i love pex's van, hope to see it in person sometime!
-my vans.. hmmm well after telling so many of OTHER vanner
stories.... i guess i should start with my first
a 71' VW bus/van that we had many of those first really
wild and crazy times that ya always remember forever
best times were parked in my own backyard lol
also i was about 17 at the time and following this van i probly
only had for a couple few months before it got impounded for no registration
another dozen or so diff vehicles and a bunch more vw vans
and a few beatles over the following years none had brakes
and got to be a great e-brake and downshift driver
finally getting my licence at 21 !
-
traded a pick up truck i had for a ford E-140 shorty van
with a 3 spd
had a missing shifter and ya had to use 2 angle/iron sticks
that went through the floor ,1 up, 1 down, both up,both down ect
had a pair of old airplanes pretty well done on the side of it
(previous owner was a pilot)
drove it home , had that one about a week before trading that
for some other vehicle at the time i felt i wanted
-went to a band camp out "max creek" in mass somewhere one year
rode with a friend at the time who had a early chevy!
what an awesome van, and an awesome weekend ..
about 6 of us
and a whole commercial tank on nitrus oxide lol
(now looking back there were ALOT of vans there!)
now a whole bunch of years and diff vehicles after that
still never heard of Vanning yet
came across an old van 2 blocks from my shop that was just callin me it seemed like to save it
so i bought my first early chevy van! a 1969 (no windows!)
it was VERY rough, even a couple vanners passed on it before me!
but have fiberglass,bondo and a whole lotta arc welding sticks later... i came up with this
broke as usual after a project i put it up for sale
and one friday night i left it parked UNDER LIGHTS in a major
downtown plaza .. thinking.. who'll mess with it
found it the next morning and some kids used it as a bicycle backboard and put dents and tire marks all over both sides
............nice kids
feeling bent at society that day i drove it over to my shop
peeled off the over 300 feet of pin striping that made the
seems of the stripes, the 50 stars off each of the doors
and repaired and put it in primer from the doors back
selling it the next week for 1800.00
in process of fixxing up this old van i found vcvc.org
and from there i was hooked,
ever since then i had another old van craving
and one morning on a random chosen backroad to work one morning
sitting in the weeds of a back yard... there is was my 65 chevy van
for several months i kept saying to myself on the way by it
stop and knock at the door... but wanted to wait till i had some
haggling bucks to work with
then one morning on my way in.. there it was
up from the weeds and parked on the lawn like it was just waiting
on a FOR SALE sign!
i saw someone that afternoon sitting on the porch so i stopped
met a girl who said, yeah thats my brothers van and i know he wants to sell it
i returned the next day to hash out a deal.. 600 bucks and an
aluminum canoe i had was the price
i never got the story on how the FU ended up on the side
it was sprayed on with undercoating, and the seller
tried to cover it up with rattle can primer causing it to react
and REALLY show up lol
anyway, after busting my ass cleaning it up and giving it a fresh
coat of primer... i drove it for around 30,000 miles in a year
attended 26 different van events with it that first year VANNING!
went on to rebuild the motor with a few tweeks, power moon roof,
shaved a side door
and drove everyday for almost 3 yrs
changed girlfriends.. and felt i needed to change vans too
sold it, (to regret selling it as many who have had nice vans
and parted ways with)
again instant cravings for another old van
an ad in the paper i found Kate Mossey the dodge FREE!
alot was good, but too much was bad to save it
it became donor organs for ol blue
after a while just not feeling the ddddodge vibe i sold that one
hooked on vanning could not do without one so .. another freebee
i had kicking around the back yard was BIG RED TEMP VAN !
300,000 babied miles! had the van a while before i decided to drive it, had some friends that needed some parts
so i hooked em up with a section of the roof, and the pop out windows, and a few other bits i felt not needed
well when i decided i was going to drive the van.. i needed a roof section! and back windows.. have plexiglass and plywood
will travel!
was a great van and did several events, won a few awards too such as -best under DE construction-
best beater, and best "rat van"
then along came the 67 and the 65 both at the same time!
the 67' needed an engine after 1 short ride, so i transplanted
the 300,000 mile plus 85' - 305 drivetrain into the 67!
sold the 67 and a parts van after a couple years
and now concentrating on ONE van my 65 chop (after issue 4 is done)
i like to think i'm getting better at it ;) .. we'll see!