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Posted By: Leakbox Making her first "public" appearance - March 17th 2020 6:08 pm
Trying to get a bit more acclimated here. It is still a work in progress with more than I can even list left to do, but here is my labor of love. '73 G10. The list of things that are new or that I have done is also more than I can list......but she's actually running and on the road. At least for now.


Description: Shorty 1
Attached picture SHORTY1.JPG

Description: Shorty 2
Attached picture SHORTY 2.JPG
Posted By: Seattle Van Dude Re: Making her first "public" appearance - March 17th 2020 6:26 pm
Man, that is sweet! I'd love to hear more about it and see more photos. Engine, interior, etc. That's pretty much my favorite model!
Posted By: oldskool73 Re: Making her first "public" appearance - March 17th 2020 7:23 pm
Looks like you're off to a great start.
Posted By: Charlie 99909 Re: Making her first "public" appearance - March 17th 2020 8:46 pm
Looking good, more pics!
Posted By: newkirkinc1 Re: Making her first "public" appearance - March 17th 2020 9:57 pm
Looking good!
Posted By: lukester Re: Making her first "public" appearance - March 17th 2020 10:26 pm
Sweet van.
Posted By: Leakbox Re: Making her first "public" appearance - March 18th 2020 4:06 pm
SO.......I'll take a bunch of pictures over the weekend to divulge where I currently am. In the meantime, I'll bore everybody with most of what I have done SO FAR:

Engine: New crate old-school small block 350. Brand-new Edelbrock Performer manifold and Holly Street Warrior 4 barrel carb on. Holley billet throttle bracket, new MSD ignition cap and wires as well as a cleanable air filter, new fuel pump, alternator, fuel lines, functioning lake-style side pipes, new radiator, fan, and shroud.

Driveline: Stock TH 350. Stock all re-built rear end with chrome diff cover.

Suspension: New rear G30 2" de-arched rear leaf springs, new rear shocks, new 3" drop Bell Tech C truck spindles, new coil springs, new front shocks.

Steering: Entire front clip was removed, cleaned, primed, and painted. All new bushings, ball joints, knuckles, and related steering components. Steering column re-built. New power steering pump.

Brakes: New rear shoes and drums, new front rotors, new calipers and pads, new master cylinder, new hard and flex brake lines.

Tires/wheels: New 17 x 7 and 18 x 8 Cragar SS with knockoff spinners, BFG tires

Dash: NOS in-the-box dash, custom-coated with tan finish. Self-made custom polished and clear powder coated aluminum inserts, new digital AC/Heat system with new ducting and vents, new steering wheel, new levers, new drive dial indicator with custom LED light. Dog house is in work to re-shape, wrap, and install access door and stainless drink holders.

Electronics: New Dakota Digital instrument cluster, custom climate control panel, new Painless Wiring harness with all new wiring to all components, new ignition switch.

Body: Rear frameless sunroof, pop-out factory tinted rear windows, shaved running lights, shaved antenna, smoked taillights with blue dots, LED headlights, clear turn signal lenses, LED bulbs, Sears NOS amber fog lights, New windshield and rubber, replaced vent windows and frame, complete orange LED strips on frame rails, old-school custom trailer hitch with new powder-coating, new mirrors. majority of body panels have been filled, sanded, smoothed, and sealed.

Interior: Rattle-Trap sound deadner installed on walls, roof, floor, and interior of doors. 1/2" foam insulation and 3/4" plywood floor installed, full leather two-tone reclining captains chairs with electronic lumbar support, new swivel pedestal bases. All weatherstripping has been stripped from doors and everything has been sanded or sandblasted, and primed.


I have a bunch of other parts on shelves and in crates that I am waiting to install when appropriate, like new door handles and locks, additional sunroof for the cab area, new shoulder harness seat belts, wiper arms and blades, window felt, weatherstripping and seals for all windows and doors, etc.

I am currently in the interior "design phase" as well as researching and talking to paint and body contacts, as there is plenty of work that is needed.









Posted By: Lee7673 Re: Making her first "public" appearance - March 18th 2020 7:34 pm
That's a lot of work.....looking forward to pictures
Posted By: kursed Re: Making her first "public" appearance - March 19th 2020 3:44 am
Nice ride man.
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - April 08th 2020 6:02 pm
Great G-10. I've been searching for a somewhat "local" 1971-1975 G10 not too far from San Diego that's not priced in the clouds or a major disaster.
Who did your body work? It would be cool to get some local referrals once my dream becomes a reality when I find mine.
Posted By: frscke1 Re: Making her first "public" appearance - April 08th 2020 8:56 pm
Lloyds on Mission Gorge in Santee … https://www.lloydscollision.com/santee-ca

Tell him the guy with the big red van sent you ….
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - April 10th 2020 1:38 am
Thanks for the info! Do you deal with anyone specific ?
Posted By: frscke1 Re: Making her first "public" appearance - April 10th 2020 2:01 am
Robert Lloyd jr. … owner's son very intelligent ..

