Vannin' Home Forums General Discussion General Discussion early poptop dodge saved from the weeds

well this is it.. don't let the moss scare ya it's still a solid van,very very little rust ,the worst is around the roof edge but have sandblaster will travel anyone ever see a pop top like that before? been trying to find another van with one like it but nothin so far it needs alot of work,but already got a high output 318 engine lined up and ready for it to replace the old tired disassembled one in it- it's got AC ! LOL but i'm sure it won't be savable and i could realy do without the rooftop condensor look ;)unless it works of course,then i'm sure i can get over how it looks the van came from longmont,colorado to ct in 89 when the timing chain went,the guy i got the van from,bought the GIRL a plane ticket back to colorado for the van,started to work on the van and had a work accident and never got back to it -had it in a local rag for best offer and here it is,at his property in pawling,ny he's got everything that was inside,paneling,stove,sink,fridge,bed,seats AND a pair of seats in a fiero he's junking with the bose headrests.. so i'm grabin those seats too for the van needs alot, but i picure the end result when i'm done with it,and it's definately worth saving [url=http://groups.msn.com/vintagechevyvanclub2/leadfootpics.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=5824]http://groups.msn.com/vintagechevyvanclub2/leadfootpics.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=5824[/url] off to warm up the preasure washer these are probly the wrst best before pics i ever had hehe and for those who think because i got another early means i'll forget about the magazine WE are building.... N O T .... all weekend roadtrips have been postponed due to my dedication to lots of winter van stuff goin on right here ... little over a month to go.. get your additions,ideas,and pics in asap! anyone needing more time and is working on something,please let me know thanks for looking.. and like they say thanks for leavin

Dude I think you should clear coat it and keep the funky colors, LOL!

i was thinkin a small lawn on the top of the poptop LOL..but mowing it would be a pain and with an 8 cyl, i hate to be tossin sodd on the freeways - had a VW a LONG time ago that had big time THICK moss on the roof i left it, never went fast enough for it to blow off and hell no i aint washin no VW lol i think this van is worthy of a steam bath

Dude, you have to paint, "A rolling stone gathers no moss" on the back door!

Great find!

Wow!! what a find!! Thats really a van worthy of restoration... Why don't I ever find those??

leadfoot, bert from w.n.y.v.a. he should take a good look at her! as he is workin on his early dodge. as myself also.berts got his down to nothing. i give him parts as he makes a swap w/ me.how far from the niagara falls is it?
p.s. "BOOT-HILL THRILL" the inside is under mass construction,"JUST GOT THE FIRST SHIPMENT IN ON "BUFFALO BILL" GEAR.the outside will stay the same color but w/ new graphics"paint".the joy of workin on 3 vans at once.our early chevy should be here soon? lookin for title as owner says! when we get her that will make 4 vans to make our winter ago ahead,+ the house!
no rest for a vanner!
gotta go
gotta go
oh the fellin' of spring ahead of us.

thanks guys, yeah the van is in pawling,ny
less than an hr by leadfoot driving from me
15 or 20 minutes from pawkipsee - thursday morning i'm goin up to jack it up and place it on some plywood planks,the ground is soft and it's parked about 10 feet from a VERY steep driveway
so i'm tryin to make this as painless as possible for my friend with the trailer goin to get it this weekend, the rear tires still got air in em
the fronts don't look so good it sunk about up to the front hubs but the rear tires seem kind of large and kept the van off the ground at least
..worst case is it's going to need some front end
parts i didn't see at first i'm sure of it LOL.. but EVERYTHING i looked at was solid,
i was tryin to find a reason this guy didn't want it other than space on his property
i'm really lookin forward to it, i've always been an open model minded early chevy owner
it's like learning a whole new world diving into something ya never really knew much about at first

maybe he wants to put one of those new design dodge vans there. then come back 30 years or so and get it, by that time vanners will want it.

Ok leadfoot...you finally got one up on "gotavan" Dan....

