The Fun Hog Build Thread: 2007 Chevy Express AWD

[SirMrManGuy]

I debated doing "soft walls" then Hull liner. I'm glad I decided against it and did 5mm ply covered in dark grey trunk liner carpet. I'm constantly leaning on the walls when I sleep, plus it's much more durable (constantly throwing mountain bikes and climbing gear around the van).

If you want I have a huge roll of Hull liner left over (didn't like the light grey) which I would sell cheap+shipping from Baltimore. It's enough to do all the walls plus a bunch extra for stuff like cabinets.

Also, when you go to glue the carpet up, get high heat resistance rubber cement and spray it from a harbor freight siphon feed gun, much nicer than a million cans of spray adhesive.

The lift kit can be done in a driveway on jack stands....a lift is much nicer though.

 

[On Belay]

Traxda Lift Installation

A bit late posting this one. But I was able to borrow a lift a few weeks ago and got the Traxda 2-3" lift kit installed. This is advertised as an Express lift kit but they send you a kit labeled for a Silverado. Not a big deal, that's been the tried and true formula for the Express - just a note for anyone on the fence about buying a Silverado kit versus something marketed for the Express. The kit I used had replacement torsion keys indexed for a larger lift in the front and a rear 1" lift block. The kit also came with shock extenders, I didn't use these as I opted to replace my old factory shocks with longer Skyjacker units. I also replaced the factory sway bar end links and bushings.

I did the rear suspension first. This was straightforward enough. Did one side at a time. The lift blocks I used had provisions for the factory centering pins on the leaf spring and axle to keep everything in alignment. I just removed the old u-bolts, raised the van enough to slide in the lift block, installed replacement u-bolts, and torqued everything down. Then swapped out shocks. The front took longer. I purchased a torsion bar tool from Amazon; I opted for the slightly more expensive wrap-around type over the c-clamp style, the extra security was worth the peace of mind. Getting the torsion bar itself out of the torsion key required a healthy amount of PB Blaster, small sledge, iron bar, and a fair bit of hammering. Both sides eventually broke free. Then I just swapped in the new keys and changed out the front shocks. I also installed new bushings and end links on the front sway bar, which was more of hastle than I anticipated. I also have a Hellwig rear sway bar kit that I did not install. I ran out of time and energy. I've been pretty happy with how the van handles with the lift but may still install at a later date. All in all this took about 1.5 days, I took my time and worked fairly slowly and double checked all of the torque specs and service manual frequently.

Before:

In Progress:

After:

Overall, I'm very happy with the result. The lift isn't extreme but it definitely changes the look of the van. It's definitely looking more like an offroad van than a construction van. I love it. It fixed the small rubbing issues I was having and the extra ground clearance should be sufficient for forest service roads and trailhead access. Perfect for my needs. I'm looking for enough offroad ability to access areas while exploring the mountains and desert, not a trail rig.

 

[On Belay]

Raptor Lining the Van: Part 1

Like many white Chevy vans, my vans paint was far from perfect. The hood and roof were peeling and the van had its share of scratches from a life of construction work. One of my first projects, when I got the van, was sanding down and rattle canning the hood and roof to address the peeling paint. This looked ok from a distance and was certainly better than peeling paint but I was never totally satisfied with the result. Ultimately I decided I wanted to do the van right and have opted for a complete paint job. I'm going to use Raptor Liner bed liner product sprayed on with a schutz gun. It's a pretty popular paint solution in the Jeep and Land Cruiser communities for an affordable and durable coating that's fairly easy to spray at home. You can tint to any color and I've chosen Toyota Quicksand (desert tan) with black rockers.

I started by stripping the trim and weather stripping from the van. I also removed the rear bumper. My existing one had a number of dents and dings. For less than $100 I was able to order a replacement metal skin. I plan to Raptor both the bumpers black. I just left the front bumper in place but removed the grill. Next began the tedious process of sanding all of the existing paint. I used a dual action air sander and a roll of 120 grit discs. I've also used a sanding block, foam blocks, and hand sanded to get into detail areas. In problem areas, I used a razor blade to remove old flaking paint and sanded down to bare metal (then sprayed with an acid etch primer).

