New Shoes. Old Vans.

Well hello there, thanks for stopping by. I know, I know, long time no update.  I hit a brick wall with the interior panels and then got busy with holidays, etc, etc, blah blah blah.  So my original idea for the panels fell apart after multiple companies turned me down or quoted me a a $ky high price for being “too complicated.”  Okay, I get the hint.  So back to the drawing board I went.  I have some great new ideas and hope to have the panels done in a few weeks.  But in the meantime, read on!

Two big chapters in this post: New Shoes.  Old Vans.

Chapter one.

Daddy got a new pair of shoes!  My buddy Damion Romero hooked me up big time and sold me wheels and tires for the van.  Barely used and totally bitchin’!  Damion is awesome, here he is after hard work setting me up…

Damion polished the chrome and cleaned the tires for me and even installed them.  You’ll notice here the back tires are more wide than the front tires.  As Damion put it, it’s a classic muscle car set up.

and the final results!

Chapter two.

Here is a bunch of van inspiration I have collected from the web… old Dodge ads, van photos from 1970s-era vanner mags (careful, contains some nudity) and some newer pics of custom vans I like.  Enjoy the van porn (and I don’t mean because of the boobs) …

Start with the old Dodge Ads…

1977

1977

1977

1977

1978

also 1978

1979

And some 1970′s vanner mag pics…

notice the paint job…

more girls…

More old photos of unknown origin…

So there ya have it, folks!  what do you think of the old van ads and other pics?

Thanks for reading and stay tuned, the panels will be done soon!!!

Tell your friends!

Junk Yard Dawg

The junk yards of greater LA have been very good to me lately.  I’ve spent two full days hunting 70′s Dodge or GMC van parts in four “pick-n-pulls” this month.  I would compare it to people watching, but in a way that has you imagining the people who owned and – for sure in some cases – lived in these cars and vans.  The four parts yards I roamed held only American cars; some classics but mostly ranging from five to twenty years old.   You gotta bring your own tools and do all the work yourself.  One of the yards was the one in which they filmed the reality TV show Junk Yard Wars.  Each yard held at least two or three mid-seventies Dodge vans and all in pretty bad disrepair and looking like they were skinned alive.   But I was lucky and found the parts I went there looking for.

This van had the grille I wanted and a radiator overflow to replace my cracked and broken one so I snagged the parts…

… And ta da!  Here it is, cleaned up and installed on my van…

Also, I added some Chrome tail light fixtures…

  I love these!

And I pulled some door handle parts.  Some of these I bought at the car show and some parts I found at the pick-n-pull, but the result is arm rests with sweet seventies ashtrays and shiny new handles.

For just a taste of the junkyard, here is a pic from the interior of an old ford custom.  Pretty cool padding idea…

And that’s all for now.  Thanks for reading and pls send the page to your friends!

At the Car Show…

Hello friends!

Check it out, been crazy busy in the last few weeks getting ready to take the van to it’s first car show – the Chrysler Performance West’s Fall Fling!  The CPW is all MOPAR – mainly Dodge and Chrysler and AMX – and there were some beauties on the lot!  I showed the van but made the a note for viewers that the van was still a work in progress and people got that right away.  But!  I’m really happy to say that the van actually won a ribbon!  I was out with my homeboy Damion (70′s Dodge van and Roadrunner owner) shopping in the parts mall, came back and found a ribbon: “MOPAR of Special Merit” Pretty cool. I had the only 1970′s van in the lot.  Jay Leno stopped by for a peek.

Before we look at the van progress, here are a couple of MOPARs from the car show that I say have special merit…

The AMX and the Little Red Express.  I don’t know much about AMX, but I was in Love!!  And the Little Red Express was a factory truck that Dodge was making in the 1970′s, part of what they were marketing – along with the Street Vans – as “toys for adults.”  Indeed!

So what “special merit” did my van have?  I’ve done a lot since the last blog update.  We’ll start from the bottom up…

First up, I finally got my plates which stand for 1977 Street Van:

 And I also found some seriously deep shag carpet – it is black and about 2″ deep.  Sweet!  I bought an inch of foam padding and, I gotta tell you, it is pretty darned comfortable to lay on!  But first I needed to cut a few more custom-shaped ply wood pieces to make the carpet go all the way up front to the dog house that covers the engine…

Bought the carpet for cheap because it had been in the remnants warehouse for quite a while and needed some re-shaping.  So I had to warm it up by the space heater overnight so it would stretch when installed.

