Dons day,,,,,,,

I know, you can't hardly even see the dent! And that's good. At least I'm past that milestone now!

I got all the measurements dialed in for the kick panel I've laid out in the computer and these are the the first pieces I've had laser cut! The bed on my buddy's laser wasn't big enough to do do the whole thing in one piece. The right half was easy to put in place and it fits good! I need to get my wire loom and speedo cable out of the way to try out the left half. This project is being discussed on this thread.

Ok,,,,,,back to some of my work,,,,,,,,my wonderful ALL-U-NEED primer turned to Styrofoam, so I got me some Eastwoods Direct To Metal Epoxy Primer, probably made by Kirker, to do some doors,,,,,,got to get them off my door painting holder,,,,,,,

so,,,,,,,,took a break from cutting down burnt out trees and packed up my equipment and pulled out LeftCoasts engine and dropped it off at the machine shop,,,,,

Ah, Dead Center = "No Wheelies!"

if I would of hit a dip at high speed when I was hauling  this Ford engine in the back of my van, the front end would never come back down peacefully,,,,,,,,,,

Bill said you could drop it off at my house on your annual trip home! I've got a nice place for it! I' m sure he won't miss it...

Yesterday went and smelled the roses, a 300 mile round trip to the Rose Bowl for EconoWest 2015,,,,met up with 64Chevy, Space Truckin, SoloSpeedShop, Morbank and OldSkool,,,,,,but that DRIVE,,,,,one the worst I have ever been on,,,,,,stuck for hours in stop and go traffic,,,,,,no way out,,,,my brakes overheating,,,,,RF disk dragging from the boiling brake fluid,,,,,,,but it cooled down once we started moving,,,,,,,,

LA's traffic is the worst. I got to see a lot of the 101's fast lane at a crawl. But the van ran like a champ so not too bad of a trip.

you better have at least 1 electric fan if you want to drive around LA,,,,,,,,I need to ask those Ford guys where the secret road is to get through LA without getting stuck in traffic,,,,,,,my feet were on the clutch and brake pedals more than on the gas pedal.......

Ya don't want to overheat out there, may not find any water! Looks like a great time, Pasadena is a great place...

so,,,,,,,,my month long road trip to Chicago is done,,,,,,,lets check my messages and see if anyone missed me out here,,,,,,

and who was this,,,,,,Shawn the Sewer Guy,  or something like that,,,,,he says the rear end is ready to be put back in his 65 Shevy Van,,,,,,,,

Don, you need one of those signs like Lucy in the Peanuts cartoon had: The Van Doctor is IN!

,,,,so,,,,,,,as the rest of the country is being flooded out,  they have passed new   water restrictions out here in San Diego,,,,,,

you can water only 2 times a week,,,,,,for 5 minutes at a time,,,,,
between 6 pm and 10am,,,,,,,,or wash your car,,,,,,water cops will issue $100-250 tickets for lawbreakers,,,,,,

So,,,,,,,they just got the Wildcat fire under control in my area,,,,,,,kinda hot out,,,,,,,,if you are out in the sun,,,,,,,,got some of my Buddy Mauro's old van parts since his  priorities have changed in the past year,,,,,,,,,

Toasty! Yeah, looks like he's got his hands full now!!!

,,,and something had to go,,,,,,,,

put a new clutch fork boot on today,,,,,,

Nice, great price and looks like it's a good fit too!

this   engine had a broken head bolt in it,,,,,,so I drilled it and used an extractor with some heat to get it out,,,,,,,,

Hey Don! Glad to see you weren't the only Chevy van crashing the Econowest party this time! What van did 64Chevy drive there? That other red one?

Yes, I'd say LA traffic is a good test of an early van's cooling system. And the driver's leg muscles.

That clutch fork boot is a better fit than the one that Leftcoast got. And you were able to do the swap from the outside?

I'm glad I made it out to your house in the springtime when the temp was pleasant. You're welcome to come visit my garage in the beach area to cool off on the weekends this summer.  

Good work on extracting that broken head bolt! That ain't easy. One of my least favorite auto mechanical things to do.  

So Mauro's van has been sold? To anyone we know? What other parts did you get besides that engine.

Headed down towards the water to get away from the heat and seen some vans,,,,,,,,

We just don't see enough murals on vans these days. That spacey van is making up for it!

That's one problem with owning a window van. No place for a big mural. Maybe I'll paint one on my glovebox door!

I'm liking that peace symbol on your mirror, Don.

Vanagain, I've seen a few with big murals lately on the Van-List group on Facebook for sale. I think the glove box would be a great place for your artistic touch. Although with your OCD, it might be a 2 year project to get it "Just Right!" Just kidding, can't wait to see what you come up with!!!

Here are some of the 2nd Gen parts I got,,,,,,,,

Lot's of good parts there Don. But I'm thinkin those Huggies are 5th gen. Don't think they had those in the 60's just yet...lol