Frank Frazetta - H.G. the BarbariVan

[hgs_notes]

Ac ouple years ago I bought a rusty G30 work van with a blown 4.3 engine and pushed it into the back corner of the shed. It was intended to be 4x4 swapped and just be badass.

Last weekend another van came up on market place that was way less rusty and extremely cheap. It's a 1979 G10 and was parked in 1992. Two owners ago was a body guy and he started doing the rust repair but I don't think it was all that bad. He added the large side windows common to the typical conversion vans. If he wanted a conversion van he should have just bought one. They're fairly common and affordable. Anyway, ideally I wanted a shorty without windows but those are unobtainium in my area. It was a runner when he was working on it.

When I looked it over I only found rust holes in a few places and not extensive. The one brown fender and door are originals that haven't been worked on yet and have some rust/damage. I'm pretty sure I have good front doors and a good fender. There's a small rust hole behind the rear bumper and some in the rocker under the slider door. Overall a much better start than my G30.

I offered $400 and it was accepted. I got it home a couple days ago and pulled everything out of the back, vacuumed and got to see what all I got. Only a few dead mummified critters, only a few handfuls of poo, only one large critter nest. I believe the original engine is all intact and not messed with. Casting number is for a 79 350, has a TH350 tranny, AC, cruise, tilt, PB, PS. Should have a 3.07 rear gear. Haven't looked for the SPID yet, I should do that.

After cleaning it out I checked the oil and hooked up a jumper pack. It cranked over so I sprayed some ether down the carb and it does fire. I stopped there. The gas tank has a small leak from the seller moving it with forks on his bobcat under the tank. Which is a shame since the inside of the tank was perfectly clean. I ordered a new tank, sending unit and straps. I'll pick up some fuel line this week and hopefully can get it running next weekend. I don't know if the carb is too dirty to run or not. I don't know if the fuel pump works.

I bought a set of 15x8.5 aluminum slots for it but haven't had any luck finding some cheap tires in the size I want for it. Instead I may be buying another set of wheels with tires mounted. The tires are only 2 years old and mounted on some classic turbo fan wheels and they are cheaper than a set of similar tires without wheels. Good enough to drive on because I believe the tires on it now are from 1985 and only 1 holds air.

Since I believe this van won't take much work to be road worthy I'm going to run the drivetrain as is and just fix what's left of the body work and get some fresh shag carpet for it. I'll spray some paint on it, eventually find some tires, spif up the wheels and cruise the boogie van. My hope is that I can find a good airbrush artist to paint a sick mural in the style of Frank Frazetta on it, hence the name. If that doesn't happen it'll get some stripes or something to really grab attention. Maybe a cool wrap, who knows?

Like most of my projects, it'll be slow going. Mainly because I have too many things going at once. Getting the cobra ready for paint now, still have lots of work to do on the crewcab, still need to swap gears in the 71 C10, still have a Jimmy waiting for attention, still have a 71 Riviera that needs tons of work, etc. I'm never bored.

[hgs_notes]

All day to swap wheels? Yes, when you have to strip a few layers of paint first. Picked up the wheels last night off market place for $180. The tires are worn out but hold air. Picked up a battery for it. Hoping to drive it off the trailer next weekend.

Looked at the G30 and the rear doors and front left fender look good. There's also some doors I got from the junkyard in the van. And there's front sheetmetal from an RV I need to get yet.

[Getter-Done]

Wheels turned out good.

Nice Project.

Will there be Shag carpet in the back .

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Wheels turned out good.

Nice Project.

Will there be Shag carpet in the back .

I'm thinking more like sheet plastic with hooks for hanging tools like knives, ropes, tape, etc.

Or shag, who knows?

Couple things from this evening. I put the battery in and turned the key to see if it cranked over better than with the jump pack. And it fired up and idled perfectly. Twice in fact. Then ran out of gas. The tranny fluid was a little brown but didn't smell too bad. Not great but as long as it moves forward and back.

And check out this radio. Factory option UP5 on the SPID.

[Getter-Done]

Just Kidding about the shag

That CB is cool.

[hgs_notes]

Saturday I got the new gas tank in. It came with a 33 gal tank but I ordered the smaller 22 gal tank. I didn't compare measurements which was a mistake. I figured it would be shallower like the suburban tanks are but no, it's shorter front to back. I also ordered the newer style tank for an EFI application in case I do an in tank pump some day. But the other difference on the tank is the filler tube is larger than original. So the money I saved on the smaller tank was spent on fuel filler hose. Oh well. I managed to get it all in and working by adding some short pieces of chains on the tank straps. I still need to hook up the vent line that parallels the filler hose.

It's all in and even the gauge still works. I put some gas in the carb and it started right up, then died after a bit. Still didn't get gas from the tank. One more time and it was fine and running off clean new gas.

