New member, old follower

[Twinkltoes]

Hello everyone   New member here, I have been following the forums for a good while though, I have been interested in living in a van full time for several years but it has mainly been a dream of mine. Back in April however I bought myself a 1995 chevy g20 conversion van! So now the first step is out of the way now. 

I was planning on leaving the interior intact until I figured out how I wanted to do the build but after a few weeks of owning it I found signs of a water leak. Unfortunately there is no removing one panel on a conversion van, they are all layered on top of each other. So instead I gutted the interior and fixed the water leaks (I hope). the third brake light as well as both rear sidemarker lights were leaking. I tried using butyl tape as the sidemarker gaskets but that didn't work since there wasn't enough squish on the top and bottom to make a good seal. I ended up buying some 1/4 neoprene foam and making my own gaskets, they appear to be sealing ok for now! The third brake light however neither of those worked. I ended up cleaning the gaskets the best I could and applying some weatherstrip adhesive to to all of the sealing surfaces. It appears to be holding up, if it turns out that doesn't work I will probably just and up putting some silicone around the edges and call it good.

Now I'm ready to start the build itself while repairing any mechanical needs along the way! I'm glad to see the forums are back up, I hope to connect with other members on the board.

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome Twinkltoes to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you. highdesertranger

 

[duckie]

Welcome! I'm new here, too.

Hopefully you won't have too many mechanical things to work on when there's more fun things to do.

I haven't built too much in my van- the only big thing was the bed ala Bob's YouTube bed video. Everything else I just used some plastic drawers and some plastic totes, as well as bringing my house dresser.

I wish you luck on your build!

 

[Wabbit]

Hi Twinkltoes and welcome. Best of luck with your buildout and repairs.

 

[Twinkltoes]

Thanks for the welcome!
There aren't too many mechanical things that I've found yet. I've already put tires and brakes on it, it needs the front wheel bearing repacked, I plan on rebuilding the front suspension just so I don't have to worry about it later on. Within the next couple weeks I will change out all the fluids, belts and spark plugs. After that it should be in tip top shape

 

[A Savage Adventure]

Welcome, Twinkltoes! New here as well. I traded my new SUV for my "used" truck, so I expect to have to do more "maintenance" than I have been, but I am ready for it. Well, as ready as I can be.