I know of a guy with a first gen chevy.

He says. The thing is when he was checking out my '69 GMC he tells me that his father had a van that he just parked behind the house some thirty years ago and there it sits today. By his description it sounds like a first gen chevy that has possibly been sitting unmolested since the seventies. Now before you get to excited this van ( if it does in fact exist) is in Florida only ten miles from the ocean. Which means there might not be much of it left anyway. I don't know this guy much at all, but my shop refers customers to them, and them to us. I have asked him once allready to see it with no real response from him. Now that being said how important might this be to anybody else out there. With my hands full with my '69 and other projects and work and all, I am not very interested in it myself. Just wondering if this is something I should press him on for one of you others out there. Just don't want to be a pain in the guys butt unless there was an honest interest in what he might have. By the way I do believe what he says is true from what others have told me. Anyway let me know if it's worth the trouble . Thanks for your time.

I would make sure to plant the seed in his mind that if he is interested in selling, to think of you first and let you know. If the van isn't salvageable, parts may be. Let him know that if you can't use the van, you can pass the word out there to a friend who's interested. Don't tell him you'll check with your 3000 friends on VintAGE-Vans, because his asking price will go up!

So it's definitely worth the trouble, for how rare our vans are, but don't be too eager if you hope for a reasonable asking price.

Cheers.

Honestly not thinking so much about resale but if people could use parts. I like making money as much as the next guy, but I really don't have the time or space to part out a van right now. If it was something people could possibly use parts from I'll try to pursue it further. I do think it would be a pretty cheap deal as this guy really has no interest in it. It's been there so long he pays it no mind any longer.

Arnold,
If you'd like or need some help just let me know. I have lots of spare parts and live just a few miles north in Fernandina Beach...

Dan

Outstanding Dan. I will surely take you up on that. My van is 1969 GMC HandyVan. Had it for six months now. Hope to have it for a long time to come. I would post pics but I think the strain, at this time, would in the end be to much for my computer. As in, I might do it harm.

Look at that... you two are almost neighbours!

Since I'm finally jumping into this feet first. Let me ask something that has been bugging me since I bought this van. I measure the hole pattern on my wheels to be a 5 x 4.5" bolt pattern and people keep telling me that that is a Ford pattern. Be that as it may, I have three sets of wheels that are all the same 5 x 4.5" and they fit . Am I crazy. Kind of of the subject I guess.

Welcome aboard. here is a link that shows how to correctly measure the bolt pattern , it's a thread on this site.
https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t15696-wheel-adapters-for-a-68-gmc-handi-van

I think Ford and Dodge are the same, but your Chevy is different 5x4 3/4

That is what I have been told that chevy is 5 x 4 3/4 . So how come 5 x 4.5" fit mine so well? I have already replaced the entire front breaks with GMC drums for that year . And they measure 5 x 4.5". So, am I crazy?

Arnold,
You might want to re-measure... 4.75 can easily be mistaken for 4.5 if you measure from the center of both lugs and forget to measure from the "Back" of one lugs.

Dan

Try this....

With that picture that would be where the extra .25" comes from. I have always measured center to center. No matter I have the wheels that I want now. I was just wondering where I was going wrong. To the original subject of this post I will try my darndest, to see if in fact this guy I know does in fact have this van. If so this will be the first place I'll post any info on it. Even though I have just now registered I have been gleening info for months now. I will most definintely be picking the brains of anyone that will allow me to do so in the future.

Arnold that what we are here for to help each other

Hey you quys are hi jackinq the thread. Let's here more about the qen 1 lol.