Hi All,
I wanted to start a thread documenting the work that I have planned for my van. I bought this from the original owner in California back in 2017 and have put a decent amount of work into her to be a solid daily driver. It was well cared for, just needed some maintenance at her age. Only 128k miles so far. This van has a 360, 3.90 rear gears, RV cam, Doug Thorley Headers. They towed a huge horse trailer with this thing (hence the gearing). The interior was done back in late 79 and has held up ok but that is really going to be the focus of my build. The exterior is in really good shape so we are going to keep that as is for now. The only thing we've added is a front visor and are still looking for a Norcal or Odyssey wing for the rear. I have some really cool wheels but I am working on refinishing them now before they go on.
We've since moved to Portland, Oregon and I used this as my daily for almost 10 months and she never once let me down. The windsield wipers stopped working twice though! She gets horrible gas mileage, burns some oil but we love her to death. Thankfully now I replaced my daily with a newer car and I can focus on her and give her the attention she deserves and enjoy her for some upcoming camping trips.
As you can see, she's pretty "beige". PO was pretty conservative so it makes sense. All pretty functional and works great, just no style really. I'm destined to change that! I plan to do most of the interior work myself along with the help of a great upholsterer friend I've made since living here. He does great work and is a part of Rolling Death Van Club (an amazing group of dudes!)
Started on the dash transformation! (My gf also bought this rad steering wheel last year). I have one lower piece left to do since this photo and will post a complete dash in the next few days.