I'm off topic here................the coolest feature of this mug is that it has a base that you can screw the mug in to. I'm thinking that I may screw the base down to the left side of my drink tray and then screw my mug in to it.....no more securing my mug with my hand while I take turns.

Get a load of the new no window Chevrolet HHR (below)

Looks like a modern panel van. You could probably even put some custom port holes in those back corners ;) I'll stick to my van ;)

That's about it for this edition of "Pimp my Chevy Van"!!! Cue the music....."Zoom!! Zaga!! Weh Wah" phat drum beat.................................."Zoom!! Zaga!! Weh! Wah!!! Phat drum beat........repeat and fade out.....

PS: Be sure to check out the newest website http://www.mychevyvan.com/

Finally back in action!!

2007-09-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, here we go!!

So I've done a whole lot and I may forget to mention small features, we'll see.

I installed a two way communication remote start and alarm system which has been pretty darn good. I hooked it up myself...wasnt' too hard, you just have to be sure that you use the right wires ;)

The front area of the van is completely different now....behold it!!!(refer to pic. below)

As you can see, the dash went from grey to brown, the cd player was relocated from the centre and the glove box hub is gone. Since this van is supposed to look old school, I opted to go with the custom drink tray and no big bulky glove box hub covering my red velvet. BTW, all of the red velvet was pulled from the interior of the black van is being reused which means I spend no money, yay!!

Those grey things on the drink tray and LED clips: I glued them down. They are very handy when you have directions or a grocery list of a sort and the lights are bright and they swivel around...I got them at the dollar shop.

One of the things that I really missed from the older model vans is the gauge cluster. I really like the look of the single circular gauge clusters instead of one big one. I treid the one from the black van but it didn't quite fit.......so I had to get custom!! Basically I had to take off about an inch from the back of the circular holes as they were too deep to fit properly. I used a belt sander and sanded it away until it fit and I was very happy when it did. This gave me back my old school gauge cluster which I missed terribly.

The ceiling in the front seat is velvet. I put a varanthaned piece of wood as a trim piece which seperates teh material from the front to the back. The back is done with industrial carpet. I did the engine hub with velvet.

The horn button was relocated to the left side of the wheel.

I got some pedal covers from the scrap yard for $4 The 'foot' gas peddle I removed from the black van which I had originally purchased new.

The door panels are now velvet just like the engine hub. I mounted some pioneer speakers in the doors as well. The arm rest was painted brown and varathaned for durability.

You may have noticed a small van mounted in the dash that looks astonishingly like the real van. Well, no word of a lie, it is an exact mini me model.

By using two model kits I re-created all of the accessories of the 'real' van including the side windows, the windshield visor, the spoiler on teh back, the back side corner windows and even the chrome tips of the dual exaust system. Here's the cherry on the sunday: the headlights of the mini me model van flash when you are the alarm system. I did this by using those dollar shop LED lights that I mentioned earlier...I took them apart and removed the lights and then I soldered wires to them and ran them to the led outputs from the alarm system...ie: that red blinking light that tells you the car is armed, I just cut it out and wired the led's to it.

There is a circular purple light underneath the model as well as a green LED 4" tube light that lights the whole area up at night.

The plastic window that protects the van will be changed to galss eventually.

Other new features include new seats and seat covers. Originally I had two different sets of seats and they didn't match...I couldn't have that so a day at the scrap yard gve me two new/used seats. Then I found the seat covers on super duper sale so I got all 4 for $20 brand new.

The whole interior, (other than the front cockpit section) is done with industrial carpet. I used one piece as a whole and just rolled it up and over; this was very difficult..luckily I had cymbal stands to use as jacks ;) The carpet cost me $25

I also put in some custom light fixtures which I purchased at Value Village for 99cents. I used my dremmel tool and cut a larger section out of the under side of the new fixture and glued on some velcro so that if you need to change the bulb, all you have to do is pull it off as it is simply stuck to the carpet on teh ceiling. I also painted the bases black.

Today I did the back doors...they too were covered in red velvet. I will have to take more pics as these were taken two weeks ago.

Here's a shot of the van from the outside. You can see the back windows that I installed; they were given to me free and spent a couple bucks on the window sealer. Other than that, a jig saw and a few hours of my time was all that it took.

You can also see the spoiler, the backs of the 12v horns and the tip of the left side of the dual exaust system that I pulled off my black van. I originally had it installed new on the black van..it's a dual system that runs to two cats and the then two dyno max turbos.

From the front you can see the LED signal lights; one is a parking light and the other is the signal light.

I grabbed the old school wiper arms off of the black van and snapped them on.

The hood scoop is just for looks. I may leave it off when I do all of thd body work and primer...any thoughts on that out there?

