Me and my Chevy van :D [Long read + 56K warning]

A very few of you may remember me posting here and there inane questions about the good ol' G10's. Well, things got so busy in the last 2 months that I forgot to visit the VV forums. I've already posted this in the VW circle that I hang out at, so here is a full repost.
Obligatory link: Itinerant Air Cooled thread

Tristessa has his fingerprints all over this project. After all, he's the one that hooked me up with parts, knowledge, and help.
Big thanks for Sluggo for letting me borrow his AAA service!

This was compiled as the story unfolded, since it's so freaking cool that I can finally get some kind of classic ride. Best of all, it is a van!


The story:

So the story starts almost a year ago (!!!!) when I logged on and checked a funny little PM from Tris titled "Hey" from Sept 20th... Went something like this;

tristessa wrote:...Interested in something you could set up as a camper without running the risk of anti-VW ire? ...

I would've had one long ago if I could afford the 1K to buy it and then the 3K to rebuild the engine, but whatever... *Continues reading*

tristessa wrote:... I got a lead earlier today that might fit the bill.

1968 Chevy G10 van. 90-inch wheelbase (slightly shorter than a Bus) 250-cubic inch 6-cylinder, forward-control like a Bus, w 2-speed Powerglide automatic, under 24,000 miles, 17-22mpg highway. Needs a rear axle, needs some electrical work, will need a radiator. Electrical system is dead simple on rigs like that, it has the GM 10-bolt rear end (cheap and easy to find), no smog. Not sure if it's a panel van or has windows, but looks something like this:

At this time I'm giving it all kinds of funny looks. Looks decent on paper, the outright repairs don't sound too bad... Alright, what's the catch. $700? $1000? What is it?

tristessa wrote:Price? "$5 and tow it away".

Let me know if you might be interested and I'll get the contact info.

... Yeah. "$5 and tow it away" was definitely a "... This is for real, right?" moment. Figuring Americans, it is for real.
Dad of course automatically dismissed it as either some POS or just plain dead beat, since "there is no way that a van would go for $5. If it's too good of a deal, it doesn't exist."

I brain picked Tris a little more about it since this was some thing that was... Possible!

It turns out that it used to belong to a Douglas/Lane County fire dept., and there it was used as a Search + Rescue vehicle. Garage kept for 68K miles, and then sold to the previous owner...
So this is technically a 3rd owner tank that was protected for most of it's life... Nice!
Things were looking very interesting so I went ahead and told Tris to get back to the guy.

Between helping Tris out at the engine lifting party, and seeing him at the Lab, not much happened for the next 2 weeks or so.
Tris then sent over the contact info for the fellow, and told me to call since he didn't have time that day - Friday - to call him up.

I gave a call to the man, chatted a bit, asked a few questions about the history of the vehicle, and such. Things sounded very good, and he wanted to pass it on to someone who cared, rather than take it to the crusher.
We finally settled on Saturday as the meet day.
Sent a message to Tris if he was interested, and he was game!

So down we went to Stafford Rd on Saturday morning - it was wonderfully sunny at the time - to check out the van.
The fellow lived out on a farm place as a renter. And thus the big moment, the first meet:



Well, the front didn't look too bad! Of course I had to peek in... I was amazed to say the least;





Then I checked the tires...



Wildcat LT's. Proper tires, in good condition, "About 75%".

It is in Wonderful condition compared to the few years it sat outside.
Not only that, some of the biggest things on the list that were "Oh god I have to replace this, this and this..." went out the window for more mechanical needs.
The whole 9 yards looked good, the step was one of the things that only had wear and no rust! Man, I was excited now!
As a bonus, it had the spare, the hubcaps that the fellow painted, and a NIB master cylinder + new shoes.
The fellow even offered to fire up the van. It was starved for fuel, however with a bit-o-carb cleaner into the carb it wanted to fire up.