I don't know about clearcoating the moss, but ya gotta admit it's a nice shade of green....

nahh not even Roger of rocka-rolla got Dan beat he's got like 13 early chevys a dozen tractors,a pole barn chubby with all kinds of motorcycles,bikes,toys,cars,you name it i wouldn't mind even half of what he got but thanks i like the green monster too when it's done it'll be smooth like butter i would just for kicks try and clear the moss, but i got a feeling it would just bleed through and look like algie LOL Van iN & Van oN

I saw Dan's old place in person a couple yrs back, I can't imagine how he moved all that.....If he put it all on ebay he could buy Bill Gates....

these are 7 of 8 of his earlies i think he has
not to mention the barns full of stuff
i met em at the NATS in person, his van was one
that made it into the issue of truckin'
(had vcvc.org spraypainted on the left rear )
i was parked 2 feet behind his van when that pic in truckin was taken, but i was under it fixxin my exaust pipe that broke ,they probly didn't want a pic of my big feet hanging out from under the van ..so i look at it like a missed truckin by 2 feet in two ways LOL
anyway Dan is quite a collector, definately like none seen before, and a nice guy
the custom aluminum castings he does are pretty wild,there's pic in the album of that too
gotavan Dans own line up here > http://groups.msn.com/vintagechevyvanclub2/gotavanspictures.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=234

Do you think you could even put a price on that NOS quarter panel for a 64-67 90" van?
The bicycle stuff is even wilder...

took a pile more pics today and "rose it from the dead" pulling it to a better position to go and get
click "NEXT" from the first pic

http://groups.msn.com/vintagechevyvanclub2/leadfootpics.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=5824

Thats it, you have to name that van "Kate", as in Kate Moss! Definitely post some pictures during the initial scrub down!

Krispy's got an NOS quarter, but i think his NOS flatglass frontend skin is more impressive!

now ya can just call her kate the moss if off ..well gettin there [url=http://groups.msn.com/vintagechevyvanclub2/leadfootpics.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=5920]http://groups.msn.com/vintagechevyvanclub2/leadfootpics.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=5920[/url]

little Turtle Wax and you'll be all set

that would be ALOT of turtle.. had a minor mishap loading the trailer ...mental note.. use caution when loading a van with zero brakes on a car trailer aiming slightly downhill LOL..rolled a little fast onto the trailer.. came to a hard stop at the other end against the electric winch oooops.. i wasn't planning on using the front or rear bumpers anyway got lucky no panel damage

gravity is fun .....does that count as gravity ? eitherway it's fun ...i guess . sucks about your bumper and your winch tho .

i had a chain around the axle to the trailer side rail that was supposed to catch it- but on it's way onto the trailer the chain slipped off the axle.. i was in front of the van just before it came crashing,but i did see it slip- did all the towing,loading and unloading alone and the van has zero operational brakes right now LOL.. had to slowly bring the trailer to level ground to roll the van back on the trailer and chain it down- the pitch on the driveway didn't seem so bad till then LOL the winch never was hooked up as long as my freind has had the trailer,only scratched the cover on it the bumper didn't fair so well but the nose is safe behind it...sad about the bumper,but i'm goin to roll pan both ends as planned- was a good bumper lost to a good cause though- it's goin inside my shop for tear down tomarrow -going to start a album for pics of this project to post as it goes along -tomarrow i remove the condensor from the roof that should be some fun

Pity you didn't leave the moss on you could have called her.... Ah-Pawling !!!!!

I'll get me coat then.................

HUH?!!!

"thanks guys, yeah the van is in pawling,ny"
Ah pawling-appalling..... appalling condition of moss covered paintwork. hmmm now where did I leave my coat!

that's a good one LOL,the uh- part of uh pawling wasn't there before when i read it- i've been calling it the avicado from colorado ,but it's gettin claener..nice to know the door seals are all still holding strong,at least the funk was only on the outside

I think you had the ultimate camo paint job there....