Chevy & GMC Vans

Identical Post at AS but I guess I should get started here!

Ok, well the shop is officially pissing me off, we're at the end of week 7 now... still, I haven't given them any more money and they continue to work on it every now and then. I've COMPLETELY given up on the shaving because it is clear to me they're never going to get to it especially since the owner himself has to do it, he can't even have one of his guys do it. Anyway, instead, I had him put in the new windshield and he's going to install my wing. I was really peturbed AFTER the last pics I posted when I went back to the shop only to find the Xenon kit wasn't even ON anymore... apparently they psyched me out with a mockup and it wasn't glued on, which probably explains why it was rubbing.

SO, anyway, they have since glued on the kit and it no longer rubs, and they put in the new windshield yesterday. I asked him to tell me honestly if he was going to do anything to it today or tomorrow and he said no, so I pulled it outta the shop and brought it over to the tint shop. After that I'm getting the dual exhaust done on monday or tuesday, THEN I'll bring it back to him when he tells me for sure he's going to paint it over that couple days. I can't continue to drag out borrowing that cop's car and I'm not going to spend $200 a week on a rental with the pace they work on it.

Maybe if someone wants to inspire me, I'll find someone else to shave it while it's still in primer, but I'm so anxious about it I just want the damn thing painted at this point. I assume I can get the poppers installed either way and test them out for a while, while there's still door handles... but when I go to get it shaved, they're going to have to match the paint up if I don't do it before painting. I really don't want to drive it around for a long time in primer, especially since you can still see some of the jams and different inside colors even while driving, which I'm also going to ask about after I post the last picture....

So let's unveil:

The Good:






Here's a pic at the tint shop, that's Bobby who lowered it for me and he always does good (and quick) work. He's an inspector, so he's inspecting it pre-tint and then tinting it 15% in the front and Limo in the back (legal is 35%), then he said he'd continue passing it for me as long as I'm around this area:




Now here's a shot with the Wing stuck on top (not attached yet) which is cool looking I think from this angle:





Now the bad pics, and please give me opinions:

First is the wing from the rear, I think it's WAY too high and will take some getting used to, plus it will have the break light so it is going to be prominent:




interested in your thoughts... I don't mind scrapping it altogether and selling it, after all it's a universal and not really made for an astro, but I think it looks good from almost all other angles.

The other pic that's bad in my opinion and I'm wondering if this door is hung right. It's a replacement and it's not making great contact with the door sensor, so it killed both my yellow optimas with the lights staying on (plus the capacitor being hooked up)... now I know this door was white, but I'm wondering if you should be able to see this much of the doorjam when it's shut at all?




Please give me your thoughts! I'll post some more pics monday when the tint is done!

Rob

Any way to possibly cut the supports for the wing, to lower it some? I know some wings can be done that way, not sure about yours though.

The door does look misaligned. I can't really tell at the angle, plus I'm not a pro at body work stuff. I know I can't see that much when my doors are closed.

Now I need to go back and find out more about everything you've done. I'm loving the van so far.

btw. Did somebody forget to primer 2 areas or was that done for a reason? (next to the door mirrors)

Thanks for replying, here's a pic before it was primered to match...




Pretty easy to see at the bottom it's not quite matching up... not sure what to do? Do I insist they re-do it or is taking doors from other vans just risky or what?

The bottom of the wing has the bracket holes, so I don't think it can be cut... plus that would take away from the effect where it actually looks good... think I'm going to just have to suck it up and get used to it, but the whole point is for new people to see it and like it too...

I don't know why they didn't primer those spots... maybe they falsely assumed the mirrors covered that area... either way they're going to have to do it...

Yea in that pic it does look a little off. I have problems trying to align doors by myself. Usually takes a couple people. I don't think there'd be a problem with taking doors off other van and using them. Shouldn't be at least. The Astro didn't change that much over the years, did it? A little bit of aligning and messing with it, and you may be able to get it on right.

I would say if you installed the door yourself to live with it but when you are paying $60+ bucks an hour I would want it done right... as for the wing I would say see if you can get it lower so the sides are touching the roof, If you can not I would go without it, It looks a little big, I was cruising behind an astro on the highway a couple of days ago with a wing like that... It looked OK at first but the longer I was behind it the sillier it looked, besides you already have an atention grabber.... the windows!!! The van has come a long way, It is really coming together now and looks great!

