1971 GMC Vandura

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura) 10/07/2016 at 10:44 • Filed to: None

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Here is a van that I have been looking at on Craigslist for several weeks. The CL listing is currently expired. Straight-six, three-on-the-tree. Runs, no battery.

Question: The blue van is longer than the yellow van, right? That would make the blue van a 125-inch wheelbase and the yellow van a 110-inch wheelbase.

Dude wants $2k for the blue van, which is more than I’d be willing to pay. But I want a 110-inch wheelbase van.

The blue one is not a shorty, right?

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/07/2016 at 10:46

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dunno but hnnnnngg

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/07/2016 at 11:15

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The blue one looks like a shorty to me. I think it’s the big horizontal windows fooling your eye into making it look longer. Look at the space between the front door and the rear wheel. That would just barely fit the sliding door, like on a shorty. That’s a pretty sweet van!

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/07/2016 at 11:20

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I agree, I think the blue one is a shorty. 71 is a first year, right? Early ones have to be getting pretty rare.

Dave the car guy , still here > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/07/2016 at 11:25

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Have the owner measure from hub to hub , center to center. OR make a simple scale figuring 15" diameter wheel. The photo is 7.? wheels widths from center to center. When 7 x 15 = 105" plus a partial wheel so it has to be a 110" wheel base. Problem solved. Used to do stuff like that in drafting classes all the time.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Dave the car guy , still here 10/07/2016 at 11:57

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Let’s check the numbers:

On my computer screen, the front rim is 16mm in diameter. The hub-to-hub distance is 120mm. 120/16 is 7.5. So there are 7.5 wheel diameters in the wheel base. 15 inches x 7.5 gives 112.5 inches, which is much closer to 110 than 125.

So it’s a shorty. I’m a math teacher. You’ve given me a great math problem today!

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher 10/07/2016 at 12:03

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See directly above. Yes, I’m thinking shorty also.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 10/07/2016 at 12:04

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70 or 71 is first year. This one is in good shape, but the driver door looks way sprung.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/07/2016 at 12:05

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Huzzah!

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher 10/07/2016 at 12:05

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I like that van way more than my wife wishes I did. But the price needs to be nearer to $1,000 than $2,000. And the guy wasn’t wanting to budge when I talked with him two or three weeks ago.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/07/2016 at 12:07

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Yeah, if he wants $2k, he’ll have to bring it to Illinois. We’d crap our pants to find one of these that isn’t a rusted out hulk. The rockers on these basically dissolved in 10-12 years around here. Even the ‘95 G20 my dad’s electrical company had, rusted out really quickly.

Dave the car guy , still here > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/07/2016 at 12:43

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No problem, you know me and I’m always about figuring out a solution. Some day I’ll maybe do an article for my kinja blog on how I parts engineered dropping a GM 300hp 350 into a 3/4 ton Chevy truck in place of a 305 engine. My biggest feat there was keeping it shifting properly, having enough fuel delivered and passing emissions testing without anyone knowing it wasn’t OE.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/07/2016 at 14:09

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Easy fix. I always thought these were nicely designed for a van, it stood the test of time, 25 year run.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Dave the car guy , still here 10/07/2016 at 14:33

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Yes, but could you sneak it past the California Smog Gestapo?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Dave the car guy , still here 10/07/2016 at 14:37

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My biggest problem right now is that I subscribe to Motor Trend On Demand and watch way too much Roadkill, Roadkill Garage and Engine Masters. I have plenty of mechanical expertise but zero tuning experience. I’d buy that blue Vandura because the L-6 is an engine I could manage, with the expectation of some day swapping in a late model LS engine/trans and making frequent trips to the tire store.

Dave the car guy , still here > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/07/2016 at 14:38

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Looked mostly original, still had factory catalyst. Had a slightly altered original intake with normal air cleaner. Only thing that would have triggered any suspicion would have been the chrome engine bits. It passed Ohio standards back about 15 yrs ago when they did tailpipe testing.

Dave the car guy , still here > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/07/2016 at 14:41

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My tuning experience with new stuff is mostly follow others guidelines and I have a book on tuning most major makes.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Dave the car guy , still here 10/07/2016 at 15:16

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I know the Smog Gestapo has a bunch of visual checks they have to make for original equipment. I’m not trying to throw shade on your project. I am interested in that ‘71 van precisely because it’s old enough that no smog is required.

Dude who is selling it says he’ll go down to $1,800 and I’m not ready to quibble over a few hundred dollars when that van is going to be pretty rare and is in good shape. I just have to get approval from the finance minister...

Dave the car guy , still here > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/07/2016 at 15:35

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The Minister of Finance, BTDT. You should have heard the line of BS I had to spread to get mine to agree on my computer tune for the 3.2.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Dave the car guy , still here 10/07/2016 at 15:39

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The money will come out of the HELOC, so I don’t have much of a case to make. It’s a change of life thing is about the best I can muster. In my favor is the fact that the van is the I6/3sp, which is about as simple as it gets and will be very accessible to me mechanically.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Dave the car guy , still here 10/07/2016 at 17:24

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Do you think I could find a 5-speed that would go behind that engine in that car?

Dave the car guy , still here > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/08/2016 at 07:39

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The van? More likely to find a 4 speed that would fit. Going to take some research for bell housing and input spline/diameter sizes and fit.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Dave the car guy , still here 10/08/2016 at 11:07

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If i buy this van, and I would really like to, I will probably keep it largely stock but replace front end parts, upgrade to disk brakes, and drive it around a lot. I’ve been a straight-line guy from the onset. I’d like to install a genuine dual exhaust. My first car was a ‘76 Nova 250/3sp.