Vannin' Community and Forums Forums General Discussion Introduce Yourself..... Hello all

Hi, I'm a new vanner. I've owned a couple in the past, but nothing very cool. However, recently I just came across a good deal from the son of an old farm couple that my dad knew. His father passed away and his mother is too old to drive. These old folks lived about ten miles from a nice lake here in Wyoming. They bought a 1980 G20 Chevy conversion van new way back then that they only ever used to go to the lake several weekends in the summer. The rest of the time it was parked in a nice metal shop. It has 68k mikes on it and doesn't look much different than it must have in the showroom 40 years ago. It also has a Winnebago emblem above the Chevy logo on the front corners. That must be who converted it. It doesn't have the tall roof, and us not a 'camper' even though there is sort of a little closet in the back door area, the bench makes a bed, and there is s table that can be stuck in one of two holes in the floor. It also has four very nice corduroy captain seats, three big windows, and two pop outs on the slider, and two on the back doors, and a sunroof, all tinted very dark. It's so much like a new van that it's gotten me into vanning. This must have been one of the coolest 'luxury' types of vehicles that one could have bought when I was a junior in high-school, and now I have it in that condition more or less. There are a few things that I would like to change though. The stereo - it has a working factory 8 track am/fm. Some say I should keep it original, but I haven't owned any 8track tapes for the last 40 years. The van came with two tapes but I was tired of Bob Dylan Highway 61, and the Stones Tattoo You by the second day - I think I'd enjoy an amped tablet with Pandora, Spotify. Youtube music, gps, phone, etc, etc on it, and since I don't need an ashtray, I see a lot of room to mount something like that without even cutting anything on the van, or even removing the 8-track, just by covering it up. I'd also like to make a center console (not the dog house but between the seats) that a small 12v cooler type fridge could sit in and pull out like a drawer to the rear, but be like a wood table/desk, cubby/cup holder on top. Also I hear there were intermittent wipers and cruise control on some 80 and earlier Chevys. I want those too. Also, somebody before me, the old lady I'd bet, painted some cowboy boots and a cowboy hat on the spare wheel cover with some sort of raised jelly sort of glitter paint pen ( I should know what that stuff is called, my mother, an other old lady, has a bunch of those pens too - they look like a tube of toothpaste and are not for painting on cars with lol) Besides, I wonder if she thought the guys who flew the spaceship Winnebago put on the side were wearing cowboy garb? At least it's just on the wheel cover and not the van itself. I'll take some photos someday soon and add them here.

Welcome from Florida. Sounds like an awesome van. Looking forward to the pics.

Welcome to the forum. Post some pics of the van when you can

to the site. Like to see some pics.

Welcome! Sounds like a great van.

Welcome to the site from San Diego. For what my " 2 cents" is worth; keep the stock 8-track and integrity of the dash. You can build an overhead with updated gear.
Another option is to install a retro looking unit that fits the dash with bluetooth that will integrate with your smart phone. Just a thought for you Bro. Send pics when you can.

Van sounds like a cool survivor. The Best kind of find.