Then came the final test... "Alright, let's take a look at that title..."
The fellow presented in an envelope, crispy clean, with a title that looks freshly printed. He just told me to give him the $5 when I'll pick it up.
I was a happy happy camper!

So off we went with Tris, and we discussed this and that, sick things that can be done, and things that had to be done first to make it road worthy.

When Colin was in town (Oct 10th) Tris basically listed it as follow:
1. Axle leak - It is currently leaking onto the breaks, I opted to get a new bearing kit.
2. Carb kit - rebuild that poor thing.
3. Engine stuff - change oil/filter.
4. Fuel filter - in case there is crap in the tank.

With these things, the theory was that it will get on the road.
... ... ...

Fast forward to about Oct 22nd, I was really itching. It's been a few weeks now and I should really move it now.
So I made a few calls, specifically to the seller. He finally called back, and we layed down Saturday, 29th as the haul day.
By this time, my parents told me to just clean up the garage and bring it here. Rather not have it sit at Sluggo's, which is cool by me!

I called around a few places to see how much the tow would cost... Whelp, it would've run somewhere around $24 to get it home, so now way to that. At that rate I could either get my friend's nasty GMC which has a 350 in it, or use my AAA.

Well Sluggo was kind enough to let me use his AAA "super edition", so that cuts on cost. Now another hitch was that the owner wanted to keep the plates. No plates, no AAA.
We ended up swiping Tris's Cabby plates since the Cabby was not working at the time.

So around 8AM I went over to Tris's, we grabbed coffee, waited for Sluggo and off we went.
The van was already chained up by the then owner, and with me behind the wheel he pulled it forward to the main area. Once that was done, paper work was filled and with Tris's plate and Slugs AAA, off we went.





The whole thing took maybe 20 minutes, we barely had enough time to sign the title over.

The van was dropped off, and with a bit of pushing and fitting the rig was pushed into the garage.





After Slugs split and I took Tris home, I laid down under the axle to see what it is... And all I saw was build up of crap.
Everything had crap all over it...



I scraped the rear axle and did research for 2 hours, then gave up because it is pretty demanding down there.
What was amazing for me though is that I fit through under the drive-shaft. Shifting to one side or the other, I could comfortably lay on my side. Now that you don't see with cars these days.

A bit later dad tinkered with it too, and I helped out. We basically figured out that there is no fuel line blockage, however the stuff that came outta the gas tank was probably paint thinner. Didn't smell like gas, and it was brown, so...
Dad rigged up a feeder system, and with a lot of jiggle on the key it roared to life.

Oh man it was great to hear that sound...


Getting it to run, and finding things out:

Fast forward many many months to Apr 29th, and little has happened. For a while it was the sheer amount of work that kept me from it, now it's just a bit of a... Problem that has... Well, piled up around and in the van as it has turned into an internal storage cell.

It has been since cleaned up, still, it was rather harrowing.

On a brighter note two (undented) doors have been acquired at that time, a back-up radiator was also acquired, and a propshaft has been yoinked also for future modifications and such. The rest of the donor van was crap, or I still had the bits that I needed.


Note: The doors freshly acquired... Still not de-greened.

Today was the first real step towards taking steps to make the van Maupin ready, as Tris dropped by with an ignition switch and insert, which is fairly bad ass to say the least.

Sadly though, it was time to get back to studies... Ugh.

... ... ...

May 19th: So I had enough, and told dad that it's time to work on the damn van to get it running for Maupin!

His reaction: "Really? We have to work on it?... Oh man, alright, let's get going."

May 20th: And we finally get to it. Well dad has the bright idea that there must be of a top access (there isn't) on the bed. It only makes sense (it's an American truck body, there is no hole).
So he grabs a chisel and goes at the plywood on top of the bed cover (Eh, we have to check for rust anyways).
Whelp, there is definitely surface rust, however it's not nearly as bad as one would think. Still, it's about time that it's getting addressed.

After that came the 2nd option... Going under and pulling out the gas tank that way.

