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The TRUTH
#306833 July 06th 2009 10:34 pm
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SixShot Offline OP
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Can we handle the truth?
I'm talking about the mistakes we've made on our vans over the year's.I know most of us here are perfect and don't have "Ah Crap" moments but how about back when,like when we started vanning.

Drilling a pilot hole in the ceiling of your 76 Chevy and when removing the drill noticing daylite?

Make a template for a cabinet/wall/headliner,carefully laying it out marking it then cutting it out,only to realize we did it on wrong side so it's reversed and won't fit?

Happily sinking screws in the floor plywood on your 72 Dodge Maxi and started to smell gas?

Not that I would have first hand knowlage of these things but perhaps others here would admit to a boo boo rolleyes
It's all in fun so anybody want to tell the truth?,even if it's not you but somebody you heard about that had an "Ah Crap" moment while working on "Their" van lol


79 B300 4x4,80 B100,83 B150.If it's not a van I just don't understand it.
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Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #306838 July 06th 2009 11:41 pm
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I ve heard of a person that unloaded a parts van off their tow dolly "all by theirself" only to have the wheels turn sharply when the swivel plate swiveled unexpectedly only to have said parts truck turn sharply and crush in the side of an early Econo rust and dent free pickup truck recently purchased for $3500. No first hand knowledge of course,just heard about it. Also heard that same person never unloads any vehicles alone anymore too.


Tim in Ky
EconoUSAparts
Your used 61-67 Econoline parts source
Constantly parting out E100 vans and trucks.
A100 parts also available
Re: The TRUTH
Ky_Tim #306843 July 07th 2009 1:15 am
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not a van wise...
but towing a truck with my lightning... engine was blown... so we used another vechile to pull it on the tow dolley... well lets just say this... my ford lightning at the time had under 10K on it... and my face turned blue. i cried. fearing the worse. Truck came off the front of the tow dolly, my tailgate was done at the time... it missed it by 1/2IN... holy god i was happy... but pissed at the chick in the driver seat of that truck. had to take a forklift to get that truck on the towdolley PROPERLY.

But Sixshot if thats true on the gas tank... thats priceless.

Re: The TRUTH
Blue77 #306844 July 07th 2009 1:34 am
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 3,497
"Canadian guy who lives way the heck out west"
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That's a good story Tim... I wonder how you ever "heard" that story! Welcome BTW! Great to see you here! Corey

Cool topic SixShot... I have no idea what you are talking about!!!


Corey aka sasktrini, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

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Re: The TRUTH
sasktrini #306846 July 07th 2009 2:55 am
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SixShot Offline OP
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All true shocked
New member Klink asked some questions in the interior topic which got me to thinking,which I'll admit to not doing much of from time to time.I've got more which I might post,we'll see if others have any good ones.


79 B300 4x4,80 B100,83 B150.If it's not a van I just don't understand it.
Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #306861 July 07th 2009 6:19 am
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I put a slant six together one time realizing that after I had finished putting back together that I had forgotten to put the lifters in.


Nate Breece
Re: The TRUTH
NateB #306868 July 07th 2009 6:26 am
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rofl


Jim & Lucy Newkirk
1965 Chevy Bad Influence
1981 Chevy-the Love Shack
2012 Chevy Van , 2020 chevy van
2020 Chevy van Sapphire Sweet.
Club Vannerz.
vanninvanner@comcast.net
Re: The TRUTH
newkirkinc1 #306870 July 07th 2009 6:57 am
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,375
Keeper of the Stories
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Oh boy where do I begin,

One of my first vans I used what I thought was "Hot" glue sticks in my hot glue gun only to open up my van during a steamy August day too find that every piece of fabric trim was on the floor, I learned that day that there are different temps that glue sticks come in.

That is all I'm willing to admit too at this time..LOL!


Proud to be Native American!
Re: The TRUTH
Native Son #306873 July 07th 2009 7:49 am
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Nope, Never made any mistakes. rofl
Now for the truth, I could probably fill a page, but don't have that much time. I'll have to come back to this thread later!