I also had to repair the left rear brake. The brake line was sticking up high, I moved it back down by the axle tube and the end where it goes into the wheel cylinder started dripping. Crap. Of course it's all rusty so I ended up buying new shoes, cylinder, hardware and line for it. But then I couldn't bleed it. No flow from the master cylinder. It's half shot. By that I mean it is a double diaphragm and I think one part works, but the pedal only goes halfway to the floor.

I did manage to get it off the trailer and drive it a bit but the tranny didn't want to engage. I had checked the fluid when it wasn't running and it was high. After a nights sleep I figured I better check it again while running and sure enough it was very low. I added about 3 quarts and that did the trick. Tranny works! The problem now is the right front brake is dragging BAD. It's been raining so everything is wet. No traction to push the stuck wheel without a lot of tire spinning so I parked it in the grass where it stopped moving.

This morning I dragged it up by the garage and that stuck wheel would roll some then slide then roll then slide, etc. I took off the wheel to inspect it and it has new pads on it but the old caliper, which was rusty and dirty and probably not backing off enough. I broke the bleeder trying to coax it open. No surprise there.

So I just ordered the rest of the brake system and maybe I'll get that all done this weekend. Oh I did drive it though. The wheel rolled enough that I decided to just send it. My driveway is 1/4 mile long and I went down to the T intersection another 1/8 mile away to turn around. I did that twice and that rotor got hot but I was able to drive it and go through the gears. The only non-brake issue was some backfiring under load. I think there's a vacuum leak and the timing might be off a bit. Not too concerned, it really starts and runs pretty good.

Cleaned up the dash a bit. All the gauges work, radio lights up but I don't think there is a speaker connected, no sound. No cracks on the dash, must have been stored inside. I don't think the windshield leaks. It's been out in the rain for days. The more I get into it the better I like it. Definitely not a waste of $400. I spent a couple hundred on wheels, couple hundred on the fuel tank stuff and a couple hundred on brake parts and $80 for a battery. All in for around $1250 but still need the right tires and the wheels I'm planning to use need work.

Oh and check out the keychain that it came with.

[hgs_notes]

All the brake parts were delivered except for the front left hose. Got the rotors turned down and new wheel seals. Replaced the front brakes and master cylinder and guess which caliper wouldn't Bleed fluid. That hose is blocked up and won't be delivered until Monday. I just ordered the rear hose too. Still need to do the right rear brake too. I ordered some cheap Monroe shocks. That should take care of most of the underside wear items until the U joints fail.

I did take it for a drive anyway. Just a mile down the gravel road. It drove great, very smooth and steady. So, finish the brakes, replace the shocks and then figure out why the power steering doesn't seem to work. Fluid level is good, the pump doesn't sound bad.

[hgs_notes]

Stripped a bunch of parts off an 87 chevy based RV this morning. Already put the doors and wipers on the 79. Still waiting for 1 brake hose to be delivered so the rest of the brake job can be completed. I just learned that the fenders are welded onto these things. Going to be a PITA to get those off the RV but worth it. I saw one fender for sale and the guy was asking $400. I can't find a seller for full replacement ones. Just patch panels.

I really need to get the rest of the old carpet out to help get rid of the old musty smell. I pulled the headliner carpet out and what remained on the walls.

[hgs_notes]

I also mounted an old 275/60-15 tires onto one of the slot rims to see how it would fit on the front. It's huge haha. But I drove it around and turned tight both ways and no rubbing. So I'll be searching for a deal on a full set of those.

[hgs_notes]

Brake jobs, gotta love 'em. The other front brake hose was finally delivered. Replacing it went pretty well. Took the master cylinder cover off to add fluid and bleed the fronts and noticed the rear reservoir was low. Take a look around and found a puddle a couple feet fwd of the rear axle. It's dripping bad. Great! Got a vice grips on it to slow down the leak so I don't have to rebleed the master cylinder.

Another trip to the parts store for brake lines. BTW, the closest parts store is 10 miles away.

Time to go through the other rear brake, which means getting the drum off. This one was a struggle. Heat, spray lube, hammer, crowbars, and repeat. The shoes were not that worn, had to have been replaced because the drum was grooved BAD. To worn to have turned down, so a new drum is on order.

But I still need to get that brake line fixed so I worked at getting the line off the wheel cylinder. It broke but I was able to unthread it. Unfortunately the line I got for that section was too short. So I took a piece of the old line, found another nut and made a short piece but then I need a union, so another trip to the parts store. Now I can put the new line on the axle to wheel cylinder. Unfortunately the brake line has the wrong thread. Why is there a metric thread line for a 3/16 inverted flare brake line? So another trip to the parts store for a line with the correct threads.

