Recommendations for covering windows.

[Fishfreek]

I have 99 Astro with a high top conversion that I am stripping and building to camp out of. The sides of the van are full of windows that I would love to do away with. I want to keep the window on the slider and probably the one one the rear lift gate. Any suggestions on which would be more recommended, removing the windows and welding in a patch panel or covering them from the inside.

[WoodButcher]

IMO it would look goofy having glass out and wall in.
Welding those panels in won't come cheap not to mention the paint,,, or is paint already part of the plan?
What many people have done is a custom blind, what I'm thinking about is a panel cut and fit to the offending glass, painted black to the outside and fabric or vinyl on the inside to match the upholstery with maybe a slide opening to look out.

[Fishfreek]

Woodbutcher, Paint is in the plans. My only complaint about the windows are that they waste so much space that could be used to hang cabinets and such from. My van came with custom fitted blinds that work well but I am planning to spend approx. 6 to 8 months living out of the Astro on an extended trip to Baja so storage space is at a premium.
I am going to do a mock coverup this week with painted panels and will decide then. I hope

[WoodButcher]

Agreed, my '97 is my work van and the drivers wall is all storage as well as the passenger rear.
Conversion van, do you have the big glass w/ small sliders on the bottom?
If so they cut through cross members to get them in. The job of welding in the panels is something that would take a skilled body man and he will need to fabricate support on the inside. I can't imagine the price.
I should think if camping in the van those small sliders would be great for ventilation provided you could get at them. Cabinets can be hung from above, mine are bolted to the top corner of the body framework and have right angle brackets at the bottom. A single unit could be made to run the entire drivers side or whatever length you needed with the bottom supports on the window posts.

In this pic I had the wall stripped to replace the slider. When I built the van back in '01 I didn't have access to a welder so I used what I had. I didn't trust the anchors much so I put one in every hole When I had the wall open this time I welded the bottom but the top was still there so I left them alone. 10 - 11 years the cabinets have been carrying tools and hardware of considerable weight so I guess this way was as good as any but If I did them today I would fabricate and weld in anchor points like I did here when I fixed the door. (click the pic to enlarge)

The drivers side has been added onto over the years, now the kids are gone I don't need the seating and only use this for work.

Keep us posted and remember the pics!

[Fishfreek]

Thanks for the pics. I did a little cardboard mockup today and I think I have it figured out. I will still be able to access the slider vent windows yet cover the windows and hang some cabinets. I have the fiberglass high roof so there is some storage but any extra I can squeeze out of the van will be beneficial. Now I just need to learn how to post pictures here.

[WoodButcher]

Upload attachment below, browse, double click the file and the site eats your pic.


sorry, it gives you a button to "place inline"
We don't seem to have a gallery here but the pics work fine. If you want to store them online go to photobucket or the like and post with image tags.

[1Gary]

The conversion van I first bought was a 1985.



The previous owner painted the windows which a really bad idea.





So the plan was to take the panels I had a junk yard cut out oversized from a panel van and weld them on in the body line to hide the weld.The key is to get those panels from a cargo van so the body line bents/curves where already in the panels.Also have to watch the heat of the welds and tack on one place and then somewhere else to minimize warping the panel.And as said-those panels do have support pcs inside of the van that would have to be harvested off a donor cargo van.

As it turned out,rust got the best of the 1985 conversion and I ended up with a 1989 Florida cargo van.So I took the high top off the 1985 to put it on the 1989 cargo.Window problem solved.

Going to shave off a slider completely using a no window slider and go with no window rear doors.



I do like the look of a no window Astro and the mystic that comes with it.I will build a wall closing off apart of the rear of the van building a sleeper across the van right behind the seats.I will weld in the wall/frame work for the sleeper.Something along the lines of 2x4 tubing and angle iron.I gotta wait until I have the high top roof installed so I can get the height for the sleeper right.On the now not used step of the slider will be mounted vented 2 deep cell batteries with a removable panel built to cover the batteries for house batteries for use when the van is not running.I have rope lights to go around the sleeper,and to be able to run the radio,maybe a flat screen TV,A/C,etc.I have a switch panel to mount into a overhead dash.



The radio will be mounted in that overhead dash along with a centered near the windshield frame roof top shortie antenna.The normal place for the radio I am going to fab a diamond plate panel for gauges like oil pressure,temp,charging.

This van is slated for a stroker 383 SBC sub frame spacer lifted 3".It has taken three vans to get me to this point and as many will tell you yrs to collect the parts I have to date.

And yes guys tomorrow I am going to the shop to fab more parts and weld them.