canuckcargo van conversion

[canuckcargo]

So here begins my conversion story.
I'm shooting for
- stealth (I will be spending alot of time in urban environments unfortunately)
- a comfortable bed
- insulated well enough to cut down on sound and be able to retain a little bit of heat
- a sink, fridge, cooking space and enough storage for a few extra toys possibly even a microwave.
-enough battery power to run appliances, charge electronics, run a fan and lighting.
- I'd also like to keep the weight to a minimum while still giving it a finished appearance.
I've given myself a budget of $5000
Let's see if I can do it

First step
Purchase the van
I managed to find myself a 1999 gmc express for $1800
The positive:
rebuilt engine
6'x11' bed
brand new tires
Stealthy
Comes with a bulkhead divider and roof rack
White in color to keep it cool in the summer

the negative:
Leaking coolant
Leaking oil pan
Needs new idler pulley and serpentine belt
250000 km
some body rust

I was careful not to pass by any playgrounds on the way to the car wash. :blush:

 

[LeeRevell]

Looks to be suffering the typical paint peeling problem seen on so very many white Chevy vans of that vintage. So, factor in a possible new paintjob. Which will take care of that lettering job too!

 

[cdiggy]

A rebuilt engine that is leaking oil and coolant? That's going to suck up some cash unless you can do that work yourself.

 

[canuckcargo]

Leerevell: yeah GM can't seem to get the white right, my company truck is an 05 and still has the same issue. I don't think a paint job is worth the trouble. The lettering was written in mud thankfully so it washed right off

Cdiggy: I know, sounds pretty fishy. the coolant leak is just a matter of swapping a hose out and the oil is leaking from the gasket around the oil pan. Poor attention to detail from whoever did the rebuild. It will require the oil to be drained and a new gasket put in. It will be a dirty job when the time comes but for now I'm just going to leave it and monitor it closely, I wiped it clean when I purchased and after 100km of driving and sitting for 2 weeks It still hasn't reapered. Hopefully buying a well used van doesn't bite me in the ass down the road with major repairs.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Best of luck Canadian Brother! My goals for my van are fairly similar to yours.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I have seen people fix that rust like a the bottom of the door if it is not right through, with a good sand, some rust kill then that ripple rock chip paint which comes in white. Looks pretty good when done. welcome

 

[SoulRaven]

Good luck to you friend.

What was painted on the side of your van is a pretty accurate description of how I was treated in cities when I had a cargo van. Worst time of my life. Cops, thieves, grafitti artists, people throwing rocks at it, and got dumped on it's side twice. Never again.

A window van solved ALL of the disrespect problems.

 

[canuckcargo]

One awesome inch: thanks, I'll be sure to watch one or two of your videos. It's good to have people at the same stage of construction

Flying kurbmaster: I might have to try that, the rust is worse on the other side too. Thanks for the tip.

Offgrid: I definately expect some negative responses. People don't take kindly to things out of the societal norm hence stealth being one of my top priorities. I'm curious to see how my coworkers and friends take it, let alone strangers. I didn't expect anything along those lines, flipping a van is pretty extreme. Its sad to hear things like that, but thank you for the heads up. Did you leave it unattended alot? Did it look like a commercial van or was it obvious it was a home? What city was it in?

 

[Almost There]

One awesome inch: thanks, I'll be sure to watch one or two of your videos. It's good to have people at the same stage of construction

Flying kurbmaster: I might have to try that, the rust is worse on the other side too. Thanks for the tip.

Offgrid: I definately expect some negative responses. People don't take kindly to things out of the

My 2002 Savana looked about the same way when I got it. The guy that's doing the bodywork for me found out that there was way more rust on those lower edges than we first thought.

But, yea!!, as of yesterday evening when I stopped by they were all done and the primer was drying. It's being treated with stone guard for me.

I anxiously awaiting it's return to my own driveway so I can get started on the inside....

 

[akrvbob]

Cargo vans are a great choice. I lived in a box van for 6 years without any problem at all.
Bob

 

[SoulRaven]

Did you leave it unattended alot? Did it look like a commercial van or was it obvious it was a home? What city was it in?