Smitty
1976 Ford, 1976 Ford#2, 1978 Ford, 1988 Ford
2000 Dodge,1995 Harley RoadKing, 1999 GMC Hightop Cobra

Co Chairman Southern Ohio Van Council
Tri County Vans SOVC Rep
Member Tri County Vans 1975 to Present.
Former President Tri County Vans (No officers anymore)
Former Vice President Tri County Vans
Host of the 23rd Nationals 1995, 30th Nationals 2002, and 1999 C of C
Certified Nats Judge


Re: The TRUTH
smitty #306877 July 07th 2009 8:13 am
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i really don't know where to start on this one. frenched my antenna the other day. the pipe that i used to french it wasn't exactly level when I tacked it in place so when I was pretty much done i put in the antenna and it was pointing forward some instead of straight up and down. I just bent the antenna backwards with a line bender. now you'll never know... it's truly custom!

some of bluegrass were puting a tranny in willies van and we had pull an electric speedo trans to replace willies mechanical. we put the trans in, got to the driveshaft part and couldn't get it all the way in. we decided the tranny was junk because the driveshaft wouldn't go in. We took it back and got another. turns out it was just the speedo gear not letting the driveshaft go in. whoops.


I go to Truck-ins. How about you?
Re: The TRUTH
matchstickBGV #306933 July 07th 2009 7:12 pm
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i could also write a bunch of these.. lolol.. most recently, the install of my side panel. instead of just cutting all the spot welds, top, bottom, front and back and just tackin it back onto the van, i made 2 big ole cuts which had to be welded back in.. what would have taken a mere weekend to finish turned into what had to be 6 months work mostly due to being frustrated and becoming unmotivated.

Had a similar tow dolly accident too down in Texas. bouht a 79 trans am bandit edition car with no drivetrain. the guy was going to give me another subframe because the one on the car was cracked and brazed in 4 places. so the guy( my father-in-law at the time)who was helping me get the car says to just put it on the dolly and we'll drag it down to there the frames were. i was just looking at the car just setting on the dolley thinking, that can;t be right.. sure enough.. we drive DOW THE HILL from the guy's back field to his shop.. father in law hits the brakes and oh my god what an insane picture.. the trans am launched off the dolley, over the tailgate and up the bed far enough to put the nose thru the back window of the truck. as insane as that is, the only damage to the truck was a crease along the top of one of the bed rails and the rear window blowing out. I was pretty pissed off, but wasn;t my truck anyways.. lol.. that bastard tried to make me replace the rear window of the truck.. i said hell no.. what kind of moron doesn;t strap the dolley to the car? course I was young and never used a golley ever, so i didn't know any better myself at the time.. hahaha..


Yeah..... I know I know.... It's NOT a van... But if you squint, It could be a REALLY long van?

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Re: The TRUTH
swimmster #306934 July 07th 2009 7:19 pm
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One day my boss tells me someone is bringing out his FIRST ever new car and he;s going to restore it. It;s a 1979 Chevy monte carlo. this thing shows up on a flat bed truck and i just laughed.. looked like it was pulled straight form a junkyard. mostly in primer and rust. floors were beyond gone, all the steel lines are gone. this poor car had sat in a field for 8 years.. he'd go over now and then and tinker with it once we had it in the garage.. he got the engine to run and it ran quite good.. he managed to convince me to go over during work hours and start replacing fuel and brake lines. ended up replacing EVERY stitck of brake line and fuel line from calipers to master cylinder, from gastank to carb. aftyer him spending a fe months trying to get someone to "patch up" his floor and not finding anyone dumb enough to try it, i got him to buy a replacement floor pan. told him 5 times i would go install it. nope.. not until a week later, he;s all pissed off because he had filled the gas tank, then took a sawzall to the floor. cut the new brake and fuel lines in SIX PLACES!!! I was pretty ticked off. now i had to wait a month before all the vapor and fuel were gone form the building before i could go in with the grinder and welder and install the floor pan. then redo the damn lines again.. today, the car still sits as it did when i finished those things.. it;s been another 6 years.. lolol..


Yeah..... I know I know.... It's NOT a van... But if you squint, It could be a REALLY long van?

