vintage step van post

[Troostr]

Originally Posted by LowKat

Thats Awsome!! Thanks! My Dad will Love those!- it's his Helms Truck.

[1950coronet600hp]

Originally Posted by Kurbside

A bit comical to instead provide a link to DIY jet engine.

lol... well umm.. thats just my signature.. I'll edit it just for you
\/\/Hey everyone look\/\/ that.. yup its a signature... it may or may not have anything to do with what i am posting

[loco 52 ragtop]

i know it's not vintage but i would like to buy one

[Patrick46]

Sorry brah.......that's not a stepvan!!! ^^^

(you'll need to find the 'cube van' thread!!) heh-heh

[Kurbside]

Relax "comical" is OK. No need to "edit". Found your "signature" a "bit comical" b/c it suggests anyone can make something as complex & specialized as a jet engine themselves. BUT, for Grumman Kurbside fans, finding anyone, anywhere & at any cost, making something as simple & ordinary as curved windshield glass for a Vintage Step Van has proven impossible so far.

Originally Posted by 1950coronet600hp

lol... well umm.. thats just my signature.. I'll edit it just for you
\/\/Hey everyone look\/\/ that.. yup its a signature... it may or may not have anything to do with what i am posting

Confess I didn't open the link in your "signature" but recall ads aimed at kids offering kits & instructions to make your own jet engine. It was a pellet gun cartridge, modified w/orifice/nozzle screwed into the end & tin tail pipe, w/small tin pan under the cartridge. You filled it w/gas/alcohol? Put some fuel in the pan & lit it, thus boiling the contents, which ignite w/some jet force. Not approved by AMA or FD.

Twin Coach /Helm's Bakery walk in delivery trucks - most definitely.

Chevy Hi-Cube Van cutaway - not so much.

[Kurbside]

Is late 70's old enough to be vintage? Does the Fiat 242 qualify as a step van here? Still love the concept, they're surprisingly cavernous inside & a blast to drive, but didn't get the Midas Touch from Fiat. Spent several years trying to import one of these unusual delivery trucks. Because they're front drive the cargo floor is incredibly low - walk in van height. The little 4 cylinder diesel may have moved more parcels per gallon than any other delivery truck.

[flamed181]

[QUOTE=Kurbside;6109715] for Grumman Kurbside fans, finding anyone, anywhere & at any cost, making something as simple & ordinary as curved windshield glass for a Vintage Step Van has proven impossible so

There is a artistic glass procedure that may work for your curved glass. Its called slumped glass basically you build a mold out of steel and heat glass until it slumps over the mold. I once made a mold for a guy making lamps that had a hard curves it worked great.Google has tons of info. my 2 cents maybe help maybe not

[customizer2024]

Originally Posted by Troostr

Thats Awsome!! Thanks! My Dad will Love those!- it's his Helms Truck.

I can smell the bread in that wearhouse.

[scalhotrod]

ACME,

Your van is a work of art! Wow, you just set the bar for how to work on a Metro van.

Did you replace the wheels with one piece ones from Dayton Wheel or use the original split rims?

Also, was your grill intact when you started? Did you make any new bars for it? Did you straighten any of them? I'm looking for tips on restoring my grill.

Any other advice on body work for the rest of the van?

Thanks,

Chris

Originally Posted by Acme Speed Shop

Well things have been a little slow at the shop so I finally painted the red stripe on the ACME van (1961 International Metro) and we are half way thru building the shelves in the back.

KEEP ON VANIN'

[Kurbside]

1st choice, original Grumman green 6 piece windshield.
2nd choice, original Grumman colorless glass 6 piece windshield.
3rd choice, original Grumman 2 piece windshield any color.

Originally Posted by flamed181

There is a artistic glass procedure that may work for your curved glass. Its called slumped glass basically you build a mold out of steel and heat glass until it slumps over the mold.

Since flat Grumman/Olson green DOT laminate windshields for step vans other than Kurb-Side is available & windshield specialists can cut down both new & used DOT glass, the 4 flat pieces may be doable.

Was waiting for dimensions on an NOS/OEM front piece from a slow Ebay seller, guess the auction is over. Measured the '53 Kurb-Side, but still haven't confirmed assumption that later Grumman/Olson front glass is bigger.

Anyone got a Kurb-Master or later Grumman green windshield they could measure? Would be nice to make a list of later step vans that had Grumman green glass that could be cannibalized or cross referenced.

Will be visiting Jacksonville & Tampa area junkyards that have step vans. Also will be asking St. A boat builders & everywhere for any green glass to experiment w/bending.

Have known 2 glass makers, 1 is gone, the other has been out of glass for years. Seen quite a bit of glass made from; university lab stuff, to a Hubble telescope mirror, to Italy artisans, to Corning Works tours. Would love to see what a Yale physics dept master glassmaker & an art glass enthusiast could've made. Suspect I'd have a very hard time making the curved corner pieces for '53 Kurb-Side to my satisfaction.

Think I'm more like you. No problem making the steel mold, but another guy may have to make the glass. Still haven't found so much as a scrap piece of an appropriate green glass to experiment with.

[Metro Dog]

I'm picking up this sweet thing. 1962 metro dualie.

[krawler76]

i need some help to id this van...i think its 53 chevy but any help would be greatly appreciated..

[metro pizza wagon]

yo step vanners...

joining the group with this one.



I bought it last year and it's running ok. lived at the shop for most of last year, but I got big intentions with this momma...

I'm seeing a flat black body, lowered in the front slightly, polished silver accents with sick painted flames wrapping bumper to eyebrows and peeling back the sides, and a big fat hitch on the back for pulling something...maybe a 'cue trailer? I'd have to start my own thread with that tho... BBQ and step-vans...

[metro pizza wagon]

MetroDog,

did you get that one from San Diego? I almost pulled the trigger on that one, but couldn't justify owning 2, and driving neither of them :-P

[Rips P10]

very nice!

[P10stepvanman]

Great finds guys, welcome aboard!!

Now post pictures, inside and out, and lots of them.

[Metro Dog]

MetroDog,

did you get that one from San Diego? I almost pulled the trigger on that one, but couldn't justify owning 2, and driving neither of them :-P

Yes I did. I have to pick it up, but the deal is done.

[beanis]

Originally Posted by krawler76

i need some help to id this van...i think its 53 chevy but any help would be greatly appreciated..

Hmmm... I'm not sure, but I think I 've seen one of these before..if it's what I think it is.... a guy here in town had one... is the outer shell or at least the "nose" fiberglass?

[flamed181]

Great to see so many new projects I agree with stepvanman post lots of picks also post some here http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/g...hp?groupid=580

[scalhotrod]

Does anyone know of where to find a set of Metro Van "METRO" letters/badges?

Its one of the items I'm missing that I'd like to have. I could probably get one of the badge companies to reproduce them, but its pricey.

Thanks,

Chris