Found evidence that the sheet-metal patch one of the previous owners placed in the roof where the roof vent was not working when we arrived this morning. Nice puddle of water in the back floor from yesterday's rain. The windshield seal is leaking as well and there is rot in the windshield channel, so future plans are to pull the glass and repair the channel, then have the windshield reinstalled by the glass shop when it's all fixed and painted.
Girls helped me yank the front seats out and scrape up the scaly rust, then we took the drill to it with a wire wheel. Goose helped with vacuum duty again. Got it all scrubbed down, then we used our little electric pressure washer and some Purple Power degreaser to spray all the funk out the back doors. Tomorrow we will clean the rusted front floors with some Windex and spray them down with some rust converter spray paint. Apparently where the windshield has been leaking for some time, the front rubber mat with carpet insulation under it had been holding all that water on the floor and rusting it out.
The left side floor pad where the doghouse bolts down had rotted away at some point and the previous owner had patched that with a giant glob of orange RTV. So we will eventually patch that up proper with some new sheet-metal and a bolt. I also found out tonight that the seatbelt bolts where the seatbelt mounts to the seat base is the same thread as the seat hold down bolts on a 1996 Harley Springer when I was in a pinch for two bolts that were locked in the garage and I had left the keys across town.
My PC is acting goofy and won't let me remove the pics from my phone, so I will upload them as soon as I can.
Excellent progress! Treating this van right and I’m excited to see it take shape. This is a great project! Love seeing the whole family get after it too. Those are forever memories especially for the young ones.
this is a great experience with the kids! awesome! i may have missed this if it wasn't covered, but do you have a set of twins?
They are "Irish Twins" LOL Jasmine is oldest on left at 14, Miakota (Mia for short) on right is 13. They are 13 months apart. We've been asked if they were twins everywhere we go since they were about 2 and 3.
Thanks for the compliments guys. I'm super stoked that I have 3 amazing kiddos that love to get in and work on any project with me no matter what it is. Joe (aka: the Goose) is probably going to be the Vanner when he gets older. The girls are like their mom, way more practical and asking for help getting something like a Toyota Camry for their first ride, but Goose is all about vans and Harleys. LOL
Yardwork, BLEH! Got a bunch of mowing and weed eating done today. Took a few minutes and sprayed some satin black rust converter spray on the rust/bare floor section. Plan is to give it a much better sanding, patch anything that needs patching, and a proper coat of paint at some point before the flooring goes in. This is just to hold us over until that point.
Anyone know what this doohickey is? It looks a lot like the mechanical speed controls of yesteryear when I was into building Tamiya Midnight Pumpkin and Clodbuster RC trucks (late 80's). I'm pretty sure that's not what this one does but honestly I haven't the slightest clue what it's for.