Scotty's 1965 Chevy SportVan Deluxe Travel Cruiser

Hey JB, did you own this van for a long time? I've had my eye on it the last two times it was up for sale. I too would like to hear more about its history!

[quote="ScottyJones"]Cool! Got any good stories from when you had it??[/quote



Sure, a little history. I am the 3rd owner. I bought it from a guy who bought it from his next door neighbor, the original owner. He bought it in SoCal and it was used for camping. The original owner pulled a color matched trailer that he and his wife slept in and his kids used the van. I asked the second owner if he had any of the original camp stuff but he tossed it. I wanted to bring it back to a Camping TravelCruiser. The original owner had moved up to Lake County some years before and the van fell into disrepair. The second owner bought the van, had the engine rebuilt at a local shop in LakePort. He did all the rewiring, body and paint. I'm not sure how long he had it, but I bought it in 2002 and drove it 2 years before selling it to a guy that I think lived in Daly city.
The van was reliable, although it never ran quite right and no one knew why. Just ran a little rough at idle but always purred on the highway. I checked the carb, the ignition, the wiring, vacuum, all checked out. I think maybe the crank wasn't balanced or something. It had an electronic ignition when I bought it but it was wired incorrectly and burned up, so I just threw a set of points in it and never had a problem after that. The van has been featured in a Calendar and can be seen at the VCVC under Dan Wilson (that's me). I have a bunch of pictures there. I drove it all over and it went on a van run. It was my second van. I had one other before, a '64 GMC Handi-van I owned for 13 years. I also had one after a '64 Chevyvan that was 98% perfect but like an idiot, I let it go. I really like these vans and may get another, although I am looking at Greenbriers too. I paid $3500 for the van and sold it at a loss.

That's really cool to hear some more history on the van. I bought it from the a guy here in San Diego who must have bought it from the guy in Daly City, as he said he got it from the bay area.

Looks like there's been a few changes since you had it after looking at your pictures. Different hubcaps, mirrors, and the thin red pinline on the body trim.

The van has been serving me well in the year or so I've owned it. Camped in it a couple times and plan on getting it road trip worthy to do some more camping. Been great for hauling surfboards, motorcycles and music equipment too!

I dont know if you looked through any of my previous posts, but I've been doing a fair amount of work on her lately. I upgraded the master cylinder to a second gen and I just dropped in another rebuilt motor after I had a rod knock on the #5 cylinder. Guess that motor had a good run. Next upgrades include an overdrive transmission and disc brakes up front.

Thanks again for sharing…would love to hear any more stories about the van if you think of them…like what that hole in the side panel upholstery behind the drivers seat is?? Maybe to access the backside of where the emblem mounts??





This look an awful lot like SandyVan's van doesn't it? Got any info onthat copper van?

Hey =Scotty- have u looked under the van just below where the hole is behind the drivers seat? Sometimes the travel corp added a propane access hole there -most all have a hole in lower side of the panels just behind the drivers door on outside.

[quote="ScottyJones"]That's really cool to hear some more history on the van. I bought it from the a guy here in San Diego who must have bought it from the guy in Daly City, as he said he got it from the bay area.

Looks like there's been a few changes since you had it after looking at your pictures. Different hubcaps, mirrors, and the thin red pinline on the body trim.

The van has been serving me well in the year or so I've owned it. Camped in it a couple times and plan on getting it road trip worthy to do some more camping. Been great for hauling surfboards, motorcycles and music equipment too!

I dont know if you looked through any of my previous posts, but I've been doing a fair amount of work on her lately. I upgraded the master cylinder to a second gen and I just dropped in another rebuilt motor after I had a rod knock on the #5 cylinder. Guess that motor had a good run. Next upgrades include an overdrive transmission and disc brakes up front.

Thanks again for sharing…would love to hear any more stories about the van if you think of them…like what that hole in the side panel upholstery behind the drivers seat is?? Maybe to access the backside of where the emblem mounts??





This look an awful lot like SandyVan's van doesn't it? Got any info onthat copper van?