If you think you are going to want it shaved do it before paint, or you will regret it, drive around to some body shops, there are 100's of them, one of them has to have time to shave your ride

I don't think it'd even show unless you're going with a light colour. As well, you can pull out the front fender a bit to get it to be more flush with the door (that is an issue, isn't it?).
Or, you could simply ask our resident SoCalli for his opinion. Tjis is what he does for a living.

your door is defenatly outa wack ! any good body man should know how to straighten that out & be able to shave yourhandles for you . if you don't like your preent body guy i'd say find one you do like . other wise your gonna be very critical of his work & never be happy with it . its better to wait & be happy with the work done than rush into it & not like the finnished product .
its your van & your money it should be done the way YOU want it done .

i say ditch the wing.looks way cleaner with out.

i feel you on the body shop.

took 8 days to get "i will only have for 3 day,4 tops" done.

he still needs to wet sand and polish yet.

I say lose the wing...they are for those gay-a$$ (IMO) ricers! The van looks great without it! You definately want to shave the handles and then have the whole van painted. Why waste the painter's time with masking or taking the door handles and locks apart to paint, and then have him/her destroy brand new paint to shave? Seems like a great WASTE of money and time!

i know it sucks having expectations... unfortunately, alot of body shops that are redoing a vehicle for a walk-in more often than not, get put aside for insurance jobs.. unless that is soley what they specialize in (see: custom).

what i mean by that is there are very few shops that can afford to exist doing only custom work and no insurance jobs. the jobs that pad the bank account after paying their bills take priority. just the crappy nature of the autobody business.

don't get me wrong.. they do make money on you too.. just not as much as easily

crash wrote:i know it sucks having expectations... unfortunately, alot of body shops that are redoing a vehicle for a walk-in more often than not, get put aside for insurance jobs.. unless that is soley what they specialize in (see: custom).

what i mean by that is there are very few shops that can afford to exist doing only custom work and no insurance jobs. the jobs that pad the bank account after paying their bills take priority. just the crappy nature of the autobody business.

don't get me wrong.. they do make money on you too.. just not as much as easily

Good info to remember for folks wanting to mod their vans.

On the wing topic ( since your asking ) I say lose it, if your going to shave er all down I don't see why you would want to break up a smooth bodyline by having so much hangin on the top. But whatever way you go
good luck with the bodyshop.

Once again, thanks for all the support guys! I gotta work this board more into my routine, I've spoken more in the other one since.

Anyway, update, I'm scrapping the wing or seeing if it can be chopped to half height, but they've already drilled the holes in the roof... suppose that's easy enough to fill.

The tint came out good but sorry I don't have any pics, I drove it straight to the alternator place to charge the optimas back up, then after classes picked it up and went straight to the exhaust place and left it overnight. If anyone has any criticisms of Flowmaster exhaust systems please let me know asap, because they had another set that was quieter I guess, but it seemed proper to have a bit of growl if you're going to do it at all... please let me know if these systems are obnoxious... I'm one of those that really grates my teeth when harley's go by at midnight.

The door is in pretty sad shape according to all other local opinions... it doesn't seem to stretch far enough at the front OR the back, AND it's not snug against the rest of the van so it's actually somewhat protruding from the vehicle, as if it's just not long enough or something... it's very strange.

Anyway, I'm in talks with another shop across the street from the exhaust place.... I'm still not sure what I'm going to do, and the old shop has my wing and poppers and solenoids and I'm not crazy about confrontations like this!

Don't think of it as a confrontation, or even a firing. Put the ball in their court. Explain that it just doesn't seem they are happy about doing your van, and that you need to put the project on hold, as it has taken too long. Get your stuff, and head to the other shop.

Good Choice on the wing.

Better to drive in primer for a year than to waste time/money/paint If you're not ready to shave.

bri

New pics of the van with the exhaust and tint done... It was a terrible rainy day today and I was soaked.








the rain washed those back panel irregularities away... I think the primer was just a little bit thicker back there and showed a line.

I sort o expected the exhaust tips to be... thicker I guess. The growl is not bad, but I'm really not noticing much of a difference from when I just had a bad muffler with a rusted hole in it, at least from inside while driving.

I went to the new body shop today and spoke with them first hand. THe guy was really nice and let me vent for about 20 minutes and gave great advice.

Unfortunately, he let me go that long before he told me that my body guy is one of his best and most respected friends and that he was sure if I spoke with him honestly about my concerns that he would take care of me. It was sort of embarrassing, and he was backed up for 2 weeks as well. He said if I can't get it worked out then to come back and he'll do it straight on in a booth until everything is done.

He also pointed out that non luxury vehicles, and trucks in particular suffer from minor irregularities from model to model and I could go through a lot of doors before I found one that was identical all the way around to the one I had. He showed that all the body lines matched up across the board except for the bottom. He said it could be tweaked a little and made snugger for sure, but that it probably wouldn't ever be like my original door. True enough, almost all the new parts including the new front fenders don't fit quite exactly the same as the parts that came before it. Seems there's gaps pretty much everywhere.

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