Knocked off a few more items from the to-do list. Mainly trying to get the engine ready to start. The battery tray and fuse box are remounted to the frame. And the battery is dropped in and charging.
And I'm filling in the holes in the trunk area. While there I mounted the rear fuse box.
While waiting for the metal to cool and the battery to charge I did some more looking and thinking on the front fender. It's starting to come together.
Until next time.
I was thinking of you today when I took this picture of a pristine example.
Wow! That is really clean. A great two tone color scheme too.
I guess if we're posting vans, I had one for a couple years. 1995 Trans Sport, in Arrest Me Red for some reason. It had the quick ratio rack and L27 Buick V6. Ran an 18.1 in the quarter mile! 27 mpg on the highway!
Can't wait to see more from this thing. Still such an awesome project.
This thing makes me really happy.
I'll admit I was trolling craigslist for Lumina vans today... I'm sure this thread had something to do with that.
This project sure has been fun to watch!
BlueInGreen44 wrote: I'll admit I was trolling craigslist for Lumina vans today... I'm sure this thread had something to do with that. This project sure has been fun to watch!
theres a $500 90 APV on cleveland CL right now, 3.1 TBI iron head 3 speed auto fury machine.
More work done tonight. I got the dashboard put back in along with the gauge cluster.
Then I finished re-grounding the electrical system and pulled the charger off of the battery. When I connected the battery cables the tail lights turned on and the HVAC system made some noise. And now for the moment I've been waiting for... I sat on the floor, put my foot on the clutch, and turned the key
And it STARTS and RUNS!!! YES! (Sorry, no video.) It was a little noisy without the muffler and immediately complained about low coolant, but IT RUNS! Question to current/former G6 owners: is the radio display supposed to stay on all the time? I tried waiting it out, but it stayed on, so I disconnected the battery. Maybe it's looking for the door latch switches, I don't know. I'll look into it tomorrow. Until next time.
It looking for the door switches. Should time out after about 10 minutes though if I remember right.
It's probably specifically looking for the drivers door to open. Lots of cars leave the ACC circuit and window circuit live until the driver door opens. You should be able to find the switch and mount it to retain that functionality. I suspect you'll have the hardest time electrically getting all the body control module dodads working right. The project is turning out awesome. Im really liking this trend of cut one car at the floor pan and attaching another chassis to it that is happening lately. Your doing this, the other GRMer is doing the P1800 Miata and the other day I saw a Mercedes 190E onto moder C class chassis. Modern hotrodding at its finest.
How much, if any, work are you going to put in to having a stock-appearing interior?
Left Ventricle wrote: How much, if any, work are you going to put in to having a stock-appearing interior?
First priority is to finish welding up the remaining holes between the two vehicles. Second is reinstalling the front end (fenders, bumper, hood, headlights, and windshield). Next is the interior. The goal is to use as much of both cars as possible. It should be van interior from the bottom of the windows up. The carpet, dashboard, and front and rear seats are from the car. Everything else will be a mix of the two.
Epic build man.... Wish you the best at the Challenge
Your pace makes my build seem glacial by comparison. Cant wait so see some vids of this going around the cones. Was there any budget left for decent rubber?
NOHOME wrote: Your pace makes my build seem glacial by comparison. Cant wait so see some vids of this going around the cones. Was there any budget left for decent rubber?
first 4 tires exempt 
patgizz wrote:NOHOME wrote: Your pace makes my build seem glacial by comparison. Cant wait so see some vids of this going around the cones. Was there any budget left for decent rubber?first 4 tires exempt
Your pace seems glacial by comparison because you didn't have an 11 month timeline and because you are taking the time to make it a useable, reliable, daily driver. At the moment the van lacks windshield wipers and sufficient safety structure (for me at least).
And I work as a tire development engineer at a tire company. It's got a set of Cooper Zeon RS3-G1 tires on. It's our just launched UHP, all-season tire. It should have plenty of grip for this van. The tires are even advertised to "hold 1G in corners" 
We'll see if the van can live up to that particular metric.
This is exceptional - A '92 Transport (1st gen, Pontiac variant) was the first car I drove solo when I got my license. I clearly remember rolling up to the video rental store where my buddies hung out at (Red Giraffe represent), hanging out the drivers window, asking who needed a ride...awesome memories. I still have the keys somewhere. That van was an epic pile of crap: the wipers would turn themselves on, or refuse to turn on when asked. The dash-wing that held the headlight switches would fall of in your hands sometimes(remember when you had to manually turn those on? crazy!). One time, when my dad turned the steering wheel, the whole column turned with it...fun. But that rolling brugundy turd will always hold a special place in my heart.
Much progress was made yesterday. Both my Dad and I took the day off of work, and my father in law came by in the afternoon. Most of the remaining holes have been welded up. And the fenders and hood are bolted on. The hood needs more adjustment yet, but it's on. We also cut back the front fenders to clear the tires while turning.
Until next time.
Since you work in tires, what are the chances of getting someone to make great tires in Vintage muscle car sizes again? Like 235/60/15, etc?
I'll happily test a set of 295/50/15 on the challenge car. You know, for science.
Pretty slim chances, unfortunately. 
I only design the tires. The marketing/business group has the job of picking the tire sizes for the product lines based on their data/research. I'm guessing the market for a UHP tire in classic (high section height and/or aspect ratio) tires is pretty small.
ShawneeCreek wrote: Pretty slim chances, unfortunately.
How about mentioning that some 15" sizes wouldn't be a bad idea. There's a lot of us that don't want to put 16", 17" or 18" wheels on old Japanese cars just to run performance tires.
Huge progress was made today. Too tired for a complete update, but I thought that you guys would enjoy this. No airbag. No budget. No problem:
My dad and I came up with this. There is a piece of posterboard inside with the Pontiac emblem from the trunk on it. Then the mesh in front of that (that is providing the airbag shape) is one of the front grills from the G6 that was recontoured. Until next time.
That's pretty cool
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