people on here

I thought this site was for the love of old vans, even ones that need work. The vans are almost at some point needing alot of work. If the only van someone can afford to start with needs almost completely redone it should not matter nor someone selling one very cheap that needs alot of work

from what ive read and seen on here, I dont think it matters whether it needs a ton of work or not, but the members seem to try to help others get the best they can get for their money. If someone asks the members their opinion about a van before they purchase it, they will recieve alot of good advice. Sometimes it may be over priced, and sometimes its the perfect deal. If you go through the galleries, some of the vans people have started with have needed TONS of work, and come out great. -GothY-

Gothboy wrote:from what ive read and seen on here, I dont think it matters whether it needs a ton of work or not, but the members seem to try to help others get the best they can get for their money. If someone asks the members their opinion about a van before they purchase it, they will recieve alot of good advice. Sometimes it may be over priced, and sometimes its the perfect deal. If you go through the galleries, some of the vans people have started with have needed TONS of work, and come out great. -GothY-

lots of help with fixing our vans and lots of good advice about vans that are way overpriced for the condition and trying to get some of us not to rush and get the first ones we see for more than they are worth but when someone can get a van for less than $500 that runs and drives dont act like the van is a pile of crap, I know he didnt get his van perfect and for 500

But thats just it my friend, you've gotta understand that its human nature to doubt. And when someone asks another their opinion for a deal that sounds too good to be true, the natural psychological response inbred into almost all of us by societal influences is going to be that somebodies hiding something, it must be junk or something. Remember that an opinion is purely that, an opinion. The person who controls the wallet is charged with ultimately making the decision. If that person feels others opinions may be right, and passes on the deal, and later finds out it was a mistake...well thats the chances we have to take in life. Its a roll of the dice, and the decision was made with the best of intentions in mind Im sure. Ive only been screwed on 3 vehicles, and only one of those was directly fraudulant. The other two were all based on my decision, and I made the wrong. It truly WAS too good to be true. Sometimes taking the leap despite what others have said can be a great reward... Other times it's a punishment for an ill conceived investment. -GothY-

Camaro,
When you ask someone for their opinion on something and they give their honest opinion you shouldn't get mad at them but thank them. The members that started out with that ragged out rust bucket & spent thousands upon thousands of dollars & years on restoring them are only trying to give you advice to start with something better that you don't have to wait for years to drive & enjoy. I looked for years until I finally found my 1st van that I could start driving as soon as I got it & start working on it as I got the money to fix it up. I try to be straight up on what I see & if it looks like it needs a lot of work or it just is not worth the money I am gonna give my honest opinion. When you find a van for $500 don't expect much because right now they are worth that for scrap metal. Also some good advise if you see a van with a decent body that runs and the owner is asking $1000 and you offer them $500 for it you can easily piss them off & they will not want to deal with you. Just imagine yourself in their shoes like if you was selling your camaro & was asking $2000 which you thought you were giving it away at that price & someone offered you $1000 for it. This forum is about helping each other out with advise, knowledge & wisdom.
Some of the vans that come up for sale are worthy of fixing up & getting back on the road & some of them are only worthy of being a parts donor which we all need since there is not a lot of parts available. Through my experience of searching for a van one that comes along a pretty good deal another one will follow it in better shape at an even better deal so that's why I say just take your time & don't grab the 1st thing that comes along.

Any van can be made drivable or even a 'pretty' van if you throw enough money, time and parts at it.

Here are the factors that can really hinder pushing your van to your perceived goal:

Motivation: Can you see the light at the end of the tunnel? Some can keep plugging away and 'front burner' their van. Others get discouraged easily.

Skill level: Some can do mechanical. Some have problems with electrical. Bodywork scares me. Paint even more so.

Budget: Feed the family. College Funds. Retirement. Emergency funds. The 'van' fund is probably below the 'granite coutertops' fund.

Time: Family time. Overtime at work. Kid's sports. Some of us never seem to have a solid few hours to dig into the van.

Shop space: Do you have to unbury the van to work on it? Heated garage?

Jail: Body shop jail sucks. Trying to find parts can really suck. Waiting for funding sucks.

As guys we want to go hunt something down, kill it and drag it home. Sometimes it's been to lay and wait for what's best for you. (if I get another one, it will have a 100% rust free unmolested body)

I love all earlys. I'd rather see them driven than to hear of them stuck under a blue tarp. I've seen rust buckets from hell brought up to car show quality. Mine was two tone + mega primer, yet I displayed it at van shows. I didn't love it any less at the time and it still blew people minds.

I had a big long reply typed up and it went BOOM!

itruns covered a lot of it and I don't want to do it again, so I'll keep it short this time.

It's the voice of experience that tells anyone to get the best possible start,whether it's a 1920s vintage stove, a piano or a van due to finite time and money.

We want you to be sucessful and the project to be completed. While many of us enjoy the journey, it's the destination and end result we are pulling for. Too many get pulled apart, worked on and suffer more than if they had not been started. We aren't going to give you money. We will provide encouragement, knowledge, support and even help. We WANT it to live again. The best start increases the chances that you will be sucessful and our energy will not have contributed to another failure.

Over all I thing people here are trying to help. Unless you have the skills to do it all and have the cash a cheap project will cost three times more than a van that needs little

RodStRace wrote:I had a big long reply typed up and it went BOOM!

I HATE when that happens!

