Asking Price: $4,000
Location: Pasadena, California
Mileage: 139,598
Title Status: Clean
VIN: GS150P107553
Seller’s Description: Attention Resto-Modders!! Are you looking for an unusual vehicle project with a great deal of space to work with? Here it is! A unique American made van, it is the last year of GM’s flirtation with a ‘cab-forward’ van design, (before introducing the style that a version of which is still in production today). I’m the fourth owner of this un-restored lifetime California vehicle. This van has been in my possession since 1984. I’ve enjoyed owning this rare and unique van, but now realize that it’s time to let it go onto a new owner and life. A very good candidate for restoration or customizing!
Body Condition: A survivor, most of its brother and sister vans have oxidized away. Not to say this example is free of that, no… it has the tin-worm. The front doors on these are notorious for it. The driver’s door has it the worst. The front floor has it and has been patched. There are weak areas around the top of the windshield near the door openings as well. And there are a few dings and dents… But overall the van is straight and tight. It has a good frame and cargo floor. The cargo floor has surface rust only.
Original green paint from when delivered new to the University of California, Santa Barbara, in April of 1970. No interior modifications… bare to the outside painted steel walls. The dash pad has surrendered to sunlight and has been removed, but retained for future restoration/renewal.
The driver’s seat was trashed… replaced with available materials at the time … a 1979 Mazda RX-7 seat… the passenger seat has a broken back and has been removed, but also retained.
Mechanical Condition: The original 250CID six cylinder engine delivered in 1970 is long gone. Sometime during the next 14+ years, that original engine was replaced with a (tired 3 year older engine) 1967 – 283cid, 2bbl, 195hp V8 engine, (according to the engine VIN# VI004PU), pulled from a 1967 Chevy II (Nova), while retaining the van’s original THM350 transmission with it’s unique rear tail-shaft top chassis mount adaptor for the G-10 (transmission had a ’shift-kit’ put in it, shortly before obtaining the van in 1984). The rear axle is the original from the 6 cylinder power plant. The recent inspection revealed good seals and bearings.
In 1986, the 283-V8 engine was smoking, and in need of a rebuild. That was done with .020 over rings, along with the cylinder heads being rebuilt replacing the valves & valve seats with hardened ones compatible with unleaded fuels. Also, a new 4 core radiator was swapped in for the original 6 cylinder’s 2 core radiator, and an electric fan was fitted after removing the engine driven fan.
By 1995, the front king-pins were replaced and the steering box rebuilt… (no salvage yard could come up with one… no surprise there). Shortly thereafter, the carburetor was rebuilt with help from a donor carburetor obtained from Pomona Fairplex antique & classic car swap meet (the donor carburetor’s remains are included with the vehicle, along with some interesting spare parts). A recent compression test revealed an overall 20-pound difference across all 8 cylinders – a low of 130 pounds to a max of 150 pounds.
During that recent inspection, all the wheels and brake drums were pulled inspected & cleaned. Rear tires replaced, (front tires were replaced 4+ years ago), and a spare tire mounted. Vehicle’s chassis was lubricated and engine oil and oil filter changed along with the air & fuel filters. The spark plug wires were replaced, and spark plugs cleaned & re-gapped. It will need some electrical work to be a daily driver. It has been in non-operation status since 2007. The engine does start right up and it will move very nicely under its own power.
This van really is unique and would make for a really fun project! It’s going to need some work, but it isn’t too far gone and should be a project the majority of us could tackle. Reader Jeffrey H has done a great job presenting it and we appreciate his honesty about the problems areas. If you’d love to give this cool van a good home, be sure to contact Jeffrey via the form below!
Do you have a unique classic that needs a new home? Please consider listing it with us here on Barn Finds!
List your classified here on Barn Finds!
Gosh, so much nicer then a 911.
If I had the cash, it would be at my place
right now being made into a wheelchair
van for my MIL. As a lot of you know,
we’ve been looking for a starter van for
quite some time now. Mom’s health
insurance won’t cover the cost of a
lift van si it looks like I’ll have to go old
school and build one myself. Point is,
that a few of these vans were converted
easily for wheelchair use by their owners.
With all that space, it wouldn’t be all that
hard to do. Just add a manual fold out
ramp, fix up the interior, and it’s done.
The mechanicals will be easy to sort so
there’s no real problem there either. Only
problem I’ve got is how to raise the cash
to buy it! Happy New Year Folks!
That is the most complete seller submission that I have ever read on this site Jeffery H.. Have you ever considered writing feature stories for Barn Finds?
Thanks, Pat. This van has been with me since 1984.
During that time it has picked up a few nicknames…
‘The Booger Bus’
&
‘The Gumbymobile’ were two notable ones. Good times.
2+ years ago I started the process for getting it ready for sale… It is a wonderful storage shed and was for quite a while…
The copy for the ad was from 2+ pages of notes and observations during clean-up and inspection. Plus there are more photos if anyone needs more information.
Thanks, JTH
Could be a great project. I did not realize they made this style this late. This, the Ford Econoline, the VW Bus, the Dodge A-100, all had that fabulous front crush zone– your legs.
Passengers in the front would mash their imaginary brake pedals while riding in this thing… not to mention how close up to other cars you can get in traffic… Such fun!
I had a pal with a old Econoline, it was SCARY how close he could come to the car in front at a stop sign. He used to get as close as he could just to make me complain.
Looks like a great project and reasonably priced…
Oh, to have more garage space and fewer projects. ;-)
We owned a 69 Chevy clone of this except it still had a straight six and a manual trans. The motor was a rebuilt boat motor that was really torquey, and due to the rear end ratio, I installed some star mags with tires that were a size larger. I did the calculations and realized that I was getting really good fuel economy for a van. It was a great hauler and for awhile was used as a mobile tool shed when were building our home. I sure miss it, but not the lack of a crumple zone!
One of my baseball coaches had this same van, same color. He put a few benches in the back to pile us in and travel to little towns for sports days etc. It must have had a steering linkage issue as he’d steer and it would react ‘later’. We got in a really strong head wind one trip and we’d get blown toward the ditch or on coming traffic in the other lane, he’d steer and you’d hold your breath hoping it would react on time. It was a hairy one, but I’m here to talk about it.
I’m still laughing after reading the comments above, just out of high school a buddy had a grey short box, 230/3 spd std, 1st gear was lunched so the 2 spd standard with the “Rolling Sin” signs painted on both sides made that van one of the most hilarious of all the beaters our crew went through as kids. Handled like a sock full of diarrhea and tried to kill you just making a 90 degree turn. How that van never ate it’s clutch trying to leave in 2nd gear I’ll never know, but there’s something to be said for torque, no?
Brings back memories of the ’68 90″ van I had with a 250ci and powerglide. Put a Buick Vista-Cruiser roof on it. Lots of good times there.