The Strife of Brian

Pimpin’ (a custom van) Ain’t Easy

Brian — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:48:16 +0000

2011 Project Wrap up

A lot of progress has been made on the van this year but not quite as much as I’d hoped. Goldieboxx, as I sometimes call her, is looking pretty close to done on the outside but the inside still needs a lot of work. The old school Cragar S/S wheels and Firestone Firehawk tires really tie the look together. The rear end is dropped two inches thanks to the new leaf springs I bought and had dearched. I also started installing some gold shag carpet but just ran out of time for the interior this year.

Here is how it sits at the end of 2011. The outside is really looking great. Cragar S/S wheels 15x7 and 15x8. The rear tires are 255/70/15. I think the fronts are 215/65/15.

Here's another view of the van. It's hard to capture the line graphics in a photo because they are pretty subtle. The paintjob ended up looking great. I do plan to talk to some pinstrippers next year about outlining the metalflake panels and maybe a few other subtle things.

Swapping out the leaf springs was pretty easy compared to replacing the front suspension. I was sort of hoping it would go down 3" but only got 2". Maybe it will settle down further once the interior is in. I still think this was the right option. The flip kit and C-notch route would have been too low. I like the raked look.

After I lowered the rear of the van I started hearing a new banging noise. It turned out to be the old tailpipes that ran between the axle and the frame. A quick trip to the muffler shop and the exhaust now turns down in front of the rear tires. The only downside is it's noticeably louder from inside the van now though.

This carpet was donated by my friend Christina. It came from her grandma's house and matches the van perfectly. The only downside is there is not more of it. I'd like it on the walls and ceiling too!

Looking Forward

Project GoldieBoxx is really coming together. The next step is to tackle the interior. I want it to be even more awesome than the outside. Over the winter I will plan things out. I’m still debating color and materials for the walls, seats etc. For instance, I was thinking white vinyl seats but am now not sure.

Technorati Tags: 70s Chevy Van, 77 Chevy Van, Chevy Van, Custom Van, Dropped, Gold Van, GoldieBoxx, Lowered, Van Conversion

Chevy Van Project Update – Paint Job Completed

Brian — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:41:10 +0000

I picked up the van last week from Cory the Painter. It really looks great. It took 2 or 3 times as long as it was scheduled to take but in the long run it should be worth the wait.. I ended up putting in the windows and a few other details myself just so I could get it back asap. This morning I drove it up Woodward and took a couple pictures. I need to take some in a less cluttered setting the reflections in the paint kinda ruin the photos in my opinion.

You can see the back is riding really high with the interior all stripped out. I also plan to lower the rear a bit with dearched springs. I also have some Cragar S/S rims I plan on putting on soon.I have a set of 15×7 but want some wider ones for the rear.

The window tint looks good in these photos but needs some work. I had a lot more trouble with it than I imagined. The front windows went pretty smoothly until scratched one while installing it and had to redo the tint. The dark tint on the back windows was harder to do for several reasons. I will most likely pay someone to do this next time.

Overall I am really pleased with the paint job. Hopefully I can take some pics soon that really capture how good it looks. Next step is to start the interior!

Technorati Tags: 70s Chevy Van, 77 Chevy Van, Chevy Van, Custom Paint, Custom Van, Dropped, Gold Van, Lowered, Van Conversion

Yeah! The van is Gold!

Brian — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 22:59:44 +0000

It was starting to feel like the paint job project was getting a little off course but yesterday things moved enough forward to make me relax for a minute. Cory and Scott and company moved the van over to a kick ass spray booth and painted the Inca Gold base coat. I haven’t seen it in person yet but the pictures make it look super awesome. Hopefully we can get the metalflake graphics laid out and painted soon along with the clear coat. I can’t wait to drive this thing around. It is definitely going to be a one of a kind custom van!

WCXBDF3KVRQ3

Technorati Tags: 70s Chevy Van, 77 Chevy Van, Chevy Van, Custom Paint, Custom Van, Dropped, Lowered

The Van Paint Job is Coming Along

Brian — Fri, 06 May 2011 06:45:35 +0000

The painter dudes have been working on my custom van project for some time now and it’s getting close to ready for paint. They have been sanding, primering and sanding again. The guys are mostly working a few hours each evening so it takes a while. Luckily it really needed very little bodywork beyond the emblems, moldings etc I had them shave. It is from the Nevada desert and virtually rust free.

I’m really looking forward to seeing it completed. It will look so much better with new paint and all the new parts I bought installed. Hopefully the color will be sprayed next week some time.

