Vandwelling Video Journal

   Things are rolling along famously with old Vannigan.  I finished rebuilding the carburetor today and re-installed that.  I also had my two bargain tires mounted, then I mounted them on the van, so we're in moving status once again.  Today I also replaced the spark plugs, distributor cap, and rotor.  Tomorrow I will change the oil and filter and also install another fuel filter before the fuel pump.  I put the doghouse back on, but need to get a new seal for it, got a little gassed out, lol. 
   Got both front park/turn lights working.  Replaced a bulb in the rear taillight, but still no turn signal output on one side, so I will test the flasher and wiring tomorrow.  I still need to replace a couple of side marker bulbs. 
 

Lighting in effect as twilight looms.

  
   Most everything works, but I still need to check out why the horn isn't working.  I heard it barely engage once with the button, but the button cover on the steering wheel is all warped from heat, and things look kind of dry underneath, so I may have to pull the steering wheel off and lube everything up inside.  I'm having a problem shifting into reverse anyway, so I may just pull the column and service it and grease it.  
   Trying to get it worthy of inspection, as we are dying to get it to the river bank for some camping.  All in due time, but I try to hustle on it every night, and some days.  My main transportation is a motorcycle, so its thrilling for me to be able to take a regular vehicle into town, and around.  It's hard to carry lumber home from Home Depot on a motorcycle, trust me.
   I have been filming some video journals for the blog, which I'll start posting here as I get them edited.  I can't wait to start filming them from abroad.  I'm using just the basic Windows Movie Maker program to keep it simple and quick while out in the bush.  Here's the first one, I call them van dwelling moments.  I was just screwing around with the camera on my laptop, seeing how it would do to film these vlogs from in the woods, or wherever.  More to follow.

Click link below for video
Van Dwelling Moments - Test Footage
 

Resources

     With the ups and downs associated with repairing or restoring an automobile, it can be daunting, on any level.  Even with a huge budget, there are a ton of decisions to make, some of which need to be made quickly on the spot.  Going into a build knowing that you don't have a budget or won't be spending much on the restoration, you would think would make it a lot easier to decide on things, but there are still plenty of factors that can steer you along.  For instance, trying to find an under-dash heater control cable quickly became nervewracking when I realized that a), this part is not readily available through local parts stores, making it difficult to find in the first place, and b), if I do manage to find one, it's going to be expensive as hell.  My solution?  Forget about it til (almost)winter.  This cable activates the heater door, so its not essential that I have it to run the vehicle.  Now, likely I will forget about it until I really need it on a cold day, but that's how that goes.

   I totally understand that the van needs a lot to make it 'perfect' again.  I get it.  But, I also know how much I am willing to spend on it to make it reliable, and it ain't much.  I feel like I've spent more than I wanted to already, replacing fuel pump, tune-up, little parts here and there, it all adds up.  All of this has really made me think hard about where I am going with this project.  Colorado is where I'd like to go (haha, little jokey), but seriously, I have had to decide on how little I can get away with, and still achieve my overall goal with the van.





All these parts in the seat add up to too much spent. Time to be thrifty and bargain hunt.
 

Can't afford new side marker lights right now, so I must keep the rain out somehow.





The fuel gauge didn't work, so I pulled the tank and found the sender above loaded with gunk. I can't afford a new one for $65, so I cleaned the original, and it should work. Forgot to take pics of it after I cleaned it, but it looked new-ish.



 

New terminals, custom cables built by me, and the battery is 'borrowed' from my El Camino. No more connection/current issues. I had all the parts except for the new battery terminals, so I only spent $4 here.


    
   So, I recently went to a local (50 miles away) Pick-N-Pull on an unrelated assignment, and was astonished at how many valuable (and cheap) van parts awaited me for this vanly resurrection.  I mean, they had EVERYTHING I was looking for!  Not necessarily parts I needed for the drivability part of this quest, just things I might buy for it if I had the money.  There were chrome bumpers in perfect condition, reciever hitch, side marker lenses, overhead caps, custom wooden-trimmed interior pieces, this was a gold mine.  Suddenly, I realized there was more hope for our no-budget camper van.  I may actually be able to fit a little style or personality into this mutha.

