80's Chevy Van - Ex-Air Force?

[crazy]

I just joined today. Holy crap.:Wow1: My brain is exploding. Talk about information overload.:wings:

I have a Chevy Van that I've had for a while. I think it's a 1986 or 1989. I believe it was an old Air Force maintenance van maybe. Mileage is 19k and I think it's original miles. Motor is a 6.2 diesel. Body is Grumman.

My question is this. Is there a kit like the U-Joint Offroad conversion for my Chevy that is as nice. I saw a reference to Boulder Offroad. This is a kit on their site. Does anyone have any experience with this kit or company?

http://www.boulderoffroadvans.com/4x4_conversion_kits

I have other questions swirling around in my head but I will save those for later. Here is a picture of my van.

 

[dsw4x4]

Don and Kelly at Boulder off road are great people and they are a great resource for chevy vans they love them I think if it was up to them that is all they would do. I have never owned one of their conversions but because they are close to me I see them all the time. All of their brackets are the typical laser cnc cut, and bent much like ujoints. (good stuff). Everyone seems to like their conversion that I have talked to. If you call them say Derek from CCV sent you down there.
Good luck wiht you build.
Derek

 

[RocKrawler]

The kit prices are very attractive!

 

[crazy]

I spoke with Chris today. I don't think my heart is into this project. I will probably try to find a late model Ford to do. I have a feeling that if I put a ton of time and money into the Chevy, it will only be worth a fraction of the effort.

 

[ExpoMike]

I spoke with Chris today. I don't think my heart is into this project. I will probably try to find a late model Ford to do. I have a feeling that if I put a ton of time and money into the Chevy, it will only be worth a fraction of the effort.

Sounds like most projects honestly. I have only made money on a handful of the 42 vehicles I have owned. You do it for your needs/desires and the love of doing it, not as an investment.

Good luck on whatever you end up with but don't think of this as a money making effort. Do it for the cool rig you will end up with, that fits your own needs.

 

[crazy]

Sounds like most projects honestly. I have only made money on a handful of the 42 vehicles I have owned. You do it for your needs/desires and the love of doing it, not as an investment.

Good luck on whatever you end up with but don't think of this as a money making effort. Do it for the cool rig you will end up with, that fits your own needs.

I agree. I'm not looking at making money. I just don't want to spend 15-20k and have it worth $3000 at the end. I would like to know that a decent amout of my money can be recouped.

 

[ExpoMike]

I agree. I'm not looking at making money. I just don't want to spend 15-20k and have it worth $3000 at the end. I would like to know that a decent amout of my money can be recouped.

I'm in a similar boat with my new M1010 project. Like I say, I might end up putting $15-20K into it when all said and done but to go out and buy something equivilant, ready to go, I'm looking at closer to $100K. Heck I'm saving a bunch of money AND I will know how it all goes together so I can fix things as they stop working down the road.

In the end, it comes down to what makes you happy. You can't take money with you and you only get to enjoy being happy once this time around. :ylsmoke:

BTW, if you look at the Earth Roamer that someone posted up, a theft recovery, they are asking $89K for a rig that was close to $250K new. Heck, even with many of the systems removed by the thieves, it is still really nice but is it $89K nice? Don't worry about recovering a decent amount as it's likely not going to happen unless you find the "right" person and then you will.