Technorati Tags: 70s Chevy Van, 77 Chevy Van, Chevy Van, Custom Paint, Custom Van, Dropped, Lowered

My van is finally getting painted

Brian — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 22:47:39 +0000

I have been talking about getting my 77 Custom Chevy Van project painted since I bought it a couple years ago and it is finally happening. I dropped my van off the other day with my new friend Cory who’s doing a complete paint job for me. Now I just need to decide what color. It may sound crazy but I am still debating my color options. Below are some shots of the van in his new shop. He and his crew have started shaving the emblems, trim, mirrors etc. I am looking forward to seeing the project take shape.

Check out more photos in my flickr

Cory and crew looking over the van in the new shop.

Here you can see they have welded up a number of small holes and started the bodywork. I have been debating whether to keep the old side windows.

The antenna and emblem holes already filled. He is going to glass in my front spoiler as well.

Technorati Tags: 70s Chevy Van, 77 Chevy Van, Chevy Van, Custom Paint, Custom Van, Dropped, Lowered

70s Van Magazine Scans-Panel Paintjobs

Brian — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 03:38:47 +0000

I am in the process of picking out a paint scheme for the custom van project. Today I got out my 1970s van magazine collection for some inspiration. I am mostly drawn to stripes and panel graphics vs murals. The murals are really hard to pull off without looking cheesy. A lot of times vans had both airbrushed stripes or panels and murals. The word subtle was not in the vocabulary. Below are some photos I scanned from old mags like Van World, Custom Van and 1001 Truck and Van Ideas. It’s a shame color printing was expensive back then because most of the pictures are black and white. The color would be the first thing you would notice on most of these.

This first one is the same era Chevy Van as the one I am building. Some of the panels have little murals in them. It reminds me of the Dice Van.

Here is a burnt orange and magenta mid 70s Dodge. It has a raised roof and chrome side pipes. The side panels look a bit like woodgrain.

Most of these vans were pretty over the top. I like a lot of the details on this Chevy but could live without the indy car wing on the roof. I like the General Lee turbine wheels though.

Another short wheelbase Chevy. I like a lot of the shapes used in this design but the primary colors used are too vivid for my taste. The polished slot rims and full flare kit were standard issue back then.

Here is a shot showing some lines and fades inside of panels.

Another shot showing some rainbow colored panels. It looks to me like saran wrap texture but it might be some other airbrush technique.

Technorati Tags: 77 Chevy Van, Chevy Van, Custom Van, Dropped, Lowered

Chevy Van Project Update Fall 2010

Brian — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 22:43:12 +0000

I rarely write anything on this blog anymore since it get’s very few visitors. I guess there just isn’t much interest in my hobbies and travels outside of my mom and a few friends. One thing that does get a fair amount of inquiries is my 1977 Chevy Custom Van project. After years of looking for the right old van to make a 70s custom out of I finally found one in the spring of 2009. Since then I have been slowly fixing it up as time allows. It is really difficult to find time and a lot of things take longer because this is my first real project car. I thought I would post an update of some of the changes in the last year. Even though I have a lot more to do I wouldn’t have made it this far without the use of my friend Brian’s awesome garage. I am so grateful for the use of it.

Here is how it looks at the end of Summer 2010.

From the outside you can see a lot of the changes. The most dramatic change comes from lowering the front suspension 3.5″ using drop spindles and lowering springs. They don’t make parts specifically to lower full size Chevy vans but the Full Size Truck parts match up. I still need to decide on the rear suspension. Right now I have a nice raked look. I plan to lower the back about 2″. This will retain a bit of the rake and allow the tires to fill the fender wells. Speaking of tires the front tires scrape over bumps with this setup. I need to change up the tire size and or the wheel offset to correct this.

Front Spoiler Install and Chrome Bumper Search

The difference is pretty dramatic. The front always looked way too high to me. Part of this is due to sagging rear leaf springs and some is related to the 235/60/15 tires which are I think 2 inches lower than stock. Another difference you can see in this pic is the painted front bumper I had on the van for over a year. It took forever to find a decent chrome bumper but it makes a big difference. This pic also shows the chin spoiler I bought from a fellow van fanatic I met online. From the rivet holes I found everywhere around the van I am pretty sure it had a full 70s style flare kit at one time. I prefer just the chin spoiler since I am lowering the van.