[Linked Image]
Re: The TRUTH
swimmster #306935 July 07th 2009 7:33 pm
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been there.... but i have 2 competing events
that happend to me....
most recently
last summer while at a small event here in new england
sitting at the grounds listening to the tunes jammin from my chop
after a few hrs i thought... should start it up and charge the battery
(no electric at the location)
so i reached over the doghouse and hit the start button... only to land flat on my ass behind the doghouse as the van started (in gear) and took off across the grounds and smashed into a fellow vanners conversion van where it stopped
thankfully my insurance covered it all
everyone there was saying
if i didn't hit his van i would have probly landed in the river that was very close by..
them were a few of the largest slugs of jack daniels i ever had after that one....
-
before that.. a couple few yrs
i wrenched and scrambled to get my "harley van"
early ready for a soon to happen evant
when thrusday came, the van had a replacement drivetrain and was ready to go for the trip planned on friday...
i had a car on the lift in the garage
and had the van parked behind it
needed to roll the van forward a few feet
to make room for the trash cans to fit behind it and close the door
...well... gave the van a small push from the back end to move it forward...
when i hear CCCCCCCCRACK
the car on the lift was at the "right height"
and i put the trailer hitch of the car into the windshield of my early leaving a HUGE
spider crack smack in the middle of the window
....that was the end of that ride that weekend
luckily a friend loaned me their van for the needed trip
- i am sure i have many more..
one thing for sure... is brain farts suck !
(and a neutral safety switch is there for a reason smile )




Re: The TRUTH
leadfoot #306938 July 07th 2009 7:51 pm
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SixShot Offline OP
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I always figured you haven't earned the right to laugh at others mistakes until you've learned to laugh at your own.
One of my favorite sayings(mostly said out loud to myself) is "Damn,that ain't exactly what I had planned".Another I learned years ago from a Journeyman Pipefitter(I was learning the trade at the time)was "If you ain't makin mistakes you ain't doing nothing" lol


79 B300 4x4,80 B100,83 B150.If it's not a van I just don't understand it.
Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #306964 July 07th 2009 9:56 pm
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This is not automotive (car or van) related, but we had a friend send us a warning e-mail the other day, and I did go see the damage to verify.... it appears he dropped some .22 rounds into his long shag carpet the other night, THOUGHT he had them all up, about a hour later he vacuumed the room and found he had NOT gotten all the rounds up . . Blew the hell out of his vacuum and put a few holes in his floor too!

I guess .22 RIM FIRE rounds don't like bouncing and smacking around in a vacuum huh? lol


My van : 1989 Ford E-150 Econoline, currently named “WOLF-DEN II”


Founder & President of Sooner or Later United Truckers and PROUD TO BE A S.L.U.T. ! !
Re: The TRUTH
Uncle_Fester #306979 July 07th 2009 11:58 pm
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Well i will tell u what happen to me a couple weeks ago, i had put a picture of my van on here to show what i found under my side window of my conversion van, i had taken it out to fix the metal under it, well i got that one done so i moved to the next one.. I had the next one out and proceded to fix the rust under the window it took a couple days but i got it done.
I primered it and when it dried i sat the window back into the van and then i got hungary for lunch, well i never got back to it for a couple days. My cousin called me and asked if i could take him to the parts store i said yes we got into the van and started to drive out of my driveway got to the street and turned and all of a sudden i heard a crash then i remembered a few days ealier i sat my window in my van but didnt put any bolts in. There was my side window scattered all over the street. Thats my mistake when working on my van and not finishing a project. blush mad


[Linked Image]
Lighthouse Vanners...

1995 GMC g20 conversion (Grim Ride)
75 Dodge shorty


Darrin & Shelly
Re: The TRUTH
chevyvan93 #306981 July 08th 2009 1:11 am
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MY best one on my part... not van related... but could be angel
replacing O rings on fuel injectors.... and when priming the system everyhing was fine... when i turned it on. fuel shot all over from 8 othose lil sobs.
BTW theres different o rings for fuel injectors... regular ones * like i used * or the fuel specific ones that cost a arm and a leg. that i found out later *
laugh

Re: The TRUTH
Blue77 #308247 July 15th 2009 2:11 pm
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Posts: 28,125
Madman!
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I got a bunch of them too! I'm guilty of the pattern one above also lol

How about measuring a slider verse's barn doors 3 frigging times and getting the same number, then proceeding to weld a slider to the front door of your van so as to have a really cool HUGE gull wing door only to find out that a slider is an inch shorter than barn doors.