It was mainly only unattended while I was at work.  


It was a 2003 Chevy Express, plain white paint.  While I owned it, it went from no windows in the cargo area, to windows in both back doors and side doors, as they got replaced due to problems with thieves.

It got dumped on it's side in both LA and Chicago.  In LA I think it was drunks, in Chicago it was thieves, and I yelled at them as they were sawing off the door hinges.

 

[LeeRevell]

It was mainly only unattended while I was at work.  


It was a 2003 Chevy Express, plain white paint.  While I owned it, it went from no windows in the cargo area, to windows in both back doors and side doors, as they got replaced due to problems with thieves.

It got dumped on it's side in both LA and Chicago.  In LA I think it was drunks, in Chicago it was thieves, and I yelled at them as they were sawing off the door hinges.

Dang!  I'd be opening up a big can of Whooparse on those savages!  Guaranteed they'd be going to jail or the hospital.....   

 

[cdiggy]

Sometimes you can just tighten up the bolts on the oil pan to correct the problem. Replacing the gasket is a huge pita. I have done two on ford 4.9L six cylinders. Both 4wd pickups so there was just enough room to drop the pan enough and finagle the $35 gasket down and around the oil pump assembly using a coat hanger. In most instances motor and transmission mounts need to be disconnected and the motor jacked up enough so there is room between the pan and crossmember to do the work.
Off topic but of note those ford six cylinders have a problem of the gasket disintegrating in between the motor and starter which makes it look like. Rear seal leak. Got a couple of great deals on these because the seller thought it was a rear main seal leak. Don't have any info on Chevys concerning this but it is worth taking note.

 

[ZoNiE]

It was mainly only unattended while I was at work.  


It was a 2003 Chevy Express, plain white paint.  While I owned it, it went from no windows in the cargo area, to windows in both back doors and side doors, as they got replaced due to problems with thieves.

It got dumped on it's side in both LA and Chicago.  In LA I think it was drunks, in Chicago it was thieves, and I yelled at them as they were sawing off the door hinges.

Ummm... Why not just hop up front, start it and drive away?

 

[canuckcargo]

I also forgot to mention the the van is in need of a new windshield and the hinges are ceased on one of the side doors, I may just leave it ceased and use the space for the sink and water tanks

Anyways the first thing I did was give the van an oil and coolant change, I also picked up an idler pulley to throw on when I feel like picking up a wrench again.




Turning my attention to the interior I then tore out the metal shelving, floor mat and rear heater. I also gave the van a good cleaning on the inside.

The shelving was bolted to the floor, the bolts took a lot longer than they should have to get off but between a cut off disk, vice grips and some colourful language they eventually gave in.
In hindsight the job would have been a lot easier with a second set of hands.
I will sell the shelving to make a bit of money back.

The rear heater was fed by two coolant lines and held in place by two Bolts. I contemplated keeping it but didn't like its location, size or the fact it would only work with the engine pumping hot coolant through it. So out it came. I ended up cutting the coolant lines and coupling them together if that makes any sense. I may end up using them for something in the future so I thought it best not to strip them out entirely.
A couple ideas I've been pondering for the coolant lines are:

Run them through a heat exchanger installed inside a water tank which would allow me to heat water while driving. Anybody ever done or heard of this being done before?

My other idea was to run some quarter inch hose before I put the floor down and run the coolant through this. Effectively creating in floor heating.
The coolant could be heated by the engine while running and also by one of those espar coolant heaters when parked.

With an espar heater installed I could potentially heat the engine, floor, and the water

The floor mat came out without much trouble, the underlay attached underneath was wet, rotten and moldy.

Sorry about the lack of pictures, i will make an effort to show more when I get further into it.

 

[canuckcargo]

Bob: it seemed like the best option from my standpoint as well. i carefully considered my options beforehand.

Off grid: hopefully you don't find yourself in a similar situation again. A means of self defence sounds like a good idea.