I had planned to spray this weekend but discovered earlier this week that instead of receiving 3 kits of tintable product that I ordered the eBay seller sent 3 kits of black. Very frustrating as everything else is more or less ready to go but I have no usable product to paint with. They're sending replacement kits but I will not be able to paint this weekend as I had hoped. Instead I'm focusing on finishing sanding the door jams and panels and removing the last of the weather stripping from the doors. Tomorrow I will remove the two rear windows (as I'll be swapping in a set of pop-outs) and cut the hole in the roof for the Maxx-Fan. I'm hoping to paint sometime in the next week, hopefully, I'll be able to take a day off work after the replacement Raptor Liner arrives. The van has been apart for 2 weeks now (I've been working in the evenings after work and on weekends) and I'm ready to have the paint finished and the van put back together.

I started by thoroughly washing the van to remove all of the dust and dirt.

A few of the problem spots...

The clear coat and color match was never quite right.

Banged up rear bumper. Not shown are a number of scratches and smaller chips.

Next began hours of sanding...

A garage would be super nice for this project...

Apparently, this eBay seller subscribes to the "any color you want as long as it's black" school of thought...

And that brings us to present. I'm finishing up the last of the paint prep and waiting on the replacement tintable Raptor Liner. Hopefully she'll be painted by the end of the week!

 

[North]

Nice work! Does your sliding door open fully now that you've added the lift?

 

[wjeeper]

Cant wait to see how the paint turns out! My express has several spots where the paint is coming off in sheets exposing the "primer" underneath..........I seriously need to do something about it. I cant make up my mind wither to to the graphics I drafted up or go desert tan, its just such a cool color.

 

[DukeNewport]

I'm really looking forward to seeing yours sprayed. I too had the glorious white paint issues so I did mine a week or so ago in Silver Raptor and have zero regrets!

 

[On Belay]

Nice work! Does your sliding door open fully now that you've added the lift?

Kinda sorta. It just barely rubs now and will open fully if needed. Another inch from either a 2" lift block or Suburban springs would likely fix it entirely. I may swap to the Suburban springs down the road, I want to see the final ride height with the interior fully built out.

 

[On Belay]

I'm really looking forward to seeing yours sprayed. I too had the glorious white paint issues so I did mine a week or so ago in Silver Raptor and have zero regrets!
View attachment 418245

That looks great! Seeing those photos makes me want to finish mine even more. My replacement Raptor kits should be arriving this afternoon based on the tracking info. Raptor seems to be a great option for a durable budget coating for our vans, sounds as though there may be a fleet of us with Raptor lined vans soon.

 

[On Belay]

Raptor Lining the Van: Part 2

I made some more progress on paint prep Sunday.

The first order of business was to remove the fixed rear window glass to make room for my new pop-out rear windows. I used a utility knife to cut through the rubber sealant then threaded through a guitar string which I used to cut around the rest of the window glass. Then sanded down the left over sealant.

Then I took the leap and cut a big hole in the roof for the Maxxfan with a jig saw. Of course the paint around the hole started to peel and an hour or two with a razor blade later, I had a couple of full length stripes down the roof.

Fingers crossed the tracking information for my replacement Raptor Liner kits shows they should be arriving this afternoon!

 

[On Belay]

Raptor Lining the Van: Part 3

My replacement kits of tintable Raptor arrived on Monday! I ordered 3 kits (4 Liters each) of tintable Raptor and 1 kit of black Raptor for this project. I spent Tuesday finishing up the prep work, removing the last of the weather stripping, and masking the van. On Wednesday I sprayed the color coats.

Prep and Masking:

How it sits now:

Here's what I used for the project:

Supply List:

1 x UPOL #8 Acid Etch Primer - Used on any bare metal from sanding.
1 x UPOL #4 Adhesion Promoter - I used this on any odd angles that were difficult to sand and high wear areas like the gutter rails or behind the window glass on the slider. I still tried to sand and scotchbrite these areas as best I could.
4 x UPOL 4L Tintable Raptor - Ended up having to order a 4th kit...
1 x UPOL 4L Black Raptor - For rockers, bumpers, and propane bash guard.
1 x UPOL Schutz Gun - For spraying. I also attached a quick release fitting for my air compressor hose.
4 Quarts - Sherwin Williams auto paint without the binders for tint. You still pay full price for the paint they just leave out the binders. Keep in mind this yields only about half the quantity you order. I bought 4 quarts but really got 2 quarts. I had mine mixed to match the Toyota color Quicksand.
2 x Grease and Wax Remover - I used this to wipe everything down before spraying and between coats.
1 x 100 ml Syringe - This was clutch for quickly and accurately measuring the tint.
1 x Acetone - Clean gun/brushes.
1 X 3M Respirator - Get a respirator. I sprayed outside and even then when removing the respirator briefly the fumes were bad.


