TWELVE QUESTIONS WITH STEVEN D. CINNAMON

Twelve Questions with Steven D. Cinnamon and the Trash Van

INTRO: If you spend any time at all around vintage Econolines, you’ve probably seen the name Steven D. Cinnamon and his very cool first-generation Econoline van. We asked Steven if he’d play Twelve Questions with us and share the story behind his nice and clean green machine affectionately known as  “The Trash Van”.

1. You're a fixture amongst the East coast van community and clearly have an affinity for Econolines and it seems to be something the whole family shares. How did it start for you?

I just dig the old Econolines. I'm not discounting GM and Dodge I just don't own any.

My son Steven had an Econoline, a deluxe Falcon Club Wagon. Nice piece. He's sorry he sold it and regrets doing so. My daughter Allison owns the Ford Freeway Flyer. My grandfather bought a new 67 Econoline Deluxe Club Wagon. I have pics of it and I think that started my obsession way back then.

The Sidewalk Flyer. Even the littlest family members are involved.

2. Being that your area of the country has its challenges when it comes to old metal, how does that affect you and your car loving pals?

I have been blessed with three good Econolines, and all I have been pretty clean. I've never started with rusty junk on any build I've ever done for myself. It pays to wait and find a decent one to start with. Other friends with bigger pockets then I have started with far worse.

3. What's the story behind your Trash Van? Where did you find it and what condition was it in? Did Trash Van come from your neck of the woods?

Funny, Trash Van found me. It's kind of a long story. I had Sideshow Freak at the Detroit Autorama Extreme and a guy was crawling under taking pictures. I asked if I could help him, and he said he was restoring a '63 Econoline and wanted to put a V8 in it and was admiring my work. As he was showing me pictures of his Econoline, I saw a picture of a white one and asked him if that was what he started with. "No", he said, "that's my parts van that I'm pretty much done with". So, I went and looked at it a few weeks later and I struck a deal to trade the drive line out of Sideshow Freak for his parts van, and the rest is history. I ended up installing the V8 in his van too. Trash Van was originally a California (Pacific Bell) van so it's not bad at all.

Trash Van's humble beginnings were as a West Coast Pacific Bell service truck. Thanks for the reference shot, Google. 

Steven's Sideshow Freak, in all of her red-windowed glory with a smattering of Vinvanco stickers. Get yours here.

Can you say "Chick Magnet"?

4. It’s relatively easy to emulate what everyone else is doing with their vans. Trash Van seems to have followed a different path. Take the wheels and tires, for instance. What size are they and what are the reasons for the combo you’re currently running? I think I’ve seen shots of your van with a different wheel combo. Is that my imagination or do you have a second sets of wheels and tires?

I've always had and been gravitated towards different cars, trucks and vans. And I like to make my rides stand out. My current wheels are the original 13 inchers that came on it. I had planned to run the American Racing Torque Thrusts with red line tires I had on it before it was lowered but they were too big. So as they say, I decided to run what I had. I had the caps chromed and really like to look. I'm putting wide whitewalls and chrome steelies on it now. Shh, that's a secret. 
[EDITOR: OOooops!]

5. I’m a fan of the punched front grill that you’re running. How did you come up with it? Have you given any thought to marketing it to other Econoline owners? If so, where do I sign up?

That's an aluminum grill. We made two. One is in the Ford Freeway Flyer but, we didn't dimple die that one. The one on Trash Van is, and what a job it was to do it. Three days of warpage and my arms looked like Popeye when I was done. I offered to have some made but there wasn't much response back then. Now a lot of people want them after seeing it. My buddy sold his Fab shop since and now I have no way to make them. I was thinking of asking SpeedCult Detroit to make another for Sideshow Freak.

Nice dimples.


Note the vintage style travel stickers. Thanks for the love, Steve. Get yours below.

What the best-dressed windows are wearing. Get yours here.

Also available for your windows: Click here.

6. Is there anyone you’d like to give a shout out to for helping you make the Trash Van a reality?

Sure, my son Steven and my wife’s stepfather, Mike, did the bodywork and paint. Everything else is a work in progress. And I'd like to thank my wife for always being there and kinda supporting my obsessions. I have a bunch!

Dear Mrs. Cinnamon: Vinvanco would like to personally thank you for letting Steven play with Econolines. 

Note the Oscar the Grouch artwork, not to mention the Vinvanco sticker. We're honored. 

7. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen pictures of Trash Van’s engine compartment. What drivetrain are you currently running and do you have plans to change it?

All original 144, 3 speed with a 4.00 gear. I started to swap it out with a 200, automatic and a 3.00 gear. Didn't feel like I had enough time to do so. I put it back together because summer was coming and I love to drive it.