The grille is going to get replaced with the old school 70's style grille, complete with round headlights. It just came yesterday; I won it off ebay. I've been trying to find one of these for a while. Yeah, sure, they're easy to find if they're white but I had to get the all chrome one.

This means that the headlights will be replaced with round ones becasue that's how they came for the old grilles. Still in their box, I have two round diamond cut headlights just waiting to be hooked up. These are those lights that look almost blue-ish/white-ish that you see on nicer cars; they're going to look deadly!!

Here's a shot of the grille

And here are the headlights

So what's next you ask......?

I still have all of the body work to do and then priming and painting.

I've pulled the chrome bumpers from the black van and they will eventually get on to the yellow van.

I have to pull off all of the brakes from thd black van...lost of stuff to reclaim from it..then I can have it towed away.

Pull the purple underlight kit from the black van and eventually put them on the yellow van..man I miss those things...I know, they're cheesy but they look cool on a fly ride.

Change the front suspension springs back to the original ones, bringing it back to proper height which will let me put the proper sized tires up front again. The smaller tires always look saggy as they carry a lot of weight: people and engine.

It's going in to the shop next monday to hopefully fix a wire problem somewhere that has been giving me a lot of grief when the weather gets cool.....having to wiggle wires to get the engine to start is not cool and not being able to find the wire is even worse. I checked a bunch of wires out and after soldering the suspicious looking ones, still no luck.

You know that song: 'when something is wrong with my baby"? and it continues on to say 'something is wrong with me'? Well, that' s how I feel when something is wrong with the van.

Fixed camera

2007-07-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

Well folks, good news: the camera is fixed. There have been lots of additions and changes from nearly finished interior to all new dash to custom in-dash mini- me model with flashing to the 'armed status' headlights on it.

stay tuned............

Some thoughts......

2007-02-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

Sad to say the camera is broken but happy to say that there is a re-call on it. This means that I have no new pics to show you. Here are a few plans for the van that are in the works.

I'm thinking for the interior, ie: ceiling and walls, I am going to do something new. My black van was all red velvet....pretty classic, nice but it's been done. My first van I did with carpet and padded vynel walls which is nice but has been done.

I'm thinking I will go with my current green shag, (well, modern shag which is half the length), and black and white chess board ceiling and walls. I think this will match the carpet, the yellow color of the van and just the overall image of the van.

I'm planning on re-using all of the wall boards from the black van, (I know they will fit and heck, they're already cut for me and everything), and then covering the boards with a huge roll of vynel flooring.....you know......like what you might use in your kitchen. It's durable and bright and has a bit of a shine to it so all in all I think it will work well. I'm either going to install it by covering each piece of board, one at a time and matching the black and white squares to eachother or, I'll buy a super big roll and, starting from the bottom left side of the van, roll it up the wall, across the ceiling and down the other side keeping it all uniform and seamless, I'm not sure which way seems easier yet.

A few weeks ago I picked up and two way remote start and alarm system. It's been too darn cold to install it but I'm hoping to get it done this weekend, wheather permitting. A two way system is where it communicates back to you ie: if you remote start it, on the screen of the key chain switch, it will show me wether or not the vehicle started successfully. If you alarm is tripped, it will immediately beep at me like a pager and it will show me where and how the alarm was tripped; maybe someone hit the van.....or they opened a door. All in all it's a pretty cool system.

Ok, so you know how usually vans like mine have cool little windows in the back upper side corners? These are most commonly called port-hole windows. There are all sorts of shapes like, chevy bow-ties, hearts- tear drops, hexagons, circles, ovals and so on. I managed to get some that are tic tac shaped...like the candy. There will be two on each side a few inches apart in the usual spot. These windows will immediately change the look of the van. Once they're in, any on-looker will know right away that this is no ordinary cargo van....oh no....it's a full rock star van or call it what you will, I've heard: super van, sport van, custom van, shaggn' wagn', boogie van and so on. Oh yeah, the great thing about these windows is that they were free from my neighbour, Spider,(he's cool).

The other thing I've been trying to figure out is what I'm going to do with the front grille. I want all chrome but unless I can find a good price, that won't happen. I've also been finding that it's extremely hard to find chrome grilles for a 95 van.....I can find them for all the other models but not mine!!!!!!????????????!!!!!!!!!!!! It drives me nuts. My other plan is to just get a brand new factory grille, paint it to match the body but put that chrome mesh grille stuff behind it. Or, just have a frame for the grille and fill the hole with chrome mesh.

Hmmm........what else.....random things, here we go:

-The chrome bumpers will come off of the black van go to the yellow van in the warmer weather.

