speaking of cars
 

So.. I just found myself becoming the owner of a used gmc cargo minivan, and I'd like to do up the cargo compartment a bit; considering insulation, paneling and some better flooring, maybe some electrical improvements. anyone have any tips or hints? how should i go about, say, adhering carpeting or something to the floor? should i worry about condensation behind insulation? should i consider some sort of solar roof vent to keep it aerated back there? any advice would be appreciated from car folks, cause i'm pretty much a noob at this, but i've been wanting a vehicle like this for quite some time.

so far, all i've worked out is that step one is remove the.. bulkhead barrier? rape grate? whatever you want to call it from behind the seats, metal barrier thing doesn't have a door and it sort of freaks me out. step something else is definitely a cheap rear/backing camera system...

Do up the cargo compartment for what?

(?s)He's building a lurvemobile

If that were so, why would he remove the "rape grate"? :haha:

Because otherwise he might become happy winslow and that would be bad for business?

Shag carpet. 'S all I'm saying.

Oh, one other thing...

Don't put an oak entertainment center w/TV/VCR/DVD/PS2/Stereo system/surround sound, speakers, hand-made oak panel LED ceiling lighting in there. Cuzz, when you get busted, they will rip that shit out with a crowbar. And smile at you while thinking about all the hours of labor you put into it.

ETA: Then they will sell it.

Colour scheme:

Attachment 30074

Seriously, though, what are your plans for the van? Courier, tradesman's van, or camping / cruising / shaggin-wagon?

I have no advice about installation, but having had a campervan, I would say that being able to walk through from the front to the back is highly desirable. Out with the safety grille, if that makes this possible.

NO, not shag. It harbors smells, bugs, and precious bodily fluids... impossible to clean.

Linoleum then? with a drain in the middle? easy to hose down......

pretty much cruising, light camping, and occasional cargo hauling for a) projects and b) moving house are my plans for the beast.

the bulkhead divider definitely can, and will, come out; it's just a matter of going out there with a ratchet and removing the annoying thing. not only will the walkthrough be nice but the extra visibility of not having to look through the grate in the rear-view would be nice.

i actually want to get some cheap carpet back there so it's not just the slick polymer floor-coating; any recommendations for how to anchor it down (preferably in a way that's removable later)? i'm also considering some insulation for the back walls to dampen the sound, and maybe a bit of paneling, but that's down the road a bit.

no disco balls or shag carpet, but a place to chill out a bit is also what i'm after. i'm out and about a lot a lot between school and other activities. debating how to run a power system to the back, too. and getting a bit of ham radio gear in there.

not so much "shaggin'-wagon" as "nerd-wagon", i'm afraid. :D

edit: having re-read my previous post i already asked half of what i just said and am just repeating myself. i am clearly too tired to be on the interwebs tonight, but any further thoughts or ideas are welcome.

Plywood on the floor with linoleum, and a throw rug if you want to lounge. Closed cell foam insulation for the walls, and if you want to gussy it up, a no pile very tight weave industrial carpet.

Linoleum is no good for the Sunday Night Mobile Oil-Wrestling matches...

Rugburn.

Nothing says seventies shaggin wagon like shag.:D

Is this an Astro/Safari van? If so, if it's got a decent motor, and is a truly 'no guts' cargo van, that 4.3 can raise a little hell. I used to drive an Astro cargo van as part of a job I had. Got a ticket for 63 in a 35, the cop never saw or smelled the tire smoke I left right around the corner...

Put in a Disco Ball.

called it in one, you did.

it's a 99 safari with the 4.3L v6 in it, and it has absolutely nothing in the back except a rubber mat bolted down. no insulation, nothing. well, and now a big plastic bin bungee corded to the wall to hold the crap that was in the backseat of my old car. and the, uh, "surprise sex barrier" behind the seats. and it came with a complimentary fire extinguisher behind the driver's seat, very nice (and hopefully not a warning). 95k miles on it.

