The Lunchbox Build... 4x4 chevy shorty van

[F451]

Awesome build! Really impressed with the budget minded approach and the repurposing, although the end product is certainly not cheap looking or kludged together, quiet the opposite, it looks amazing.

And I have to give you kudos for your dedication to your kid, love seeing it. You're teaching him lots of valuable life lessons by showing him what can be done with hard work and perseverance, as well as showing him by deed, and not words, what family is all about. Good job man! -Eddie

 

[Lunchbox2]

Awesome build! Really impressed with the budget minded approach and the repurposing, although the end product is certainly not cheap looking or kludged together, quiet the opposite, it looks amazing.

And I have to give you kudos for your dedication to your kid, love seeing it. You're teaching him lots of valuable life lessons by showing him what can be done with hard work and perseverance, as well as showing him by deed, and not words, what family is all about. Good job man! -Eddie

Thanks man! I have a lot more time than I do money, so if I want something cool, I've figured out that I have to make it myself...:sombrero:

I don't have much of a relationship with my father, and he never had much of one with HIS father. I'm trying to break the cycle this go-around, Liam's my little sidekick... lol

 

[Lunchbox2]

The bumpers look great!! Gotta feel amazing to be doing virtually everything yourself. Truly built not bought. As far as the paint goes, I'm sure your digital camo will look neat, but I've kinda fallen in love with the funky Aztec/Native American kinda thing the RV door has going on. Since this van's body style has it's roots in the 70's something like that sure seems appropriate! Great work.

I'm all about the vintage look, but this just isn't the time or place for it. I need this van to attract as much attention as possible, which is why I aim for the urban camo. Although it just might get some mexican blanket seat covers!

 

[rodgertheshrubber]

I don't have much of a relationship with my father, and he never had much of one with HIS father. I'm trying to break the cycle this go-around, Liam's my little sidekick... lol

This is excellent! Awesome work on the van, and considering how busy you must be, thanks for taking the time to tell us about it!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

 

[colierar]

Single Dad here with an 11 year old boy. He loves getting out and exploring with the rig. My truck and camper along with our Mt. bikes has brought us closer together more than anything. Keep on doing what you're doing man. Its worth it.

Also.... Love the van!

 

[Lunchbox2]

I really appreciate all the love you guys! I picked up a new u joint for the driveshaft today, so I'm thinking this weekend we might be able to find out what this ol' girl will really do. I can't wait to hit the trail with all 4 tires pulling, hopefully no more turning around! :smiley_drive:

 

[chiliVANilli]

I really appreciate all the love you guys! I picked up a new u joint for the driveshaft today, so I'm thinking this weekend we might be able to find out what this ol' girl will really do. I can't wait to hit the trail with all 4 tires pulling, hopefully no more turning around! :smiley_drive:

Better make some rock sliders before you go.

 

[Lunchbox2]

Better make some rock sliders before you go.

That's tomorrow's project.... along with mounting a couple more seats. I would've gotten it done today, but I woke up feeling like crap. I guess all the long hours finally got to me. I pumped my body full of fluids and vitamin c, and laid around on the couch all day watching tv and sleeping, so hopefully I kick this bug by tomorrow. I already feel 100 times better than I did this morning

 

[chiliVANilli]

That's tomorrow's project.... along with mounting a couple more seats. I would've gotten it done today, but I woke up feeling like crap. I guess all the long hours finally got to me. I pumped my body full of fluids and vitamin c, and laid around on the couch all day watching tv and sleeping, so hopefully I kick this bug by tomorrow. I already feel 100 times better than I did this morning

Are you wearing a respirator when you weld and grind? If not, get one! There's a ton of nasty stuff you release when you do either. A good 3M mask with the pink 2097 filters is what I wore every day for the last 10 years. No more black buggers. If you weld and don't use one, supposedly a glass of milk will help with the impurities. Could just be the fall funk, too. Can't wait to see some wheeling pics!

 

[Lunchbox2]

Are you wearing a respirator when you weld and grind? If not, get one! There's a ton of nasty stuff you release when you do either. A good 3M mask with the pink 2097 filters is what I wore every day for the last 10 years. No more black buggers. If you weld and don't use one, supposedly a glass of milk will help with the impurities. Could just be the fall funk, too. Can't wait to see some wheeling pics!