8. How did you go about achieving the Trash van’s ride height? How does it handle? Is there anything you’d change?

I'll give a shout out to Tim Brogan, Econo Parts USA in Kentucky for the suspension. He came up with an awesome heavy duty front flip kit that I bought. The rear axle saddles I got from the trailer supply store. The rear shocks ended up being the front shocks now. I measured and came up with heavy duty truck shocks for the rear. If I had the cash, patience and time, I’d build it like Steve Luckett’s or Brian Morris’s Econolines. Maybe the next one.

9. What about Trash Van’s interior. Is it a work in progress? Do you have plans for the interior?
Don’t worry, we’ll only tell everyone.

As far as the inside, it's nothing! I've insulated the walls and ceiling and I did make a pattern to do the walls in thin plywood and I want to cover it with 50s, 60s,and 70s Hot Rod Magazine pics, then clear over that. I like for kids and adults to get inside and check it out that shows. I especially like having them sit behind the steering wheel since not many people have done that who are younger than me.

Start 'em young. 

10. Did you pick the paint color or did Trash Van come to you Oscar-colored?

I did pick the color. When I got it, it was a cream color. I was going to leave it because I was going to use it for swap meets and hauling stuff but then it took a whole different route. I felt that it deserved a second chance. My dad bought a new 1972 Ford Thunderbird that was the exact color that Trash Van is now.  IT's known as Ivy Bronze or Green Fire Mist Metallic depending what book you look in. I remember telling him that I really liked the color and some day I'd have a car that color. So I chose it 40 years later. Trash Van was originally Ma Bell green so it was already green on the inside.

Behold, a 1972 Ford T-Bird. Thanks, Google.

11. What advice do you have for someone trying to get a vintage Econoline on the road and wanting to keep it there?

Just do it as they say! I've never ran into anyone that didn't like them. Even if they didn't quite know what it was.  I belong to a great group of like-minded people who are all about helping each other out. Check out our Facebook site. It’s 61-67 Econolines. A bunch of great guys with ideas, photos of builds, stuff for sale, and great Q&A.

12. If you could magically own any van besides yours, but couldn’t change a thing or ever sell it, whose van would you own and why?

It would be very hard to choose between Coby Gewertz's "Van Go", Brian Morris' "The Box") or Steve Luckett’s "The Creeper". The only one I've seen in person is Steve’s. There are pictures of Creeper and Trash Van parked next to each other at the last Bakers of Milford show.

Exhibit "A": Coby Gewertz's fabulous "Van Go".

Exhibit B: "The Box", custom built by Brian Morris and friends.

Exhibit C: Steve Luckett's garage-built beauty, "The Creeper". 

And with that, we’ve reached the end of another Twelve Questions and met yet another vintage van friend. Let's take a moment to thank Steve and his family for taking the time to provide us the details and images of Trash Van.  To help support  our efforts, feel free to check out our website and stock up on some vintage van swag.

Until next installment, keep the boxy side up.

The End. Of this post, and Steven's tire.

CARROLL SHELBY TRIBUTE VAN

Carroll Shelby would be proud. Every now and then it happens. A van owner sends me something that really lights my fire. In the case of this Econoline van, it's a wheel package that while totally appropriate, you almost never see. These wheels are factory styled steel Mustang wheels that were offered beginning in '65 as an option. In the case of this particular van, the fronts are 14X7 with 4" of backspacing and the rears are 15X8, with 4.5" of backspacing. Now here's what really makes this interesting. These 14" front wheels clear a set of D&D disc brakes. Which happens to be the exact set-up I have for Pandora. The other things that makes this particular van interesting is that it has a great stance. As much as its current owner. Don A Overly would like take credit, the van came to him with this wheel package and stance. But what he plans to do with it is equally interesting. Don A is planning to build a Carroll Shelby Tribute van. In this case a picture is worth a thousand words. To date, the van has had a kick-up installed in the rear and has had a roller cammed 302 Police Interceptor engine installed.

The entire front suspension is being gone through at the moment and Don is going to run one of Tim Brogan's axle flip kits. Nice work, Don. Keep us posted.

Thanks for Sharing her with Vinvanco, Don. Keep up the good work. Keep the shots coming. #Vinvancoapproved.

FINAL EXTERIOR COLOR

I've got it. The final exterior color and a complimentary color for details. Were we standing in the home depot paint section where I pulled these samples you'd be looking at Citronette, HDC-MD-03 the olive color on the left, and Sovereign, HDC-CL-06, which is kind of an eggplant-ish dark purple. Both from the Behr "Home Decorators Collection, thank you.
The olive shade will be Pandora's exterior color. It may be a tad darker but for the sake of discussion but this is it. The purple lives on the opposite end of the color spectrum, making it a nice choice for pin-striping, the roof, and/or interior color. The primary colors of the interior will live in the worlds of bamboo and barkcloth, two materials I've dabbled with in the past.  So there you have it.

