Chevy & GMC Vans

Hi guys, tiny bit of progress. As i dont have a garage to work in at the mo i have been working between rain showers and sun shine...


i decided to cut out the bulk head 1/2 way so that a little more light could flow through the van, the rear will be seperated by curtains..



like this one (just a mockup for now) and another for the door opening..

more progress very soon, maybe even finished pics [-o< if the weather holds up ....Johnny

looks great john, keep the pics coming .

Heres a few more,




just to give you an idea what it looks like with 2 curtains..



head lining made from mdf, i did'nt want to replace the rest of the head lining so i cut a panal to cover the old roof mounted seat belt and fitted a dome light in there..



once complete i am gonna try and match the paint to the grey colour of the interior plastic...

I have a verbal agreement to buy this for $200 and tow it home tonite or next week some time. Will spend the winter upgrading and adapting the interior, and then have wild fantasies about putting the pop top in my old 17' Prowler RV trailer. I just hope I'm not jinxing the deal by posting before possession! The hardware for the seat bed alone is worth well over $200.

http://bellingham.craigslist.org/pts/822424385.html

I absolutely love this thread. Great pics of great ideas! Our van is still very much a grocery getter, BUT ALSO USED for camping, towing, hauling, etc. Maybe after the kids get a bit older, I could consider turning it into a full time camper.

T.Low wrote:I have a verbal agreement to buy this for $200 and tow it home tonite or next week some time. Will spend the winter upgrading and adapting the interior, and then have wild fantasies about putting the pop top in my old 17' Prowler RV trailer. I just hope I'm not jinxing the deal by posting before possession! The hardware for the seat bed alone is worth well over $200.

http://bellingham.craigslist.org/pts/822424385.html

The frig repair is highly unlikely as I found out with "Baby" my RV.Having them just set around without being used is not good for them.All the other parts you could strip out of it makes the purchase well worth it.Rv parts $$$$$$$$$ are expensive.So that is a ruff jewel needing to be stripped.I think just selling the engine and trans axle would end up you making money on this.Even with a low compression engine.T-low this is a good find for sure.

mattblackratbus, or can I just call you Matt? Anywho, I would like some info on our drivers seat mount. I would really like to have a "spinnie" front seat mounts.

Thank you.

stomp13 wrote:mattblackratbus, or can I just call you Matt? Anywho, I would like some info on our drivers seat mount. I would really like to have a "spinnie" front seat mounts.

Thank you.

You can call me Johnny ..mattblackratbus is what my vans gonna be when finished ....heres some pics if thats any help, they still need a little work to complete them, ie..the mounts need to be a little wider so they can bolt to the factory floor bolts, cant tell you where they come from because they were in the van when i got it, (they were the mid seats) ....Johnny



this it the floor mount as you can see it dont quite reach the bolts so i have to weld some metal to the sides..



the twisty bit on the seat (technical ) is quick release so the seats can come out easy. note the plates bolted across the seat and after market sliders.



in this side profile you can see the claws that attach the seat to the floor mount, not also the anchor point for the seat belt reciever..

[quote="mattblackratbus
You can call me Johnny ..mattblackratbus is what my vans gonna be when finished ....i will get some pics posted if thats any help, they still need a little work to complete them, ie..the mounts need to be a little wider so they can bolt to the factory floor bolts, cant tell you where they come from because they were in the van when i got it, (they were the mid seats) now wheres my camera gone? ](*,) back soon....Johnny[/quote]

Johnny, sorry. I also just noticed you are from across the pond. So the mounts are most likely out of a Vauxhall or something strange (to me)

Not sure what they come out of, my van came from America via Japan so your right they could be from anything although i have seen simular mounts on other vans all be it from Japan.....Johnny

P.S sorry i edited the above post and added pics for ya..

I just scored some new captians seats today for the van , i will get pics later this week as i put them & the swivel bases in her . I'm modifying a set of swivles i had here from an older conversion to make them fit my astro & i'll get pics of that too .

here are a couple pics of the bed I built a couple years ago. We only used it once, as there just wasn't enough padding, and it was too tall to leave room for an air mattress. I also get claustrophobic if I cannot sit straight up in a space.

the pics are kind of bad, as they are dated, but in the one with the puppy you can see the middle row seat is upright with the front section tucked behind. In the pic with a scarry looking guy and his daughter it is fully extended. Basically when the seat lays down the front section sets on top, and bolts to the main section. the framing and legs is 1 1/2 pvc. My goal in the plans was to be able to get to the site with the 2nd row in place, and also to have just enough height for my large coolers.

It stays in the van on a daily basis, as It is a nice shelf to set things on such as food we are taking to get togethers, while hiding things like golf clubs, bowling balls, unrully pets, etc. The dog shown is my former bosses, and she rode with me to work everyday for a month while we were dogsitting. She loved it up there, as she could see out of every window.

It is a bit of a p.i.t.a, and we don't even use when camping, so actually it is free to anyone who wants to come to fort wayne for it, and thinks it would be handy.

ok got the seats in today , so heres a few pics of the process :
this is the swivel base that i started with , originally it was a 5' long plate with 2 swivel bases on it

here i cut it down to size notched the plate where the bolts are & cut 2 15" pieces of flat stock to goacross the plate to reach the bolts in the floor

next we put it all in the van to line everything up so we can tack it before welding

now my brothers got it on the lawn welding it all up so i can paint it

i took pics of it all painted but they didn't come out for some reason .
but heres a pic of the seats before we mounted them

and now a few pics of them mounted in the van



well thats pretty much it for now , still have alot of work to do but the seats are in the front . now to take the rear bench/bed out and move my middle set of captians back about 2 ' or so .

sorry about the crappy pics , need a better camera with more pixels . #-o #-o #-o
will get more pics & comentary when i do the rear seats .

Nice job, i've just done mine, like yours i had to weld on flat plate so i could bolt to the factory floor mounts, i have also moved my mid seats so they both sit a little bit further back than norm and the one by the slider has moved over to the left this ment that i had to make a frame for the seat belts as the roof mount belt was to far outa line to work properly...heres some pics...











....Johnny

skippy wrote: sorry about the crappy pics , need a better camera with more pixels . #-o
will get more pics & comentary when i do the rear seats .

Your camera is fine skippy, seats look good, keep the info coming