Chrome bumper in great shape for $50. Not a necessity, but someday, maybe.

 

For $10, a person could add some security to the back windows...

This one was in amazing shape and it runs and drives. Anybody looking to get into vanning should check the salvage yards first, they may offer a cheap introduction.

Look at all this neat stuff I could incorporate into my van if I were ambitious. The Pick-N-Pulls here sell these parts dirt cheap, even the leather seats.

This conversion cap would add some creature comfort and storage to the van. Maybe one day down the road...

Looky here. This van had a whole set of 'custom' side marker lights. For $20, these would fix my water leak problem.

This van had a whole bunch of good parts to give.

And of course, the 'Gucci Man's Jaguar' was spotted at the Pick-N-Pull. What an elegant waste of money.

     I was glad to have found a couple more resources for my van project, resources that will not cost me much.  With a little careful planning I can finish patching this thing back together, and not have it looking like a hooptie.  Ultimately, my overall goals for the van have not changed, more like they have been enhanced, now knowing I can find a few decent replacement parts for cheap.  It means a little more labor, pulling these parts off the donor vehicles myself, but that's what I'm all about.  Satisfaction of having it done right while saving a lot of money is great. 
   Tonight I will try to finish rebuilding the carburetor, then install the spark plugs, distributor cap, and rotor.  All that should make this van run like new.  I have already replaced all the fuel lines, fuel pump, replaced battery terminals and cables, so the van is almost ready to drive.  Today I got two tires at the Pick-N-Pull for $15 apiece, so I won't have to worry about the one going flat 10 minutes after I air it up.  The new tires are Goodyear Wranglers with decent tread and good overall shape.  I picked out knobby, 6-ply tires for the back of the van so I wouldn't have any problems driving the van right to the river bank to fish and camp, in as remote locations as I can find.  I can't wait.  I have been filming video journals from the van during storms lately, getting a feel for the adventures to come.  Van dwelling, here we come...

Working late towards goals, camp lantern helping me see to solder...

 

Where it sat, and where it's at.

   I haven't been working on the van as much as I wanted to this last week, been kinda busy and broke.  I haven't been taking many pictures, and without pictures, to me, a blog is not as good.  I mean, sure, I could focus on my writing skills, but I like you to see what I'm talking about sometimes.  I have never really gotten into the history of the van, so today is a good day for that, seeing I don't have much progress to write about.
   The G20 van is from 1976, a great year for a van to be born.  In the 70's, it seemed like vans were cooler than Corvettes.  A party on wheels.  This particular white van did not start out as a party machine, but I was told it had seen plenty of 'socializing'.
    "I met a lot of girls in this van", he told me under his breath, grinning compulsively while he stared at his old van.  "Some would spend the night" he added further.  I can only imagine.  He had bought the van for his business, in which he traveled around the country selling chainsaws and accessories.  Most of the time, the van would be loaded with several chainsaws and several cases of oil, plus he and his personal gear.  He had insulated the driver side wall and covered it with silver-faced insulation foamboard.  The floor throughout was carpeted with what I would call a "birthday cake puke" pattern.  The owner had also constructed a wooden bed frame with a hinged plywood top, for sleeping and mingling.  When I had first stripped the van to clean it, I thought against re-using the bed platform simply because it took up space in the now-hollow canyon of a van.  Since then however, my fiance has talked me into keeping it, as this will definitely be a camper van, and not necessarily a cargo van.  The truth is, there is still a HUGE amount of usable cargo space in the van with the bed in it, and you can still haul 12-foot timbers with it if you have a porch or outhouse to build.  I have since added a support beam to the back of the bed.  It had been resting on the hinge bolts to the back door, and was flimsy in the middle.


2"x3" support beam and 2"x4" legs I built to support rear of bed. Plenty of room underneath for medium and large storage tubs and other items. That area will get 'rhino lining' on the floor and lighting under the bed. 6 large, or 8 medium tubs fit in the space under the bed.

