The coolest part of your story to me, is that you named your KZfaq channel after your Grandpa's business.

The vans with panel on drivers side and windows on passenger side were called "display" vans. They were almost always ordered by Telecom/phone companies for fleet use. The panel side had tool racks/shelves while the window side allowed light and side visability. Very rare to see one that was not originally ordered for a telecom company. Thanks for posting.

Sweet. My Dad had a 66 Dodge with the slant 225 and 3 on the tree. I wish he would have kept it. I would sleep on the dog box when we went on trips. AND I SURVIVED. I miss the 70's.

Very nice , and 1000 times cooler than a sprinter van.

You did a great job. My older brother had a 69 panel van and offered it to me it had a 350 and a powerglide transmission. I didn’t have the space at the time and said no thanks .I’m kicking myself now.

The van is awesome but the back story is the best. It's good to see someone of a younger age having such respect for family. You sir are a dying breed!!!

Your grandfather would be proud of what the van has become. Very cool, functional. Great job.

I had a 65 SWB 6 cylinder 3 speed 😊 Camaro buckets, PLUM CRAZY PAINT!! and cragar SS wheels!! Thanks Diane for the purple curtains!!!😊😊😊😊😊❤ your truck is badass 😂😂😂😂

Love the origins of the van story. I love the respect given to your grandfather.

Jake, this is fantastic! In the late 70’s my friends were immersed in the custom van craze. I ended up with a ‘68 flat glass that one of my best friends sold to me. He had totally customized it inside and out as well as slipped (crammed) in a 283 V8 with headers. It took an hour just to change the plugs! I had some of the best times of my life with that van. My wife and I traveled all over with it when I was competing in New England (motorcycle) enduros. You did a beautiful job with this build, your grandfather would be proud 👍🏼

Your sharp-looking Chevy G10 van abounds in the qualities I value highly--simplicity and ease of maintenance. Good job on the restoration.

Great job on saving your grandfather’s van and adapting it to your lifestyle. As you said, sourcing parts can be difficult. Drop me a line, maybe I can help.

Nice project. I love the visibility and seat position for driving vans. For 4x4 help with cables and shifters etc Bleepin Jeep built a forward control Jeep that he worked through some problems in his videos. Good luck with your future build.

The pimped hippie... What a cool van..... Someone gave me a 96 Land Rover Discovery that set in the Mojave desert for 15 years and I just love the thing even as rough as it is

I had a 69 with a 400 caddy motor.this is exactly what I want today.awesome job

Love the van man. My parents first new vehicle was a 71 Bronco and my dad sold it in the early 80's to start his business. In the 90's we tracked it down and it was the body, frame, boxes of parts, and tires. The guy that bought it ripped it all apart and was going to lift it, new motor, trans, restore it, and he lost interest halfway through. The title was still in my dads name which made it easy but we're the least mechanical family on the planet so it took us 10 years to get it all together but were driving it now. It was cool to hear that the van was your grandfathers and how important it is to you, I thought I was one of the only people who gets sentimental about vehicles.

Grandparents are precious. Thing was super cold how your Grandpa had it white w/ white wheels. You did a good job reinventing it to suit you.

Machins INC. This is a sweet van. My first vehicle was a '68 ford F100 with a straight six and a three-on-the-tree. That's how I learned how to drive a manual transmission and I loved it. Bench seat, lap belts only. Rear-wheel drive. One last thing: Never get rid of this van!! Pass it down when you get too old to drive it.

I love this van! About 20 years ago, I went to weekly archery tournaments with an oldtimer who had done almost the same build and paint with the same year van. I was always so psyched whenever he showed up. I think this is one of the best looking vans.

Love what you've done with the van, great history of it as well. I had a 64 Chevy panel van, 6 banger, 3 on the tree back in high school and early college. Drove it all over and had a lot of fun with friends!

Cool van! I put seats from a 1980 Subaru in one. Easy swap. In the mid '80s I was making side $$ as a backyard mechanic. Somebody totaled my Subaru, which if memory serves was an 80 coupe. GL? I needed transportation fast. In the yard I had a 69 Chevy window van that we'd pulled the 327 out of to go in a nova. The t-boned Subaru, and a rolled mercury zephyr wagon. Took the engine (200cuin 6) & tranny out of the zephyr and swapped it into the van. Had to shorten the drive shaft almost a foot. The seats in the van were rotted to just the springs, so I put the seats out of the Subaru in it. Had some mirrors & hubcaps off an old dodge pickup to round off Frankenstein. It got 21mpg. I sold it to a buddy that drove it like that for 20 years.

respect to you for keeping the van in the family, will enjoy the build up as it goes through the steps of your vision

Beautiful van and great story to go with it. Always loved the old flat front style vans.

This is awesome. I love those. Style vans. I have my grandfathers K5 that I’m in a scramble to fix similar to what you stated. Came out great and I am sure your grandpa is smiling every time you drive it.

Very Cool Van! All the upgrades are useful and tastefully done!

