1966 Chevy SportVan newbie

Well hello folks. New to the forum and glad I found it. My name is Chris and I currently live in Bosie, ID. Last year my grandfather gave me a van that has been in our family for many years. As he tells me, the story goes like this: The van was a "Courtesy Van" (as it was painted on the side until a few years ago) for a hotel in Chicago for a few years from its original purchase. A "hippy" lady (as he describes it) then bought it and put a bunch of flower stickers on it. I am not sure of the year he bought it from her but I imagine it was sometime in the early 70's. Since then it has hauled my Grandma, Grandpa, my mom and her two sisters and two brother and countless cousins back and forth around the country. We have land in Florida and they all now live in WA. You can imagine the miles and memories. I have most of his documentation and after scouring the internet I cannot gather all the information I think I need to play with my new toy. It has some rust on it from living in the Keys for many years but it is relatively sound. I have been driving it until last month. It has been sitting in the garage and I noticed a pool of ATF on the floor. The motor is not the strongest, but runs OK and this last incident has finally made me start looking at bringing her back to her original glory. I have the original service manuals on it from GM but was wondering if you could all give me a hand on some tips. I found various replacement lights and items with Brother's (pricey). But have been looking into either updating the motor with something simple (no V8 swaps or anything, just a little more zip) and defiantly putting a better tranny in her now, she barely rolls 55 down the highway. New window seals are in order as well. I am going to attempt to post some pictures of her once I am off probation and one of what I would really like her to look like. I am not trying to spend a fortune and was hoping the tranny (and motor if I go that route) could be a decent junk yard find, all the other items I know are more specific and will more then likely have to shell out a few bucks for. Thank you all for the help in advance! I look forward to tons of fun in this baby and continuing the legacy of this beauty!

sounds like a great part of your family history, bring her back, plenty of helpful people here, ask away!!

welcome to vintage vans make your grand parents proud.

Welcome!!! A fresher 6 cyl should be what you need or a rebuild

Welcome to VV. Cool story about your family van. Can't waite to see some pics.

Any advice on any common juckyard motor/tranny swaps? Space is limited I see adn I am not really trying to have a ton of time and $$ into that. I think I have the 19-somthing L6 and from what I read they had a 2-- L6? Any real kick in HP for the trouble or just redo mine? The necessary upgrade right now is the tranny though. Any common swaps?

WELCOME aboard Van Man 83 to VV... AWESOME family history you will get your questions answered and find most of your parts here you have stumbled on the best early model Vanning website around................