I haven't blogged in a while. Life has a funny way of distracting you if you look away for a second. I've been thinking a lot lately about blogging, and getting back into it. The closest I really get is sharing mechanical knowledge or project updates on Facebook. Well, Facebook is fickle, as we all know, so I wanted to express myself better through a blog. I have a couple of blogs already, one for my book, and one for daily life and oddities I encounter. But I wanted a blog to better showcase some of my builds and restorations, some of my core passions. I have a couple of projects I am working on right now, but I lack enthusiasm when it comes to blogging about them simply because I bounce back and forth between them, so my blogging would be a bit sporadic. This project will give me plenty to write about, I'm sure.
Well, recently we were given (yes, given, as in a gift) a 1976 Chevy G20 Van. By all means, please don't let that sound too glamorous, you haven't seen the van; yet. I had seen this van many times along my strolls through "the woods of classics", it sat five feet from my 1950 Ford F-1 when I drug it out of the woods. I never paid it much attention because for one, it was becoming part of the foliage, and two, it had that 'look' to it. You know, the look which makes it hard for you to decide if it's a 'pedo-cruiser', or a carpet layers van (albeit they could be one in the same). When I was told the van was ours free and clean, I was ecstatic inside, but in a bittersweet way. I relished the thought of another useful tool we could benefit from. But part of me was saying "it's been taken by the woods and nature, and they may not want to give it back".
It actually took me two days to go down there (the back 40) and assess the situation. By then I had already been compiling ideas in my head on ways I can customize this huge vehicle. But I was taking a casual approach to it. See, I had already been working on my '73 El Camino (454) days before that trying to get it road-worthy. After running into a few setbacks on the Elky, I was a bit leary on what a money pit this van could possibly be.
Rewind a few weeks: I had just hauled my beloved El Camino up from Texas in hopes of finishing it soon and getting back on the road. I had taken the nearly-worthless 350 (sbc) engine out of my Elco and replaced it with the much more brutish 454 (bbc) motor. I hadn't tied up the loose ends on the Elco before I moved (eventually) back to Missouri, so the El Camino was only about 80% done. I got it up here and started to fiddle with it, putting the remaining items on it, such as the radiator, alternator, headers, water pump, when I decided to spin the crank just for good measure. As (my) luck would have it, the (newly rebuilt) engine was completely locked up. Later I found that the hood was sitting high in the back, causing rain water to funnel down into the engine. *(insert FML FML FML here)
Soooo, I now realized that the van was a God-send, being that my Elco would have to be completely torn down and some parts replaced, causing it to go to the back burner to 'de-funk and re-rag'. But wait! I haven't even gotten the van out of it's "less-than-final" resting place. I don't even know if it runs and drives. Shit. Well, time to go drag that big bitch out of the woods and see what she's all about...
Oh, before I get carried away, I had to set off spider bombs in it before I stepped foot in it. Upon opening the driver door, I noticed 3 brown recluses of good size, and numerous other species of spider roaming freely in the cockpit. Die, octo-bitches!
After swapping two of the wheels with shredded tires on them for 'good' ones and airing up the other two, I believe the submarine bus was almost ready to move out of the country and into the city, so to speak. My fiance was cool enough to tug this boat to it's new spot with the Z71. I was nervous, because I had no idea if the transmission, brakes, or wheels were frozen up. I knew the brake pedal was non-functional; frozen solid. The first part of the journey was on a slight downhill incline, so I didn't want to damage the bumper or tailgate of the Z71. I really didn't know what to expect. Ok, so I panicked right off the bat and slammed on the brake pedal, which caused the pedal to become unstuck, so I guess the brakes did work after all.
We got the van moved to a spot that was close to electricity and water so I/we could begin cleaning it. The plan was as cKy suggested: Infiltrate. Destroy. Rebuild. I would finally get to go inside and survey this thing. Not liking what I saw was a fucking understatement. This thing was a disaster zone on the inside, and riddled with rat shit and the strong, stenchy smell of mouse pee pee. Not to mention the snake skin sheddings. Oh yeah, that was a lovely find! The following pictures don't do the smell any justice. This van makes me realize that nothing in this world is free.
The G20 van had a very busy first day of re-animation. We accomplished a lot, although one might not tell. I haven't even told you what kind of nightmare I found in the front of the vehicle, I'll save that for tomorrow's blog entry.
Well, recently we were given (yes, given, as in a gift) a 1976 Chevy G20 Van. By all means, please don't let that sound too glamorous, you haven't seen the van; yet. I had seen this van many times along my strolls through "the woods of classics", it sat five feet from my 1950 Ford F-1 when I drug it out of the woods. I never paid it much attention because for one, it was becoming part of the foliage, and two, it had that 'look' to it. You know, the look which makes it hard for you to decide if it's a 'pedo-cruiser', or a carpet layers van (albeit they could be one in the same). When I was told the van was ours free and clean, I was ecstatic inside, but in a bittersweet way. I relished the thought of another useful tool we could benefit from. But part of me was saying "it's been taken by the woods and nature, and they may not want to give it back".
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| This was my initial observation of the van. Oh boy... |
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| The first steps to restoring a car? Weed whacker, Deep Woods Off, Raid wasp spray, air tank, tow chain, and cuss, for your tongue. |
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| I think at first I was more concerned with the plethora of hungry mosquitos than I was with the overall condition of the van. |
Rewind a few weeks: I had just hauled my beloved El Camino up from Texas in hopes of finishing it soon and getting back on the road. I had taken the nearly-worthless 350 (sbc) engine out of my Elco and replaced it with the much more brutish 454 (bbc) motor. I hadn't tied up the loose ends on the Elco before I moved (eventually) back to Missouri, so the El Camino was only about 80% done. I got it up here and started to fiddle with it, putting the remaining items on it, such as the radiator, alternator, headers, water pump, when I decided to spin the crank just for good measure. As (my) luck would have it, the (newly rebuilt) engine was completely locked up. Later I found that the hood was sitting high in the back, causing rain water to funnel down into the engine. *(insert FML FML FML here)
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| I've seen worse, but it all has to come apart. I suspect the rings are rusted to the cylinder walls on a couple, or maybe the wrist pins are frozen. Regardless, a lot of extra work I wasn't counting on. |
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| All tires were flat, had to replace 2 with ones I found that 'held air'... |
After swapping two of the wheels with shredded tires on them for 'good' ones and airing up the other two, I believe the submarine bus was almost ready to move out of the country and into the city, so to speak. My fiance was cool enough to tug this boat to it's new spot with the Z71. I was nervous, because I had no idea if the transmission, brakes, or wheels were frozen up. I knew the brake pedal was non-functional; frozen solid. The first part of the journey was on a slight downhill incline, so I didn't want to damage the bumper or tailgate of the Z71. I really didn't know what to expect. Ok, so I panicked right off the bat and slammed on the brake pedal, which caused the pedal to become unstuck, so I guess the brakes did work after all.
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| This lil tree frog was chillin' above the wheel, giving us his blessing for the van. If a frog digs a van, then I dig the van. |
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| Overall, it didn't look too bad to me. Another man's treasure... |
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| Disguisting inside, but it was free, right? |
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| All that mouse crap, arrgg! I'm beginnign to despise those rodents. And I'm thinking about firing my cats, they are obviously not doing their jobs... |
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| Yeah, snake skin from shedding in the back of my van, not cool. Regroup with flashlight and pistol on my hip... |
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| And what do we do with all that trash and junk scattered about our van? This right here... |
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| Not a bad first day for the van (nor I, either). Got the uber-gross carpet out, a lot of the trash, and T even washed the passenger door... |
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