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  My lil girl Alex named the Van "Dee" when she was not quite 2 years old.We didn't know why then,and she doesn't remember why now,but "Dee" and a Male it became.lol.

 I bought the beast in 1989,Finally made it's first run in early 1990

Below are Pics of what it looked like in the beginning

 

Yep,Don't know what I was thinking when I bought this turd....

Check out the missing headlight doors,broken grille,and -genuwine -FoMoCo antique mirrors.Not to mention the -low profile- antenna....

Yes sir,I musta got lost when I bought this... ?The van had a least 20 coats of what appeared to be black house paint liberally and sloppily applied with a broom or snow brush.......

 

 

I spent way too much time and sweat and way too much money turning the original beast into

something that sadly would never win a duster but at least wouldn't scare small children......

He was a good beast tho,

I put over 300,000 miles on him, 75,000 of it going to over 100 eVANts .

2 gallons of aircraft stripper, hours and hours of DA'ing and several beers later.... Sears easy livin' house paint,for Great American Vans like yours...... I kinda liked the railroad tie bumper (long since replaced)...good for scaring the crap out of drivers of small cars.. Much prettier in 3 coats of etching primer, and with chip guard on lower panels Yes,the beers interact with the photography,this is the base coat w/out the clear
Here it is, painted,ready to apply the silly stripe I designed in a stupor that made an endless labor of love (or insanity) look like a conversion van instead of a custom.... Here's my brother,Animal, from Salt City Vans,staring at the new engine he helped me install to replace the one with the rod knock I couldn't hear until I put on the new exhaust....Always fun to do with a freshly painted vehicle.. Me,Leaving work early from my assist.body shop managers job to go to Spring Thaw ,It's first run...... Head of Honda detail shop(It's first bath),Me, and Manny,salesman,long time vanner,still haven't left for Thaw....

It's first Ohio Tag after moving from NY 

 

In my Driveway In Ohio, waiting for the promised shop to repaint it in that never materialized...nice view of the stupid side window I installed and immediately regretted Still Waiting....

 
 

About a year before the 30th Nats I realized that while waiting to get a shop to paint it in the surface rust had turned into some serious rot. I'm not much of a welder and I refused to even consider slapping bondo in the holes after all the work I had done to do it right the first time. I also don't like to pay someone else to do what I should do myself. My options were:

1. Painful as it was, cut my losses and sell it locally as a van. (Out of the question; No way was I going to see my baby haulin lumber or paint racks around town!!)

2. Pull the 350/350 V8 out for the next project van, use the parts that would fit on my 93 Chevy,sell the pricier stuff,and give away the rest to needy vanners.

Option 3 came up when I offered to let SOVC use it as their Slut Bus.The best emotionally but not the smartest or easiest option ,as it turned out.

The major plus would be it would go out still vanning at the biggest run of the year covered in drunken vanners,and at the end of the run I would pull my engine and strip off the usable parts,what could be better?,

A Couple of weeks before the Nats I drove the van the 200 odd miles from my house to Don Fish's of SOVC to start the chopping, my wife followed me in my 93 Chevy van to bring back what parts were salvageable but not needed for it to become a Slut Bus.

 
Me,gutting out the interior,getting ready for the chopping. Me inside,Don Fish outside with Whap also takin pics from left. I'm removing side windows while others remove back doors and slider. Don and Don remove the slider
??? Torches out roof supports after the headliner was removed. Chiseling out roof ribs Cutting off the roof from the side pillars back... Interior shelves and cabinets toasting on the fire. they burned a lot faster then it took me to build them.
Sigh......... The next day, chopped, stripped, and ready to roll Lots of room in the back, and just look at all that headroom!! My 93 sits in foreground...

 

 

 

Tuesday morning, Dee's first day at the Nats 

     
   

 

Thanks to Big Gary, I couldn't have asked for a safer driver to drive my baby around, I appreciated that,especially since I was still carrying insurance on it!!  

