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.