The next adventure.

  It has been quite a while since I have had the opportunity to do anything with this blog. I want to update you followers as to what has been going on.  When I was in Vegas for the S.E.M.A. show, Scotty and I went down to Parker, Arizona to visit my buddy, Jimmy C. He has a 1965 Dodge A100 van that I have been bugging him for years to sell. While we were there I wanted him to show us the van.  It was in a storage lot where it has sat for over 20 years.  the van had 2 inches of dust on it.  The tires were rotted away and anything rubber had since turned to concrete.  But, the body was in excellent shape.  Very little rust.    After some haggling and working on Dena,his wife. Jimmy sold us the van.  the problem is that we both wanted the van. so we bought it together!  since we had the trailer with the vans from the sema show we loaded the Rainbow van in the back and I drove the A100 pickup back to Ohio. More on that later.

 We had the Surfink and the L600 at a show in downtown Vegas.  We were a hit.

On the way into Vegas we were stopped by the biggest DOT asshole I have ever come across. After an hour of harassment he finally gave up trying to pin something on us..

into the trailer she goes

there were a lot of doodles on the dash and the walls.  They looked familiar 

After some research we have been told that this van was the Roth Studios shop truck in the mid 60's. WHAT A FIND.  You have no idea how excited I am about this one!

guess we're gona leave it like this for awhile. 

Heading west

Heading west to eventually arrive at the SEMA Show..  Making a stop near Salt Lake City for the Kulture Krash car show.  A bunch of my pinstriping bretheren put togeather a show in Riverton , so we decided to hit it on the way.and of course, a stop at the  In n out burger

This was a delivery that I did several years ago.  It was repaired and I got to do it again.

Last month I did the Back to the 50's  car show. I did a lot of rat rod cars and wagons. 

I have made a lot of progress on the early Dodge

I took off the exhaust system to polish it., touch up paint, and install shocks.

all shiny   lol

got the seat trims installed.

the door handles are painted.

the last major thing to finish is the bed top.

I took the I.D. plate off to paint the door jams.

one of the last things to do.

The sign board is finished.

 I wanted a retro look for the dash so I used the stock dodge steering wheel.  add a chrome horn ring from the custom model{ thanks scottie} and you get this!   

Next time, finished pictures of the Surfink!

There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

 It wont be long till I have this baby on the road.   I am workin' hard to get this done for the Nationals and it looks like I just might make it., The interior is close to being finished.

Down to the last headliner panel.

The engine cover is done Got to put everything together, to make sure it will all fit. Got the rubber gasket installed. .

The center panel goes up.  This is tough when you do it alone!

The side door panel is the last major piece left of the interior. I had to take the door off again to get it fit and install the door gasket. 

Headliner done.   comin out just fine!

padding the front of the bed .

I've got 2 surfboards that go with the van one inside and this one I will use for a show sign.

using up some of the paint layin around

The engine cover fits together pretty good.

door panels are installed.  The speaker covers arrived too!

Ron is fitting the carpet. I am fitting the carpet on the wheel wells

This board is going to hang on the wall. I carved the design into it and glassed it

and a little one shot.

Cut the wood for the floor and glued it into place.

It is starting to come together  I am trial fitting it all.

Chris and Kenny are the local glass gurus. They are installing the windshield. Gona do some tricky stuff!

Brown glass?????

The hope is to set the windshield with urethane and eliminate the ugly wide rubber gasket.

This was the first cut. Makin me nervous!

Hmmm.  not bad.

After it was cut they install a trim gasket and set it in black urethane.

And Blacked out the edge just like the new cars come. The center is sealed with urethane,thus eliminating the vertical rubber in the center.

Man I'm lovin this

The bottom of the overhead console will go on last.  Most of the electronics are under here.  The controls for the windows and side door, switches,receiver for the remotes, Sirius radio, and more, may need more work.

Ron cut the carpet and bound the edges. If you have been paying attention, you will remember there is a battery box recessed below the floor. It is much better that the stock battery box that is inside the van behind the driver. The problem is the box is right where you kneel to get in the van.  Instead of trying to hide the access to the box I decided to make a cover that fit into the carpet made out of foam rubber.  I made a plug original of Rat Fink and Tikis and made a mold. Using that I cast this kneeling pad from flexible foam.  It works nicely.

It's thick and quite easy on the knees.

With all that I have to do yet, I most likely will not have the opportunity to post again before the Van Nats, where I intend to premier the Surfink. I have a lot of finish work to do yet. Polishing and detail underneath.lots of striping to do yet. A sign to do,as well as regular work, a show and the Rat Fink Reunion coming up next month.If you don't make it to the Nationls I will be posting finished pics after.