Vannin' Home Forums General Discussion Readers Rides Tuner4life's 1985 Chevy G20 4 Speed Build Thread

I "drift" my red van alot in the desert, I know its not pavement but its ADRENALIN BY THE GALLON. Just get the tires spinning & control the slide. My 454 still has way more motor than tire.

Even drifted the white van in the park, had a little water on the ground, punched it and away we went, side ways all the way around the island circle taking up 2 lanes. The Ranger came over and that was that. Man there is nothing more fun than seeing your rear end passing you.....LOL

Very cool van and the drift machine is killer too.

(Also I had another question. What side steps are used on a van like the A-team van? Something like this maybe?)

Find a good sheet metal or welding shop to bend you a set up . or if you know some one with an eight foot sheet metal brake you can make your own . The brackets you can hand make with angle iron and a welder . You seem like the type thats not affraid to try new things and venture on to other areas .

Thanks, I figured I could fab something up if I needed to, I was just curious if something was out there. I was kind of thinking about making them out of thickish sheet aluminum and then coating both sides in rhino lining, but I wasn't sure how ugly it would end up..

lately I have been really considering some side pipes instead of steps.. Either way, the mechanicals will come first.

Update:

Adjusted the rockers, all is well now. still fiddling with the carb secondary spring, but it keeps getting better the more I screw with it.

I am slowly going through everything and fixing what isn't up to par. Things that I still need to do are:

-Hitch/wiring

-Speedo cable (makes the most annoying noise, tried greasing, didn't work)

-Clutch/u-joints/carrier. Clutch shudders some, the rest is cheap preventative maintenance. Not sure about the rear end, it howls some, but with the low miles I can't imagine it needs to be rebuild already, not sure what's normal with these vans or if it's just normal noise resonating inside. I'll check it out when I change the fluid.

-Suspension. It isn't horrible, but it's all a bit loose. I'm just going to do everything at the same time so it will be new. Probably do the steering box too. Doesn't return to center quite like I feel it should. Also doing drop knuckles while I'm at it. This project may not happen until spring.

Side note, drove it through a massive rain storm the other day and there were no leaks that I could see. All window and door seals will be replaced when I paint it anyways, but good to know that it's safe for now.

These rears can be noisy in these vans.
My 85 I bought brand new was noisy from day one.
When not driven much the outer bearing tend to dry out.
I had one rear quiet down after a two hour or so road trip.

I had a nice set of steel running boards bent up at a local steel supplier who is equipped with a cool press brake, along with an operator who knows how to use it.


my plan is too color match these boards when i hang them.

Hopefully they will look this good when I am done



Van Crazy Customs also made this set out of steel.

.........wookee

Awesome! That's about what I had in mind!

Starting to collect parts...




Although it is becoming painfully obvious that the front suspenion, steering, and brakes should be the first priority!

Got this installed.. Only running standard 4 wire for now, but prewiring for brake controller in the near future.




I'm trying to come up with a list of all the things that I want to prewire the van for before I enclose the walls/roof. It's going to be more work than wiring a house! lol.

Where do you guys run your wiring from the dash to the back? Up an "a" pillar, and down the roof? Under the front flooring? Through the drivers side wall? What is the best path for it?