Back to......VANagains NEWest 65 Chevy SportVan Deluxe

I'm sensing a pattern here...No wonder it's taking Rich so long to complete this project. Just kidding. Don, you mean these guys didn't buy you an organizer for Christmas and help you to organize all your spare parts by type and size???

That is looking REALLY nice!!! You/we can't wait to see the finish line

looking sharp..............

Beautiful choice on the interior paint colour man! NICE!

Vanagain - looks phenomenal! I'm inspired...

Oh man, what a good idea -- an organize-Don's-spare-parts party! I've had a couple glimpses into his stash and it's pretty awe inspiring!

The other day I got a little taste of what it's like to be Don when Surfing Guy Scott dropped by my garage. Now that I'm on the homestretch with my van I've got many spare parts too. I was like: "Here, you need one of these, and a couple of these, and this is what that looks like. And when you get to this point you'll need one of these." Etc., etc.

VANagain wrote:Oh man, what a good idea -- an organize-Don's-spare-parts party! I've had a couple glimpses into his stash and it's pretty awe inspiring!

The other day I got a little taste of what it's like to be Don when Surfing Guy Scott dropped by my garage. Now that I'm on the homestretch with my van I've got many spare parts too. I was like: "Here, you need one of these, and a couple of these, and this is what that looks like. And when you get to this point you'll need one of these." Etc., etc.

I'll take one of each please!

That's a good question! I was able to get some work done there when they were open on Xmas Eve day. I will call and check tomorrow.

So, since they were not able to get the van back to me for my holiday time off, I've decided it's better to have it indoors in their shop at least until we get all windows back in it. It's been pretty rainy here lately. I plan to meet the glass guy there later this week, see about getting my new windshield to fit...

Look at this beauty:



Oh, and Joe, thanks for the reminder of me running out of gas last time Don accompanied my van's escape from a body shop! The other day I siphoned out the year-old gas from my tank (it was nearly empty anyway!) and poured in some fresh.

What a BEAUTY!!!

I'll second that emotion! It's starting to look like a VanAgain! Somebody stop me! Rich, if you can't work on yours tomorrow, I'm sure Scott wouldn't mind some help with his floor. Hee, Hee, Hee!

Rich, Did you bring this thing home yet? I'm going to be in San Diego Saturday and thought I'd get a look at it. Maybe even a ride? This was the scene in Portland 5 years ago.

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,,,,the scene really right now is a 64Chevy Guy, sitting across from me in the Arizona Desert, in McDonalds,,,typing that sarcastic remark........

I'd like to see you Joe, when you're in town. You were there at the very start when I bought this van! But NO, it's still in body shop jail! That's alright, it's going to rain through this weekend. I should drop in and see it during visiting hours though...

There is still plenty for me to do. I tackled the popout window frames. Even though mine were the best I'd ever seen, they were still rusty. The hinges were frozen so I found a way to soak just that end of the window in a mixture of tranny fluid and acetone.



Then I carefully worked them back and forth until they moved again.



I LOVE the sandblaster! I taped off the glass and most of the rubber. I left some of the rubber showing so I'd be sure I didn't cover up any of the metal frame. Fortunately the sandblasting doesn't affect the rubber.



I have two additional popouts that I'm going to put in the rear doors. They had metal rusted away on the lower parts of the frames so I disassembled them. In the end I brought them all to a different body shop where they welded new metal in where needed. Right now they're painting them with epoxy "trim" black paint. Said that paint will really seal them. They warned me that the oil I'd soaked the hinges in would make it hard for the paint to stick there so they gave them a real cleaning.

They are also rebuilding my wing window assemblies. They found the proper replacement for the division posts. That was the only part I couldn't find on my own. I'm going to find out what they used and post it here when I pick them up. Stay tuned.

You getting ever so close, I can almost smell the finish line 90 miles north of you.

Whats the progress with your van Rich? I just read the whole story, looks awesome.

NO, I still don't have my van! It's getting ridiculous. I have outlasted two salesmen/scheduling guys there, a couple of bodymen, even the girl at the front desk has left in the year they've had my van! They have a new girl up front and her orders seem to be to keep the customers away from the owner and bodymen, on the phone or when I drop in. (Or at least to keep me away from them.)

About the only thing I can do is to keep calling them or dropping in. I should call them at least once a week but I haven't been lately. I did get in to see the owner in March and said summer is coming, I don't want this going into May and June!

I wanted to go in the back and start the engine again. I knew they'd have to charge the battery (again) so I called and she said they would start it up. They do that all the time, supposedly. So I couldn't go in and nag them that time.

I printed out a clear, concise list of the 5 things they have left to do. I put a big checkbox by each one. I brought it in and gave it to the new girl (she wouldn't let me see the owner but she brought the list back so he could look it over. He said, no problem.). So, since I could only talk to her, and she was new, I went over how long my van's been there, that there's about a week's worth of work yet to be done, and they were shooting to get it to me by Christmas! Maybe she can be as assertive with the owner as she has been with me.

Here's the list (mostly little stuff):

• Steering wheel - smooth out repairs, paint two-tone, reinstall.
  
• Better coverage of paint on bottom edges of van. (Primer still showing here and there.)
  
• Smooth out runs on dash.
  
• Inner cargo doors - White “break” on inner door edge should go all the way to the rubber.
  
• Clear pealed off below drip rail on rear passenger side and driver's door. Clear over two-tone edge, down to trim line. "Move" the break down a bit on rear passenger side?

Here is an example of where some of the clear came off when they removed the tape for the two-tone. The one picky thing I asked for is to paint the turquoise slightly further down on this edge, since they have to redo the clear there anyway.

donivan65 wrote:,,,,I think all those people made enough to retire off that van,,,,,

Sounds like they DID retire!

I found a rattle can of X-O Rust (True-Value) that is 99.5% correct for my van, that is my plan for paint....

wow,my van has been at the body shop for 3 weeks and I am already getting impatient.The shop owner said 6 weeks but after what you are going through I am getting worried.

Good one, Don!

Hey, if you've got a spare steering wheel, get it ready. We may have to do another jailbreak!