Ken Schwarz
Tricky Truckers, N.J.
Van Clan Plus One, Canada
Manse Vans, Finland
Rebel Vanners, N.J. "USA"
Toopa Sinner Tribe, N.C.

www.showvans.com

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/360991

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"Coolness ALWAYS trumps comfort"
Re: The TRUTH
NateB #308254 July 15th 2009 2:23 pm
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Originally Posted by Nate the skate
I put a slant six together one time realizing that after I had finished putting back together that I had forgotten to put the lifters in.


That takes the cake brother! lol


Loonie Toon Truckers...
New Jersey Chapter

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Re: The TRUTH
Galaxy #308285 July 15th 2009 3:11 pm
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Posts: 28,125
Madman!
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I forgot to put the oil sender in my 360 when I put it in my mid Dodge and fired it up, do you know how hard it is to get oil out of a van interior lol I can laugh at it now.


Ken Schwarz
Tricky Truckers, N.J.
Van Clan Plus One, Canada
Manse Vans, Finland
Rebel Vanners, N.J. "USA"
Toopa Sinner Tribe, N.C.

www.showvans.com

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/360991

[Linked Image]

"Coolness ALWAYS trumps comfort"
Re: The TRUTH
matchstickBGV #308302 July 15th 2009 3:43 pm
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Some of these are just too funny... haha

How 'bout proudly engraving Rat Fink for all the world to see on my NEW Martin sunroof, putting it back in the van and realizing it's upside down... I just told people I meant to do it that way... grin

Not van related, but the first time I ever swapped an engine was in my '57 Chevy, I rented a "cherry picker", had all the bolts undone (or so I thought), and proceeded to jack the engine up... Well the car kept coming up with it, so I would set it back down and go over everything again, repeated this step probably 10 times... A neighbour asked me how it was going, I explained the situation, and he tells me that the springs are unloading... curse Sure enough, when I kept jacking up the motor it came right out... I then proceeded to step on the bucket of tranny fluid that I had drained from the automatic, knocked it over, and watched it run down into the city sewer...


later...

Beast Lee...

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"It has to have an ending to exist - Beast Lee"
"If it doesn't have a V8, it's not a sport - Beast Lee"
Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #308320 July 15th 2009 4:19 pm
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ok now i am goin to tell you why i hate dodges so much !i payed 600 bucks for a 1980 dodge shorty slant 6 that had a bad motor but still drove it home ok are you with me so far ???ok got a new well a doner car with a bad trans mot0r was good drove it home ok now it gets reel good !!! toke the motor out of the van and the motor out of the car put it in the van go to start it no way got it to spen but no fire!!!ok did ever thing to it that the book said to do cool no f-ckin way would not start 3 weeks of hair pullin and then i go and start askin everone i could if i did somthing wrong no one would help or i did it all to it that thay said to do 4 months later i said f-ck it sold it for 300.00 now did not know vanning.com was here and the one guy that had a van said nothin about it so thats why i have a FORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i have yall to help me now boy if only i knew about yall i could be a dodge boyuky

Re: The TRUTH
user deleted #308345 July 15th 2009 5:52 pm
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Vanner Extraordinaire
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One of my shop guys was on the roof of a customer's van cutting in a sunroof. Straightened up, right into the steel ceiling fan! Ouch! Sunroof in his forehead...6 stitches!

My buddy had just finished buffing his roof after installing and painting a vista cruiser roof. Had lunch, decided to reinstall his console and headliner. His 5 year old nephew wanted to help, so he set up a pair of ladders and some scaffolding so the boy could watch for screws coming thru the roof. After about a dozen screws, he asked his nephew if he saw any, and the answer was yes...there are about 10!
Moral of the story...check the length of the drywall screws when working on your headliner!


Howard
"Nickels and Dymes"
Midwest Vans Ltd.
Vanfest Staff
Ontario Federation of Vanners Rep since 1978
National Truck-In Board since 1986
First van event-a hall party...March, 1974...ain't been right since!!!!!



