New to vintage vans and this forum

Hi, my name is Craig. I am married to Tara so I am the tarafied1! (funny username)
Anyway, I have been a gearhead all my life but new to vans. My youngets son really wanted one so we got this 67 G20 as a father son project. I am learning a lot but will need lots of help!
It is a 67 G20 with a 283 three speed. The rear axle has been converted to 5 lug, front still 6 lug. It needs a lot of little parts but it does run. No brakes at the moment. We are also trying to get some seats in it. My son wants to get it running and driving and then fix it up as he drives it.
here are some pictures

Welcome! Glad you found the site. Be sure to tell other Facebook van folks about VV's. Many don't seem to realize it's here!

Welcome aboard Craig! You're going to like it here. Plenty of helpful people who are willing to answer any questions you might have along the way. When you post pics,if you change the default size from 800 pixels to 640, it won't cut off the edges of the pic. Nice father -son project you've got there! Enjoy the ride!!!

Welcome, from northeast ohio. Looks like a great solid project ya got there. Can't wait to see how it turns out. I'm digging the scallops . not sure if the hubs interchange from 5 to 6, but some people have done it's swaps on their earlies and might have a couple hubs and drums laying around. Plenty of great help, and greater people on here.

Welcome to VV. You have come to the right place. Keep an eye on the parts for sale section in here as you will most likely find any parts you need and lots of people parting these out. Looks like a great start for your project.

thanks for the warm welcome!
I am excited about the project but not nearly as much as my son is!
thanks for the tips on pics too.
I will spread the word about the site. It's great to get help from a group with like minded hobbies!
As you may notice in some pictures we don't just have Chevy's, we have a few Mustangs too. I hope that don't cause any problems that we love ALL cars/truck!

Oh hell no!!!! Fords are worshiped here...lol.

we did a little more investigating today. The brakes were non functional. We could see thru one rear wheel that a drum was missing. We "assumed" the rear might have been from a G10 with 5 lug but when we ordered a drum for a G10 it was too small. After an exhaustive investigation, I think it has the original rear axle housing with 5 lug shafts and drums. I was able to match up a new 66 Caprice rear drum with the one we have and dimensionaly it worked. The bleeders broke free and I cleaned them up and cleaned up the self adjusters. Rear brakes look like they could work. Master was empty and rusty. We cleaned it as best we could without removing it. Flushed it out. Can't get any pressure thru the lines so it will need rebuilt ot replaced. Pulled the front wheels, it has one drum and the other is missing. One of the rubber lines is broken. So it needs some brake parts for sure.

Big W wrote:Oh hell no!!!! Fords are worshiped here...lol.

whew

a little day dreaming...

the odds of finding and putting a 1st gen rear end on it is pretty slim,,,,,,so its probably from something else,,,,,,,,does it have the shock absorber brackets on it? does it have the 3" wide springs that taper down to 2 1/2" at the U bolts? Napa has good prices on a master cylinder,,,,,,,,

donivan65 wrote:the odds of finding and putting a 1st gen rear end on it is pretty slim,,,,,,so its probably from something else,,,,,,,,does it have the shock absorber brackets on it?   does it have the 3" wide springs that taper down to 2 1/2"  at the U bolts?    Napa has good prices on a master cylinder,,,,,,,,

I have not measured anything on the springs but it looks stock brackets and perches, It's pretty crusty and grimey like it has been there a long time. I did look for a tag but didn't see anything.

I looked up the dimensions for the G20 brake drum and measured the one that was on it. Other than the bolt pattern, the drum it did have matched the drum it was supposed to have. It now has the small GM bolt pattern 5x4.75, so I looked up GM 10 bolt rear-ends that would have 11" rear drums with the small bolt pattern. What I found was that B body GM cars had 11" drums with a 10 bolt rear and 5 on 4.75. Camaro, Nova, etc. had 9.5" drums and my 72 C10 has 11" but 5 on 5 bolt pattern. So my educated guess is that someone put B body axle shafts and drums in/on the original 10 bolt rear end. The 66 Caprice drum I ordered fit perfect and looks like the one drum we did have. The brake line, E brake cables, brackets and perches are there and hooked up and look like they have not been disturbed, so I'm just guessing but looks like it could be the original housing. It is a 10 bolt (8.2) from the right time frame too based on the shape of the casting.

rear drums on a 1st Gen are 9 1/2" X 2",,,,,,maybe they did just swap 5 bolt axles into it,,,,
1st thing we do is get rid of the 50 year old brake lines and hoses,,,,,,,,,,and then convert our single line master cylinder over to the 1967-70, 2nd gen types,,,,,,,Napa has armor wound  lines that don't require tubing benders or you can double flare a roll of  tubing if you want,,,,,,,,

we are going to have to replace the lines and hoses, I suspect it has been sitting around a lot. It's a 67 so it does have the dual MC. The MC was full of rust and crud so it will need to be replaced.
Does it need to be changed from under the van? We found a small plate to access the MC for fluid but too small to work on it. The floor has a huge patch pop riveted on so I can't tell what the original floor looked like.

we are anxious to actually make it move under it's own power so we were hoping we could get the brakes working enough to test the clutch and so on but alas, it's not to be. It's going to need major brake overhaul.

The worst thing they did on 67's was use the little 1st gen 16 gallon gas tank,,,,,,the master cylinder lives in the basement,,,,,,,

thanks

I'm diggin the fuzzy wuzzy dash, thats so 70s

M1D

I have a second gen master cylinder that you can have, but not sure I can get it to you fast enough. Also not sure if it's off my van yet or not. It's not new by any means but it was working prior.

M1D makes custom front disk brake conversion brackets and provides a parts list to upgrade to disk brakes. I have not experienced mine yet, but any upgrade to braking performance on these vans is a very good thing. When the first car pulls out in front of you while you are going over 35 mph, you will understand...

Since you have ability, you could redo your brakes the best way right off the bat. The parts aren't very expensive. I am sure he will fill you in if you send him a PM.

m1dadio wrote:I'm diggin the fuzzy wuzzy dash, thats so 70s

M1D

we can send the fuzz to you if you want it!?! lol

thanks for the advice, I will send a PM. I also reserected an old thread on the subject here
https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t37107-brake-conversion-kit-for-1968-g20-handi-bus

well, we moved on to the front brakes. Going to give up on disc brakes for now. It was missing one brake drum up front too. None of the local parts stores showed a drum for the G20. We ordered a front drum for a C10 in hopes that it will fit. Bought a master cylinder, brake hardware, shoes, rubber lines, etc. Hopefully we can get brakes working soon!

brakes have been a real challenge. The right side was missing the drum and one shoe. The shoes were available as was the hardware but the drum is not available. We have been trying all the GM drums we could find that might fit. We ended up with a mid 70's K10 rear drum. It's pretty close. The front wheels were a mismatch and one of them wouldn't clear the drum so I had to find a couple matching wheels that would fit. Found some off of a 95 Nissan pickup. We have replaced about every part of the brakes! Waiting on one brake hose and we can bleed the brakes and drive the the thing!

Looks like you're making nice progress. Keep up the Good work!!!