1968 108 Quick Build (hopefully)

Hello all,
    I am the proud new owner of a 68 G10 that I decided I need in order to carry my motorcycle back and forth from my home to school down in Charlotte. I wanted a straight six 3 speed and after months of frustration I have finally found a good runner that I now have assigned myself the task of preparing for the 5 hour drive. I got some of the groundwork laid over thanksgiving break but now I have two short weeks to finish my van, get it inspected, and ready for the trek. When I got it it ran and drove really well but still needs alot before it will be ready for the road. Here are some pictures from when I brought it home:














    I started by getting the original fuel tank brazed and coated inside and out and am almost putting on all new fuel and coolant rubbers throughout. I just need to repair my sending unit, more specifically the fuel gauge where the wire has come loose and replace the filler hose going into the tank itself, I already have a new screen filter. Here's a shot of the back with the fresh tank and the old interior taken out. I already cut and patched a few spots in the back. They are just held in with self tappers for right now, Ill panel bond them when I have all of my patches finished and ready to go.





   I plan to spray the whole floor with black raptorliner to help prevent future rust and also to help with heat and sound insulation. Over the raptorliner I plan on laying insulation and the snap together laminate flooring found at lowes in the back and carpet in the front, though I am unsure of what I want to do with the carpet...I may leave that bare for the time being. Here are some pics of the front floor sections. I also have removed the doghouse as there were significant portions of the bottom lip rusted out and it makes for a better and easier patching of the floors.








I have also ordered some shift linkage grommets that I will try to make work but was also hoping someone on here could let me know how to get in touch with macsdoghouse from VCVC as I read on here that he has some NOS bushings he is willing to get rid of. Also my linkage is a bit hard to pull from the lower position (2nd and 3rd) up to first or reverse. Where do you think this difficulty comes from and can I get away without removing anything else but maybe just squirting some 3 in 1 oil in my linkage or up on the column? More pics to come soon...

Welcome to VV Thorny!!! Nice looking van, your off to a good start.

Macsdoghouse is a member here also, just doesn't post on here much. If you can't get him through VCVC you can try sending him a PM here, just click the little arrow by his member name for the PM option. Most everybody that are interested in these beauties are members on both sites so go ahead and sign up on VCVC too. Great bunch of people on both sites.

https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/memberlist?mode=lastvisit&order=DESC&submit=Ok&username=macsdoghouse

Welcome, Nice van to start with,seems like most have some floor rust up front.
Your van might have been some kind of town,or service van with the spot light?? Got any more holes in roof or dash, where you find your new van??

Welcome to VV. Your van looks great. Keep those pics coming as you move forward with your restoration.

Welcome to VV..!!!.. .. Looks like a "Great" Project...Half the battle is getting it driving under its own power so your ahead of the game..!!!.. ..

And the other half is getting it to stop....

Thanks guys, I found the van on craigslist after it came back up about a week after it was originally posted. The original deal fell through so I called him within a few hours of it being relisted and send him a deposit. To be honest I was a little nervous about sending someone a money order for a craigslist deal but everything worked out very smoothly and the seller was a very nice guy. The big thing for me was the fact that its all pretty mechanically sound. I pulled the drums off the other day and its got fairly new shoes and hardware all the way around with the exception of new wheel cylinders that the owner gave me when I picked it up. The brakes are a little spongy at the moment and I hope to have a little more feel once I get the new cylinders installed and bled properly. I have to go pick up a bunch of parts from napa tomorrow that will hopefully complete everything I need to get her back on the road. I did some more work on my floors today and pulled my driver door to patch the rust at the bottom and drill out my hinges. Speaking of which, I ordered the chrysler door hinge pin kit but was wondering if you guys drilled yours by hand or did you put your hinges in a mill/drill press?