Wowza!!! I remember that van in the early days, you've really done a great job! Truly awesome!

Great build. I love the uniqueness of it. You did your grandfather good. Props to you for keeping his vision going.

Sweet!!! Props for going old school and salute to grandpa for keeping it so you always have the memories. Hopefully your kids will drive it one day.

Amazing story, amazing know-how of aan amazing grandson building an amazing rig! Love this!

Super cool van! The background story makes it that much better! You did a nice job and I'm sure you grandpa would be proud of you.

Super cool van! And a great story to go with it! Shout out to Cory and good friends like him. Thanks for sharing.

Love this as an adventure wagon platform. Great approach/departure angles, and the 108" wheelbase is great for off-road. I imagine visibility from the driver's seat is excellent for picking good lines. Such a fun project.

Nice job refurbishing your Grandads van! He would be very proud of your work! Looking at where that radiator is, so close to the front of the dog house, it’s amazes me it gets enough air to cool the V8! Thanks for sharing!

Great story behind the van…and you did an awesome job representing your grandfather.

Awsome that you're grand father gave you that priceless 👌

I love the Van! It’s So awesome you got it from your Grand father. Great job.

I love old vans , you did a nice job on it. a work in progress, dont ever let it go.

MY 68 was half and half windows and panels. excellent vehicle. drove it everywhere.

U have done justice to ur grandpa van ❤👍👍👍👍👍

That van is a sweetheart. Your grandfather would be proud. I would like to see more information on the 4x4 conversion. Thanks.

That is one of the coolest vans of that era I have seen in a long time.Nice work.

Nice! Had never seen this configuration on a van. As an overlander and with sentimental value from your grandfather, you seem very confident on fixing and modifying it to suit!

Real nice build! Never seen an attempt at a G series conversion till now. Love the Motor choice, axels, all of it really! Hope you enjoy it for a long time. Thanks for posting her.

Great Job! My Dad had a 67, and we put a 327 in, 4 inch tail pipes! Loud and Proud! Miss it! Thanks for the video!

This story speaks to me in so many ways. I'm from Greenville, SC and drove a 1966 Dodge van through High School and College. This was in the late 70s, so 8-track tape and 6x9 speakers rockin' it. I now live up near Asheville and do a good bit of off-road and overland travel and have always wanted to get back into s 70 van with 4x4. Fantastic rig and great story with it coming from your Grandpa. I'm sure he would get a kick out of it. Another tidbit is that I worked with the Telephone company and they ordered all of their Chevy vans with the windows on one side and metal on the other to allow for storage on the driver's side and safer visibility on the passenger's side. It may be that this van was a Southern Bell order that your Grandpa got somehow.

Thanks for the video. My first vehicle was a 1967 Chevy van I bought off my father. It also had been a work van. This was in the early 70's and I had started decking out the interior with brown shag carpet and was getting ready to put in paneling. Unfortunately I rolled the van one and a quarter times on my way home from school. Messed up the body pretty bad. Still ran tho. Moved on to a 69 Olds Toronado WITH factory 8 Track. Thanks for bringing back some great memories.

Well done young man. Great presentation. I don't need to tell you that your Grandfather would be proud and glad you're enjoying it. He'll....if I wasn't 2000 miles away I'd lend a hand myself. Very cool.

Very cool display van, I have a 69 108. I love 1st and 2nd Gen vans. Mine is a real panel with no side or rear windows. Van looks awesome, glad you kept her looks stock

Sweet! I don't know why we don't see more of these 4 x 4 vans. A 4 x 4 van seems very practical and a functional recreational vehicle. Used to see a lot of them back in the late 70's.

Your restomod van is very good! I had a '67 90" work van, back in the late 70's. It was very maneuverable. Replaced it with a '79 Dodge B200 108" work van. The technology differences were amazing. Your update of the powertrain is good. Especially using the sniper EFI on your engine.

My older brother had a GMC like that. It was great fun to drive.

Nice. I love old vans from all the manufacturers. They bring me back to my teens.

Great Video. Love the look and the connection to your family history. Thank you.

That's the single most beautiful and wonderful thing I've ever seen. Good on you Man. Seriously.

Man oh man I love this van. Especially since it’s the same age as me. The color is awesome great job.

It took a 12' B&M shifter cable to work my 4L60E with the shifter. Also, Clasic Industries sells an all-electric gauge kit that fits the 62-65 Nova I used for mine. Crushin69 here.. Good to find you on youtube!

Cool van👍I love to see other people still using these old trucks😎

Love this van. Love this video. The thing about “overlanders” is that they’re almost always so big and heavy that they’re only good for KZfaq and Instagram hits and would be stopped at the first switchback. This thing is small enough to actually go over landing.

As a VW Bus - Chevy 4x4 - Jeep JKU owner, this van really speaks to me! Your grandfather sounded like a great man. And you’ve got a good friend who was a lot of help. You’re a blessed man

Beautiful van, beautiful story. I also remember learning how to drive at 13. Memories like those are what life is made for. Seriously brotha it looks better than most modern vans. Definitely does not look old.