Re: The TRUTH
on the road #308363 July 15th 2009 6:35 pm
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My old foremans brain fart...Back in the 70's I was an apprentice at a die pattern shop and work was getting slow.
So he comes up and tells me the owner wants the hi-lo repainted with some yellow paint. He says take it out back the shop and do it. I asked what he wants painted and he says the whole thing. 2 hours later I'm all done, so I grab the foreman to come check my work. First words out of his mouth is WHAT THE F%CK. I painted the whole thing like he told me....The seat, the steering wheel, the radiator, the tires, the guages, everything was yellow. No sense of humor I figured.


https://www.flickr.com/gp/154142337@N08/15982P
Re: The TRUTH
Ghetto Rat #308459 July 16th 2009 1:34 am
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pooh-bah
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I did something similar to what Superbeast did, back when I modified my van to have an oil pressure gauge in place of the original idiot light.

I don't remember exactly why I did it, but for some reason I cranked the engine with the sender off... unfortunately I had my head over top of the sender fitting...

Well, my new high volume oil pump worked spectacularly, and the resulting gusher was both instantaneous and truly spectacular! It completely plastered my face with oil before I could even release the key! Thankfully my glasses kept the oil out of my eyes.

Of course, with all the chemical exposure I've had, my skin's sensitive to oil, so my face turned a nice rosy shade of red before I could get the oil washed off. I'm glad it was fresh oil or I'd have had an awful mess.

My face did a very respectable job of keeping the oil off of my headliner - that's called using your head...

Clear skies!


-It's been such a LONG TIME... BlueShift>> 1981 Dodge Ram B250 Custom Sportsman Maxi Van


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It's what you learn after you know it all, that counts...

Are you living to work, or working to live?

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Learning from my own mistakes is good, learning from yours would be much better! [Linked Image]
Re: The TRUTH
matchstickBGV #308463 July 16th 2009 2:43 am
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I know a guy who shaved his door handles and welded his back doors shut and then proceeded to shut the front doors before installing the popper solenoids. Of course, the vent windows were locked too.






Re: The TRUTH
Boot #308472 July 16th 2009 6:18 am
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Supreme Master
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Originally Posted by Boot
I know a guy who shaved his door handles and welded his back doors shut and then proceeded to shut the front doors before installing the popper solenoids. Of course, the vent windows were locked too.




Was this guy's name Boot? grin


Nate Breece
Re: The TRUTH
NateB #308500 July 16th 2009 8:34 am
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i was goin to say that nate he he

Re: The TRUTH
user deleted #308604 July 16th 2009 12:44 pm
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Madman!
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Originally Posted by bigfootpaul
ok now i am goin to tell you why i hate dodges so much !i payed 600 bucks for a 1980 dodge shorty slant 6 that had a bad motor but still drove it home ok are you with me so far ???ok got a new well a doner car with a bad trans mot0r was good drove it home ok now it gets reel good !!! toke the motor out of the van and the motor out of the car put it in the van go to start it no way got it to spen but no fire!!!ok did ever thing to it that the book said to do cool no f-ckin way would not start 3 weeks of hair pullin and then i go and start askin everone i could if i did somthing wrong no one would help or i did it all to it that thay said to do 4 months later i said f-ck it sold it for 300.00 now did not know vanning.com was here and the one guy that had a van said nothin about it so thats why i have a FORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i have yall to help me now boy if only i knew about yall i could be a dodge boyuky


I was waiting for you to say you put the bad motor back in the van lol


Ken Schwarz
Tricky Truckers, N.J.
Van Clan Plus One, Canada
Manse Vans, Finland
Rebel Vanners, N.J. "USA"
Toopa Sinner Tribe, N.C.

www.showvans.com

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/360991

[Linked Image]

"Coolness ALWAYS trumps comfort"
Re: The TRUTH
Superbeast #308659 July 16th 2009 2:23 pm
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I know I'm new...but as an Irish clutz....this thread is meant for me!! None van related...cause I just got my first van..but man o man do I have some gooduns!

from installing a new bilge pump in my bassboat with screws that were too long...and ended up screwing the boat onto the trailer bunk boards..talk about a bich unloading at the ramp teh next morning!!

not chocking my trailer when I unhooked at a camp in Maine...half hour later, while I was in the mess hall eating lunch (with about 40 other guys) we all watched my boat and trailer roll backwards (prop first) into cabin number 6...that was a mess..I wanted to die.

to a few months ago Planing some molding with a power planer...sneezing...and planing 1" of my pointer finger off..in 9/32" slices!!

good times...good times!

