It was rainy and gloomy in LA yesterday so I loaded up the van and headed to Gorman. I was hoping it had seen some rain but it was still very dry & sandy. I only stayed for about 3 hours and didn't have time to explore the single track gates that go into the national forest. I shoulda done that first thing since most my friends ride quads I always miss out on that. I stayed on the green circle and square trails so it was a pretty mellow ride but fun and relaxing. I brought home some pictures and video for you guys too!

Video HERE

 

Sweet van

 

Cool. It looks like you have as much fun making the movie as you do riding. I need to experiment with putting the camera in different places on the bike. Stuff like that looks great all edited together. And , yeah, I've said it before, that van is badass. Thanks for posting.
Dan

 

thanks for the compliments on the van. I wanted to do more than helmet cam but the go pro battery ran out brfore i could move it around on the bike so i just put it away and had fun.

 

Dude!!! I've watched a lot of videos in my time, but that was AWESOME!!! And the van...where do I begin, I have always loved those vans, when I think of Cali I think of blonds rollerblading, people surfing, and vans like that. NICE!!! The music in the video was perfect, I loved the I-phone with the GPS going, the deer shot and of course you drinking coffee. Ok back to the van, Dude is that sucker 4 wheel drive? I see a pumpkin in front!!! WOW! And a roof rack, ok I get first dibs on that if you ever sell it. Thanks for the great thread.

 

Deej thanks for the nice words on the video, I have a blast making them. Ill try and do a few over the winter for everyone stuck in the snow. About the van, Yes it is 4WD! , Pathfinder Co conversion in 1976! new 400 in it, new exhaust and resealed and rebuild everything pretty much. Drove it to to chicago and back this summer I love it.

More of the van on my website - The Vanpires

road trip photos : - PHOTOS - Roadtrip 2011
roadtrip blog : - CHICAGO OR BUST

 

WHOA!!! Flashback!! LOL. Your van and those pics on your website/blog, remind me of the 70's when I was a kid and my dad took me all over the west coast to van show after van show. Vans were THE vehicle to customize in the 1970's. Unfortunately, my father and I never did one up, I thought we would, but fiberglass bodied Dune Buggies were OUR thing. LOL. Still cool to see custom vans from the 70's though.

I now own a 1976 Chevy-van 20 that has a 6 cylinder in it, but it is really rusty. Still runs like a top and I have no intentions of customizing it. Bought it from the local school district about 8 years ago now for 250 bucks. The school district bought it new in 76. It is affectionately named the Molester Van!~ LOL. I dont have a garage so I store my dirt bike in it.

 

whyzee you got a smoking deal are you gonna hand out free candy in the van on halloween haha j/k. if you have any photos of the van shows your pops took you too let me know ill put them up on the blog. Im gonna put up the "molester" if thats cool

 

Ok thats cool. Nah I dont have any pics of all the cool vans that were on the show circuit back in the 70's. I wished I did but I was just a kid soaking it all up with my Dad. I do still have this cool celluloid drawing (a Caricature?) that this gal (Pixie) did really quick for me for like 10 bucks or something. IIRC I got it at a show that was held at the Oakland Coliseum. She had a booth and would draw anybody's head (really big) and then add a little body to it. I remember her asking me what my hobby was and I told her skateboarding so she put my head on a little body on a skateboard.

Its a bit yellowed now but here is a pic. Not really custom van related but it DID come from a custom van show LOL.

Interesting tidbit: when I bought the van from the school district they had a few to choose from. My C20 had a sister van but it looked as if it was a painters' van with spilled paint everywhere. Mine only has a couple spills plus mine has a homemade wooden cab divider to keep the heat in the cab. It had some storage cubbies along the driver side wall that I removed a couple years back in order to free up some space in the rear. I didnt use them so the heavy wood structure was just dead weight. Anyway, there were a couple Chevy's @250 each and about 4 Dodge tradesmans for 175 each. I chose the Chevy cuz the Dodges were automatics and well, I dont like Dodge. LOL

Peace out, gotta go get some more candy LOL

 

Illking any recommendation on a basic, inexpensive video editing software?
I wish I could find some pics of the 79 dodge we had when I was a kid. Mag wheels , crazy zig zag paint .

Dan