My First Van
Over the past year, I've really been thoroughly enjoying the 1978 Dodge Tradesman I bought last October, but it's not my first van. It's my second. I mentioned it a long time ago (here) but I was feeling nostalgic and felt my first van was worth revisiting. I bought my first van in February 2015 and it was a 1999 GMC Savana conversion van (conversion by Jayco). It had a 5.7L V8 and about 110K miles on it. I bought it from a guy in St. Paul. All the photos in this blogpost are from when I listed the van for sale later that same year... more on that in a bit.
I did a few modifications to the van while I owend it. I repainted the faded gray grill a nice solid black. I replaced all the speakers myself and had a new stereo and backup camera professionally installed. I also added a bunch of led lights (pics later).
The body had some rust starting where the body met the running boards but overall I thought the van looked pretty good. Sadly, the high window count kept future graphics/mural options limited.
The bench seat in the back could also be a rear facing couch (awesome for watching the kids play in the driveway) or lay flat into a bed.
The seats were all really cushy and the van was great on trips. We took a few small drives with it and one big trip to see family in Ohio and the van was a nice way to travel (when it worked)...
Unfortunately, the van had a lot of issues in spite of "only" having 110K miles on it. Soon after buying it, my mechanic fixed a few things with the engine and door latch but ultimately could not get it running right so he gave up and amazingly didn't charge me (unheard of). He thought it might be the computer. I got a replacement computer on eBay, swapped it myself, and that did the trick (for that problem). However, that was just the start. Not one but 2 spewing-gas leaks later, the fun family vehicle I thought I bought was an unreliable and potentially highly-flammable beast. With each repair I kept wondering... would it be the last fix for a while or just another in a never-ending string???
The interior was in very nice shape. I refinished some of the oak pieces black and added blue led strip lighting for more of a spaceship feel. It was all just for fun.
I did love the way this thing look lit up.
Towards the end of the year, I decided to sell. I didn't even own it a full year. It was awesome when it worked and seated the whole family comfortably but, due to reliability issues, I just didn't trust it and it wasn't really my "dream van" (my Dodge is). I didn't even take it Chariots that year - I rode my motorcycle instead. I didn't feel it fit in even though I now realize it would have been fine. I listed it for sale at the end of the year. Just when I got a buyer interested, the windshield cracked, whether from the cold or something else I don't know. Insurance covered the replacement and then the guy bought it. He was supposedly going to use it for hunting or something. I have no idea what happened to it.
I still had the vanning bug but it would take 6 more years for me to get another van. Patience paid off. I love my '78 Dodge and I'll need to share more detailed photos and write-ups here on the blog at some point but, in the meantime, you can see tons of photos over on Instagram.