2004 AWD Chevy Express 1500 - First Van!

[BigC]

First post on the forum, I've read through a lot of the relevant build threads, and am excited to join the club! Looking forward to input from all, and having a great time building this baby out.

Just bought today, 2004 Chevy Express 1500 AWD. 130 thousand miles. It was a fleet van for a local telecommunications company up until a couple moths ago, went to a private owner for a bit, and just entered my hands today. Very basic, no options, but the market up here in Alaska for any AWD vehicles is pretty high, so I was happy to find it and pay the premium for it. Right now it has nothing done to it, but my goal is to build it out as a camper van with a full size bed, simple kitchen, and as much storage space as possible.

First on the menu is fluids change, and double checking through everything to make sure she's mechanically sound. Then getting the storage shelves out of the back, and figuring out if I can repurpose the ladder rack up top to carry a roof top box and maybe some other stuff. I'll be looking for a tow hitch locally as well.

I'll try to keep the thread updated as consistently as possible with information and pictures. Input into the build is appreciated!

 

[North]

Nice. Been scouring the earth for something similar...think I even remember seeing that one from my searches. I'm jealous!

 

[BigC]

Nice. Been scouring the earth for something similar...think I even remember seeing that one from my searches. I'm jealous!

Yeah, they can be tricky to find! Plenty of 2wd ones running around, but much less common in AWD. Leading up this purchase I looked in a lot of the lower 48 states to try and find one cheaper, but there's just not that many around down there. There's a much higher concentration of them here in Anchorage, but like I said, the AWD tax is very real hahaha.

 

[BigC]

Update

Little update here.



Pulled out the shelving that was in there, and the divider this morning and did a basic cleaning. Then loaded a bit of stuff up and hit the road to go visit my parents and sister for a couple of days. Just getting some miles on her. It is definitely fall up here in Alaska!



Notes from the drive. Did roughly 220 miles, mostly highway cruising at 70, pushed pretty hard through the mountains, didn't really let her go below 55. That 5.3L is a workhorse! Still got just shy of 18mpg though, which I'm pretty happy with. However, in a completely un-insulated work van with holes in the floor, the wind noise and whistling is atrocious! Sound proofing is certainly high on the list of things to be done. Gonna take advantage of my dads well stocked garage tomorrow to change the oil and the fluid in the diffs, and then pull up the mat to check out the condition of the floor and do a full van cleaning. So far I'm in love with it! Can fit so much more stuff in it compared to my Saab 9-2x!

 

[BigC]

Update: De-rusting begins

Greetings!

Started today out by changing the oil over to synthetic high mileage, then pulled the actual ladder racks, and the strobe light off the top. I left the cabling for the strobe light in place as I'd like to use it to add a thermometer sensor up there. Also pulled the backup alarm out.



Then I moved in and pulled the cargo mat out to get a look at the floor. Unfortunately, nothing was done to seal the screw holes from the shelving that was added in somewhere early on in the vans life, and all of them have a little bit of rust damage around them. However, one in particular, right above the passenger side rear well was fairly bad. This is what it looked like with just a little bit of scrubbing from the bottom of my shoe.



Unfortunately I got distracted shortly after these discoveries, and wasn't able to get back to it till later in the day. Really surprised at how much paint was compromised with rust underneath it from one 1/4" screw hole.



Oh well, not the end of the world. Just gonna take all the rust off, fill the holes with silicone, and then use some rust protector over everything. Any body have any recommendations for me on a good product to use? I've used Rust-Oleum in the past with mixed results, would like to try something new this time.

 

[evilfij]

I like rust converter spray (seems unnecessary given how much you have cleaned it) followed by epoxy spray paint and then appliance epoxy spray paint on top. Should be good as it comes in white (probably brighter than your white but as it is a floor, who cares) then rubberized undercoat for exterior applications.

It has held up the best over 15 years (I tried everything and appliance epoxy works vastly better than regular rustoleum).

 

[BigC]

I like rust converter spray (seems unnecessary given how much you have cleaned it) followed by epoxy spray paint and then appliance epoxy spray paint on top. Should be good as it comes in white (probably brighter than your white but as it is a floor, who cares) then rubberized undercoat for exterior applications.

It has held up the best over 15 years (I tried everything and appliance epoxy works vastly better than regular rustoleum).

Thanks evilfij! I'll give that a try, I hadn't thought to use the appliance version.

 

[evilfij]

The key is the epoxy primer to start IMHO. That is actually harder to find than the epoxy appliance paint.

 

[BigC]

The key is the epoxy primer to start IMHO. That is actually harder to find than the epoxy appliance paint.

Gotcha, where do you seem to have the best luck finding it?

 

[evilfij]

I bought a case at lowes years ago. They are still fine. I see some on Amazon but the price is shockingly high.

 

[BigC]

I bought a case at lowes years ago. They are still fine. I see some on Amazon but the price is shockingly high.

Cool, thanks! I'm sure I'll be able to find it, or something along the same lines at the lowes/home depot.

 

[BigC]

Foam Insulation

Quick question:

I'm currently working on insulating the van, and I'm wondering if anyone has ever used spray foam to insulate inside the pillars and large portions in the top corners where it's just wide open inside the metal. I'm using Reflectix on the open panel sections of the walls/floors/ceiling, but that alone seems like there'd be a lot of cold spots. I'm thinking of using spray foam, something along the line of the GREAT STUFF style, and just filling all those gaps with it....

Thoughts???

 

[Colby Jack]

Biggest internet lore regarding spray foam in vehicles is trapping moisture between the foam and the body could result in rust growth. That said, i believe ford used spray foam in the A pillars of the f150 lately to quiet road noise.

 

[45Kevin]

I've seen lots of Manitoba cargo vans sprayed with foam, and a buddy of mine here in Calgary bought a new 2013 and had it sprayed. It works very well as a noise and heat insulation.

I have not seen a downside to doing it. Yet.

 

[Colby Jack]

FYI if you get it sprayed-- OP is talking foam in a can, not the same-- make sure you read all instructions. The substrate must be warmed so that the chemicals don't cool when applied. If they cool, they will shrink from the substrate, creating pockets for convective loops to occur, creating moisture trapped. This is unlikely a problem in most newer vehicles as they are freshly painted. Heavily scratched vehicles should be prepped and primed well. Not to mention off-gassing. I wonder about using the soy-based spray insulations, like Polyseal out of Palmer Area.