Got a van

[ArtW]

Finally a friend spotted a van in my area that I like and was in my reach...with a little help from the bank
It's a 1988 GMC G2500 Vandura Tra-tech Regatta conversion
It has some rust (mostly surface) on rear quarters, and drip rails, and of course frame, etc, but not bad
there is a rust through on the outer rocker about halfway back on the driver's side, but on a GM van that's not structural, and should be an easy fix
The tires are dry rotted, and need replacing, and some yahoo went and stuck 17" custom wheels on it
the factory wheels would be 15" on a 5x4.5 bolt circle, odd, I thought a 3/4 would use 16s on a 6 bolt circle
I do not want 17s with band aids on my van, so those have gotta go
It's a 5.7 liter TBI, so depending on the ring gear tow rating could be as much as 7500lb, though the class 1 hitch will have to be upgraded to tow my TT, should I decide to do so

For some reason the vin decoder websites don't tell me the rear gearing
9 or 10 miles out of Halletsville the SEL came on and stayed on, but the van ran fine and the transmission seems to shift OK
It did seem to drink a lot of gas

I have pics in my phone, but will have to wait for them to upload to google photo before i can share them

 

[Wabbit]

Cool beans! Sent ya a PM about that other business. Hope the van fixin' up goes smoothly.

 

[INTJohn]

Art baybee; am I reading the first sentence of your thesis here correctly?

You borrowed money from a bank to buy a 30 year old van? M I reading this right? or is there some hidden sarcasm that I'm missing?

Y would u borrow money from a bank for this when I would think you could save for like 3 more months and pay cash? Also I'm wonderring what bank would make this loan? I mean hell the 90''s have been long gone. lol

INTJohn

 

[ArtW]

Thanks Wabbit, got the PM, thanks for that too

INTjohn, it's a small personal loan, from a small local bank. the van was there, and I didn't have enough without some help

I probably overpaid some, TBH, but I haven't looked at a single van in my area, including quite a few that were a lot newer, that weren't complete junk

 

[Gunny]

Congratulations...

Rob

 

[ArtW]

Thanks Rob

 

[minimotos95]

Congrats.
I started laughing at the part that revealed besides the 17" wheels someone put a class I receiver hitch on a 3/4 ton?

Some Chevys/GMCs have a tag on the differential itself that will tell you the gear ratio.

 

[ArtW]

That's true, thanks minimoto, I had for gotten that

 

[TrainChaser]

My BIL (many years ago) bought an old red sports model, and he complained that it drank a lot of gas. And then he found the hole in the tank.

 

[Gary68]

yeeeaaa,there should be a metal tag on one of the diff cover bolts with the gear ratio,they made that body for about 2 decades so there are plenty of parts new and used available

 

[ArtW]

hahaha I hope I don't find the same! I think I drove it 40 miles home and it went fro 1/4 (where it went when I dropped $10 (4.3 gallons) in it, to near empty again
I don't think it drank all 4 gallons, but maybe 3 of them
I was far more worried abou the tires...till the needle got close to the red mark again

 

[bullfrog]

Good luck with your new van!

 

[PatchTwist]

Awesome and congratulations!

 

[jimindenver]

Alright Art!

 

[highdesertranger]

congrats, keep us updated. yes get rid of those 17's. and we need pics. highdesertranger

 

[cyndi]

Congrats, Art! Looking forward to pics!

 

[ArtW]

Thanks folks, a few pics

 

[ArtW]

Those step rails will probably come off, I blame them for the rocker rust
Obviously the interior has to go, and that rear AC, ugh, I need that gone, hope that's not too hard
Two speakers are located in the rear AC housing, so They may go away or get relocated
I'll get more interior pics soon

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Woo hoo, congrats on pulling the trigger and buying your van! I can't wait to follow suit! Looking forward to the pics!

 

[ArtW]

Thanks! I need to get more interior pics, so you good folks cab see what I'm working with