[Linked Image]
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - April 10th 2020 10:34 am
Thanks for the referral frske1 !
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - April 14th 2020 1:19 am
Leakbox; Such a great project. Great job/work. How did you get your 73' registered ? If I bought an out of state 1978 G-10 with a Vortec engine swap, I heard
that getting a smog slip and registered here in our home state could be a BIG time challenge. Any advice is Greatly appreciated.
Posted By: Leakbox Re: Making her first "public" appearance - April 18th 2020 3:30 am
Mickey,

I had some issues..... but there is a local small business near me that specializes in difficult to register and legalize vehicles. A couple hundred dollars and all was legal.
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - April 18th 2020 10:14 pm
Appreciate the response; based on a 1978 G-10; out of state with a 1996 or newer Vortec engine swap is do-able? All I need is a CA registration " night-mare " . Again thanks for any advice.
Posted By: Leakbox Re: Making her first "public" appearance - June 15th 2020 8:19 pm
Mickey, I responded on your other post, but it makes no difference WHAT engine you put in it. What matters is the YEAR of the VIN. In CA, you need to stick to 75 or older, or you will need to smog it to the certs from the year of the van. Anything older, and if you had the coin and ability to muffle it, you could drop a hemi from a Force Fuel Funny Car in it and still get it registered. Or better yet, the one from by buddy Fast Jack Beckman's Infinite Hero car.
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - June 16th 2020 5:59 am
Right on Leakbox. When are you going to post more pics of your van ?
Posted By: Leakbox A few more shots..... - July 01st 2020 8:17 pm
Got a few minutes during this crazy time and figured I'd fire off a few shots of the mechanicals as well as the ongoing interior progress. SD Mickey guilted me so I thought I'd better get these on here. I'm not sure how to rotate the skewed ones; forgive my ignorance!

Attached picture SHORTY DRIVEWAY 3.JPG
Attached picture bed stowed.JPG
Attached picture EXTENDED.JPG
Attached picture DASH.JPG
Attached picture AFT AREA 1.JPG
Attached picture POWER SOURCE.JPG
Attached picture HOLDER REWORK1.JPG
Attached picture PANEL TEMPLATES 1.JPG
Attached picture IMG_1716~photo (002).JPG
Attached picture IMG_1630~photo.JPG
Posted By: kursed Re: Making her first "public" appearance - July 02nd 2020 2:32 am
Man this thing is really coming along man. That dash looks AWESOME, as does the rest of it, but I'm hung up on the dash.

Don't worry about the rotating thing. We can just rotate when looking at them by clicking the little rotate doohickey at the bottom right.

Attached picture Rotate.jpg
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - July 02nd 2020 1:39 pm
Bro; as " Spicoli " would say : " most excellent job bro " . Props to you. I'm so jones n' to find my 71' - 75' Shorty,