It does in fact have some decent oomph - i've been driving it around all weekend to all the usual places i go in town to sort of practice in low-traffic situations, parking and backing up, etc. it's really easier to use as a daily driver than i thought and fits in regular parking spaces just fine. mind you though, i'm going from a 1991 celica, the car i've driven since i was about 16, to this beast. the idea is frankly terrifying - but the other day i was at the drug store and i saw this little old lady hunched over the wheel of this mega-extended pickup with a cap on the back, and then an anorexic soccer mom hauling ass in a lifted f-250 super duty, screaming into a cell phone. "Man up, you son of a bitch, if those folks can do it, you can" was what i told myself, and it's working out ok so far. ..but i miss my little car still :( i still have it, but without a couple grand in repairs it's not really safe to drive. clutch, tires, brakes, exhaust wanting to drop (surprised i haven't died to CO poisoning) and electrical work needed.

i actually tried to remove the bulkhead divider today, but i couldn't get the bolts out of the damn floor and am not sure what to do about it. seems to be bolted through the floor. maybe have a helper inside with a wrench hold the bolt in place while i'm underneath with a ratchet on the nut?

i think what i've decided i want to do specifically is a) insulation, b) wall/ceiling paneling, and c) soft flooring. The rubber mat is slick as snot and I almost face-planted a few times today.

i think as an intermediate step i'm going to check the local construction-salvage shop (an awesome place, they take good scraps and leftovers and re-sell them cheap, paint, lumber, fixtures, flooring, etc) for a big enough carpet scrap. the rubber is already bolted down, so i'm thinking I'll just undo those bolts and lay the carpet right over it, then put the bolts through... that'll at least make it better to sit back there for now. it's mighty uncomfortable as is.

hell, maybe they'll have some suitable polystyrene insulation too? who knows.

this would be so much easier if i knew some folks out here. buddies for this sort of thing are handy to have. :/ there's apparently a guy down in San Jose (I live in the North Bay region above San Francisco, CA) who does custom van conversions, but that kinda work is big bucks I definitely don't have.

Grab the bolt head with a pair of vice grips, or a box wrench duct taped on, the barrier keeps it from turning, then go underneath and take the nut off.

yeah, i just figured that out about ten minutes after i posted. gah. so much for forethought. ah well >_< i'll get to it next weekend - after my big bio and organic chem exams this week. yipe!

i was just thinking, my local community college has a metalworking and welding program. i wonder if i could get someone down there to cut me a door into the thing? i'd totally keep it if i could, i like having the mount for the fire extinguisher. i guess failing that there's actually a metal shop not that far from here that would probably do it, hopefully for a decent price.

Decent price? :rotflol:

Even the school shop, just charging for materials, would be more than I'll bet you're willing/able to part with.

Buy one tool. A metal chisel. Get a Big Hammer and cut the bolts off at the base as Bruce suggested earlier.

take the class and DIY.

velcro is excellent for this purpose.

Bah. I was also considering having a single cut made and then a 90 degree bend in the divider, to make a sort of partition that'd be behind the driver's seat. i could use it as a coat/tool rack or whatever. maybe that'd go cheaper. cut, bend. anyone with the gear to do it should be able to do it in 45 minutes tops.

ehhhmm, i'd rather keep the bolts if i can so that i can actually bolt other things down, like flooring. i guess i can always replace them, but even so if i can save the trouble i will. i have a buddy who can help me out and hold the bolts in place with a wrench next week. we'll get it done and i can feel a little less claustrophobic in the passenger compartment. hopefully having the access to the back won't lead to some agoraphobia! it's pretty amazingly empty back there.

You can't just cut metal.
Cut metal, cuts people.:thepain:

If you're going to use the bolts to hold other things down, don't you have to take them out first? In case you're unsure, the correct answer is yes.

well right, you have to grind off the sharp bits afterwards, of course. would be embarassing to lose a limb or shred clothes every time i just wanted to get into the back of the vehicle, wouldn't it? "could you just.. bolt a giant razor back there for me? make it stand upright and look real inviting, maybe put a handle on it, or a 'lean here' sign?"

and, er, yes, i do need to remove the bolts first :) i'm going to try the buddy/wrench method first. if for some reason i fail at that or i discover that the nuts have been welded on then i'll look at cutting them off, but that seems a bit excessive as a first go at it. we'll see what happens.

every time you think something is going to be easy..

