Samvans '66 handibus

Nice van, A lot of hard work on your part. I like the ceramic tint and will look into that for my display van

Thanks, I hope the tint helps the AC do it's job next summer.

So while I'm waiting for the chrome shop do finish my dash bezel and the upholstery shop to do my back platform, I decided to get off my butt and install my belly pan. I knew I was going to have to trim it down to fit the dual master cylinder and the front suspension mod's so that's why it took me so long. Got it trimmed and painted and finally installed.

Looks like it fits like a glove! Nice work Sam...Love your Van!

On a roll now - I managed to install the splash shields to go with my belly pan after work today. While I was struggling along, the UPS man brought me a present.


I'll get to work on the dash bezel and horn button next. I also did a complete set of exterior handles and a pair of the cast aluminum headlight rings while I was at it. Just in case...

Bling that thing, it won't get you home but you know what it will get you...

If chrome does what they say, I should be living like Ron Jeremy! I got the bezel and my horn button installed. They make my steering wheel look like crap.


I don't know, it was a lot of money for what you actually see.

samsvan wrote:So while I'm waiting for the chrome shop do finish my dash bezel and the upholstery shop to do my back platform, I decided to get off my butt and install my belly pan. I knew I was going to have to trim it down to fit the dual master cylinder and the front suspension mod's so that's why it took me so long. Got it trimmed and painted and finally installed.

So clean and straight, really NICE from front to back and underneath! I do not beleive mine could ever be as perfect as yours but I aspire to be
I am going to get my belly pan and new side fins powder coated next money I scrape together. Just found those side pieces had not had them before.

samsvan wrote:If chrome does what they say, I should be living like Ron Jeremy! I got the bezel and my horn button installed. They make my steering wheel look like crap.


I don't know, it was a lot of money for what you actually see.

I re did mine from scratch just to make it all look pretty! Cracks were hard to sand.. I got a kit it took a bit to get it right. I think instead just buy a custom leather wrap. They are really nice, I am going to get one after all that work. The wheel paint does ware even though I prepped and painted many coats. Just not perfect for ever!!

Thanks Jacke. I guess I'm glad I finally got my belly pan on but to tell you the truth, I haven't noticed much of a difference in temp.
I looked back at your steering wheel refurb thread a few times but I still haven't got to fixing mine. It looks like it requires patience - something that I lack...
I got a couple of other bugs worked out though. I've been having tuning issues since the get go but could never track down the problem. I finally brought it to the right guy and he replaced the ECM itself and now it runs like a champ.
I left my rear platform bed thing at my upholstery guys place a while back. About three months ago to be exact. I finally gave up on him and went and grabbed all the pieces. I guess I have to do it myself when I get the time. No biggie though. It's getting hot down here so I won't be camping anytime soon. Just cruising.

Well I redid my Mustang interior bucket seats and rear... never had done it before.
I learned to buy a good pair of Hog ring plyers ,good foam and material. From what I see you are pretty darn good at everything! So, if you have time then try it, otherwise get a new upholsterer .
I am going to buy a leather steering wheel cover that is custom made, it looks nicer than the plain wheel. My van is getting new tires tomorrow Goodyear GT radials same as what I currently have. I found that the tires are 10 years old... even though they are like new. I also got some sway bars to install... we shall see how it goes

My throttle cable was bugging me. It wasn't smooth. I used a Morse style cable and rather than change it, I decided to change the geometry at the pedal around a little. Here's the before and after pictures. It seems to have helped.

Glad to hear you were able to improve on the smoothness. A step in the right direction ！

A couple of pic's of the way my van looked when I bought it. It wasn't as nice as it is now but it was just as cool.

It's come a Long Way, baby!!! Cool then and even cooler now!

Nice work. Everything looks great especially the interior.

I bought one of the new 24 gallon tanks from Vansauto. I got the sending unit too. I'm going to go ahead and do it the hard way which is hopefully the right way. I got a universal fuel pump mount from Tanks, Inc. The pump I had in the old tank will work with the mount I bought. I have to cut a hole in the top of the new tank to install the pump. Luckily the tank has a nice flat area top and bottom to make it all work. Besides being a much bigger tank, the reason I'm changing them out is that I've never been able to fill the tank at the gas station at more than a trickle without the pump kicking off and having gas puke out of the filler neck. It has to be a venting issue but I can't figure it out. I posted pictures of a stock filler neck and the one I've been running with the old tank. I also posted the tank I'm taking out and the new one. The old tank was the 53 CGX from Tanks, Inc. You can see that it doesn't have the extra vent tube that the originals have. The shop that did the work modified the filler neck by routing the vent tube back into the filler neck so that might be the problem. The odd thing is that they also ran a vent line from the pump mount and routed it up by the top of the filler neck. It didn't have any loops in it to catch fuel or otherwise block it from venting so I don't know why I couldn't pump gas into it.
Anyway, I hope to get this taken care of this weekend and hopefully it solves my problem.

Moving along, I got the fuel pump and sending unit installed in the tank. I ran into a question that stopped me from finishing the install though. On a '92 TBI 350, does the fuel supply line go into the throttle body on the drivers side? There's not much info online so I thought i'd ask here.

Tank's in. I had to cut the passenger side exhaust pipe off to make room. I'll take it to the muffler shop next week. I must have done something right because I filled it up with gas today and it took it just fine.

Looks Fantastic and I'm sure you're gonna LOVE having the 24 gallon tank and won't have to make so many pit-stops for fuel! I Love your van Sam. Great seeing someone's vision come to life. Thanks for letting us tag along for the ride!

Wow Sam everything is so nice. I definitely have Samsvan ENVY.
Now you know I am not able yet to even try t accomplish all you have done. But, it gives me incentive to work harder, once I return to my old self.
I really would love air conditioning ... sitting in that cool cab with a soft cool air streaming around the cab! Wow, I can dream... anyway.
You will need to school me on how and what type air conditioning you installed.
I should get my tunnel next week... at least I can start to cool the engine down. My cab will need to have the windows down for now.
Really jealous of Everything you have accomplished!! Great work and ideas on improving your comfort. I aspire to get even an 8th of what you have done to your ride. Just great!!

I was having some clearance issues so I got some new shoes for the van. I found a set of rally wheels on CL and put on some tires I had from an S10. Seems to have helped and I like the hot rod look too.

Very Nice!