Are you doing the dash ? It's all killer. Super Sweet ! chevy
Posted By: Leakbox Re: Making her first "public" appearance - July 02nd 2020 6:29 pm
My original dash was not in the best shape; plus it had a pretty bad hack job done on the stereo cutout. I searched for a while and found a NOS dash on ebay still in the box. It was turquoise, so I found a company that shoots them on site. He came over and sprayed a flex coating on it in the tan I wanted. I kept the old one, and could be salvaged in the right hands I suppose. I then had a local AC shop put new AC and heat in it along with "old style" stock-type vents. The polished aluminum is all me. I made cardboard templates and then cut and bent them out of aluminum sheet stock. I then had them polished and powdercoated for protection. I attached them with stainless button heads with locknuts on the back side. The cutouts for gauges and controls were then made. The instruments are an all new Dakota Digital cluster, with blue lighting. The HVAC controls were from the unit I had installed, but I ordered and soldered in blue LEDs to replace the white ones. The ignition switch is new, but the wiper switch is stock and custom mounted to the dash insert. I had the column re-built, and got a new shift indicator. The old fiber optic light was toast, so I ordered a small pancake LED to light up the orange indicator dial and routed that to the area behind it. I got a new turn signal mechanism, and replaced the stalk with a billet unit. At this point, the shift stalk is stock, but it will be replaced.The steering wheel and hardware is from Forever Sharp. The small switches on the lower portion are trick halo LED units. The larger is a master that is always hot, which controls power to the other two which control the fog lights and undercarriage LED orange glow strip.I wired it that way so both of those could be on without the key if I desire. If I get a minute I'll do my best to take a shot of the whole thing at night when it is lit up.
Posted By: newkirkinc1 Re: Making her first "public" appearance - July 02nd 2020 7:52 pm
Looking great!
Posted By: lukester Re: Making her first "public" appearance - July 03rd 2020 2:40 am
Nice job man.
Posted By: Lee7673 Re: Making her first "public" appearance - July 03rd 2020 2:47 pm
Man that is looking great!!!
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - July 04th 2020 2:19 am
Leakbox. That is such a great transition. I will definitely hit you up for your connections when I finally get a project. It's awesome looking.
Posted By: Leakbox Re: Making her first "public" appearance - July 09th 2020 8:07 pm
Mickey....let's GET YOU ONE FIRST ASAP!!!!!
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - July 10th 2020 6:14 am
I hear you my friend. Look forward to more pics!
Posted By: Leakbox More snaps - August 12th 2020 7:45 pm
Been doing some more laying out, although a MAJOR medical scare had me sidelined for a while so medical professionals could install some hardware inside me to bring my heartbeat up from UNDER 30...Anyway i am mocking up the upper cabinet now so I can provide an accurate model for a cabinet maker to fab both of them. I also got the wheelwell covers pretty well dialed in, got them wrapped, and matured the aft drink holder area some more, including fitting the LED rings and stainless holders and a little cubby between them that I lined with velour and will put a magnetic-latched door on. I am in the process of wrapping the spare battery box, and have received another 3 bank wiring relay from Painless that I am going to mount on the side and utilize for the fridge as well as extra needs throughout the interior. I also have my doghouse out being worked on with a custom enclosure for the pocket, drink holders, and top tray. I also am pretty well finished with the custom ABS bulkheads on both the wall ribs as well as the roof. The sides are to match the shape of the rib behind the driver's door as well as that on the rear side of the slider. The roof bulkhead covers are so the sheeting will match the shape of the sunroof. If I left them original, the shape of the sunroof opening would not match, and there would be an awkward mismatch requiring some sort of fairing or odd-looking area.

Attached picture AFT AREA 1.JPG
Attached picture BULKHEADS AND WHEEL WELL.JPG
Attached picture UPPER CABINET 1.JPG
Attached picture UPPER CABINET 3.JPG
Attached picture BULKHEADS 1.JPG
Attached picture ROOF BULKHEAD.JPG
Attached picture SPARE BATTERY BOX 1.JPG
Attached picture SPARE BATTERY BOX 2.JPG
Attached picture AFT DRINK HOLDERS 3.JPG
Attached picture AFT DRINK HOLDERS 2.JPG
Posted By: newkirkinc1 Re: More snaps - August 13th 2020 7:20 pm
Sweet!
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - August 17th 2020 5:53 am
Nice Leakbox. Amazing progress and quality workmanship. ( I feel you Brother on your medical scare; I had a stroke last year in May; rocked my world ; back in the Saddle and taking no prisoners ).
Working on your Shorty is good medicine. chevy
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - August 17th 2020 5:58 am
P.S. Nice skate board. chevy
Posted By: Leakbox Re: Making her first "public" appearance - August 17th 2020 8:13 pm
I was WONDERING if that may get noticed by someone....The only reason I have it on there is that the battery is at least 80 pounds, and lugging that box around, especially with my spiffy new pacemaker is not a ton of fun. That board is actually a tiny version of the van; re-created from something that I loved as a kid. I still have the original, a Logan earth Ski from probably 1970. It has Tracker Trucks and original OJ wheels on it. For my copy, I got a piece of oak and traced the shape as well as added the kick plate. I found some original Power Paw wheels and Half Track trucks on ebay, then copied the logo and signature of Bruce Logan by hand with a stencil and sharpie. I then gloss coated the whole thing and then put clear grip tape on it. In the end....it's more of a nostalgia trip than anything all that fun. Turns out a board like that is much easier to ride when you are 10 years old and 75 pounds than it is when you are 58, 6' 3", and 200 pounds. But it was fun nonetheless. Things are definitely progressing though. And Mickey have you had any luck? I've been searching and also keeping my eyes out for you and had no success.
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - September 04th 2020 6:05 am
Bro Thanks for the Good Vibes. That board is killer. It's like me with surfing' haven't gone out in years ( most likely 20years ago) went out with my sons and thought I was going to die !
I got up though on my 1st wave and I could see the young Bucks cracking up . ( 64 years young ; but "16" mentally ).