I've seen vans like mine with no rear bumpers and it looks awesome but is it legal?? Anyone know? "Bueler? Bueler? Bueler?" <--------Ferries Bueler's day off

-I put the door straps from the black van to the yellow van. They prevent the back doors from just swingly freely open and wacking the car next to you...nice little things to have.

-New custom LED parking and signal lights are on and look great, pics to come later.

-I bought some 70's van emblems for my model off of ebay. You see, in the 80's they changed them and that's what I have on mine. I want the classic look so they had to go.

Above is the classic look.....below is what I'm replacing minus all of that GMC stuff.

I want to do the minor body work and then re-paint the van. I'm learning as much about painting vehicles yourself as possible. I've ordered this guys DVD,....he seems to be the king.

www.easypaintyourcar.com

-Flares off the old van.....restored and installed on new van.

-purple underlight kit has to come off of the black van and go to the yellow van.

-seat covers..........

-custom drink tray and panel cover.....a must have classic custom van item. Have a look at the pic below for the view. It may not be exactly the same but hey, that's the beauty of it....*custom* what ever you want you can do, oh baby!!

-Front Dash....I'm thinking paint it brown or purple? Thoughts??

Well, I gotta go, I've wasted enough time here making my list of what to do...some may call it a 'to-do' list.

See you later and go to this link and see one of favorite vans....this guy did a great job on his van.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/117130

watch the second and third video and turn your volume up!!!

Later,

Heavy Chevy

PS: This week I stayed up late to win an ebay auction for 32 VAN WORLD mags from the 70's. When I found them they were up to $41 US and in the last 10 min. it was all out war bringing the final price to a whoppn' $285US and I lost and was pretty bummed out and kind of pissed. :(

Fuel pumps pump fuel and money

2007-02-04T19:09:00.000-08:00

So my fuel pump quit two weeks ago. But, never fear...$423 later, everything is great!!! All the fun things that go with having a not brand new vehicle. At least it's not an '81 like my old one.

I'm a little behind on my posts as the digital camera here is acting up.

So unfortunately, Pimp my Chevy Van will not be seen today; instead we bring such classic re-runs of 'growing pains' followed by ' who's the boss' followed by 'family matters' and concluded by an all new old re-run of 'full house' where uncle joey and uncle jessie get in to some zanny adventure of a sort involving some kind of radio jingle and will probably feature a brief appearance by the beach boys and oh yeah...little Stephanie will, without a doubt, deliver her awesomely annoying classic line: "How Rude", and we will all want to punch her up side the head.

Good night and take care of eachother.

Cue the music------> *PHAT* bass...'boom'',......'scratch, scratch' ......'boom'....'oh yeah'......'punk!!'

The new baby....

2007-01-18T13:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, so after getting the van plated, insured, and paid for I brought it home and began its metamorphasis.
The first thing I did was get the horns transfered over from the black van. These horns are electrical so it's pretty darn easy to do. A quick trip to Canadian Tire for some wire and a push button and, "HONK! HORN!!", I was set up.

Here's the push button mounted on the dash. When I paint the dash later, I am planning on relocating the button to the left side of the steering wheel, on the dash.

The next thing I did was to install the window drip visor on the door. Then, I removed the windshield visor from the black van, cleaned and primed and painted it to match and then installed it. I also switched the mirrors as my old ones were in better shape; I also switched the door lock pins for the same reason. I switched the door handles too because the new van had black thumb buttons and I'm going for as much chrome as I got ;)

Then I swapped my door interiors that I had originally done on the black van, they're tweed.

Next was the hood scoop that I originally installed on the black van. Cleaned, primed and painted, looks pretty boss. The scoop is non-functional but could be made to be functional, ( I won't bother.....it's not a hot rod....it's more like a big 'hot wheels' toy.

*Note: You can't quite see it here but the signal light and parking lights are not the originals and are actually bigger in size. At some point when these were installed, the grill was cut to fit them. These will have to go but that's a story for another day :)

Here' s the inside as it looks right now. I was delighted to see that this van has the same steering wheel that I installed on my old '92.....(I was sad to lose that wheel when I sold that van but now I have it back. It's exactly the same one). This is great because one of the major things I hate about the 90's models are the bubbly looking steering wheels.

Here's the dash from the right...over all shape, not bad but the grey color has to go. I'm thinking brown right now...things can change though. Someone had installed tweeters (that's that round black thing) and they do work.

I will make a solid wood drink tray at some point, (this is a classic van thing to do).

Here's the deck and it's mounting..........ewwwww. I have plans do make a nice solid wood mounting piece for this.

Here's another shot of the inside. The sub will be relocated to the rear. Oh yeah, the van came with the sub, deck and amp. There is a crackle sound from the sub and it seems to respond to my acceleration....I think it's a bad ground but that's from another day, (no harm).