Disconnecting everything was a bit of a pain, however nothing awful. Before dropping the gas tank I managed to convince dad to siphon the tank, make it a little easier for us to drop.

After siphoning, we dropped it, and then we took it apart...



The turpentine gas was encouraging...



Oh G...



Oh H...



... Yep, figured as much. Oh well, now to figure out what we do with it.

... ... ...

The way the gas tank handling boiled down was simple. I checked with Dan's Classic parts and the fellow said to avoid Mac's radiators like a plague, they ruined his '37 Chevy tank. Being in the same boat, I took his word for it.
The Dan fellows recommended a small radiator shop out in Milwaukee by the name of Able Radiators. After going out, the fellow plain out told me that he doesn't have capabilities to clean the tank, however he recommended American Metal Cleaning to "base" (NaOH) dip it.

After a bit of searching it became obvious that there is no such thing as 1st and 2ng gen Chevy van repro gas tank. So May 23rd, I took a hike out to N Portland and dropped off my tank to have cleaned squeaky clean.

Here I should mention that since the gas tank is not made, the sending unit is also not made... So, a similarly shaped one + cutting + immersion grade tubing + hose clamps is the way to go.

... ... ...

May 31st: Several things happened that day. First of all I tested for Positraction: Nope.
Then I took off the diff cover to see what is in there. No signs of wear, not a spec of rust. It is in wonderful condition.

After a bit of dicking around I found a number on the main ring: 11:37
Ok, so that's probably the ring vs pinion ratio... Some number crunching gets me a rear end of 3.36
From previous research it appears that the axle is a '70 Chevelle axle, not exactly what you'd find in a stock G10.

With more number crunching it becomes pretty obvious that it was configured as a highway cruiser, as 65MPH is ~75% of operating RPM.
Note: This was spot on as it really didn't want to give much more on the way to Maupin beyond 65MPH.


I felt good though! I was already dirty, so it was time to go out to the yard for something specific... A rear seat that turns into a bed.

Several weeks before I went out and found what I can describe as a "pretty good find". It was in an older Vandura that had a wheel chair lift in it.
As I futsed around with it, I figured out that it's about 50" wide and 60" long. A bit short to my liking so I fiddled around with it and left it. It was late too.

I came back much later - today, May 31st - to attack it once again, and also because I had a brief window of time before my diploma work completely took over my life.

Needless to say I was happy to see that it was still there. It was already missing two bolts, and someone left it halfway undone! I finished that job, and then got hauling.



My god that thing is heavy. I could barely stand it up to carry it on my legs - I don't want to throw out my back ya know.
Already had a roller ready, so I dropped that on there and off I went to check out. Pulled in the Civic after I paid for everything, and I realized how entirely small the Civic is for what I was going to do.

Right side up the seat did not fit at all...
Upside down it fit, however the bottom rail/structure was in the way. After I loosened 4 bolts and borrowed a "for sale" car battery to unwind the adjusting bars, I finally managed to almost close the hood.
Good enough, into the car!
...
Except the seat was so close to the steering wheel that I was unable to work the pedals properly.

So after a bit of adjusting, and probably a helluva show for all of the people working at the counter, I managed to fit it in!!







Yap, it was tight, and again it shows how smart it was of me to get a hatchback.

Best thing of all that I discovered when I was futzing around with it was that it has quick-release pins. The seat is easily removable for some massive cargo space!

Not bad for $60.

... ... ...

Minor update: Jun 1st, HEI came in.



The big buying spree is nearly coming to and end. At this point of time I've spent 100x the original sale cost - har har har.

... ... ...

June 3rd: My father was in the mood to finally check the left rear axle "that needs some work" to see what exactly the problem is.


Note: Post installation picture, it was greasy not rusty. Still, case in point stands.

Uhm... Yeah... Replacing it is.
I did some foot work and found a local shop, Dutchman Motorsports that machines rear axles. Ordered a pair for $255, to do it properly.

... ... ...