Rod and G-man pretty much summed it up. I'm probably knocking on $10k into mine and still nowhere near completion.

Yea I know that feeling of trying to find someone that is good at body work, as I am not and then this dang horn issue that I have. A great reason as to whey it takes a while to get them fixed. Everyone is great and helps out on what they are good at.

Scott wrote:Really, I just try to look at it as a hobby. It's not about how much you have into it, it's just something you enjoy doing. I'm a sucker for looking at an old car or van and thinking I can bring it back, no matter how far gone.

You have to look at it as a hobby. The flipper days were over 5 years ago even for valuable muscle cars. It's real tough to make money at this. If that's your reason for doing it, you are better off flipping Hot Wheels. You can buy them for under a buck and sell the good ones for 2-5 bucks. That's a lot less investment and better profit!

As for the bringing it back deal, I figure this is the male equivaliant of the female nurturing instinct that rushes in to protect infants and the injured. We tend to want to fix broken things. I try to warn against trying to fix the terminal cases, especially when the buyer is on a budget and lacks the skils and tools to pull off the turnaround!

I try to warn against trying to fix the terminal cases, especially when the buyer is on a budget and lacks the skils and tools to pull off the turnaround!

But Rod!..the terminal cases make great donors!
Yes it's the knowledge that determines the donor from the salvage.

I most definately understand the difference and appreciate the opinions I have seen and have been given and why I did not just go buy the 66 gmc van I want, which is still for sale and im trying to wait for him to call me. Its all about the hobby and love of vans and would not try to buy a roach to make into an instant daily driver, hell look at my 69, my dad gave her to me in 1991 and I have neglected her and she has NOT been driven since around sept 2006 and ive started her less than 5 times since her harmonic balance bolt was stripped and welded on so shes been partially apart since I changed her timinhain and didnt notice the bolt until putting her back together, I have a 69 327 that I bought a 69 chevy catering truck for 1k for. I took the motor out of the truck in 2007 and sat it in the back of my van and just now pulled that out last week, I have been lazy because all my time and money has been camaros camaros camaros I just took offense to one comment that wasnt even in response to me or anything I wanted. I am sorry if I took it the wrong way but unless a van is completely thrashed to nothing left I see a fixable van . Thank you all for the comments, we need the advice before we go buy anything for a high price when we mich be expecting better. Buying a cheap project should always be good if its cheap and worth it. gettin ready to go look at the 67 panel proj for my dad

I love this group!! Great bunch. We all usually put more into out vans/cars than we should -yet if we really wanted to put some buckx into a hobby- we should all get a boat & an Airplane!!

about a year ago we had someone in Detroit buy a van and then a week later went to take a 2nd look and find a way to get it home. only to find out he jumped the gun. He had it sent to a local garage only to find it was junk. and the person he bought it from wanted it out of there. after finding out how much work it realy needed he sold it to the garage for 1/2 of what he payed for it and they parted it out. So what side of the fence would you want to be on. if you tell me but i don't have a lot of money and some old body work is showing then i'm thinking look at the frame and there is more bondo that you havn't seen. . these old vans and pick ups don't sell on the 1st day they are listed, go look and go back and look again. most of the time it will be there tomorrow.........

^ Yeah! what they said! The real thing to do though is to shop smart. ask tons of questions, cross refrence things from the ad to what they say, examine what they say as compared to the vehicle for fact. Bring the proper equipment when ascertaining the quality of the vehicle for you. Flashlight, tape measure, magnets, possibly a mirror for awkward angles. Sometimes a magnifying glass if you doubt the vin number (I got screwed that way once). bring tools if you are permitted to check things out deeper. sometimes I even bring a spare auto battery so I can crank the motor. It all depends on what you find and how bad you want it, AND is it WORTH your WANT! The last car I bought didnt even HAVE a roof. Someone cut it out (10ft x 4ft hole!) in the eighties to make a giant dance party scene inside. Freakin idiots.

If you have a solid doubt...WALK THE FUNK AWAY! Theres always next time.
-GothY-

Camaro, you have to keep in mind as well that the favorite past time here is "Is the Price Right?" game. When one really looks like a value, guys jump on the bandwagon. When it looks like an overpriced POS, guys hammer sellers wanting too much. Most of it is really good fun and any of the overpriced sellers would we welcomed here in a second. The comments about a rusted up van with sunlight shining through the roof are relevant when it comes to price, no matter how cheap. There is hardly anything worth owning for $500. Put at least a couple or few thousand together and get something that runs and doesn't have rust. I saved up for months before buying my van since I'm not a mechanic in any sense of the word and needed something semi-finished.

If you really want sound, unbiased advice, send a PM to the guys who push the real buttons here (administrators) and get their opinions in private. I did that alot before purchasing my van and learned a lot in the process. It's really a better way than getting a million opinions at once and it kept me from making a truly stupid decision. Since you like 2nd Gens, you should be able to find a very nice van for a great price. It should be less than a comparable condition 1st Gen if all things are equal.

I think the absolute thing here is that there isn't one person here who would be here if they didn't love these vans. This is a small percent of our large world dedicated to a small class of 3 van styles made for a ten year period, all of which are likely less than $10,000 in value no matter how nice!

All I can say is I love my van and if it wasn't for the people here I would have givin up a long time ago. The guidence and encouragement from everyone is priceless. I always know if I ever run into a jam van or not I can rely on the good folks here to get me through it.