Hey Scott, I don't have any info on the Copper van, other than it's from Oregon and had a second gas tank with a filler on the passenger side somewhere. Too bad about the rod knock. I think it was a lousy rebuild. Those engines should go well over a 100K before any work has to be done. It had less that 20K when I got it. I bought the van for recreational purposes, driving around town, car shows and whatnot. I think a disc brake/master cylinder upgrade is a good idea. That way you can haul a small travel trailer or not sweat it on the hills. Truthfully, I have never done upgrades on anything I have ever owned and lived to tell about lol, but that's just me. I guess you know the Travel Cruiser vans are very rare. I have seen these conversions on the Econoline(Travel Wagon) and other poptop combos on the Dodges and second gens but the only one that pops up is your/my old van!
Not to say they aren't out there. One story....when I bought the van, I asked the guy if he had any extras and he said: I will look around. So, while I was checking out the van, he comes back a few minutes later with the Travel Cruiser Emblems in his hand! Score! These days, I drive a '55 Ford stationwagon......take care of that van!

Got all the parts collected for my disc brake upgrade. Thinking about starting on it this weekend! Wish me luck.

Also got a lead on a rebuild 2004R transmission in town for a good deal.

Looks like I've got some work to do!

Picked this up today! The guy responded to a wanted add I put on CL. Goes to show you that sometimes it works!

He got it from a junkyard, rebuilt it and was going to put it in his 67 Camaro. Couldn't get the TV Cable linkage to work right so he just put his powerglide back in. Even came with a rebuilt torque converter.

He said it may need the oil pump replaced as he didnt do that when he rebuild it and the oil pressure was a little low when he tested it. Im going to have my hot rod buddy that knows transmissions go through it and see what it needs.

VanAgain, I might need your knowledge and experience to help me get that linkage set up. He gave me the brackets and stuff from his Camaro we could probably modify.


(sorry for the crappy photo)

I been kicking around the idea of replacing the TH350 in my 66 with the 700R4 from the donor van I have. Are the 200 and 700 comparable for what needs to be modified?

tranny parts wholesalers have a better quality rebuild kit with "Kolene" parts & other better items in it for I know the 700's- also a later style corvette pump & a few other parts have been upgraded by GM over the years . The 700's are somewhat stronger than the 200's = depends how rebuilt & how you run them. Best to look for a corvette 700 in salvage yards & rebuild it.

Sure thing, Scott! I'll help out with stuff I learned, fabrication, and maybe even installation.

Did the guy mention how he handle the overdrive lock-out? Does it have an electronic kit added in the oilpan?

Awesome! It'll be a little while till Im ready but I will let you know.

I believe it does have an electric kit in it...it has a wiring harness coming out of the side, but it looks like it's factory stuff...not sure if I will have to get some other kit or what? He said he never had the wiring hooked up.

Maybe Ill pull off the pan and take a look what's in there.

Well, here is one thing you'll want to start with for the super-compact tranny hanger - the brown thing in this photo:



I've got a lot of leftover steel tube from when I made mine. (I had to buy two feet of the stuff!) We cut off a length to fit in the crossmember, along with the two rubber inserts.

Don, where did you get that rubber? (And did I ever pay you back for them?!)

VANagain wrote:Sure thing, Scott! I'll help out with stuff I learned, fabrication, and maybe even installation.

Did the guy mention how he handle the overdrive lock-out? Does it have an electronic kit added in the oilpan?

I thought I saw those kits posted here at one time but dont see it now unless I passed over it in another post. I also searched VCVC but couldnt find it.

Scotty, do you know what rear end you have in your van? Is the gearing in a 200 different from the 700?

Im hoping to make a similar bracket except with the 200 mine will have to bolt onto the bottom and come out and around up to that hanging spot.

Do you have a rough dimension on the tube/rubber? I might have something at the scooter shop that would work. It looks close to the rubber engine mount on a vintage vespa.

Maybe I will take a look for one at the junk yard. It would take a lot of guesswork out.

Here, if you're not concerned about how much room the hanger takes up, I've got the first version Don and I came up with:



This was us trying a 700R4 on my previous van. It will probably line up ok with a 200R4. You can adjust the angle and height before you drill holes to mount it to the frame.

I also didn't like that I could see the ends of it hanging down when I stepped back and looked at the van from the side. But this would be an easy way to start out. Let me know if you want it. I'll email you some higher res photos of it.

One thing I like about the 3rd Gen crossmembes is they look like they belong there, as opposed to a bunch of home-made stuff.

Rich, I'll take that one off your hands for now until I figure out a more attractive hanger (although I'm not toooo concerned with how that one looks). Thanks!!

Right…so you don't think I'd even be able to modify VanAgain's cross member to work?