Chevy & GMC Vans

Worked on filling slider today and started with 1/4 and 3/16 steel rod instead of using sheetmetal to fill the gap. The reason for this was to give the door more strength and the rod can be bent to the curves of the door gap. I started with a piece of 1/4 in. which will slide under the top of door between the rubber rain gutter and the upper door lip. It fits perfectly and is pushed against gap by the gutter. Along the back edge I had to use the magnets you see in the bottom right were to keep rod at surface level in a couple of areas. Need to fill those roof rack holes while I'm at it. Always something else popping up that needs to be done.


After tacking in the upper rod across the top I started with a piece of 1/4 in and about half way down changed to 3/16th due to the gap being more narrow as I got closer to the bottom of the door.



This is the 1/4 in. after bending to fit upper back curve of door gap. You can see how close it fit but like I mentioned had to change to 3/16th about half way down.



This is the rear gap of door. At the bottom you can see the bend I made after tacking down the 3/16th rod to that point. Would have been very difficult to get this right using sheetmetal.



Welds look worse than they are because of the burnt primer. Ran an abrasive wheel on a die grinder along the very inside edge of gap only. Also cooled with a damp cloth after every other tack all the way around to reduce any chance of warping the body sheetmetal and so far it doesn't look like I'll have that problem.





That's it for today and plan on grinding welds tomorrow and smoothing out with filler and prime.

Lookin Good Man!
Can't wait to see it finished

Better hurry up with that van , Larry. You haven't even started on mine yet.

Looking good!

Larry your a mad man! how do you keep up with all these projects on the go at once? I know if it was me I'd end up with half a filled slider 1 cad tail and a rack that never made it on the van! You amaze me dude!

My my Larry, now we're gonna have to add bodyman to your list of attributes! Great idea, using rod stock. Genius!

Larry, that 'homemade' van of yours is taking shape nicely.
Could you bottle some of that ambition of yours and send a case of it my way? I sure do need to find a supply...

Good job Larry, that is gonna look soo slick with the slider welded shut.

Don`t forget to shave the handle........

Sweet! nice job, and thanks for the pics.

Larry, that 'homemade' van of yours is taking shape nicely.
Could you bottle some of that ambition of yours and send a case of it my way? I sure do need to find a supply...

Don't worry Rob, when you get some warm weather up there you'll be on the move bud. No doubt about it. I believe in ya man.

Now on multible projects going on at the same time,,,I don't do very well with it myself but when you're 30 miles from any store that sells parts ya gotta make do or spend most of your time riding the roads. No salvage yards around either,,Ebay is my junk yard.

Darren, the slider door has been shaved for almost 2 years. Only thing left to shave is the tag box which will be in the rollpan along with the LED light strip on each side.

Thanks for all the comments. The "Homemade Van" as Susan's daughter calls it, is coming together.

Just realized I never posted a pic of the almost complete slider fill. Still have some detail finish work to do but who doesn't ? Worked on the bottom gap this weekend and should have complete next weekend.



That's not unfeathered edges you see,,think when I took these the primer sealer wasn't dry.

Looks good Reb! looks like you gotcha some tight working quarters there.

Yep,,pretty tight on the passenger side. After Susan's Dad retired at 90 years of age, we closed his office and the file cabinets and other stuff made it's way to the basement garage so do get close on that side.

CooL to see this post again, your basement garage was huge Larry, did you loose that much space due to storage?

no,,didn't loose all that space, just between the passenger side and back wall. Trying to get it back in shape and kind of have a lounging area down there to. Got have a place for you and Skip and me to hang out when you guys come through again or anyone else who cares to stop by the 96.