This is basically a copy of a thread I made some 5 years ago when I first got this van that was posted on another forum at the time. Much of the finer details I have lost but have thrown this together as best as I remember. I no longer frequent that forum and have been lurking here for weeks and thought I'd register and join in the fun. Without further ado, this is my first project, a 1976 GMC Aluminium body step van. All the action takes place in Canada, but I am British and live in the UK.
I was driving back from a scuba dive in Ontario, and had been dreaming of something Retro for a campervan that would serve as a learning tool to get myself into the world of cars and mechanics before I found the right candidate. I had seen a smaller 1/2 Ton version in a scrap yard but it was a touch too small, had no papers, and the owner wanted a $1200 CAN for what was, basically, a shell: "The Coheen Machine"
This is still rotting away in a scrap yard near Peterborough, ON, to the best of my knowledge. I was toying with the idea of a 300TD from a Merc' W123 that I had knocking around at the time as the power plant but this never left more than the drawing board.
The next candidate was much better, a 1 ton that moved under it's own power with the original GM 6 cylinder and Muncie gearbox intact. Sadly this had been purchase literally the day before I happened to spot it driving by...
A week later, coming back from a Scuba dive I spotted the familiar grill hidden behind a tree line while motoring past at 90 clicks... A quick U turn and the adrenaline started to rise as I saw it was what I hoped it to be!
I was driving back from a scuba dive in Ontario, and had been dreaming of something Retro for a campervan that would serve as a learning tool to get myself into the world of cars and mechanics before I found the right candidate. I had seen a smaller 1/2 Ton version in a scrap yard but it was a touch too small, had no papers, and the owner wanted a $1200 CAN for what was, basically, a shell: "The Coheen Machine"
This is still rotting away in a scrap yard near Peterborough, ON, to the best of my knowledge. I was toying with the idea of a 300TD from a Merc' W123 that I had knocking around at the time as the power plant but this never left more than the drawing board.
The next candidate was much better, a 1 ton that moved under it's own power with the original GM 6 cylinder and Muncie gearbox intact. Sadly this had been purchase literally the day before I happened to spot it driving by...
A week later, coming back from a Scuba dive I spotted the familiar grill hidden behind a tree line while motoring past at 90 clicks... A quick U turn and the adrenaline started to rise as I saw it was what I hoped it to be!
( £25 or there abouts 
)