After all the running around I finally get the rear brake lines all replaced and the leak is fixed. I even managed to get the bleeder to open and not break off the old wheel cylinder! And finally (there's that word again) I have brake fluid going to all 4 corners and NOT leaking. Still need to replace the right rear but it's functional.

Time for a REAL test drive! I'd like to say it was flawless but you know that's not likely. I have done nothing to the engine other than check the oil level. It starts great, idles great and it is driveable. It sputters/backfires under acceleration. Gotta take it easy on the throttle but eventually it gets up to speed. It rides good on the bald tires and worn shocks. It drove straight, stopped well and no weird noises!

If this was one of those will it run and drive videos I would have lost viewers with how long a simple brake job was taking. Be sure to like and subscribe!

I went to the local junkyard to see if I could find some better seats. No luck there. So I have an excuse to start trawling the other yards in the area. It's been awhile. The 2 seat mounts that I have are both swivels, so that's nice.

So what's next? I don't want to get too deep into this project yet. I have to get back to the cobra. I'll look for tires, seats, flares, better grill, etc. It needs a tune up, oil change, tranny filter change, shocks ( I have those), a little more rust repair, finish pulling old carpet and insulation to get the stink out, get a speaker connected to the radio and see if it works.

[LT7A]

Cool project. You got a lot for $400. Cool Delco radio/CB. What's your plan for how you'll use it? This makes it sound scary - might not want to put this out there in these words: "I'm thinking more like sheet plastic with hooks for hanging tools like knives, ropes, tape, etc."
People might misunderstand, haha. The 5 slot mags look cool. I like the turbine wheels too. Kinda A-Team van lookin.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Cool project. You got a lot for $400. Cool Delco radio/CB. What's your plan for how you'll use it? This makes it sound scary - might not want to put this out there in these words: "I'm thinking more like sheet plastic with hooks for hanging tools like knives, ropes, tape, etc."
People might misunderstand, haha. The 5 slot mags look cool. I like the turbine wheels too. Kinda A-Team van lookin.

What? Never heard of a mobile butcher shop?

[hgs_notes]

Yesterday I got the fenders off the RV. I'm getting to a point where I need to either shut it down and get back to the cobra or take the time to finish the rust repair and keep going. There are about 3 spots of rust other than the fender and I believe I have the patches for them. I walked through a junkyard today that had 2 older GM conversion vans with nice seats. Both are the wrong color but the only thing that you really need to do for an interior color change is the dash. They come out surprisingly easy and I know I can get it cheap. They only want $200 for 4 captain seats.

The problem I'm having is that I really don't have a plan for the interior. Or how I'll use the van. I don't plan to haul a bunch of people. Most likely it would never have more than the wife and me in it and the dogs. If I want to haul stuff then having a bed and all the 70s hippie crap would be dumb. But I don't want bare metal walls either. I need to do some picture scrolling for ideas before I go spend money on stuff I won't use.

I can't even decide what to do with the rear doors! I have a pair of good conversion van ones with windows and a set of cargo van doors that only need minor work. Same with the slider. Would it be odd to have cargo doors on a van with the big side windows? I can't undo those.

Check out the old Pontiac! Very complete car yet. He would sell it too.

[hgs_notes]

Figured out why the power steering isn't working. The belt was off the crank pulley. And the AC pump belt has a twist and rolled back into the PS belt groove. Tried to fix it but the AC belt retwisted and the PS belt broke. So new belts are on order.

[67C10Step]

OK, van fan here and Frank Frazetta fan for sure. Love the van work and do you plan on doing some tribute artwork on it when you are done?

Although the cover art was done by Ezra Tucker, I had a denim jacket in my youth with the artwork from Molly Hatchet's The Deed Is Done album on the back. Sadly, it was stolen out of the back of my jeep by some low life.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by 67C10Step

OK, van fan here and Frank Frazetta fan for sure. Love the van work and do you plan on doing some tribute artwork on it when you are done?

If I can find a good airbrush artist I would like to. I have a general idea of what I want.

Yesterday I finally got the right rear brake replaced so the brake system is all done. The new alternator and power steering belts are on. Power steering works great but there is a leak on a hose somewhere. Not terrible but it's there. I finished pulling out the insulation and rear seat. Then blasted almost every surface with some lysol deodorizer spray. The stink seems to be gone.

Sometime this weekend I'll get a couple seats back in it.

The AC system still has pressure in it, good sign.

[hgs_notes]

Got a driver seat! A little cutting, bending and welding and it fits on the original swivel seat stands. Have to do the other seat yet. I have no idea what the seats are from. Bought at a swap meet for the 280zx I once had. Nice leather in good condition.

Changed the oil too. No surprises there.