InssssssssVANity!!!!!!!......or ****** did I just fly to Maine to by a Sprinter!

[Cole]

A semi-local van popped up on Craigslist being parted out.

It was a wreck from a glass company but had all the little misc things missing on my van.

-rear door handle trim cover
-rear passenger side door catch
-rear door threshold, aluminum trim plate and upper door catch.
-rear bumper reflectors
-foam A-pillar retainer

-I also got the upper dash for two reasons. 1. The screen on my center vent had two screw holes in it. 2. I want to paint or upholster it to change up the look of the dash. (Without screwing up my good one)

Also got a factory sky light. Not sure how I'll use it yet since I would need to reconfigure a few things on the roof. But it was worth picking up.

And the big one was a front seat bar!!!! Not sure why the USA 3500s don't all have front sway bars.

This one I ran right home and installed!! Took about 45 min!! I've only driven it around the block so far and it totally transforms the van!!!! The steering is MUCH more crisp and responsive!! Van corners flat and accurate in the corners. It always kinda under steered and pushed wide in corners before!

I'll report back on this one as I drive it more!! So far on the test drive I love the difference!!

Front needs to sit this high all the time!!

 

[Cole]

I took a risk on this van when I first bought it since all I had to go on was pictures.

It was no surprise that the interior cargo area had some serious use.

I was told that this van had a hydraulic lift on the back at one point. If you look. At the start of this thread you'll see that I replaced the ends to the rear bumper because they had been cut. The inside of one of my doors was also white to start with.

There were a few more things that needed to be done to the rear doors to make them right though. I just haven't been able to track down the right parts for reasonable prices until last week.

The rear door threshold was trashed!!! Most of it was missing and a bent up piece of stew was used to latch the doors. It worked but just wasn't right.

Not only was I missing the plastic door catch/threshold, I was also missing the aluminum trim at the end of the rear floor.

Stuff you just don't realize until you see it on another van.

The upper catch was the same story.

The passenger side door was missing some random items. It was missing the catch that holds the door open. I now know why! That chunk of metal being used for the upper door catch is the piece that goes behind the flip catch to hold it on the door.

I was able to add this catch as it was pet of the things I took off a parts van last week.

I picked up the aluminum floor trim, the upper and lower door catches, the interior door handle trim, the rear door catch and the hinge scrapers for the passenger door.

One of the most baffling things about this van is that the passenger rear door never "double folded" to shut right. You had to manually force the hinges to do the right thing.

I looked at it last year and figured out the hinges have these little "scrappers" in them that force the double fold. They were missing on my passenger side hinges. The really odd thing is that they are riveted on from the factory so someone had to cut them off to remove them.

These go inside the hinge

See the two little rivets on the stock hinge?

These were white so I tossed them in the media blaster and painted them grey metallic.

Now my rear doors work exactly as they should.

Test run before painting

New threshold and door catches, aluminum floor trim, etc

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Coming along nicely. The devil is in the details they say.

 

[Cole]

Doing a hardtop to poptop conversion on a Eurovan in a couple of weeks for a guy.

Had to take the top to get painted to match his van.

Fits inside the Sprinter!!! Behind my second row of seats! This should give you an idea about the size difference.

It's tilted up to clear my tables up front.

 

[Haf-E]

I am often surprised at how ridiculously large my sprinter is as well... even with my built in second row bench I still have a queen sized bed and then a couple of feet behind that before the rear most doors. People can sit in the front while others sleep or someone can change standing up in the very back without distrubing those sleeping. Just wish the back and sliding doors could be closed in a quieter way - mine require a bit of a slam in order to lock.

 

[Cole]

Yeah, the doors are defiantly loud....especially in the middle of the night!

 

[Petrolburner]

Wow that is a great picture to illustrate how gloriously huge that van is!

 

[Cole]

 

[piratexpress1369a]

cool pic where was that from

 

[Cole]

Lake McConauhay Nebraska

 

[screwball48]

I know your a craigslist guy. Saw these and was wondering how well they would work for your van.
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/sat/pts/4987963086.html


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Cole]

They are kinda cool. $300 for 2 isn't a bad deal but if I was going to drop $300 right now I'd probably just buy one of the rear motion windows instead since I already have rear glass.

I'm sure they would help airflow.

 

[Cole]

 

[bknudtsen]

Is that as comfy as it looks?

 

[Cole]

It pretty comfortable! Even with 2 adults, a toddle and dogs on it! That is the prototype and we have a few minor tweaks to make.

The dogs love it because its breathable. You can see through it.