Charlie turned me on to a Facebook lead in San Bernardino that was super clean. Even though my heart is set on a shorty, This long wheel base was sweet with like 80k miles; V8/auto and just painted. I was going to go last Wednesday and he sold it Tuesday night. The Worst !

Lee sent me an offer up link with a 1975 G20 Shorty looks super nice from pics ' like 14 pics . In Palos Verdes. Dude wants $$$$ 25K. Won't give up cell number; not a text guy. Work crazy mad ; glad to be working though.I may go see it anyway the week after labor day. Nice van; but would rather personalize like you Bro. So nice and nicer work. Be Proud for your gifts like Lee.

Shout out to my circle of Faith; You know who you are; Like I was sharing with Lee if I ever hit in BIG; I'd pay for all of you ; your expenses to come out and have one Hell of a van run and pay the Stones to do a benefit concert for the Vietnam Vets.

Not a bad Dream in this Crazy Times we live in. The 60's and 70"s were such good times in my life. My Quest continues for that right 1971-1975 G10 Shorty. Good Vibes to All of you and be safe. chevy
Posted By: Leakbox Re: Making her first "public" appearance - September 16th 2020 3:54 pm
Mickey,

So sorry to hear of your disappointments. I will continue to keep my eyes and ears open. Luckily, living so close to the ocean, I have been able to keep my surfing "prowess" up over the decades. The boards do seem to be getting a bit thicker and longer. In between the pacemaker and now who knows what I have (COVID test taken Monday.....awaiting results), I have made a bit of progress. I filled in the LH side aft portion with a flat sheet after laying out and mounting a mid-span support bracket that goes from the bed frame to the wall bulkhead. I still need to make a cutout access door with hinges that will enable me to get to my power source, which I plan on mounting on the forward wheel well face. I also took some thin plywood and faced it with the vinyl to mount to the lower walls, which will cover up the insulation as well as protect it from damage if things get tossed around or jostled under the bed itself. I added second sheets of insulation along the driver wall, and started cutting the main panel which I hope to cover the whole thing up with. Doing so will enable me to figure out exactly how to integrate the aft corner, as that area is a bitch to figure out and make look right. I think I have an idea on how I want it to go, but need this sheet so that can be done. As for the other side, I fitted side walls to my drink holder cutout, had it almost done, dropped and broke it, had to repair it, and performed some minor tweaking. I think I have it pretty much set to integrate into the whole wall.

Attached picture SIDE PANEL SUPPORT BEAM 1.jpg
Attached picture SIDE PANEL SUPPORT BEAM 2.jpg
Attached picture DRINK HOLDER WORK 1.jpg
Attached picture INSULATION 1.jpg
Attached picture INSULATION 2.jpg
Attached picture WALL PANEL 1.jpg
Attached picture WALL CHECK FIT.jpg
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - September 23rd 2020 6:35 am
Super sweet Bro. There's a dude in Carslbad with what looks like a decent 1975 G10 Shorty. No reply after almost two weeks and he text me yesterday. Was happy for the reply. Then silent for
two days and going on three.

It's on CL and I'm tripping on why no pics of passenger side or why he just doesn't call. He wants $6K. Could be cool. Hope to see it soon.
Appreciate the pics. You and Lee are such great talents.


My quest goes on. Glad to be back on the forum. Work crazy. chevy
Posted By: Leakbox Re: Making her first "public" appearance - September 23rd 2020 9:28 pm
Yeah I'd be wary of that "no view of one side" situation.........
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - October 03rd 2020 8:56 pm
I plan on seeing it Sunday if all goes good at work. chevy
Posted By: Leakbox Re: Making her first "public" appearance - October 05th 2020 7:39 pm
Okay Mickey....what's the VERDICT?????
Posted By: newkirkinc1 Re: Making her first "public" appearance - October 08th 2020 8:41 pm
Anything?
Posted By: SDMickey Re: Making her first "public" appearance - October 10th 2020 11:15 pm
The Worst; so I call the guy Saturday late afternoon and he tells me his " Dad " found a buyer. My quest goes on. I just got on offer up and I'm finally going to break down and get on Facebook to get more opportunities . chevy
Posted By: newkirkinc1 Re: Making her first "public" appearance - October 10th 2020 11:49 pm
Thats a bummer!
Posted By: Leakbox Re: Making her first "public" appearance - October 14th 2020 12:11 am
UGH that sucks. I'm telling you these things are getting rarer by the hour.
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