Monday, September 30, 2013

Interiors EXPOSED! part 2

For this edition, we have a nice "tour" of dix's van interior.... For the record, I'm not playing favorites with any, but I have to give kudos where it's due...  dix has gone above and beyond in this project's goal, spreading the word, inviting comments/conversation and more importantly...  submitting a "detailed back story" about his van and LOTS of pictures for you all to see!

dix 
My van is a 1969 Dodge A100. I bought it out of Georgia about 10 years ago.  That's where she got her name, Georgia, (that was better than “eBay”).  The van needed a complete restoration and that is what I did…  Striped and repainted, replaced the entire drive train, and then the inside. As you can tell, I enjoy working with wood.  We wanted to make it more current, so I picked up the electric couch that lays down to a bed, for Erin my wife and I, at camping trips and van runs! The front seats are also electric were from a 94 mustang GT.  The walls are a 3/8'' Mahogany wood with real stained glass to look like portholes in the back. The floor has a Mahogany border with aluminum and oak wood in the center.  I also built the rear cabinet and drink tray to match, with the tambour doors. Behind the couch is carpeted floor to use for hauling the tools, spare tire, camping gear and such. The ceiling has a red aluminum center, with front and back lighting, and an infinity led light in the center, and seat upholstery material on the sides of the roof and the doors.  At the 2011 van NATS, we won 2nd place and 2013 NATS, we won 1st place in our class! Also the van will be 1 of the 4 vans used on the cover of the2014 Vannin.com calendar… 
 












 Stay tuned for the next edition!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Van Interiors EXPOSED! part 1

When it comes to bringing back an Early Van to life, I would say it breaks down to 3 things (although some may argue there's more to it)....  The body, mechanically and the interior...  I want to focus on some really nice interiors! 

The response to my "cry for help" to write this article at Vintage-Vans.com forum has been awesome!  So much so, that I am going to run this topic into a series...  Let's get started!

JOE VAN
I have a 1975 Chevy van STOW-A-WAY that has placed 1st in my class at the nationals a few years ago in Ohio.  I have owned it 32 years now, bought by my parents in 1979.  It has a 461 cubic inch Big Block Hi per. th 350 trans and a 12 bolt posi rear end.  I did everything myself; shag carpet, teak wood floors, Plexiglas dog house, except the Hugger Orange paint.






Stay tuned for part 2!