Let's see those race vans

Chester the van got a clean up this past weekend. Nothing pretty but there were several spots where rust was starting to take over. So I got the grinder, bondo and DA out and went to town. Scuffed the entire van down with 180 once I fixed the holes in the fenders and base boards. Went to the john deer shop down the street and bought 4 quarts of John Deer Blitz Black paint (12 bucks a quart), tapped off the lights and windows and what you see is what you get. Looks way better than before in my opinion. Pretty creepy ain't it? Especially considering that the front passenger side had different colored fender and door. I bought this van about 6 or 7 years ago off a buddy who was shit faced and crashed it into a pole. Had another friend with a couple broke down vans and picked parts off accordingly. Chester has been pretty much all over the eastern United States. A few issues here and there but nothing not fixable. Nice thing is parts are readily available pretty much at any auto parts store. With 2 race bikes in the back, all my gear and the scooter on the back it still gets 17-18 mpg and I can pretty much run 85mph down the highway all day long. Women and children scatter when I drive through residential areas.

Before




After

 

A Team!

 

Is that a race van or a stalker mobile?

You Creeper! Pervert! Pedophile!






LOL
BTW, I really like your van.

 

I'm strongly considering the red stripe from the spoiler down the side. It would be pretty easy to do.

 

Dows this count:


Just picked it up last weekend!

 

That's a friggen house!

 

Love it. I still crack up when I see people take the long way around my old van when it's parked in the parking lot!

 

Looks like a big parachute you pull down the highway... I could fund 3 years of chasing championships with what that thing costs.

 

Yeap.

 

Now you need a real truck!

 

My first year with a proper setup and I'm loving it

 

Posted this up on the boards before but why not again. Van is an 06 Ford E350 6.0 diesel extended . We wanted the extended version so we could keep the rear bench seat installed while still having two bikes in the back. The first step was to remove all of the existing carpet and the dividing partition since we didn't need it. When we pulled up the carpet we noticed a lot of rust and some areas had rotted all the way through. We stripped all the loose rust, cut out the rotted areas and welded new sheet metal as needed. The floor was then coated with a rust inhibiting paint and then a coat of truck bed liner

Before


During




After






All of the walls, doors and the ceiling were insulated with recycled denim insulation for sound and thermal attenuation. This is one of the rear doors being insulated, we wound up using 4 batts of R16 insulation for the whole job



We then lined all the walls and the window inserts on the side doors with plywood so we could hang nice raxx, Pit Posse holders, etc. wherever we wanted



On top of the plywood we glued down commercial carpet for a finished look







Two Pit Bull strapless stands allow us to fit the two race bikes inside



We upgraded the stereo head unit and replaced all of the speakers inside. The sealed box behind the bench seat houses two 10" woofers. There are two amps for a total of 1300 watts powering the system.

Over the winter the stock wheels were replaced with aftermarket wheels, the calipers and rotors were also replaced and new brake lines were put in.

Stock


Now


While the van was in the shop we also added an air compressor and replaced the rear shocks with airbags. The van would squat a bit when towing a trailer so the bags will help keep things level. The compressor system includes two air compressors (same ones they use on military humvees for the tire inflation system) and a custom 12 gallon air tank which sits inside the frame rails. We have a fitting installed on the side step to hook up air tools and fill up tires (no more bike pumps!!). And what sir system would be complete without a train horn?

Air tank


Fitting for air hose


Compressor and horn


Future upgrades include a deep cycle marine battery system with shore connections so we can plug the van into paddock power to power the stereo and air compressor. Once that happens we will run electrical wiring and outlets inside the van to make it easier to connect power cords and various electrical items at the track.

Overall the van has been a great hauler, in two seasons we put 30k plus miles on it and and the only motor issue we had was the IPR valve stuck open.

 

7.3, Cruise, Insulated, Rear and Roof AC.

 

I like the airbags. I was planning on installing the static ones (no compressor) that I'd inflate only when hauling or pulling a trailer (since I'm too cheap for a compressor ).

 

Dave, nice work man! That things SAWEEET!

 

Airbags are pretty nice, I'm always surprised by how little air they need to inflate. We actually don't have the bags connected to the air system so before each trip we check the pressure and adjust as needed. Since we have the compressor it's really easy but not fully automatic.

Thanks! Put a lot of effort into it and so far it's been great. Did you close up the side windows on your van from the inside for security or just leave it as-is? Don't imagine many people want to break INTO a creeper van.

 

Yes, there are boards over mine just like you did in yours. I'm pretty conscious about where I park and where I leave the van when it's all loaded up. The bikes and gear inside the van worth way more than the van itself

 

I may have to steal that airbag setup idea. I really like that.

I'm plugging away on mine, nothing special to post so far other than getting dents pulled, wrapped and the audio/video stuff going. I'm working with some fab friends to copy the Mototanx idea for a water tank in the back. I liked how it integrates wheel chocks into the tank, plus I can stack stuff on top of it and still keep floor space. I'm doing a divider wall, the plan is for a bench with a house battery, subs etc under the bench.

Here is what we are shooting for in concept with the water tank

 

Or a van???

 

so cool... all of it.