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The Lunchbox Build... 4x4 chevy shorty van

95K views 473 replies 67 participants last post by  Lunchbox2 
#1 · (Edited)
I've been out of the 4x4 scene for a while, the last one was a SAS explorer about 8 years ago. My son and I want to go explore Colorado and the rest of the west, so I needed a vehicle that could cruise the highways, do some heavy wheeling, and make a good "camper" on the weekends. I thought about K5 blazers, suburbans, late model tahoe/yukon, etc.., but none of them really "did it" for me... I had "The Lunchbox" when I was a little kid, that monster van r/c car. That's all that I could think about, I just couldn't shake the idea of a 4x4 van. So long story short I decided to build a shorty van.

My buddy had a rough old cargo van out behind his shop for the past year, and I see it every time I go over there. I struck a deal with the owner for $200 (owner keeps the motor), and started gathering parts. I found a dana 60/14 bolt up in southern illinois, I drove over to St. Louis to pick up an NP205, my buddy had a motorhome with 42k miles on it for the motor (tbi 350), literally drug a 700r4 out of the weeds to rebuild, then I ran out of money. I pulled an old project truck out of the garage (lowrider F150) and worked on it for 3 weeks, cleaned it up and sold it for $5k last week. I went on a buying spree over the weekend (which was fuckin awesome btw) so by the end of this week, I should have a big enough pile of parts that I can finally get started.

I work for myself, so as long as I get the bills paid, I can work on this thing pretty constant. I've gathered all the parts to try and have this thing up on it's axles and running in a few months. The only thing I lack at this point, parts-wise, is driveshafts and steering, both of which are waiting for me to get the axles mounted up.

So we'll see..... I'm going to take pictures, and I'm a videographer by trade, so a youtube channel will probably soon follow. There isn't a ton of information out there about doing these earlier vans, so this has been a lot of digging for information and parts. In all, I think I have the makings for a TANK, and am excited to get started... Follow along if you like

 
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#8 · (Edited)
I scored a van 14-bolt, so I can use the stock leaf spring locations, and my awesome shackle flip from diy4x. It's a 3.73 with a G80, so not really what I wanted, but because of the budget, I'm going to have to go with it. All my u-bolts and plates for the diffs are here, along with about everything else.

We started the tranny build last night, hopefully get that finished up this morning. Then it's on to the tear-down of the van. I was just trying to get everything else done, so once tear down is done, we can start to build right away. All in all, this thing is coming together nicely, and I can't wait to take it wheeling!





 
#10 · (Edited)
Nope, the motorhome has a th400 in it. I think the tranny came out of a 91(ish) 4wd chevy truck. I'm going to do an inventory of parts tomorrow, so I'll snag some more pics and post em up.

I started planning 6 months ago, and started gathering parts 3 months ago. This thing is FINALLY starting to come together, I can't wait to see it up on the wheels/tires
 
#14 ·
I was going to order his high steer system, but he didn't have any arms last week, and it could be a couple more weeks still. Well, that gave me enough time to look around, and I found a set of high steer arms locally, for $100. I have to ride down to nashville to get them (2 hours), but it'll make for a good day trip. Then I'll just order his TRE's and some DOM tubing and finish it up.
 
#16 ·
I ended up cancelling on the $100 arms. Dude drilled the holes out for heims, so I'd have to buy inserts to use my one-ton TRE's. I'd rather spend a few more bucks and buy Kurt's stuff.... I thought they looked much larger too, thanks for confirming that...
 
#21 ·
I think the angle of the picture is playing tricks on you... I just went back out and looked at the calipers, and I shouldn't have any problems accessing the bolts. If something like that arises once I start building though, I can "clock" those brackets and put the caliper anywhere I need
 
#23 · (Edited)
What's funny is that I've been a gearhead since I was a little kid. I did my first motor swap on my 69 chevy truck when I was 15, and never stopped. 40+ cars and 15 years later, I quit working on cars and went to film school. It's been 6 years since I've touched my tools, so figured it was time to build something. I forgot how much work this shit actually is... haha
 
#28 ·
If you dig around online you will find pictures of Pathfinders engine mount/cross member the replaces the stock one once you pull the 2wd front suspension. The design can probably be improved on or maybe even a square body 4x4 engine mount can be modified to fit. Same with the spring hangers for the front. Pictures are all out there but require a bit of searching.
This is way outside of what you are planning, but take a look at Agile Off Roads TTB 4x4 van conversions. Good travel, coil springs and most folks are giving TTB stuff away. I think the van he uses in his videos has 35s on it.
 
#29 · (Edited)
The main reason I want solid axles is because I'm going to wheel the snot out of this thing, that TTB just wouldn't hold up.

My last truck I built, a solid axle explorer, I used coils and it rode awesome. I just don't have the time or budget for coils this time around. I think these 52" leaf springs are going to ride pretty good.
 
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