For what it's worth, I found some kick-ass red shag carpeting at wallyworld for a pretty decent price that would fit in the back. i haven't bought it... YET. :D

Shag, ppl...I tried to tell ya.:lol2:

On a more serious note, I have some repairs to do to the damn beast. i guess the idler arms are wearing out in the steering, and i may need to replace the belt tensioner on the serpentine. bleagh. definitely not DIY stuff for the likes of me. i can muddle through the interior stuff, at least, because the thing at least will still be drivable if all i do is ugly it up a little. now taking up donations :/

motorized vehicles, i have decided, are stupid.

Since 1982 anyway...

What vehicle in 30 years still has an idler arm? That was obsoletely even by a 1972 Ford Pinto.

BTW, an idler arm is easy to change (but only if you also can change your own oil).

99 GMC Safari

At 44 horsepower per liter engine - the lowest performance engine in America in 1999. Even worse than a Land Rover. It probably uses throttle body fuel injection.

According to Consumer Reports, the least reliable of all 11 vans (tied with a Chevy van). Consumer Reports lists that 1999 model as a used car to avoid every year after 1999. And also lists it as a repeat offender - 22 vehicles that are routinely much worse than average.

A classic example of 1960s technology - obsolete - dumped into the market to maximize GM profits. Highest failures involve body, electrical, brakes, suspension, and transmission.

HP/liter number and reliability explains why an idler arm and worm gear steering would exist. Even early 1990 Buicks did not have that obsolete technology.

To keep this vehicle from wandering, steering also can be restored by adjusting that worm gear about every 10,000 or 20,000 miles.

It probably tied with a chevy van because it *is* a chevy van. The GMC Safari and the Chevy Astro are the same bag o' bolts.

It may not rate the best vehicle in the world, but for better or worse (hopefully better) it's more or less what I was handed, and it's what I'll roll with for now. It has a bit of go to it, can carry or tow a buttload, isn't horrifically uncomfortable to cruise in, eats gas and requires some maintenance.

I'm not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, but I can change my own oil. Usually I end up paying someone else for it, though, just out of pure convenience - it doesn't save that much money given the hassle. Though actually, with this beast now big enough for me to actually slide under - unlike my old car that I had to drive up on blocks or similar - it could be easier to do a bit of work on it myself. The only other car work I've done is (besides changing a tire) replacing the spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor in my old car once. And I know enough not to fall for the old "this here is your air filter, want us to change it for only $40" trick.

I need to get the complete service guide/chilton's or similar for this so that I know how to even begin working on it. The downside is that the hood being so short it looks like a bit of a PITA to get in without disemboweling a whole handful of ancilliary systems on the way in. The upside is that I've learned a good bit about it.

I also actually found an independent mechanic's shop that I think I trust, unlike the gross chain I was going to. I get the impression that I may not have even needed to replace my old car if I'd been taking it to them first. Slightly more expensive hourly (and out here, that's saying something, hello California), but after a couple conversations with the actual shop owner I was impressed as hell.

Chilton manual is often GM's manual with most of GM's information 'abridged' out. Consider purchasing GM's better shop manual, I believe, through Helms in Michigan. That will also provide useful wiring diagrams.

Or try seeking that manual at http://free-pdf-ebook.com. Sometimes one gets lucky with older vehicles.

The only really bad thing I've heard repeatedly is that these vans tend to cook engines. I personally don't know anyone with this problem, but, I hear it a lot.

Have you checked the blinker fluid?

:lol2:

ahem. yeah i lol'ed! course i'm prolly setting my self up for failure. changing out my transmission in my truck later today or early next week. DIY cuz money's tight!

Well, I would have, but I couldn't find my T-square to make sure it's been levelled off proper.

Thankfully the mechanic offered to take care of the problem. They said it normally costs like $200 but gave me a real sweet deal at $60!

wwwaaaaiiit a miinnuutteee...

Have him check your Throckmorton valve while you're at it...

I used to joke with "muffler bearings" too, but a friend at NAPA says that certain BMWs actually have something called a muffler bearing in their catalog.

FWIW, I took the beast for a decently long road trip, about 250 miles roundtrip in terrible weather up and down hills. The gas mileage is fairly atrocious, but it handled quite well. I'm getting used to driving this thing :)