Nice work Jake ! Thank you for sharing you van project.

Great story about an awesome van. Thanks for sharing.

Dude that is BaddAss, I like old stuff made new again.. Grandpa would be happy

Awesome van, you have got a great plan for it and I can’t wait to see the progress.

Great video, your Grandfather would be so proud of your restoration. I’ll be looking for it in parking lots when I’m mountain biking in Colorado next summer. I frequent Durango cause I have a sibling that lives there

I just found your channel and all I can say is "WOW"!!! Your van is one of the coolest projects I've seen in years and I am subscribing to your channel right after I finish this comment because I don't want to miss a single episode to see where this treasure goes. I'm truly sorry your grandfather is not around to see what you've got going on with this van but I have NO doubt he's looking down and seeing for himself what a fine young man you have become... RIP Grandpa, your van is in great hands...

Cool conversion 👍🏼…drove a old Chevy van like that for deliveries when I first started workin…it had a 283 ci. S/block with a power glide and a 12 bolt rear with 4:11 posi set up from factory..that thing was a beast …ate tires up like mad not to mention crazy standing start takeoffs…it’s one of those you don’t forget !

Cool build as it brings back good memories. My father bought new 69 307ci van with 4 on the column. I could be wrong but I'm remembering only 69 of them were made with 4spd.

Sweat! Gramps is the man. What a great gift. I'm sure he loved the thought of living on in your memory as he obviously is. Pass that van on to your kid.

Cool my family had one of these vans back PA in the 1970s as our daily driver. Brings back a lot of memories.

Wow, that is so cool! I just bought a 4wd 4Runner to get back into off road stuff. Last time I was into off road stuff was in the early eighties. YOU'RE ONE LUCKY DUDE!

Your story hits me hard since I have my papas 1949 Chevy pickup and I’m 58 years old but I kept the old 235 cu in with advance adapter overdrive

What a cool ride! I love it! I’ve got a 77 Pathfinder G-30 I plan on doing some videos of soon!

I was just plotting doing a similiar build. Very well done!

In 1976, this van was our family's first vehicle. Its brining back many memories, it was white and had the windows all around with a dog house. I recall many times holding the flashlight while my dad worked on it.

I had a 67 Chevy passenger van, 283 v8, posi rear end. When empty I could almost do a wheelie! Lots of surprise looks when the red light turned green.

LOVE your van! and the story of how you acquired it.

You are doing an amazing job with this van. Love the story. Sliders and swing out bumper would be awesome. Aluminum if possible for weight but that might be harder to make. Great stuff man. Congrats

Your granddad would be very proud good job young man

Nice video. I had 2 of those vans. Sportvan deluxe. The first was totally redone. I love redoing it. I drove it all around the U.S. I got the second one for a parts van. I went down to southern California to get it. It was too nice to make a parts van. 68k original miles it even had a Kleenex holder inside it stock item. That was in the late 90's into the 2000's. Once my daughter came to us, I no longer felt as safe driving it around. Those were some fun times.

Love the history of the van and what a great project 😊

That thing is rad. You are lucky to have come across one. I had a 68 and I had a buddy who had a 65. I spent lots of time working on it and painting it. Unfortunately I crashed it on the first icy day of the year. They were called handyvans in Canada.

Wow I LOVE that van! Great job on it.

Nice to see the past brought back to use and not just junked. Good job.

Great build and a great story. Love the idea of using the column shifter for the T case. Looking forward to updates. Subbed 👍

Great van!!! I have been wanting to build one of these into a 4x4, for many years. One day I will.

Nice job love the story with the van keep up the good work God bless

This is very similar to what I want to do with my 67 chevy van 90. Love it dude.

Such a cool little van! I can appreciate the work that goes into a conversion like this! Just finished my own 4x4 van conversion. Not nearly as cool as this van and even cooler the history it has!

Damn ! You don't Ever See These on the road! Very Unique and Functional! Got a Great motor Setup Too! 😎🤙

I really like your van. It’ll make a really cool rig when you are finished. Heck, it’s a cool rig now.....

This is a fantastic custom van. Bravo man

Grandpa lives on in you! He’d be proud.

Beautiful build. I love these late 60s vans.

Great renovation your grandfather would be proud

Awesome Van! Nice job. Gramps would be proud.

That thing is sweetness personified.

Very cool. Good video Jake.

WOW! Beauty AND a Beast! 🤩😍 Love the colour on it as well! Niiice! I have a ‘78 G10 shorty, with a 292 i6 and 3-speed manual on the column, that I hope to much of the same as you have done. 4x4 coversion overlander style. But I might keep the 292 and turbo it. And if i can find a 4-speed, I might swap that in. Good luck onwards! Will definatly follow this build! PS: The story behind this van makes it worth keeping forever! ❤

love the van 👍 one off and keeping your grandpa's Ride alive. Looks really sweet ride and you just don't get too st that body style anymore 👀🤘👍👌😱👀👀👀🤘👍well done Ride or 🎲