June 11th week, last days before Maupin:

Much has happened at that time. Skipped Lucky Lab to work on stuff.
In the June 11th morning my diploma work was finally submitted, and everything was finished there.

The gas tank was ready for pick-up, as were the axles - turns out the axle was a 65-68 Impala. Oops, so much for reading numbers.
The next day I called up Able to ask about fitting a few stops as they fell off during the cleaning. The fellow immediately told me "No, have it sealed, otherwise it will rust."
So trusting his decision I said "OK" and had it based... It was ready around noon, Thursday 14th

Another major problem were the breaks. Dad and I went around and concluded that the breaks sucked major cock even after dad changed out the master cylinder.
It took a bit to notice what was happening as the right front was resembling the Niagara falls... This was Wed 13th.
So the next day dad took off the day, and we replaced the front wheel cylinders. By this time Tris was dropping by here and there to help us out.

Around 3PM Thursday the 14th, it honest to god rolled under it's own power...

And man, was it a good feeling.




The Story since then, and what's next:

Since then I've discovered that there is a bit of a problem with a draining battery. When shut off I read 12.91 volts (open) which is def not healthy for the poor thing.
To cure this in a temporary fashion I've been disconnecting the battery if I park for an extended time... However after a few days of running around the batt got drained again, thus I had a feeling that the alt may be a bit old too.
A bit of testing revealed that there is barely any charge trickling in, so it could very well be a busted V.REG.

On a brighter note even with this problem I've been driving a bit around Portland and it has been an absolute trip! Parallel parking needs work, however it is much smaller than I think it is, which is good!

Here's how it looks on a sunny Oregon day:













Oh, and of course, running sound:


So, there is much to be done.

Wow, great story! Congrats, you must very very happy so far!

Nice Job!!! Remember that van from craigslist I think

Great deal for $5.00 Can't go wrong with that at all.

Nice read. Keep up the good work

G-Man wrote:Nice Job!!! Remember that van from craigslist I think

You're imagining things man!
The van never hit CL, that's the reason why the initial buy lingered on for a few weeks.

@ Encouragements

Thanks guys, it was a bit sad to see the rig sit for so long when I got it, however it's been a blast to drive it around.
Right now I'm in Europe, so before I came back I drove the thing around everywhere putting some good miles into the rig.

When I get back - in due time and money permitting - front suspension is first, followed by rear suspension, then tossing a 200R4 into the thing.

Super sweet man! DIG the way seventies brown diamond tuck door panels! Lookin great so far! -GothY-

Gothboy wrote:Super sweet man! DIG the way seventies brown diamond tuck door panels! Lookin great so far! -GothY-

I think all of the VW guys I know jizzed their pants about that and declared that I cannot replace it.

Great deal,great story,great find.

