Chevy & GMC Vans

Cobra wrote:Yesterday:
97:replaced seized alternator, replaced battery, reconnected fuel lines , secured gas tank
98: seized passenger side caliper, removed alternator and battery
Today:
97:freed seized throttle plate, blew rear brake line above gas tank, removed battery
98:canged front calipers, installed new alternator


boy oh boy what's next

I know exactly what you mean! I drive my truck about 3500 miles a year and it seems like I drive a day, work on it a day! Problem is I need it to tow the camper and don't want a payment right now.

I did the rough cuts for the rest of my tire carrier/platform/ladder. Now I'm gonna go weld it all together.

Nice work!
I need some bumpers like yours for my van...people keep hitting it (see pics on last page)

Baby steps...but I still can't climb on it yet. Gotta install a latch and put some more bolts in the bumper first.

insurance adjuster looked at the van. they want to total it out (not gonna happen....it's only got 2k in damage and its worth 5k all day long)
Mechanic also found alot of broken wires in the door jamb and a couple that broke up by the relays for the door locks. They didn't have time to get all the wires fixed, so it will be going back in next week. Also, he believes the ABS box on the drivers side frame rail is faulty so we'll pick up a junkyard one and resolder it and have him swap it. I'd swap it, but I can't get up under the running boards in the front of the van, even with it jacked up (there are downsides to having running boards- and a van with a 2 inch rake).

97CargoCrawler wrote:

Looks like your bumper extends out at least a foot from the back?? Ya?

Hmmm.....maybe like 7-8 inches. I haven't really measured it. The ladder is 12" wide. I didn't want to post this pic because the top step looks retarded. I'm going to be cutting two small triangles into the back of the tubes and bend the step to match the angle of the doors then weld it up. Just haven't done it yet cause it's been crappy weather here.

I feel like I jacked this thread. Isn't anyone else working on their van?

Today was Mutha F'n HOT! I had to ghetto retrofit my garage for A/C just to survive:



It was in the mid 90's outside and the mid 70's inside! Nice and cool as I cut a piece of 1/8" diamond tread plate with a circular saw:



That's a ways down:



This tire carrier is taking forever.

We are camping now so no work on vehicles unless needed until about September!

Van is going into the body shop next week for repairs. I'm also having the body guy tackle the wheel well rust that's popping up before it gets too bad (not cheap (but I fell his price is reasonable for the scope of work/time involved) because he has to repaint 2 colors on the van and redo the pinstripes back in paint (ah the joys of owning a custom 2 tone van with discontinued pinstriping), but at least the rust will be gone).

Installed the rear sway bar from Hellwig , 7534.

More photos

Nice handling improvement isn't it?

Cool! I didn't even know there were sway bars for our vans. (Not like a sway bar would help my van- having a fiberglass boar bolted to the roof kinda kills the handling.)

I got a late start today but managed to get a bit accomplished. First I washed all the steel goodies with Dawn and steel wool to get the excess oil off, then washed everything down again with phosphoric acid.



Then I applied several coats of Krylon bare metal primer:



Tomorrow everything turns black.