Chevy & GMC Vans

Finishing touches on this side now.
Handbrake/footbrake pedal shortened by 18mm and gas welded up. See if you can see the join!!









Not bad if I say so myself

And onto the cut subrame/front clip. New section gas welded in.



And onto the other side!

Andy.

I've had another idea now!
Since someone has changed the front sheetmetalwork for the newer front, I might even put the old sheetmetal back on :dontknow: Not quite sure yet. All the old mounts are still there and it will tidy up a lot of loose ends. Or,........what about having 2 front ends painted up and have quick change mounts when I want the old look at the front this weekend, and the new one the next................................. Now that would be cool!!

Andy.

Awesome work man!

Have a look at these 3 photos. Can you see where someone has used flat sheet steel bent in a few places and a few holes cut to adapt the front sheetmetal from old to new. Dreadful thing it is. Although efficiently econonmical and partly effective!! You can just see the old front slam panel under it. How much cleaner would it look if the old front end was put back on and I could sling that makeshift panel?






Have a good luck at this 'cos it won't be like it for much longer!!



Andy.

Taken a looong time to strip out the heater/AC and all associated pipework and wires so they don't get cut or burnt!!

If I ever get this thing back together again without any spare bits I will be amazed







This is a photo down the drivers side where the heater/AC box used to be (and will be again hopefully!). Notice the vacuum ball where a lot of pipes split and create a vacuum leak. Ironically mine has split there as well and was invisible from the top. No wonder the idle was lumpy!!



Tomorrow (weather permitting) I get the air saw out!! There will be a lot of mods to do though. Notice the door flap and vacuum actuator that will have to be modded (bottom cut off!) for example:



Hang onto your hats!!

Andy.

Andy wrote, "This is a photo down the drivers side where the heater/AC box used to be..."

Andy, you've just confused the hell out of a bunch of us colonists with a line like that.
Keep the photos coming. It's always nice to follow along when someone's doing a heavy duty project.

SafariRob wrote:Andy wrote, "This is a photo down the drivers side where the heater/AC box used to be..."

Andy, you've just confused the hell out of a bunch of us colonists with a line like that.
Keep the photos coming. It's always nice to follow along when someone's doing a heavy duty project.

Sorry!! Force of habit!! I haven't moved the steering wheel over just yet! Of course it meant to say the passenger side

That's the only mistake I made yesterday-all day

Andy.

LOL, Andy, I couldn't resist posting about that.
By the way, I believe you should post a photo of yourself while you are performing your van magic. If the photo shows your eyes clearly, I think we would easily see that you become possessed when working on your van.

SafariRob wrote:LOL, Andy, I couldn't resist posting about that.
By the way, I believe you should post a photo of yourself while you are performing your van magic. If the photo shows your eyes clearly, I think we would easily see that you become possessed when working on your van.

Hi Rob.
You are a tease
Possessed eh? More like obsessed!! Is there a cure?

More photos!

Here is a photo of the wheel/tyre jacked up as far as it will go with the bodywork as it is. The black line is where the panel will be cut so the wheel can go up further with room to spare.



After an hour or so of cutting.







Neighbours stopped play

Andy

More photos!
Finally removed all the old wheelarch and getting ready to cut to the black line and remove all internal frames and shorten.



This is a photo of the "rough" old to new front end bonnet slam panel-which may or may not get returned!



Andy.

This will give you a good idea where it needs to be cut.



I will have to lose the bottom bit of the heater box and possibly move the AC matrix up a bit, but I am pretty confident that I can get them operational again. As an added bonus, notice that the space for the passengers feet will be no narrower than before! Only 1 foot up there then, but I won't be sat there!!

Andy.

oooo yeah that looks good. cant wait to see how this side comes out. this is the tight side before you take out space let alone when you cut up that much.
Danny

More photos!!

Here is the metal cut to the black line and folded at right angles to make a flange. The wheel/tyre is as far up as it can get due to the LCA hitting the frame (not the bump stop).



Notice the slight change in the cut position. Mainly due to a box section under the floor that I can avoid with a bit of planning.



A rare photo of me cutting


A view from the inside


Not much leg room lost! Space for 1 foot!

Andy.

Had a look at some of the components that will need modifying now that the metal is cut and access is still very good.
First one,...the ECU holder. Just needs the corner cutting off like this (top left in the picture)



Then the vacuum actuator door in the A post. Here it is installed in it's original position. Notice the bottom sticking down too low.



Quick cut with an air saw and a new hole drilled and it is ready to go back in once the welding is done.



Here's the card template in place for the wheelarch and nearly ready to transfer onto steel. Those clothes pegs come in handy!





More soon........................
Andy.

man that looks nice.who needs foot room. lol are you gonna just mount the seat back further?
Danny