Not Shown: Nitrile gloves, a large bristled paint brush (not a house paint brush an art one - this was essential for hard to reach places in the door jams etc.), and prep materials (random orbit air sainder, 120 grit sanding discs, 120 grit foam blocks, 120 grit sandpaper, red Scotch Brite pads, air angle grinder with flap discs, etc.)

UPOL recommends between 5% and 10% tint, I used 8% (80 milliliters of tint for every 1-liter Raptor bottle). The nice thing about 80 millimeters is that the Raptor, Hardener, and Tint all just fit into the bottle. The key is to shake the Raptor first. I initially started out mixing outside the container (Raptor says no more than 5% will fit in the container). It sucked. Then I discovered 80 milliliters will fit with just enough room for the schutz gun. With a regular plastic kitchen measuring cup (with pour spout) and the syringe mixing the Raptor was pretty quick and painless. Having someone to help mix would have been nice, but it was doable alone. I was pretty proud of the syringe idea, it's not something I've seen elsewhere and the $5 was more than worth it for the added consistency in tint quantity. Having someone to help mix would have been nice. I sprayed at 50 PSI.

I ordered 3 kits for the color coats. There was a guy on Youtube who claimed to have done an Express with 2 kits and had just barely enough, I ordered a 3rd kit to be safe. I'm also painting all of the door jams, interior door frames, underhood, etc whereas most just shoot the exterior it seems. 3 kits was enough to do the whole van, however, there are some places where the coat is thin enough that some of the white shows through - it's not really noticeable but bothered me and ultimately I ordered a 4th kit to do a second coat and ensure full coverage (should be here Thursday).

At this point I'm just waiting on the extra kit to arrive. I sprayed the door jams and interior panels fully so I can start putting weather stripping back on. We're projected to get a fair bit of rain this weekend so the van will spend most of the time under tarps.

In the meantime I can clean the plastic pieces and rub down with boiled linseed oil. I've also got a Mother's lens restoration kit for the tail lights and indicators (which were pretty hazy). Headlights are going to be replaced with new LED units.

From there I just need to spray the black then start reassembly. I also have a few goodies to install namely a Maxxfan 7500k, popout rear windows, and this bad boy from Auminess...

Which Fedex was kind enough to scratch in transit (a bummer after spending $800 on a tire carrier). Thanks Fedex.

 

[On Belay]

Rainy Days

Unfortunately, we had two days of solid rain in Colorado this weekend which limited work on the van. I was able to clean and prep the plastic trim pieces for linseed oil application and restore some of the lights.

I will be replacing the headlights with LED units but plan to re-use my original taillights and indicator lights. My 10 year old units were looking their age, with dingy foggy lenses. I purchased a Mother's NuLens restoration kit which includes 3 different grits of sandpaper and a polishing ball all of which attach to a power drill. The kit did a wonderful job of restoring my lights to a shiny new appearance.

Trim cleaned and laid out:

New grill emblem:

Old vs. New:

Lights before:

Lights after:

Complete light set:

 

[wjeeper]

I am really liking your progress! Its looking great. I love seeing backyard builds, mostly because I am in the same boat building rigs outside.

I ordered 3 kits for the color coats. There was a guy on Youtube who claimed to have done an Express with 2 kits and had just barely enough, I ordered a 3rd kit to be safe.

Backroads Vanner? I watched his video and I couldn't believe he only used two kits for his rig. Shoot it took me 4 liters to spray the front and topper of my little trailer. I have done a few small projects since the trailer and have since found that i use way less product when I thin the liner down and spray it with a HVLP gun to get total coverage and then hit it with the shutz gun to build some texture.

I may have to copy you on the color scheme. I have always loved the color of the Jeep JT concept.

 

[On Belay]

I am really liking your progress! Its looking great. I love seeing backyard builds, mostly because I am in the same boat building rigs outside.


Backroads Vanner? I watched his video and I couldn't believe he only used two kits for his rig. Shoot it took me 4 liters to spray the front and topper of my little trailer. I have done a few small projects since the trailer and have since found that i use way less product when I thin the liner down and spray it with a HVLP gun to get total coverage and then hit it with the shutz gun to build some texture.

I may have to copy you on the color scheme. I have always loved the color of the Jeep JT concept.