   I was told the van sat for 20 years before I rescued it.  20 years, blyat.  I can't verify that, but the plate on the back has a license year of 1987, so it sat that long.  Three years before I graduated high school this thing was parked in the woods and forgotten about.  At that time, I knew nothing about working on cars.  It wasn't parked for any reason, other than it just wasn't necessary anymore.  We change jobs, and our lifestyles change.  So do our vehicles.  We drive whatever suits us best at the time.  To think this vehicle ran and drove shortly after pulling it from the weeds, trees, and thorn vines was superlative, to say the least.  Yeah' it needs a few things, but all in all this G20 van is almost completely re-animated, without a lot of effort.


Where it sat. Doesn't look like much now.

    I don't really have a nickname for it, per se, but I have been calling the van, Vannigan.  When I first started on it, I had no real direction of where the van was taking me.  But now, it seems like every day it's purpose becomes a little more clear.  I now know the van will be outfitted as a camper, or small RV.   I have a (guacamole colored) sink I saved from a pop-up teardown, and several different camp stoves, so it doesn't need much else.  The biggest expense I now feel will be the 200-watt solar power kit.  Including batteries and inverter, that will run me $700.  Since I don't have a budget, I will likely have to sell another vehicle to buy into this poker game.  Great.  However, I'm not planning that aspect for a while, so I have some time to plan and acquire. 
   The van will be sparse on the inside, yet have everything we need to drive to Colorado or Kentucky and camp by the river.  I would like to set it up to be totally self-sufficient, but I realize that will take some time and careful planning.  For now, we focus on the basics, and what it needs to be reliable.  Sitting for twenty yeary has made this colt's legs shaky, and I have to teach it how to run again, how to explore. 
   We have worked on a few things recently, unrelated to the driveability of the van, such as we began re-insulating the interior.  I knew I didn't want to put any of that pink 'cotton candy' back in the van.  After seeing what the mice do to that stuff, I hope to never encounter that nightmare again.  I started off by spraying expanding foam in all the ribs and open areas to minimize vibration and noise while driving.  I usually use Stinger Roadkill dampening sheets on the inside of a vehicle for superior noise and heat reduction, but I can't afford that on this build.  To keep it simple, and within budget, we installed styrofoam or styrotek insulation on the ceiling, in-between the ribs.  I have also laid a sheet of blue 1/2" styrofoam on the floor, under a rug she got for the 'room'.  It's firm, yet has some 'spring' to it, so it is comfortable for you to sit or lie on the van floor. The side walls will get 1-1/2" foamboard, and everything will be paneled with lauan.



Silver-faced styrofoam board (R-4) lines the ceiling. Still have to wire in the dome lights before I panel it in.

Test fit of the moss green rug and doormat. Starting to look like a little home.

     Other than that, I have almost got the dash back together.  I installed a tee fitting in the engine block so I could utilize both the oil pressure gauge, and the idiot light on the dash.  I was going to do the same for the temperature gauge/light, but the tee contraption would have been too bulky, so until I can find another water port, I will just use the gauge.  I made new battery cables and new terminals.  The old setup wouldn't get good contact half the time, causing me to waste time going back and forth between the cab and engine compartment, fiddling with the battery connection.  If it doesn't rain too hard, I may run it some today.  I replaced the dimmer switch, so now both the lo beams and hi beams work. 



Tee fitting for the oil pressure switch/gauge.  Also 4-gauge high current wire for the starter to the battery, gold-plated connectors.  And about an inch of sludge on everything else.  "Drive it til it dies." 

Hi beams AND lo beams, what a bonus! Now for the park/turn lights...

 Thunder is sounding the encroaching rain as I write this, so I may not work on it at all today.  Next week should yield some results on the body and paint, if it doesn't flood us with rain showers all week long.  We'll see.  Happy Sunday, God bless.




Work on the van begins just before sunset on most evenings, and doesn't stop until well into nightfall.