Last edited by steelvan; July 16th 2009 2:24 pm.

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Re: The TRUTH
steelvan #310296 July 21st 2009 12:49 pm
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Madman!
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Originally Posted by steelvan
to a few months ago Planing some molding with a power planer...sneezing...and planing 1" of my pointer finger off..in 9/32" slices!!

good times...good times!



OUCH!


Ken Schwarz
Tricky Truckers, N.J.
Van Clan Plus One, Canada
Manse Vans, Finland
Rebel Vanners, N.J. "USA"
Toopa Sinner Tribe, N.C.

www.showvans.com

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/360991

[Linked Image]

"Coolness ALWAYS trumps comfort"
Re: The TRUTH
Superbeast #312741 July 28th 2009 3:50 pm
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carpal tunnel
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I'm just glad this happened before I rebuilt my van.
I was doing some motor work and had just finished, the work... and about my 4th or 5th beer.
So I decided to go for a test drive. Well I dident realize that the passenger door was not latched, it was just leaning closed. So I tore off through the warehouse and when I slowed down to fit through the warehouse door my passenger door flew open and slammed into the wall next to the door. Doh!
Left me with a nice crease to bang out to end my day rofl


Loonie Toon Truckers...
New Jersey Chapter

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Re: The TRUTH
Galaxy #312750 July 28th 2009 4:00 pm
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Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh OUCH Charlie! And you just had that repainted recently, didn't you?
cry

good thing it was BEFORE

Last edited by joshvan; July 28th 2009 4:02 pm.

Josh Souders
Performance Inc

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The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!
Re: The TRUTH
josh_performanceinc #312913 July 28th 2009 10:14 pm
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pooh-bah
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pooh-bah
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All steel body mods, steel front spoiler, "gussets" running down the width of a license plate and two fog lights toward the center. Well, gussets were not quite long enough but within tolerance (in other words, would still be straight across the spoiler), so I pull up on bottom edge of the spoiler at the same time I'm pushing down with the drill through the edges of the braces to get everything to match, drill bit snaps and with the downward force I had going, put the broken edge of the drill bit through my thumb!


2005 E350 Turbo Diesel
Why is it that when I press 1 for English, I still can not understand the person on the other end????
Re: The TRUTH
Starlord #312954 July 29th 2009 12:08 am
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I decide I'm going to lower my van 2" in the front so I get a set of drop pocket control arms and install them, all goes well with the install. After I get it back on the ground I'm standing back and admiring the new 2" lower stance and it looks pretty damn good so I figure I better go underneath and make sure all the steering components, ball joints, control arm bushing and other parts are snug and all looks good down there too. I might need to mention that at this point i've owned the van for 13 years and have crawled in, out and around every inch of it, but when I went to slide out from under it this time........ I removed a little skin from my nose with the new 2" lower license plate.

Here's one from way back,

Some friends and I are headed down to Truckin onto summer 1981. My buddy Joe is driving up front with my girl, John and I are in the back doing shots of JD. There are no windows that open but there is a rear sunroof (at the time) and I open it but its still a little warm back there so I get this great idea to remove the sunroof so there is a little more ventilation. Did you ever remove your sunroof at 60+ MPH? Don't its really hard to hold onto.


Munzvan@aol.com / Runnin Wild Truckers / I never met a van I didn't like.
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Re: The TRUTH
Superbeast #313054 July 29th 2009 10:16 am
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Originally Posted by Superbeast
Originally Posted by steelvan
to a few months ago Planing some molding with a power planer...sneezing...and planing 1" of my pointer finger off..in 9/32" slices!!

good times...good times!



OUCH!


yes it was!! I brought the little slices to the ER and asked the doc to reattach...he got a good laugh out of it.

The next day I go in for surgery to have a skin graft done on it... I'm laying on the table in the OR groggy already and just before they push the rest of the sleepy medicine into me the surgeon comes over and says Mike, we have everything we need, it's going to be a fast procedure...only problem is that the skin I have to graft onto your finger is from a black guy...then he pushed the rest of juice in...I had some freaky dreams and when I woke up I immediately pulled my hand up and looked at my finger...then heard the doc and my brother laughing...wish I knew going in that they were friends...jerks!