And then I found Dave on Craigslist to come and install it. This was his first time installing shag carpet in a van.   Probably because he was just a kid in in the 70s like me.  But he and his understudy, Joey, did a bang up job!  Arrived at the Chalet at 9:00 AM and were gone by 10:30.

Job well done by Dave and Joey!

Also, I finally got the seats installed!  Dennis from Markel’s Auto in Beverly Hills did a great job (seen here sitting in his 67 Chevy Nova Super Sport Convertible)!

Dennis’ team made some killer brown and cream seats for me that came out just as cool as I was hoping they would!

Ande they go great with the front door panels and overhead panels, painted in matching cream

Next update should show the finished panels installed (and the are going to be effing amazing!!!!) the new roof vent with exhaust fan I installed, the new armrests for the front doors and possibly, a new stereo (fingers crossed!).

PS – before you go, check out my line of LosAngeles-area liquor store tees!  There is a brand new Silver Lake shirt that I’m crazy about and I added a tee shirt page to this blog (see the tool bar above) or simply click here!

Thanks for reading and feel free to spread this blog around…

www.AllnightAllnight.Wordpress.com

Cheers from LA!

Ryan

The interior is underway…

First off, here’s a great pic of the van, still in Colorado.  Maybe this image will give you a better idea of why i love these bitchin’ vans!

Two weekends of work in this posting.  I got a lot of help from my dear friend Sara.  She is a great guide and counselor.

Started by pulling the old panels.  So much work on these.  Had to pull hundreds of staples from the outer edge piping seen here, which I saved (the piping), and will re-use.

Just some of the staples.  It took way longer than I thought, spent hours pulling all these little buggers.

Then I traced the old panels on the new wood and started cutting – BY HAND!!!

Sara saw me sweating and let me know how crazy I was for doing this with a saw.  I did about six panels when she got out her sweet new jig saw and took me to school!

Look at those smooth curves she cut!  She is very impressive with power tools!

You can see what 34 years of wear and tear looks like on the old panels.  There is a discovery around every corner with this project, mainly because I’ve never done this before and had no idea what to expect.  So the old panels came out and I discovered 34 year old pink panther insulation.

The insulation is still good (will help keep the van cool on hot days) but the liner paper was so fragile.  Your finger goes right through it by just touching it.  So, another surprise, I had to hang some stronger paper to make a barrier between the people and the pink panther.  A whole day later…

And I sealed in all the pink panther. Ever hear the old saying “busier than a one-armed paper hanger?”  Yeah, I learned that “first hand” last weekend.  Long job, and very difficult, but it had to be done.  Whew, I was pooped, but had to get started painting the panels.  Primer first!

 And then the base coat…

Yeah, it’s gonna be pretty gnarly inside.  Planning for something really crazy for the pattern, you’ll see soon enough!

No pictures for this part, but I ordered two custom seats for the driver and passenger from this great custom interior shop, Markel’s Auto Interiors.  They have been in business here in LA since 1945!  Dennis was great and helped me a lot.  Click the link above and he can be seen sitting with a white shirt in his very own aqua and white 1960s convertible.  He of course made this interior himself.  I think I’ll be calling on him for a few more pieces before I’m finished.  Can’t wait to show you the results when he is finished making them!

Thanks for reading and pls staying in touch!

Sunday, August 14

And we’re off.  Spent Sunday gutting the interior shag carpet which dates from the 70s.  It was old, dry rot, dusty as hell and literally turns to dust when you touch it.  I filled two big trashcans with it and had to stop when they were full, but just in time, it’s all gone!

driver's side floor gut.

I had to pull and tear every square inch!

the motherload of shag dust!

just a few dozen rusty staples...

and then pulled down the cropdusters...

and then done. Looking better already!

This week I’m getting some work done so I can pass smog and get my plates, etc on Friday.  More updates soon!

Introducing my new van!

Check out my new van!  I just purchased the 1977 Dodge B200 Tradesman.  I’m very, VERY excited to get started customizing this van to my preference.  I bought this van from a great guy named Robert who lives in Colorado.   Robert was the original owner and send me the original bill of sale from his purchase at Dayton Dodge in 1977 for $5,372.88.  I’m from Ohio originally so this is a very cool part of the story!

a look at the front end

a look at the rear end from the driver side

a look at the passenger side

an interior shot at the time of purchase in July 2011