These seats I pulled out of the black van and relocated them to the new van making it a four seater. All seats and belts are bolted down to factory spec. In these shots, the shoulder strap is not yet bolted but they are now.

That back corner will one day have a small window of a sort in it, classic van style, baby!!

More intereior.....there's my spare tire, never leave home without it.

Oh yeah, seat belt laws have changed: every last person must have a belt. It used to be that if all belts are used then you could legally pile as many people in as you wanted...as long as they were over 18. I'm very glad they changed this law.

Here are the rear doors, soon to have speakers mounted in them. Usually when you add the interior boards you cut a hole on the back doors to have access to the door handle. This is a big safety issue so I assure you that although the hole is not there in that picture, it is now.

Van from the rear, doors open. Though not in this picture, I've added my door pulls from my other van. These are very handy little things as they prevent the door from swinging wide open like the door on the right.

Here's the van from the back, no windows, nice!! I also added my spoiler from the black van, cleaned, primed and painted.....this is all lots of work ya' know ;)

If you look you can also see the old tailight style on the black van and the new style on the yellow van.

So here are the newest accessories in all their golry.
See how the front is lower....?... This was custom done by someone else but I was told by a mechanic that they did it the proper way and not the 'home in the driveway way'...that's good to know. The problem it posed for me was that when it was time to take off the summer rims and tires, when I swapped on my winters, the fronts didn't fit anymore....they would rub when you turn. So, $300 unexpected dollars later, I had two new front winters. At least when the rears thin out I'll have two more waiting to jump on. I like to have winter tires all the way around, front and back, much safer.

Here's a shot of one of the wheel flares from the black van. I will need to fix and restore, prime and paint all of them but it's worth it. These flares are so hard to find unless you want to buy them new from the states for like $1200 US.......no thanks....I'll use what I have.

You can also see the edge of the running board, (that metal thing that runs along the bottom of the van, it's a step). I'm not going to put these on the new van but I;m trying to think of a use for them. .

Oh man, what a sexy van!! I know, I'm a junkie :)

Stay tuned for the next episode of pimp my chevy van where we will see the carpet installed and custom LED parking and signal front lights, and mounted speakers on the back doors ready to "THWOMP" with 'da beat!!

*Cue the music........phat bass............oh yeah!!

New Van

2007-01-15T16:53:00.000-08:00

Well, this is my first blog and I gotta say.......I can't believe I'm blogging!!!

Off the bat, just so everyone knows, this blog is dedicated strictly to my addiction to my van and all of the cool things that I do to it.

Let's see...here' s the rundown: a bunch of years ago, I bought a 1992 g20 chevy, shortbox. It was an old rusty rogers van. This is where my addiction started....I began fixing it up, getting rid of all of the rust and quirks and the more I did, the better it got. When I was finally content with it, it was orange with black flames on the front and teardrop windows in the back corners, had a totally finished interior including padded vynel walls and cushy carpet and neon lights.

Then one day, I had an opportunity to get a 1981 GMC Vandura 1500 which is more or less the same van but old school. It had everything that I wanted my '92 to have ie: flares!! old school dash, flip out rear windows, no windows on the sides, chrome bumpers, running boards, chrome horns on top and a sun roof, red velvet interior, chrome rims, highbeam floor switch and a good looking black paint job....all the bells and whistles.

I bought it for a cheap price of $1000, oh yeah, it had a 350 with a holley carb in it!! It had some serious balls but with serious balls comes serious gas consumption. I switched the holley to a rochester and boy did it make a difference. This van was great other than all the problems of vehicles with carbs. The rainy day stall outs were getting annoying; the sun roof was leaking and then the bloc heater quit and started sending burning coolant in to the cab, fogging up my windshield beyond visibility. Having just moved and really needing a reliable vehicle, I decided that it was time to consider buying something a little newer. Having owned both new school and old school chevy vans, I knew the reliability was much better in the 90's models not to mention the fuel economy. But, this meant letting go of such great things like the old school dash and old school brake lights and the highbeam footswitch.......but, I knew it was worth it.

So here's the criteria that I decided on, if I was to buy another van, it's obviously has to a shorthbox chevy van, it has to have rear windows only or no windows, it has to be a 90's model and the body, frame, engine, and tranny all have to be good shape; I even thought to myslef that a musturd yellow van would be nice. 5 min. later I was on the net, just for fun and the first van that I found fit my criteria and it was only an hour out of town away. Oh yeah, this was the only van that I found that fit my criteria....what the heck are the odds of that???

Here's what I got, "SHAZAM!!!" (now immediately after reading the word 'shazam', look at the new van below and be amazed!!

Tune in next time kids, for the exciting next installment of PIMP MY CHEVY VAN

*cue the cool credits/end of show music* (probably with a 'phat' bass line of a sort)