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Re: The TRUTH
steelvan #313154 July 29th 2009 1:04 pm
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rofl


Smitty
1976 Ford, 1976 Ford#2, 1978 Ford, 1988 Ford
2000 Dodge,1995 Harley RoadKing, 1999 GMC Hightop Cobra

Co Chairman Southern Ohio Van Council
Tri County Vans SOVC Rep
Member Tri County Vans 1975 to Present.
Former President Tri County Vans (No officers anymore)
Former Vice President Tri County Vans
Host of the 23rd Nationals 1995, 30th Nationals 2002, and 1999 C of C
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Re: The TRUTH
smitty #720080 February 17th 2017 9:08 pm
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What a great thread to read .... glad I let my shop do all the work except the woodwork on the inside..


SUNSHINE VANS-VAN DIEGO
ADRENALIN BY THE GALLON & CHASIN RACIN
ONE FOR THE DIRT & ONE FOR THE STREETS
'93 CHEVY G30 454 4X4 SPORTVAN EXT 146" WB
'92 CHEVY G30 454 BEAUVILLE EXT 146" WB
Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #779443 July 25th 2021 2:03 pm
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BUMP !


SUNSHINE VANS-VAN DIEGO
ADRENALIN BY THE GALLON & CHASIN RACIN
ONE FOR THE DIRT & ONE FOR THE STREETS
'93 CHEVY G30 454 4X4 SPORTVAN EXT 146" WB
'92 CHEVY G30 454 BEAUVILLE EXT 146" WB
Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #779457 July 25th 2021 3:31 pm
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Hmm, shiny prop story? Houseboat high and dry waay up the Big Backbone? Not bloody enough eh? Catfish bit my nipple?


BBC Blue
1990 Chevy G30 L19 7.4 EXT
Church Van, maternity division

DogVan
1988 Dodge B250
LA series 318 Wedge 5.2 TBI A500

Cabin Cruiser
'94 Dodge B350 www.xplorermotorhome.com/
Xplorer MH model 230
230 hp LA series 360 Wedge MPI 5.9 A518 OD auto

Old vans are getting pricey!
Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #779465 July 25th 2021 3:54 pm
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Had a new water pump put in Red and the mechanic didnt remove the inspection tag that was in the outlet hole ... well he did the job twice ....lol


SUNSHINE VANS-VAN DIEGO
ADRENALIN BY THE GALLON & CHASIN RACIN
ONE FOR THE DIRT & ONE FOR THE STREETS
'93 CHEVY G30 454 4X4 SPORTVAN EXT 146" WB
'92 CHEVY G30 454 BEAUVILLE EXT 146" WB
Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #779500 July 26th 2021 11:26 am
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old hand
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when my wife and I were dating, I went to her house and picked up her and her sister in the van to head to the OBX. As I was backing out of the driveway, I heard a crunching sound and realized I had backed right into the future Wife's Camry. I put the van back in drive to pull forward and hadnt realized the van bumper had caught itself on the bumper cover of the camry. I peeled her front bumper off like a damn zipper, headlights and all! I felt like shit, but she just said " I was planning on buying a new car anyway." hahaha... we also still made it to the beach that day!

Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #779501 July 26th 2021 11:40 am
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Another one:

After driving for a few years up and down the coast from NC to FL with a blown radiator, I finally bought a new one. The old Oil Cooler Lines I guess didn't like to be disturbed and started leaking...BAD... I couldn't find the lines so I went to a couple shops and they wanted an astronomical amount to make them, and not in a timely manner. We had a trip planned, so i just figured it would use a little extra oil. I had no idea that a little extra would become like 5 of the 5 quart jugs of oil on a trip from SC to NC and back (Yeah, 15 quarts over a trip of about 1200 miles). the van would smoke around curves, and I freaked, only to find out it was just oil running onto the exhaust when the body rolled.

That's not the worst part. hahaha. So I get home from the trip and decide I was just going to remove the cooler completely, as there really isn't a NEED for it. I don't tow anything really, anyway. I remove the cooler adaptor, clean the area, and add the filter adaptor. I start the van and all is well, no leaks. the next day I decide to drive the van to work and start it up and let it warm up a little. I drive to the end of the road and look down to see I have NO OIL PRESSURE! I look in the mirror to back the van back up and see a Trail of oil all the way back to my Driveway! My dumbass didn't notice that the old O Ring was still on there and dried hard as a rock before putting the filter adaptor on!

Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #779508 July 26th 2021 1:42 pm
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Uncle Rust N Dents
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That's funny!

My dad used to always warn me that an oil filter o-ring might stay with the vehicle during an oil change and to watch out for it.
I told him I'd never had that happen in all the oil changes I'd done, so I didn't worry about it too much.
Low and behold, one day, we were outside together, changing the oil on a Grand Cherokee I had at the time, and there were two o-rings on the old filter.
It was funny and amazing at the same time.
Funny, because my dad just said, "See? There's one." lol
And amazing because even though they were smooshed together and twisted over each other, it didn't leak at all.
lol


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Re: The TRUTH
Rusty Pancelode #779510 July 26th 2021 2:56 pm
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Originally Posted by Rusty_Pancelode
That's funny!

My dad used to always warn me that an oil filter o-ring might stay with the vehicle during an oil change and to watch out for it.
I told him I'd never had that happen in all the oil changes I'd done, so I didn't worry about it too much.
Low and behold, one day, we were outside together, changing the oil on a Grand Cherokee I had at the time, and there were two o-rings on the old filter.
It was funny and amazing at the same time.
Funny, because my dad just said, "See? There's one." lol
And amazing because even though they were smooshed together and twisted over each other, it didn't leak at all.
lol


Yup. I had it happen once back in the mid 90's, so I always check for it. thats how I knew EXACTLY what was happening. crazy thing is that I actually saw it there when I put the Adaptor on and it was so solid and didnt come off, so I thought maybe something was just different.

Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #779534 July 27th 2021 1:33 am
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Munz; your van is looking good. chevy

Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #779672 July 29th 2021 1:23 am
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What killed my 91 G20 was somebody was in it before I got it and I have no idea what they did, the intake was painted black, so it clearly had been off the engine. But it seemed to need a thermostat, so I went to change it and one of the bolts just twisted off. Steel bolt, aluminum intake, no anti-seize.

Okay this isn't the end of the world, by then I had another motor out on a pallet, I can just swap out the intake. That should be way easier than trying to drill out the bolts with it buried under the cowl.

No such luck. I get in there and get it apart down to the very two front bolts and ... you got it, they both twisted off. I was able to pry the intake off and it left little stubs of bolt on there.

I was so pissed off I let it sit and drove my 93 1-ton dually for a few weeks. Probably could have got some bolt extractors on there or welded nuts on them and got it apart but I never did. I don't know if those two bolts go into a cooling passage or what, they're steel into steel so they should have come apart.

Was a shame, I did two 2500 mile road trips in that old van, probably the best all around vehicle I ever owned. But it was somebody else's screw-up that I had to deal with.


1994 G20
2002 Express, sitting dead
1988 G20 conversion, stored
Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #802899 April 14th 2023 3:57 pm
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Just tuned up Big Red ... Idelin in the drive way ... gave it some gas to rev up the RPM's N blew a head gasket.

GREAT THREAD to read from the start !

Lets hear your horror stories ...


SUNSHINE VANS-VAN DIEGO
ADRENALIN BY THE GALLON & CHASIN RACIN
ONE FOR THE DIRT & ONE FOR THE STREETS
'93 CHEVY G30 454 4X4 SPORTVAN EXT 146" WB
'92 CHEVY G30 454 BEAUVILLE EXT 146" WB
Re: The TRUTH
SixShot #802982 April 20th 2023 11:44 pm
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pooh-bah
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So my van has a poor running condition after restart when you go somewhere, bad fuel pump, or ignition components, common with Fords ignition control module on the distributor, dad gets my van and drives to drop off at shop, told guy you better drive it right now, its like its running on half the engine. Week later guy said I just drove it, can't find anything wrong with it, dad goes to get it, cold start it does not want to run, and it wont move, no fluid on the transmission dipstick, there is not a drop where it was parked at my house, or dads house and all of a sudden its so low it won't move, pour some in and drive to dads house, he swore it was running on 2 cylinders, tries to pour fluid in and it just runs straight out all over the ground. I haven't a clue what that damn guy did to my van, but its off to get the transmission rebuilt before ?I can take it to a shop to test the fuel pump and ignition, I am mad, definitely didn't need extra.

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