Backroad's Vanner is exactly who it was. I have no clue how he sprayed his entire rig with two kits. Granted he did not door jams or any other parts besides the exterior panels but he must have sprayed real thin. My additional kit should be arriving this afternoon. I think 4 kits will be the ticket for doing the whole van with adequate coverage. In my mind it's worth it to spend the extra time and liner to totally strip the van and paint the full door jams and hood etc. The van just looks so much more finished and complete that way.

I'm really digging the Quicksand Tan thus far, it's always been one of my favorite colors, really excited to see the van with the contrasting rockers completed. Should have the paint finished on Saturday. Would have liked to spray Wednesday but we're supposed to get rain Thursday and I figured it was best to be patient and wait for the better weather window. It's going to be super nice to have the van back together again. Between the liner supplier's mistake and bad info in the Backroads Vanner video this project has taken quite a bit longer than expected, I'm learning that's kind of par for the course with this build though.

 

[On Belay]

Raptor Lining The Van: Part 4

I was able to make more progress toward finishing the paint project this weekend. Saturday we had great weather here in Colorado. I had to redo the masking on the entire van first (it's the little time consuming things like this, plus the stress of having a non-weatherproof vehicle outside, that would really make a garage nice), and then rubbed down the entire vehicle with grease and wax remover. I sprayed an additional 4 liters of Quicksand tinted Raptor (12 Liters of color in total). This was enough for a second coat on the entire exterior. I'm really happy with the end result. The second coat was essential in my opinion, the coverage was just too spotty with only 3 kits of material, the 4th kit provided very complete uniform coverage and allowed me to achieve a uniform texture.

Re-Prepped:

I did have two problem areas in the 1st coat one on the passenger fender and another on the slider door. In these place the Raptor bubbled up in a 2-3 inch circumference area. While the Raptor was still drying I peeled away the initial coat. It turns out the factory paint had released from the metal i these two spots. I had sanded the van thoroughly to address any chipping paint but there must have been some reaction to the Raptor in these places. I tried to re-coat but there was a pronounced divot where the chips had been - very obvious. With the first coat dried I was able to block sand these areas until the Raptor surface. The second coat covered everything up nicely and you can't tell anything happened even when looking closely (which I of course neglected to take a photo of I'll take one next time the van is uncovered).

Paint Chip Before:

Problem Areas Sanded:

2nd Coat of Color Applied:

All week I have been eyeing this weekend to complete the van as the forecast for Colorado indicated 5-6 consecutive sunny days with no rain starting Saturday. Of course by Sunday morning this had been amended to a snow storm starting Sunday and lasting through Monday. Having finished the color coat on Saturday I woke up early on Sunday and began laying out the masking for the black Raptor on the rockers and bumpers. By early afternoon, precisely when the van was 100% prepped and ready to spray a storm rolled in. I was able to tarp the vehicle quickly to get it out of the rain. Then came hours of sitting watching work time tick away, looking at forecast that predicted 2 solid days of crap weather, and stressing about whether the hours worth of masking and prep would survive. In late afternoon the sky cleared up and the sun came out, the storm that was hammering Colorado had serendipitously split and my home was between the two banks of storm. I had a choice, wait for days and hope the masking survived then try to take another day off work during the week to complete the project, or go for it and hope it didn't. I really want to get this paint project wrapped up especially with increasingly questionable fall weather approaching and opted to go for it. Luckily my masking had largely survived the initial storm and I only had to touch up a few spots. I sprayed 3 Liters of black Raptor, this was enough for the rockers, front and rear bumpers (two coats), lower interior door frames, and propane tank bash guard. I let the Rpator sit about 10-15 minutes fore pulling the masking and was left with nice clean lines. The weather held and I was able to leave the van uncovered until 2 am with no rain to let the Raptor dry to the touch at which point I thoroughly tarped the van to prepare for them storm.

Rockers Masked:

Masking Removed:

Current Status as of this morning:

As it sits now the paint itself is complete. I just have to let it cure for a bit. Then I can reassemble and install the Aluminess spare tire carrier, vent fan, and pop-out rear windows! Huge relief to have all the paint wrapped up!

 

[wjeeper]

That is going to look really sharp once you get all that fresh black trim back on! I may strait up copyyou on the color, those last few pics have me hooked.

Its interesting that the factory paint reacted in a few spots after you put the Raptor on. Chevy has some serious adhesion issues with our white paint, mine has been flaking off all over the place recently with the change in weather. I am going to make sure I sand the crapout of it with a rough grit before I shoot mine.

With my hightop its probably going to take another whole kit wouldnt you think? Its probably better to have some left over than not enough. You used 12L tan and 4L black right?