The Beginning
I have done what every millennial is trying to do, and bought a van to convert in to a camper to take all around the country. However, I did not buy a new, or slight used sprinter van. No, I bought a 1987 Chevrolet G20 van. This baby is spacious, and has a hightop with two windows facing forward, and the driver seat, and co-captain seat are plush and comfortable. I found the perfect van for what I want to do. There is only one problem. It does not run very well, or really at all. I will get into that as we go a long. There she is in all of her Glory. Yeah, it’s a she, and I named her Delilah. For how old she is she is actually in pretty good shape, and all the work I have had to do to her is pretty routine. First, I just want to talk about why, and what I want to do with her, and then go in to what the process has been to tuning her up, and getting her back up and running like a champ. This post will mainly be brief overview, and as I continue to work on her I will write more posts with the progression.
Why did I buy this thing?
That is the exact question my mom asked. For the past three or so years I have wanted to do a complete van build out, and travel the country. I have traveled internationally so much, but when it comes to domestic traveling I am somewhat of a novice. So when I came across this beauty on the Atlanta Craigslist I knew it was too good to pass up. After about a week or so of me and the seller texting back and forth I finally got to see the thing, and it was love at first sight. After doing a quick tour and driving around the block I ran to the bank and got the money. Funny enough though as I was driving her home she stalled at a busy intersection. First thought, “ Great, what the hell have I gotten myself into?” . Luckily, she started right back up and we made it home. As soon as I got back home the creative wheels started to turn, and all the ideas of the layout came in. Now just to pick one. There are so many options when it comes to the layout, and what fits best for what I want to do, and who will be with me. Right now it will be just me, and my two pups. (Pups is quite the understatement considering one is over 100 pounds, but don’t let her know she isn’t a lap dog). The next thing to consider is the power situation. How do I want to power the van? Should I use solar panels, as well as connect it to the alternator to recharge the batteries? What LED lights should I get? What is the best fridge to fit in the van, and run on my power source? What mattress should I get? Will it fit? What flooring material do I want? See there is a lot more than just getting a van and building it out. Before I do Any of this though I need to make sure she can run, and that I won’t get stranded in the middle of nowhere. Here comes the engine work!
What do you know about engines?
That is exactly what my dad asked when I told him I wanted to do as much of the motor work as I possibly can myself. I realized quickly I may have bitten off a little more than I can chew. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me! I am a man on a mission, and plus whatever I don’t know I can learn on youtube. Which is exactly how I learned most of everything I have done. First, I did a quick oil change, and replaced the spark plugs. The van started up nice, but still had the rough idle. Next, was to take apart the throttle body, and give it a nice deep cleaning, and boy did it need it. What I thought would be a quick task turned in to a two day ordeal, but I did it, and I was excited to have done it on my own. Before I turned on the engine I also wanted to replace the fuel filter so no dirty gas with through the newly clean throttle body. Once that was completed I started her up, and did she sound pretty. We went on a nice drive around the neighborhood, and she handled like a champ…well kind of. As we were going down one of the bigger hills in the neighborhood I noticed the brakes were a little slow on the stopping thing. Back under the van I went to bleed the brake lines, and but new fluid in. Done! Let’s go for a test drive. Just kidding. After starting her up she stalls. Get her going again, this time I get her in reverse and start rolling, but once I hit the gas..stall. I realize quickly that the fuel pump is dead..RIP. Like I said before I wanted to do all the work myself, but dropping a half full fuel tank is way out of my realm. That will have to wait since I am trying to do all of this on a budget, and with quite a long Asia Trip coming up I do not want to break the bank.