Power Window and Lock Adventure

Another project that took a surprisingly long time was the install of power windows and locks. These were not an option on these vans until 1978 but I figured it would be easy enough to mod the doors. I found a 1988 donor van and got the regulators, motors, solenoids, wiring and switches. To do it right you need to remove the doors and dashboard. After quite a bit of trial and error I have a setup that looks factory.

Later I installed an alarm system and DEI window module. The windows roll up automatically when I arm the alarm and I can roll the windows up and down using the remote. I still have an extra channel on the alarm for further automation. I also found a tilt steering column and swapped that out and replaced the steering wheel. I’ll have to post on that later.

Paint touch-ups.

The body of the van was in decent shape when I bought it thanks to years in the Nevada desert. The paint is a several year old single stage Macco looking job. I plan to have it painted professionally but it is tough to spend $4000 to paint a $1000 truck. Even if vans get popular again that is money I wont see again. I have been able to make it pretty presentable by rubbing it out and touching up a few spots. The problem areas are the rocker panels and the roof. The rockers had a fair amount of chips from the wide Cragar mags it had on it. I planned to have someone paint the roof and I bought a replacement sunroof but I haven’t got around to that. I might wait and have it all done at once.

Around this point I also got rid of the rusty Cragar mags and bolted on a set of GM truck rallies. The fronts are 7″ wide and the rears are 8″. I think they look good until I figure out what I truly want. I will probably go to a 17 “or 18″ chrome wheel eventually.

Interior tear down and insulation

The interior still needs a lot of work but I managed to make it serviceable for the time being. I am sort of waiting until I get the paint job done. So far I tore out the old stuff, cleaned up and painted the dash and doghouse cover and installed some insulation and plywood sub floor. At first I just put in the foil thermal insulation stuff but found it did nothing for sound insulation. Later I put in some “home depot dynamat” as well as the “jute” stuff that I got from my 96 Dodge Van. Finally I can hear the stereo over the dual flowmasters. I put in some so-so buckets from craigslist. I would really like some 70s captains chairs but have not found the right ones. I am not into the big lazy boy style ones from the 80s-90s so these will have to work for now.

It is hard to put a years worth of mods in one post. I did a bunch of little things; new HEI distributor, new starter, tuneup, etc. I also started wiring for a dual battery setup and camper amenities similar to the Dodge van I drove across country. So far it is a fun project and am looking forward to getting more done.

Technorati Tags: 70s Chevy Van, 77 Chevy Van, Custom Van, Dropped, Lowered

We Loved Aruba!

Brian — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:35:08 +0000

WCXBDF3KVRQ3 – Our trip to Aruba was basically perfect. The weather was great and just about everything about the trip was relaxing. I would definitely recommend a trip there to anyone. We stayed at the Manchebo Beach Resort which was beautiful and not crowded.

It felt like we had the place to ourselves at times. The end of December is the off season so the weather was just ok by Aruba standards (high 80s with low humidity) but felt perfect compared to Detroit winter. I guess most people stay over in the high rise area of island in one of the big hotels. We stopped over there for an hour and hated it. It was filled with chain restaurants like you would find in the US near a shopping mall. The Eagle Beach area was much nicer in our opinion.

Like other parts of the Caribbean, Aruba has a lot of jewelry stores including Little Switzerland which is one of my clients. It was really helpful to see the stores in person. I now have a better understanding of the brand. Little Switzerland seems to be the leader in Caribbean jewelry stores and I am proud to be associated with them.

Technorati Tags: aruba, beach, Manchebo Beach, Ocean, paradise, travel, vacation

Halloween 09 A Success in My Book

Brian — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:26:34 +0000

I had a good time this Halloween and it is really becoming a favorite holiday. Our pumpkin carvings and costumes turned out great and it was great seeing everyone at the costume parties.

I Bought a 1977 Chevy Custom Van

Brian — Thu, 14 May 2009 02:33:20 +0000

I know a lot of people think that 70s custom vans are lame or creepy but I have wanted one since I was a kid. TV shows like the A-Team are probably to blame. I found this riteous specimen on craigslist Sunday night and bought it Monday afternoon. It is a 1977 Chevy Van originally from Nevada. The body is solid and it is in pretty good running condition. It needs a lot of work but I only paid $1000. It has a good running Chevy 350 engine and trans and a lot of new parts; Edelbrock carb and intake, headers, flowmaster exhaust and quite a few other things. I might be in over my head on this project but that hasn’t stopped me before.

Technorati Tags: 70s Chevy Van, 77 Chevy Van, Chevy Van, Custom Van, Dropped, Lowered