I have a respirator, but I don't always use it.... Yesterday had me re-thinking that choice... lol

 

[Lunchbox2]

So we took the van wheeling last weekend, and only made it about 2 hours before the serpentine belt came apart...DOH! We made it back to town, I put on a new belt, and my son and I took off again (5pm at this point). Having the front wheels pulling makes exploring SOOOOO much better! This thing is a friggin monster man, it goes anywhere you point it... I didn't take many pictures because I was so happy to be wheeling, that I didn't even think about the camera. The front driveshaft is perfect, I got it into overdrive while in low-range (40-50 mph), and not so much as a shimmy in the steering wheel. I'm curious to see what it's like at highway speeds?

We wanted to set up camp for the night so I found a trail that looked like it headed to the water, locked in 4LO, and started climbing hills. We ran into a later model truck about 1/4 mile in, that had to turn around, he says "Road dead ends up there, no way you'll make it down".... Sooo naturally, we kept on going..lol. With 2' deep trenches all the way down the trail from the crazy rain we had this year, there was no way that truck would have ever made it. The Lunchbox made quick work of it, so we descended down into the bottoms and made our way to the edge of the water to set up camp. We definitely didn't have to worry about anybody bothering us...

I always hate how pictures don't capture the magnitude of hills, this thing was way worse than it looks...







Chillin by the fire, lake side, watchin movies...



around 11pm, Liam says.... "Daddy, let's go home, our beds are much more comfortable than these school bus seats" so we put out the fire and headed back out. I definitely have to invest in some lighting next, night-wheeling SUCKS with the stock headlights. Also, we have to come up with a better sleeping situation

 

[Lunchbox2]

I cut out the rust and patched it with a panel cut out of the old hood. I'm not a body-man by ANY means, so it's not perfect, but just fine for the Lunchbox.





I was trying to come up with a way to build sliders, but this chassis makes it really difficult. So I decided I'm just going to plate the outside of the rocker with 3/16" plate steel instead. It'll work fine for it's intended purpose, I just don't want to cave the rocker in. I'll hit up the steel yard next week to get the necessary materials. So I used the tubing that I was going to use for the sliders, and for lack of a better term, I built "subframe connectors". They connect the front suspension to the rear suspension, and then I added a crossmember between those. Holy crap, talk about stiffening things up, I should have done something like this long ago. I have ZERO worries about the unibody construction after this....

They tuck up nice and close to the "frame" and can't be seen from outside the van...





My rear main seal started leaking for some reason, so looks like the tranny has to come back out, probably tackle that next week. But we're still going wheeling on sunday, I'll just bring an extra quart of oil...lol. It looks like a couple of jeeps are going to join us, so I'm excited to see how the ol' van will stack up!

 

[Lunchbox2]

So..... I figured out what my leak was, the STOOOOPID chrome pan I decided to put on the transmission when we built it. I know better than that dumb ****, I've never known of a chrome ANYTHING to NOT leak. A stock pan and a rubber gasket and this thing will be drip-free.

I also picked up some new (to me) doors. I can't see anything when I'm trying to drive in traffic, so I wanted a window for my sliding door, and my rear doors were crap. My buddy had a van on his property that only served as dry storage, so for $100 I got to switch my doors out with his. The slider ended up having a little more rust in the bottom of it than I thought, but nothing a quick patch panel won't cover up. I also got to trade out all my lenses for the lights, mine had over spray on them and were all faded.





Then I wanted to extend the slider arm so the door would clear my rear tires, and that's where **** went wrong.... I decided to try and cut it on the van instead of take the darn thing off and cut it on the ground. Long story short... the cut off wheel hung-up and kicked back, right into my chest.... UGH...

I'm one lucky S.O.B. as I missed a major artery by mere inches, which would've resulted in me bleeding out before I ever made it to the hospital. STUPID STUPID STOOOOOOOPID mistake that nearly cost me my life. 4 hours in the E.R. and 12 staples later, I was patched back together and ready for a 2 week vacation....

 

[tgreening]

Dude that's awesome! A year from now you can tell all the newbs around here some BS about the night you took on The Crips and The Bloods in a Del Taco parking lot and sent 'em all screaming like little girls, with a 6' blade sticking out of your chest.

 

[villageidiot327]

Dude that's awesome! A year from now you can tell all the newbs around here some BS about the night you took on The Crips and The Bloods in a Del Taco parking lot and sent 'em all screaming like little girls, with a 6' blade sticking out of your chest.

theres no Del Taco in kentucky. (that i saw)

but last time i was there taco bell had the CHILITO, long lost from the southern CA menu.