Custom Vans are Back! Chevy/GMC Van Upgrades - The New/Old Van Craze - Stacey David's Gearz S16 E8

[Music] now you're watching gears brought to you by holley performance products fuel your passion and cornwell tools the choice of professionals hey welcome to gears you know most people realize that muscle cars absolutely dominated the 60s car scene and into the early 70s but then high fuel prices and insurance pretty much killed a muscle car for a while of course it came back later but in the 70s and 80s another automotive phenomenon rose up that was just as popular as the muscle car it was called the van craze and everybody wanted one of these things because they were just a rolling canvas of customization they could be a hot rod they could be a cool cruiser they could showcase epic paint work and equally epic interior work they could be the life of the party or they could hide stuff that you didn't want anybody else to see the craze continued for a couple of decades and then died out but now just like everything else these classic vans man they are a hot commodity especially an uncut short wheelbase panel van like this 81 gmc vendura that spent most of its life delivering laundry now the good part is gm made this body style virtually unchanged for 25 years so you can find one of these but the question is where do you find aftermarket parts to modify a classic van that's what we're going to show you okay when it comes to customizing the first place that most people look is the grill because it's the face it's the personality of the vehicle and these gm vans have changed a lot in the front over the years the original 71 through 77s as you can see had this really cool v-shaped peak in the center of the hood then they had a grill that mounted to the front flush against the body then from 78 on they started changing it they started adding plastic they started adding metal extensions to try to make it look like a square body chevy truck but they didn't change the hood with a peak in it so now you have this hodgepodge of styling confusion it just looks terrible so we're gonna fix this and we're gonna show you some grill options that you may not know are out there now the easiest way to make your van look better is to get rid of this original center section and then just pick yourself up a grill from a 81 to 87 square body chevy truck either chrome billet whatever you like and notice it slides right in there man the width is perfect and it will mount right in there now the only issue is that these are a little too tall so you will have to modify it a little on the bottom and you will have to come up with your own mounting brackets but as you can see if you want your van to look more like a square body chevy truck this is the way to go however this doesn't do anything to deal with this discrepancy up here so we're going to move on to the next one and that means all of this is going to come off [Applause] [Music] okay with the plastic and the grill out of the way the next thing to come off are the lights then this lower panel and this panel here don't be surprised if the turn signals come out in pieces fortunately we won't be reusing those okay with everything removed we're ready to deal with this upper core support now obviously it needs to be moved back to line up with the hood and there's a couple ways you can do this you can take a marker and run right down the hood line there and then make another line here on the outer edge remove this piece and weld it back together and that will reestablish the line at the leading edge of the hood or an easier way to do it is go down to a wrecking yard and actually buy the piece off of a 71-77 van then all you have to do is bolt it in place now fortunately these things are not hard to find and i paid like 20 bucks for this one so this is the way to go if you can swing it [Music] okay one thing that's important to know about these core supports is that the perimeter bolts didn't change over the years so that was good just like the fenders didn't change and the hood didn't change but all this stuff in the middle a lot of that changed over the years so be prepared to do some cutting and some trimming and some drilling and modifying to these inner panels the center support whatever you need to to make the panel fit right also notice that the hood latch comes up in the same location but the actual hood latches are quite different so be prepared to do some modifications there as well the key here is to take your time you want this to look like a factory deal but you also want it to be serviceable now so far we've shown you how to modify your van to fit a cooler grill but what we haven't talked about is the kind of grills that will fit once you do this now obviously there was a factory grill from 71 to 77. those were cool but these are getting hard to find and now they're getting pricey what people don't realize is that the 70 through 72 gm truck grill is almost the same size as this grill so these could be made to work for example this is from lmc truck and this is their heavy duty all metal chrome plated grille for the 70 through 72 c10 truck now it's not just the surround this also comes with the headlight bezels and a billet aluminum insert i mean this thing is fully loaded ready to go and it gives us the custom look that we're after now the crazy thing is this brand new grille is actually cheaper than trying to find one of these restore it now i know some of you guys are looking at this going wait a minute and there's turn signals here there's different gaps there's different holes how is this going to work well this isn't a bolt in but it's close enough to where you can make it work and we're going to cover all these changes when we get back on this and show you how to finish grilling your van [Music] and now it's time for another quick tip if you have a project vehicle you know that one of the realities of ownership is that eventually you're going to have to push that vehicle around the garage because it's not running and that can be a little difficult if you're by yourself now usually when people go to push a vehicle they grab him behind it and start pushing and pushing on the back and doing all kinds of stuff and you can move the vehicle that way but that's not the best way to do it especially if you have really nice paint or fragile body work or fiberglass or fender flares or wings or anything you don't want damaged no there's a simpler way to move a vehicle that involves leverage not just brute force all you have to do is reach down with one hand and rotate the tire now you're using the tires and the axle ratio to help you move the vehicle once you learn this trick you will never push a vehicle by the bumper or the back again unless you just want to or you can't get to the tires if you'd like to learn more tips to make your life easier in the shop check out the tips page on the website