DanTheVanMan's new 1965 Sport-Van

Dan she is looking too good to be just sitting in FL all summer, thinking you need to go to the Nat's for a test run

Digz wrote:That is looking very sharp !! I finally noticed the lights on the sides. Are those a sportvan thing or have they been added on?

Joe, Those are add-on's. If you look at the earlier pic's it came with some crappy marker lights so I replaced them with some shiny new LED one's.

G-Man wrote:Dan she is looking too good to be just sitting in FL all summer, thinking you need to go to the Nat's for a test run

Chris, I'm trying to sell the boat for a reason!!!


Dan

Cool Good Luck on the boat sale, we want you at the Nat's

OK, so I've been working on the 250 I plan on swapping into the Sportvan. I did a 2bbl carb conversion using a Motor-Craft 2100.

The only issue was there's not enough room in the DH for the full carb so mounted it sideways and cut off half the horn! (Switching to cable so throttle linkage is not an issue).



Ran it on the stand and it runs GREAT! She finally gets to breath the way she should! Instant power, real throaty and no more carb whistle form the motor trying to suck air through that old mono-jet! Anyway, now had to address the Air-Cleaner assy issue I had by cutting the horn. So I got real creative and this is what I did:

1- Picked up a few 2 1/2" and 3" exhaust pieces and sheet metal. And one really cool cone filter!


2- Cut the short 3" piece to open it up to make a half circle to match the carb. Cut a flat piece and welded it in to make a big "D".

3- Cut a 9" section of the 2 1/2" and notched it to fit the "D" at a 90 degree. Also cut the face of the "D" to match the side pipe.







4- A couple of test fits.....


5- Filled in the corner holes on top and tested again...


6- Cleaned it up a bit, made a gasket and called it good! Runs great and even looks kinda cool!


*** And it sits no higher than the original stock air cleaner assy!

Dan

That looks great Job well done.

Great looking job Dan!!! I bet it will move on down the road.

hell of a nice job.....................

Looks great!!.....now if it was chrome.....

Digz wrote: Looks great!!.....now if it was chrome.....

Now as much as Chrome would look so very cool. "Nothing" Chrome lasts more than 6 months down here without pitting. Seriously! 6 months!!! Think it'd because we live right on the ocean and the salt air eats everything! But yeah, Chrome would look cool!

Dan

Looks great Dan.Great fabrication job !

That looks great! I've been wondering what to do with my crusty aircleaner....may I say....emulation is the finest form of flattery.

Just a little update. Some of you know my health has had it's issues over the last year or so. But slowly recovering and did get out today and got some work done on the van.  Been planning on putting a rear deck in for a few years and was feeling really good today so I went at it today. Came out looking better than I had expected...

** And Yes, That center section is removable!

I'm liking that Dan. Nice work,
clean and efficient,
a good way to spend a birthday...

Neat and clean looking. Nice !

Real Nice Dan ..... Looks Great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks real nice. Nice and clean indeed.

"Great Job" Dan looks real good..!!!..I am Glad to here you are "Feeling Better"... ..

Way to go, Dan! Keeping us all inspired!

I've got some questions for you:

Where did you get this metal heater cut-off valve? I found a plastic one with the clamp for the cable but not a metal one. I plan to repurpose my choke pull for this too.

I see that the latch on the pop-out window you put in the rear door is black. Did you just paint over the chrome one it came with or have you found something else that works? The chrome on mine is shot and it would take a lot of work and $ to get them rechromed. Plus, the springs don't work right in many of them, so the window won't stay open.

I see the regular "Chevy Van" emblem on the side. Looks like someone noticed that Sportvans don't say "Chevy Van" anywhere on them and swapped it out.  (We have seen a couple of what we call "Shevy Vans" — window vans that were not badged as Sportvan.) But I see another emblem beneath it. Does that say "Custom"? That's probably what your van was ordered as.

Pretty darn convenient that your MotorCraft carb had that flange could be just trimmed off. It was only there to support a round air cleaner! Nice job on the custom fabricated air cleaner adapter! That's thinking inside the box! (Could use a wingnut though.) Is that a progressive 2 bbl? I've heard they are the way to go for our 6 cylinders. Runs on one barrel until you kick it down, then the second opens up. Gas mileage and power when you need it. Have you seen the Weber setup on Scotty's Sportvan Deluxe Travel Cruiser? He had to do some adapting to the linkage to clear the side of the doghouse. And he routed the air cleaner tube all the way down and out of the doghouse to get cool air.

What is that on top of your HEI distributer? Is it the coil? What brand is the distributor? I'm using the stock GM one from a newer Nova, but I think it needs rebuilding. I don't have the power that I should at higher RPMs.

I also repurposed the speaker-grill part of my dash. Got a clock and a compass ready to go in there. Cool cupholders you've got too! Out of sight until you need them.

What material are you using on your ceiling panels? I've been searching for that white stuff with the tiny holes, like they came with originally. Can't tell if yours has the holes.

That rear deck of yours is super practical! Gives you a place to stash stuff out of site. And nicely done, how you ran it up to the window frame trim. What did you cover it with? I like how the removeable top has the inset areas to keep stuff from sliding around in there. I might suggest leaving an opening in the front of the box  for access through the side door (and an opening in the back, if there isn't one).

Keep up the good work! I need to make more time to work on mine.

Where did you get the sun visor? I'd love to get one.