Although I'm not picturing anything as elaborate as the reference picture below, I would like to make use of tiki style matting for the headliner. The barkcloth would make great curtains, front door panels and loose throw pillows and perhaps a detail wall. A couple of cool light sconces a small Edgar Leeteg-inspired black velvet painting and bingo. We've got a polynesian vibe. Vantiki.
.

The other color/texture I'm strongly contemplating is Pearl white, for seating cushions and to keep the interior feeling light and bright in spite of the bamboo and woodwork
accents. The accompanying shot to the right is a good example. Picture the side interior panels in a padded barkcloth, the headliner in bamboo matting and the seat cushions done in diamond tufted white vinyl.

Here's a good example of barkcloth as a wall texture.

Let's not forget the floors. We'll be using Sisal. 

As I noted earlier, the fial color may be just a touch darker, like this VW squareback so

nicely demonstrates. Forgive me for repeating aspects, but this is the process I generally must go through to feel confident of an overall idea. And this one is really resonating nicely. 

EXTERIOR COLOR FOR PANDORA

I've been thinking about the exterior color of Pandora now that I've decided it's going to have a Polynesian theme. I had been thinking about a simple white, but now I'm beginning to lean towards something a bit more tropical in vibe.

One direction I'm liking is a darker turquiose based on one I've posted many times on my Facebook page as a great example of a tastefully modified Econoline.

When you look at the barkcloth sample I plan to use for the back window curtains and other areas such as the driver and passenger door panels, you can see how nicely it would compliment a darker solid turquoise color. 

OPTION #1: DARK TURQUOISE.

OPTION #2: DEEP OLIVE: 

OPTION #3: GREEN PUTTY:

OPTION#4: DARK GREY PUTTY.
This is another color I'm considering, a solid darker grey with just a tinge of green. Very unusual.

INTERIOR PLOTTING

After letting the Polynesian theme sink in for my Econoline, I've started plotting what the interior will look like from a layout standpoint. I definitely want to use the interior space efficiently and comfortably. I found a furniture website online called "joybird" and was looking at some of the L-shaped couches and it inspired me to think about Pandora's rear cargo area. 

Imagine configuring something that looks like this for the back cargo area. Picture the right side of the couch butting up to the back of the driver's seat. By wrapping around at the rear wheel well, it would create a little storage are behind it and a package shelf. The shelf could be velour, barkcloth or vinyl and even house speaker as well as some storage beneath it. 

Since I'll be running a Gull Wing door instead of the double stock barn-door style cargo doors , I think the interior should be centered around the idea of looking out through the side door.

With that I mind, I started sketching a wraparound couch. One way of thinking about it is to build something akin to the styles I saw on Lovejoy's excellent website, going for a mid-mod kind of tiki-esque look. Another way at it is to utilize a early-sixties T-bird wraparound seat, perhaps building a custom transition for the corner that wraps. Doing so would be an exercise in trying to replicate what the sixties T-Bird's factory designers would have do if they'd been tasked with building a T-Bird inspired Econoline interior. I'm really liking the idea of using some kind of bamboo matting for the headliner/ceiling and walls and could totally see an interior like the one below fitting into the swank Tiki lounge vibe. 

Another "aha" moment I had was when thinking about the drivers and passenger's seats. The thought was to make the passenger seat able to flip 180 degrees so it would face the wraparound couch. 

Doing so would create a circular flow to the cargo area, making it a great place to hang with friends.

No use doing it on the drivers side since the bench would but up against the back of the driver's seat. 

In terms of the style of the seats, I'm thinking of using something similar to what Brian Morris used in Econoline, known simply as, "the Box".

So there you have it. An L-shaped couch in a mid-mod or T-Bird motif and a passenger seat that can be easily turned 180 degrees. Now add in velour or pearl vinyl upholstery material and we're beginning to get somewhere interesting.  In terms of the upholstery style, I'm thinking along the lines of a tufted, plush velour or a simple tuck and roll, like what the Matze's/Harvey's/ E-dog Econoline van uses.

A bamboo matting headliner and walls, and Cisel/Seagrass floors. 

The only thing left to figure out is the cockpit.  

PORTHOLE WINDOWS -- AN ALT TO USED ONES?

We don't carry portholes in our Vinvanco store. But we do see them going for a lot of loot used. I figured there has got to be a decent new alternative, and it appears there is. After reading through the reviews, I found a couple of people who'd used these new portholes to achieve a period look. They may not be the perfect answer for everyone, but it looks like a pretty good product.

Always thinking about vanning. Over and out.