 

 

We finally got he engine out,loaded in Uncle Blainos van along with the cherry picker,around 2:30 am Monday Morning,bagged up our mess , put down kitty litter, and rolled out of the grounds about 3:30 a.m.

A huge Thanks to Uncle Blaino, Suzie, and Steve.

Also a big thanks to the head of grounds who made sure we had a flat place to work and light.

Without your help I'd still be at the grounds trying to pull the engine.lol

 
 

Steve finishes building my new cherry picker,Suzie Looks on 

 Me wrenching,Steve gettin ready to If we look kinda burnt and tired keep in mind this was Sunday night after the Nats,hours and hours after even the host club went home!  Finally, the engine is out ,I think I felt triumph, all you can see in this pic is exhaustion.lol. 

 

 

I waited 2 months to post this, hoping I would be a little less irate,get a little more perspective on it, but the more I think about it the angrier I get.



I'm glad my van had the opportunity to leave vanning on a high note. I appreciate the care that I saw by Big Gary ,who was the designated driver ,I don't regret offering it ,or the expense of getting it to the Nats,or even the inconvenience of trying to get it and my other van to the Nats.

What I do regret is after all was said and done ,when it was time to retrieve my parts on Sunday morning,finding that weasels had been stealing parts off the van.



I made it very clear before and during the run that a lot of parts were promised to other vanners months before the Nats and if anyone wanted anything, please ask. I wasn't even asking any money for most of the parts, with the exception of the bumpers.

When I went to move the van Sunday morning after the Nats I found the hood open and a turn signal/parking lamp gone,also the new headlight doors were gouged up like someone had removed them to get the lamp, then stepped on them before replacing them .

(Why replace the headlight door? Like I wasn't going to notice the signal was gone?)

When I got in the van I noticed all the wing window hardware was gone and the dog house and console had been torn off.I wasn't much happier when I tried to get out and couldn't open the doors because someone had stolen the interior door handles. Opening the windows to open the doors from the outside was out of the question because somone had also helped themselves to the window crank handles.

(In retrospect that was almost humorous,trying to get out of the van, but it didn't end there.)

When the vanner that actually paid for the new chrome front bumper tried to remove it he was kind enough to tell me afterwards that it was loose.Being as every part that I ever put on the 79 was new and everything I installed on it was torqued to specs I can only assume the lowlife(s) that helped themselves to my van came very close to stealing the only thing removed from it that anyone asked permission and paid for.

The only parts I wanted for myself were the engine and related components attached to it. Busy little bees at work there, too, the chrome air cleaner and new filter element dissapeared in the night. All I can say is I hope you drop my wingnut down your intake, thief.

I am especiaily pissed because the thieves put me in the embarrasssing position of trying to explain to the vanners I promised the parts to that they aren't getting them because they were stolen.Now I look like an idiot or a liar.



Uncle Blaino,long time left coast vanner was there and explained that at a lot of runs in the past the S.L.U.T. bus was open game partswise.I wasn't familiar with that rule,I would have never brought my van to the Nats knowing that, I stupidly assumed that vanners don't steal , anything, ever .



The kid that I promised the wing windows and turn signals to has never been to a run. I have talked up vanning via email for the last 6 months, got him all hyped to do a run or two in the spring, emphasising the honesty and integrity of vanners,now I have to tell him that vanners don't steal, um ,well, except when they do?





I do have to admire the big brass balls of the thieves, though. They stripped the parts off in full view of the host's campsite,the van was parked right next to them and when I asked , none of them had seen a thing.


I'm astounded that noone thought to ask me before grabbing the parts, I'm pretty damn sure if my van had hit them or their van they would have had no problem finding me and demanding my insurance card.

I will have to think very hard before I ever offer to do anything ever again to promote a run or make it more enjoyable.It's nasty, sneaky shit like this that is destroying vanning.

So, in closing, enjoy your stolen parts,scumbags, they weren't worth much moneywise,but you've done a bang up job helping vanning for the sake of a few cheap parts most of which you could have had just by asking me.
 
 

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