and now sealtek brought to you by steel rubber products helping restore the car of your dreams [Music] when it comes to weather stripping on a car truck there are three distinct areas to deal with rubber seals around stationary glass like windshields rubber seals around moving panels like doors and trunks and seals around moving glass like windows now of the three the one that wears out the quickest is the seal around the moving glass because it's subjected to a lot more wear and weather but there's not just one seal here no there's actually three take a look you have the run channel that holds the edges of the glass and allow it to slide up and down there's the outer window felt that operates like a scraper to clean the window when you roll it up and down and then the inner felt which is thicker and usually fuzzy and presses against the glass to keep it from rattling around when you're driving now obviously if you hear your glass rattling around you need some window weatherstripping but there are some tricks to making these pieces fit right let's check it out okay as you can see the run channel and the window felts are available in two different styles one with the stainless steel trim and without and most of these on older vehicles are available in long straight sections so when you pick them up you might notice that they're already kind of bent and crooked this does not mean it's bad and that you send it back oh all you do is just take it and you can easily straighten it right back up now the reason you're able to do this let's take a look inside here you peel back the liner you can see inside you have a metal u-channel with grooves cut in it that allows that channel to bend pretty significantly then on top you see these trim pieces also have a groove running down them and they fit right onto the edges of that u-channel now these three pieces move independently of each other and that allows you to bend all three pieces accurately at the same time now the window felts are a little different since they are basically a straight edge as opposed to a u-channel but they are designed to bend the same way now when it comes to actually bending this stuff there's several ways to do it but the goal is to bend both sides equally and you can easily do that with your hands just need to go slow also you can use the piece of glass that you're going to be going around as a pattern and bend that way another way to do it is to use a round object and bend around that now it is important to remember here though there is a point of no return where you cannot go back the other way without putting an s in it or a kink and of course if you bend too far you'll kink it and ruin it and you'll need to start over so you got to take your time here now bending the window felts is similar on these smaller ones you can easily bend those with your hands but on these bigger ones it's pretty difficult to do that with your hands the best way to bend these is with a shrink or stretcher across the back and once you're done you'll not only have window channels and felts that will fit perfectly but you're also going to stop that annoying window rattle and now lube tech brought to you by hotshot secret powered by science there's no question that oil is the lifeblood of your engine if you don't take care of it your engine is going to die a nasty death really quick that's why you want to keep your oil changed on a regular basis but lately oil additives have become all the rage and that leads people to go wait wait wait a minute if i just spent a lot of money on a high quality synthetic oil why in the world do i need an oil additive that sounds like money going down the toilet and that is a valid question so today we're going to look at the top reasons why you should be using an oil additive number one they clean the goo and stiction that happens over time a stiction is a fancy name for that burned oil sludge that builds up around bearings and seals and valves and not only robs horsepower but also causes wear by limiting the flow of fresh oil through the engine removing and preventing stiction buildup is paramount to engine longevity and peak power and oil alone won't do it that's where an additive comes in number two they enhance the lubricating properties of oil everybody knows that one of the purposes of engine oil is to reduce friction on moving parts all through the engine you have metal parts spinning and close tolerance to each other with only a thin film of oil keeping them from touching and destroying each other so adding additional lubricity to the oil will not only prevent friction and wear to the parts but it will also keep heat from building up because that contributes to the creation of the sludge we talked about earlier number three they add additional protection let's face it the inside of a running engine is a highly volatile place with heat and caustic gases and acids flowing everywhere this creates a breeding ground of oxidation deposits and all kinds of corrosion and the right additive can target that and make sure it doesn't become a problem and number four it modifies viscosity and extends the life and performance of your oil everybody knows that engine oil will eventually start to break down especially in modern engines that are subject to more heat and pressure it doesn't matter how expensive your oil is and the result of that breakdown can be catastrophic this is especially true if you're towing or hauling or doing any kind of racing or performance driving using the right additive not only rejuvenates your oil and stops it from breaking down it also adds the lubrication and protection needed for high mileage high performance or extreme duty engines just remember this if you're putting a strain on your engine you're putting a strain on your oil putting in an additive can help your oil and your engine survive [Music] and now parts bin you know one of the most significant changes that has come along in the last 10 years regarding tools is guys transitioning away from using primarily air tools and to use primarily battery power tools and that's because these battery power tools are so convenient and so strong that most guys have a big pile of them in their toolbox and therein lies the problem these take up a whole lot more room than a bunch of air tools so how do you keep them organized and charged up well cornwell has an answer take a look this is the power crib and it's a box that's designed to mount to any cornwell platinum series toolbox and it adds some additional workspace on top and some casters on the bottom but the real magic happens in the middle because inside you'll find a massive double-sided organizational space to hold all of your power tools now as far as keeping your batteries charged you have a power strip with plugs and usb ports so you can plug in chargers and keep everything ready to go there's also a 13 piece accessory kit