Cdiggy: another useful tidbit, I really appreciate little things like that. It would be nice if I could just tighten the nuts. The guy I bought it from said he has already tried though. But it's still probably worth a shot you can't always take people's word for things.

 

[SoulRaven]

Dang!  I'd be opening up a big can of Whooparse on those savages!  Guaranteed they'd be going to jail or the hospital.....   

Not when there's a bunch of them and only one of you... :s

 

[Almost There]

Well, that's 2 idler arm pulleys and two wet floor mats - mine's a 2002 Savana 2500.

I also had the rear heater unit pulled but all the hoses were pulled too and a short reroute done up front.

Is there any market for the heater unit? I couldn't find one on Kijiji to get a comparable price for mine. If it's not worth anything to anybody I can throw it in the back of the Montana when it goes to the wreckers.

The interior clean up is next on my list! I was up to see mine today...she sure looks pretty....

 

[SoulRaven]

Ummm... Why not just hop up front, start it and drive away?

No time in either case, in LA it was getting dumped on my side that woke me up.  I doubt they knew anyone was in the van, and it sounded like drunks out partying.  I stayed put and stayed quiet until it was quiet outside.  When you can hear many drunk sounding voices, but can't see anything, and just got dumped on your side, it's scarier than heck.


In Chicago, when I was awoken by them trying to break in, my first reaction was to yell at them, but before I was even all the way out of bed, they dumped it on it's side, probably to prevent me from giving chase.  By the time I got out of the van, they were long gone, but a neighbor told me that there were roving gangs that broke into cargo vans, box trucks, and U-Hauls in the area.  Wish I would have known that BEFORE I parked there...

I've never been one to get scared easily, but when you can't see anything it's a different ballgame.  Even when there's a cop banging on your van and telling you they're a cop, if you can't see out, you have no idea what's really out there.  Once I finally opened the door to find a bunch of cops with their guns pointed at me.  I believe if I wouldn't have come out, they would have come in anyway.  They thought it was a rolling meth lab, and once they found out it wasn't, things calmed down.  Nobody complained but the local cop knew that my cargo van didn't belong there.

 

[masterplumber]

I also forgot to mention the the van is in need of a new windshield and the hinges are ceased on one of the side doors, I may just leave it ceased and use the space for the sink and water tanks

Anyways the first thing I did was give the van an oil and coolant change, I also picked up an idler pulley to throw on when I feel like picking up a wrench again.




Turning my attention to the interior I then tore out the metal shelving, floor mat and rear heater. I also gave the van a good cleaning on the inside.

The shelving was bolted to the floor, the bolts took a lot longer than they should have to get off but between a cut off disk, vice grips and some colourful language they eventually gave in.
In hindsight the job would have been a lot easier with a second set of hands.
I will sell the shelving to make a bit of money back.

The rear heater was fed by two coolant lines and held in place by two Bolts. I contemplated keeping it but didn't like its location, size or the fact it would only work with the engine pumping hot coolant through it. So out it came. I ended up cutting the coolant lines and coupling them together if that makes any sense. I may end up using them for something in the future so I thought it best not to strip them out entirely.
A couple ideas I've been pondering for the coolant lines are:

Run them through a heat exchanger installed inside a water tank which would allow me to heat water while driving. Anybody ever done or heard of this being done before?

My other idea was to run some quarter inch hose before I put the floor down and run the coolant through this. Effectively creating in floor heating.
The coolant could be heated by the engine while running and also by one of those espar coolant heaters when parked.

With an espar heater installed I could potentially heat the engine, floor, and the water

The floor mat came out without much trouble, the underlay attached underneath was wet, rotten and moldy.

Sorry about the lack of pictures, i will make an effort to show more when I get further into it.

The best way to use the coolant lines to heat hot water, is to use a flat plate heat exchanger. Basically the coolant goes through one side and the domestic water goes through the other side, collecting heat as it goes. A lot of the higher end expedition campers use this, incorperating an Espar heat into the system also. I've thought of doing this if I ever find a diesel van at the right time for the right price. The Espar also makes cold morning starts much easier when in remote areas.