ToyotaRoamer86
Adventurer
This build looks very cool! Awesome work so far, wish I had the means to a welder and steel.
"One Piece At A Time" Build
- Thread starter Corneilius
- Start date
You'll get the welder, then you'll find yourself wanting a chop saw, then a band saw, then a plasma cutter, then a press brake, then a bender, then..... It's like a disease.
ujoint
Supporting Sponsor
Ha, yes. CNC plasma, iron worker, the list never ends!
Bikersmurf
Expedition Leader
Next thing you know, you've got a 2000 sq ft shop, a couple lifts, and a crew helping you to build cool trucks.
Corneilius
Adventurer
Finished up welding my swivel seat and got it installed. HUUUUGGGEEE improvement. If you don't have a swivel seat go get one now.!
Also Pulled a bunch of the wood trim to sand and paint. Going with the same color as the sink cabinet. The idea is to make it look like one conversion instead of 2.
Waiting on rear springs for 4wd. Itching to tear it down.
Also Pulled a bunch of the wood trim to sand and paint. Going with the same color as the sink cabinet. The idea is to make it look like one conversion instead of 2.
Waiting on rear springs for 4wd. Itching to tear it down.
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Corneilius
Adventurer
More progress on the van:
Got all the wood trim were keeping sanded and painted, really brightened the interior.
My wife had the brilliant idea to replace the dated fabric inserts with trial maps from our favorite places. It turned out great!!
You can fit two kayaks easily inside, i didn't feel like climbing onto the roof again without a ladder. Ladder made the "short list" of fab projects
Spent the weekend on some beautiful private land above Glenville Lake
^^ We picnicked anyway!!
Got all the wood trim were keeping sanded and painted, really brightened the interior.
My wife had the brilliant idea to replace the dated fabric inserts with trial maps from our favorite places. It turned out great!!
You can fit two kayaks easily inside, i didn't feel like climbing onto the roof again without a ladder. Ladder made the "short list" of fab projects
Spent the weekend on some beautiful private land above Glenville Lake
^^ We picnicked anyway!!
Corneilius
Adventurer
Bad picture but I got my spring hangers drilled. In my opinion this is the hardest part of the 4wd conversion. Ive done a few sets (dozens, maybe more than anyone else in the whole world) and there is no easy way to do it. Thankfully this was the first set I've done in about a year. Start with sharp bits and plenty of cutting fluid.
Wanted to get the swap done last weekend but my powder coat schedule didn't work out. Im tired of 150 brakes, I want 1 Ton stuff bad.
Wanted to get the swap done last weekend but my powder coat schedule didn't work out. Im tired of 150 brakes, I want 1 Ton stuff bad.
Corneilius
Adventurer
Yeah, I knew I wanted a high top with a 5.4 and nice interior options. Ill reiterate here for anyone that finds this through searching for Conversion Van builds. Many people buy cargo vans so they can start with a "blank slate". Thats a nice notion but "blank slates" also come with crank windows, little doghouse insulation, no headliners, no door panels in the rear, base model vynl seats, and terrible doghouse consoles.
Ironically my van is titled as a cargo because Mark III ordered it that way to supply their own windows. Conversion vans can be had cheap because their is not a huge market these days with minivans and crossovers being so competitive. Conversion vans can easily be found with leather, full power options, rear heat/AC, and high tops already "trimmed out"
Full disclaimer: most are on the half ton chassis which has a few key differences from 3/4 and 1 ton. The rear axle and brakes are generally not up to the task of hauling around a camper. My van has actually LOST weight as part of my conversion (factory seat and sofa bed was HEAVY) but I still managed to smoke my brakes coming down a long grade last week. I chose a 150 because I knew a 4wd conversion was coming, which replaces the brakes and axles with 1 ton units.
Corneilius
Adventurer
Well, big changes! Spent 3 hard days working on it, got her lifted and buttoned up. Rides and handles so much better. No more 150 springs and brakes, couldn't be happier with how it turned out.
Better approach angle than my trail rig!
Better approach angle than my trail rig!
kccourtney
Observer
Well it's a '49, '50, '51.......
Sweet work Cornelius.Your situation totally reminds me of when I used to work at a small shop restoring and rebuilding woodies. I would work on the parts for a '49-'51 Ford every day while my boss was on his lunch break hoping that one day I'd have the coin to buy a rolling chassis. Sadly, all I ended up with was a bunch of really sculptural firewood as those bodies skyrocketed in price an flew out of my budget even though i had all the wood locked up. Anyway, I sang that Cash song every day during those two hours.
Keep the posts coming. The lift is a game changer!
Sweet work Cornelius.Your situation totally reminds me of when I used to work at a small shop restoring and rebuilding woodies. I would work on the parts for a '49-'51 Ford every day while my boss was on his lunch break hoping that one day I'd have the coin to buy a rolling chassis. Sadly, all I ended up with was a bunch of really sculptural firewood as those bodies skyrocketed in price an flew out of my budget even though i had all the wood locked up. Anyway, I sang that Cash song every day during those two hours.
Keep the posts coming. The lift is a game changer!
I think you did just fine. IMO some folks get "sold" a blank slate by people that haven't done a dang thing to the interior of their junk, pass that off as some kind of advantage, and then charge top dollar anyway.
Your rig looks good.
djbonsu
Adventurer
Definitely a transformation! Looks good! I agree with conversion van approach! If I didnt have to "multi-purpose" the needs of my van, I definitely would have went that route as a blank slate can get costly real quick. Are the frames on the 1/2 ton chassis the same as the 3/4 and 1 ton?