to help you organize all sizes of cordless tools and to support all that weight you have heavy duty slides and roller bearings in the drawer to keep it rolling smooth so at this point all of your power tools your batteries your chargers can be packed away in one box and rolled over to the work area no more chargers strewn out all over the shop no more wondering if batteries have been charged because they're all right there in the box you know sometimes keeping up with current technology means you got to change the way you do stuff the power crib from cornwell is a great example of how that can be done one of the most popular accents to use on cars or trucks these days is metal whether it's aluminum copper brass steel doesn't matter nothing looks as cool as some brushed or polished metal whether it's wheels or accent panels or tool boxes or accessories the problem is metal likes to tarnish and oxidize leaving you with an endless job of trying to keep it looking nice well there's a solution to this endless cycle of cleaning and polishing and it's called shark hide this is not a clear coat it's not a paint this is a super thin sealer that wipes on like water and seals the pores in the metal and prevents it from oxidizing so you put it on after you've cleaned and polished your metal and it goes on so thin you'll never know it's there then once it's dry you can clean the panel scrub it wash it the shark eye protection stays on and it can last for months even longer if it's not subject to heavy wear if you're tired of always having to clean the oxidation off your metal parts you need to get some shark hide and give your hands a rest everybody knows that one of the main places that russ likes to attack is in the floors of a vintage vehicle that's why you can get replacement floor pans for pretty much anything but another popular place for rust is in the roof and the drip rails especially on an old truck because those are always sitting out in the weather and nobody carries replacement panels for those so finding a replacement was always a junk yard hunt until now check it out these are drip rail and roof repair panels from lmc truck for the 67 through 72 ford trucks now you can see that drip rail panel is stamped to the exact shape it's out of 18 gauge steel so it's the same thickness and it is ready to be welded right in place once you cut that old rusty junk out now a lot of times on these drip rails the rust goes up into the roof a little bit that's where this roof repair panel comes in as you can see it's got that little gentle curve so it fits the shape of that ford cab perfectly now these are available in the 30 inch length for regular cab and the big 60 inch length if you've got an extended cab so if you've got rust in your drip rails or the edges of your roof on your classic ford lmc has panels to repair that what are you working on brought to you by woodward fabrication selling quality metalworking equipment since 1966. today's what are you working on comes from stephen white and his project is a 1925 garin aerodyne now i know you're thinking what in the world is that that's exactly what i thought too check this out i promise you you have never seen one of these before because there is only one of these in existence now a little background on this car basically this thing was built in 1925 by a french aeronautical designer named jacques garin and he had decided that he was going to try his hand at building a car so the aerodyne is what he came up with now believe it or not this thing is loaded with all kinds of huge innovations for the day it had hydraulic brakes it had rack and pinion steering it had two spark plugs per cylinder a lot of stuff that we take for granted today he had back then now the body look at this it was an aluminum platform with an exoskeleton made out of oak and then it was covered with aluminum panels it kind of looks like a big sausage but it was very unique for the day now here's the deal garen never finished the car he got it running but he never finished it and then for some reason he blew it all apart hid or destroyed some of the key components so nobody would steal his ideas yeah so now years later here comes stephen he works for the tampa bay auto museum and he's been given the task of finishing the car you think your restoration project is tough there is nothing tougher than trying to finish out somebody else's project so basically what he's doing is going off of old renderings old drawings old patents and he's finishing out the car now he's been working on it for two and a half years and there is light at the end of the tunnel they said that it looks like they're going to have it done they hope to have it at the retromobile event in france in 2023 and then of course it will be on display at the museum so you can go check it out man what a cool cool project can't wait to see that thing finished so to recognize such a cool project we hooked up with the guys at woodward fab we're gonna give you one of these sheers you probably already have one but you can never have too many of these for cutting metal then we're gonna give you one of our gear shirts because obviously you're a real gearhead then we're going to hook you up with one of these deluxe project planning books this allows you to keep track of everything that you're doing on a project and then we're going to give you a holley gift card so you can get some holly products to go on one of your projects and then we're going to give you one of these stunt double die casts because everybody needs to be able to do a little four-wheeling from time to time now for the rest of you guys if you want to get in on this and get your project featured on the show you got to send it to us go to our website go to gears nation and submit it into what are you working on the website's also the place to find out more information on any products you may have seen on the show any gears merchandise and how to join gears nation you can also see gears episodes for free on our youtube channel and become a channel member that way you get bonus content and you get early access to all the new episodes also don't forget to check us out on amazon prime for gears and the gears restoration series finally don't forget to like us on facebook and instagram and if you're a radio person make sure you check out our podcast tales of a gear head all right that wraps it up for us today hopefully this inspires you to get out there and start working on something it doesn't have to be expensive it doesn't have to be rare it just has to be something that you like get out there start working on something we'll see you next time [Music] do [Music] you

Channel: Official Stacey David

Views: 283,302

Keywords: staceydavid, GearZ, Hot Rods, Trucks, mavtv, revntv, motortrend, stacey david

Id: HlRed95jI7I

Length: 24min 0sec (1440 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 23 2022