Great find! Good to see that you have gone slow and fixed the usual things. I will say that you can ask about ANYTHING on that van like the floor access before taking a chisel to it. I cringed reading that.
On the charging system, Here's what I have learned over the years and how I'd approach it with your knowledge and abilities.
There are a few things involved. Belt tight? Alt able to charge? VR telling the alt to charge? Wiring and connections able to supply VR request and supply charging voltage?
Since you sound like you don't have a 'scope and multimeter to diagnose, here's a plan.
I will assume that you do have a belt and it's tight.
1. Unbolt the alt and take it into the local parts store to have it bench checked. They should be able to tell you if the alt is putting out voltage, the bearings are good and the diodes are good. This will prove out this part of the system.
2. Install the alt, paying attention to clean connections and wire condition. Also inspect the positive cable and negative cable connections at the starter and block. Clean and tight!
3. Follow the wiring over to the VR, making sure it's not cooked or bare along the way. Check the connections there too. The VR also grounds through the bolts that hold it. Again, clean and tight.
At this point, if all is good, the thing will charge or the VR will need to be replaced. BUT you aren't done yet. It sounds like you have a drain somewhere in the van.
Take the battery out and have it fully charged and checked. It cannot be truely checked unti it's fully charged!!!
Now, put it back, cleaning the connections. Make sure everything is OFF! Instead of connecting one cable (I prefer the positive) connected a voltmeter between the cable and the battery post. If everything is off and there is no problem, it should read 0 volts. It will probably read 12 volts. This is the draw that is draining the battery. At this point, you will need a wiring diagram and a highlighter felt pen. Remove each fuse one at a time. If it doesn't change the voltage reading, mark it on the wiring diagram and plug it back in. Keep doing this until all have been done. If you are lucky, it will be a fused circuit. Leave the fuse out and let the van sit a couple days with the battery connected to make sure. It should be still charged without the draw.
If it isn't a fused circuit, it's going to take some careful disconnecting of hot wires to track down. This is where the wiring diagram is important. Any 12 volt wire that is not switched will need to be checked by disconnecting the battery, disconnecting one wire at a time then checking the voltage draw using the meter between the battery and cable. Mark them with the highlighter as you go. It's a process of elimination. Remember that these have 12 volts, so when you disconnect them, you should use duct tape or electrical tape to cover the bare end so it doesn't short out.

RodStRace wrote:[[Long list of suggestions]]

Oh, before I forget, thanks for the suggestions!
For the alt, the way we did some testing was that we took a DMM to the battery as it was running. It barely changed from 12.50 to 12.55 in about 10 seconds at a good rev.
Tristessa concluded that it's probably a dead VReg.

As for the drain, I did some serious testing and disconnected all fuses... Nada, still "Closed", so it was blasting at 12.91V
At this point in the game I'd be more than willing to just rewire the whole van and call it a day, and I got the wiring diagrams too.

Should be pretty straight forward, especially after the wiring "harness" of the Formula SAE car I worked on.
Will have to get a new fuse box though as the one I have has rusty contacts.
Any suggestions for that?

Look at the street rod market.
Ron Francis, Rebel Wire, etc. If you have done a formula SAE, you should have the chops to do this. I would offer a few suggestions; Locate the fuse block in an easy to access position, make sure to allow slack so items like switches and the cluster can be removed enough to be able to access without disconnecting, and weatherpack connectors!

I understand wanting to just rip out a harness that is past it's designed lifetime and go with new. There is also something to be said for diagnosing and fixing the original. It is already there in place and designed for the vehicle.


Many people love the 1-wire GM alts. As a Mopar guy, I dislike the looks but understand the thrill of ease the single wire holds.

Xelmon wrote: Oh, before I forget, thanks for the suggestions!

You are welcome!

Xelmon wrote:For the alt, the way we did some testing was that we took a DMM to the battery as it was running. It barely changed from 12.50 to 12.55 in about 10 seconds at a good rev.
Tristessa concluded that it's probably a dead VReg.

That asumes that the feed wire from the alt is good, that the wiring from the VR to the alt. is good and all the ground connections are good. I have been down this road with my first car, a chevy van way back when. Bought a battery, alt and VR. It still didn't charge! There are technicians and parts changers. You can toss stuff at it all day and still not fix it.

Xelmon wrote:As for the drain, I did some serious testing and disconnected all fuses... Nada, still "Closed", so it was blasting at 12.91V

Which is why I mentioned disconnecting hot wires....
It is rare that a fused circuit is the cause. It would require the short to be small enough to not blow the fuse but large enough to drain the battery. Go to the wiring diagram and find the + battery post. Trace each wire that come off there. Disconnect them one at a time. First is the main cable to the starter. It will almost certainly stop the draw. If not and it has a small feed wire, you have narrowed the drain to just the small feed wire. If not, it will be one of the feed wires from the starter to the rest of the van. I will offer that the brake switch feed is a common non-fused problem. The switch will either have a small bleed-over or will be on all the time. The VR/alt circuit is another common drain. Another which is really common is owner installed stuff. Check any added wiring and components first!