As for history on the van I don't know much. I picked it up in chesapeake va which made me nervous on account of all the salt air but its actually pretty solid considering. The roof is a mess with patches over old vents, metal tape with bondo covering it, and a leaky venturi vent that is soon to be patched over. If I have time I will fix the old patches but I will probably just spray some flex seal over it for the time being and let it ride. The interior was pretty funky and old with pink fiberglass insulation behind the plywood and there are also four holes in the floor which look like there could have been a bench seat or maybe a storage rack mounted at some point but I am not sure...anyways tomorrow is supposed to be pretty nice here so I hope to get some work knocked out! More pictures to come, cheers!

Thorny at your age where did you pickup your mechanical abilities? I think your one of the youngest members here.

I know your on the move, but it might help if you put your location in your profile. The United States is a big place. There might be someone close by if you need any help or parts.

Also when posting pic's if you select the resize arrow and select the 640 pix size the forum won't chop the pic's off.

you won't be taking much metal out of the hinges if you use the letter drills,,,,,,its just to clean up the holes,,,,,,the hinges are soft metal,,,,a drill press does it easily,,,,,,or a hand drill....

welcome to the show. sweet van. mine came from natural bridge, va. last year.

I'm glad you posted pics of this van....mine will be painted almost identical. The top will be a cream color. Lettering and pinstriping will be cream, gold and green. Good luck with the project!

Ok it has taken me a bit longer than I was hoping but with school and a project of this nature I can not say that I am surprised. On the positive side, the van should end up being pretty well suited to what I want it for and a neat way to get around. Since I last posted, I have replaced the hinge pins, replaced/patched the floors, redone the flange around the entire doghouse, bedlined the doghouse, and done some quick interior painting. Here are some pics:

Alley Light


Passenger Floorboard





Drivers Floorboard




Getting dash ready for paint


Welded in patches in bottom of doors and roughed them in. Still have to finish the bodywork.




Raptorlined inside of doghouse this past weekend and threw some white paint on the walls. I am not an experienced welder so excuse the gross welds, they got better as i worked my way around

Looking good thorny. Nothing wrong with them welds, as long as no daylight can shine through (or exhaust). Your van is looking real good. Great Work.

I'm looking at a 68- and I believe it's a 90,has 6 cylinder and runs and looks good I just don't know if 3,000 is to much, it needs very little work and is still original paint faded but nice any help would be great. Thanks

rust is the major concern,,,,,,,a van can end up not being worth fixing if there is too much rust,,,,,,,the rest is fixable,,,,,,,you can put a $5000 paint job on it if you want it to look pretty,,,,,,,
the engine might need work,,,,,,,,,just don't get stuck with a rust bucket,,,,,,,,,

Very little rust, Las Vegas, and the motor runs great and looks good also, has a automatic, I've done a couple of 69 caprice, 10-12,years ago, my problem is just don't know how much older vans are going for, thanks

Big W, its just so great to see someone of your age, (your profile says 22!?) getting into restoring such an old vehicle! Most owners around here are older and do these for the nostalgia aspect of own a piece of our youth....keep it up, coming along nice! GonetoVegas, you should make a general post out of this thread asking about van prices so more will see it and help you....

Oh man...to be 22 again...lol. Going to be 51 this year, i think.

Been a while since I've posted but I finally got her back together and inspected. Its got just the bare essentials for now to get it through inspection but the hard part is done! Still have to finish my right reverse light bracket which was rusted and separating from the body, bedline the back section of the floor, insulate, put down flooring, paint the exterior...the list goes on. Anyways, she runs and drives perfectly down the road just need to either regear or go with some taller tires in the rear as my top speed is slightly lower than I need it to be. Im currently running 215/65 r15 tires all around and am considering switching to a 235/75 or something similar in the short term. I think Ive got 3.08s in the rear does this sound correct? Id like to be able to run comfortably at 68mph but am also worried about losing power. What do yall suggest? PS more pics to come, sorry for the intrusive guard rail.

Dang. Just realized that 3.08 is the tallest gear ratio offered so I guess that forces me to go with a bigger tire and eventually a 4 speed od swap so Ill just add that to the list

The other stuff can wait...getting it going down the road safely, Priceless!!!

Awesome job Thorny. Glad to see you're back up and running.