NAKED LADIES AND VELVET-- INSPIRATION FOR A CUSTOM VAN

"Hina Rapa"

I happened upon the story of a once-obscure depression-era sign painter who rolled the dice, moved to B.F.E. (The French Polynesia), and became a master in the art of drinking, hanging out in paradise, and painting naked girls on black velvet. His name was Edgar Leeteg, and from what I've gathered, he was a legendary raconteur, boozehound and skirt-chaser. A man who escaped an economically ravaged America in search of opportunity and found it in the form a beautiful island, gorgeous women, and enough tourists to keep him swimming in rum by painting portraits of scantily clad native women on black velvet. Damn good work if you can get it.

Leeteg was a sign painter and a journeyman before discovering his penchant for velvet painting. He left America with a handful of paint brushes, the shirt on his back and some paint he liberated from a prior employer and became a legend. He was the kind of hard-living guy you'd expect to see stumble out of a Hemingway novel. What he left behind was more than a taste for the wilder side of life. Leeteg's paintings captured the imagination of an entire generation and have since become highly collectible. By the end of his life in Tahiti, Edgar Leeteg had forged a reputation as the father of the American Velvet Painting, built a compound on Moorea and sold painting for as much as $15,000 a piece by the end of his life. 

I ordered this book for my research.
Maybe you should, too.  
(JUST CLICK THE IMAGE)

         After reading more about Leeteg, it dawned on me that a man who'd singlehandedly given the world so much beauty deserved to be immortalized alongside contemporaries like Sailor Jerry and Ernest Hemingway.  It's with that in mind that I proudly present the concept for Pandora, a rolling tribute to Polynesia, to its black velvet master, and to the joy that awaits anyone willing to hit the road and chase a dream. 

Which brings me to the subject of this blog. A first-generation Econoline van with a journeyman's past, having functioned as a garden supply vehicle the first few decades of its life. A van that much like Leeteg himself, just needed the right inspiration in order to become something remarkable.

And now that I've found the inspiration, the rest is just a matter of executing to plan. Without any further adieu, I present Pandora, aka the Vinvanco swag van, aka Tahiti Sweetie. For the sake of discussion, I'll break the build of Pandora down into digestible chunks. 

EXTERIOR MODS:

• ·      15” Cragar SS Wheels with BFG TA Radial white-letter tires. 
• (already have)
• ·      A MorDrop front drop axle (already have)
• ·      Doug Thorley style side pipes 
• ·      A gull wing passenger side cargo door (Already have)
• ·      A subtle custom paint job in  dark turquoise, or pearl white)
•     A custom interior with a tiki/island/surf vibe using bamboo and tropical accents
• ·      Tasteful custom dash and gauges 
• ·      Aftermarket shifter with custom shift knob
• ·      A Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser roof (budget permitting)
• ·      Narrowed front seats to accommodate the widened doghouse (see bar stool pics or seats from a Pontiac Fiero or similar)

MECHANICAL MODS:

• ·      289 or 302 mildly built engine with headers, small 4bbl and good ignition system and a C4 or modern AOD transmission
• ·      A limited-slip rear with gearing for balance of performance and economy
• ·      Mufflers that sound badass but don’t have a drone at cruising speeds
• ·      A state-of-the-art cooling system with a fan shroud and supplemental electric fans
• ·      A custom widened doghouse to clear V8 headers and provide maximum airflow
• ·      D&D front disc front brakes
• ·      Quality shocks and sway bars
• ·      Replacement gas tank
• ·      All-new gas and brakes lines 

·      INTERIOR MODS:

• ·      Aftermarket lap seatbelts
• ·      Extensive sound deadening throughout, particularly for the doghouse
• ·      Aftermarket or custom factory gauges from another Ford model
• ·      Low-profile seats 
• ·      An MP3-ready multi-speaker sound system
• ·      Custom couch and/or bed with storage
• ·      Dramatic vintage inspired lighting 
• ·      Custom woodwork  using combo of beech wood, bamboo matting, 
•   bamboo accents
• ·      Vintage barkcloth fabric for door panels and/or drapes
• ·      Sisal-type flooring, cut as removable mats for easy cleaning 
• ·      A custom widened doghouse widened doghouse tunneled to front dash.
• ·      Beaded curtains for privacy between front and back of van
•     Bamboo Matting
• ·      Ice Chest/cooler/wet bar integrated into interior

WHAT IT WON’T HAVE:

• Extensive shaving
• Extreme lowering
• Gaudy murals
• Cheap shag décor
• Portholes
• A CB Antenna
• A Visor
• Roof vents

VISUAL REFERENCES FOR EXTERIOR:

There is a simplicity to this van’s exterior that I really dig. Although it has mild mods -- shaved door handles, rear flares and a Vista Cruiser roof -- it manages to feel tasteful and understated. It isn't radically lowered and the mods all look period correct. This is what I want for Pandora. I won't shave the door handles on Pandora but may delete the bumpers. Or create a more aesthetically pleasing solution to the stock bumpers, such as minimizing and tucking them in or making tasty nerf-style bumpers. Or a cleaner option. I'd like to have a custom front grill treatment, similar but not the same as the one Steve Luckett created for his beautiful early Econoline, which was featured a few months back in this blog.

Adding Thorley-style side pipes is another mod I'm interested in to make Pandora look significantly lower without actually being lower, a tip Coby passed along when we interviewed him about his spectacular VanGo. E-Dog did so to great effect when he built the van below, which now resides in Germany.

I’d also like to install a Vista Cruiser roof like the one on Rodney's van below, budget permitting. And while we're on the subject of Rodney's van, I've purchased a gull wing side cargo door for Pandora.

INTERIOR IDEAS

I don’t want the interior to feel overly woody. It needs to be comfortable and tasteful in execution. By combining Sisal flooring, velour and pearl vinyl seating, bamboo and bark cloth, I hope to create the perfect environment in which to show off an example of Leeteg's Polynesian Black Velvet Art. The shot below shows a little of the type of vibe I'd like to capture, albeit with less wood. 

In terms of the interior seating and the rear of the van, I’d like to crate an “L”-shaped couch/bed unit with storage beneath and behind it. Something that ties into the look but is super functional for vending, carrying merchandise for our three businesses, Hotrodshiftknob, Houseospeed and Vinvanco, or for seating passengers or just chilling. 

Imagine a seating scenario like, only with bark cloth and bamboo accents surrounding it. The seats themselves could be a mixture of pearl vinyl and velour. 

Pandora's front seats would match the back's and carry the theme forward into Pandora's cockpit.  The seats that Brian Morris had built for his Econoline have a very cool look to them and were narrowed to accommodate a set-back 302 V8. Pandora's seats will also need to accommodate an expanded doghouse built to clear its V8 and headers. The seats below were purchased from a thrift shop in Denver to use for mock up and I'd like to use them if at all possible. They look a lot like Brian's, doncha think? 

I'll use bark cloth drapes for the rear windows and for upholstery on the inner front door panels. I feel that this would look great and be a nice compliment to the simple and clean exterior treatment we talked about above. Keeping with a Polynesian theme, I'll add a multi speaker MP3 audio system and dramatic lighting, and of course, a Leeteg black velvet painting as the focal point. 

Beaded bamboo privacy curtains between the front and rear of the van would add a little privacy. I’m thinking about banana matting for the headliner and perhaps even the side walls. 

Let's not forget the crowning jewel of Pandora's interior. Picture a cool old Polynesian frame with this bad boy in it. Happy vannin' indeed.

Yes, Edgar Leeteg was quite a character.  He managed to turn his painting ability into a life of boozing and high-balling and living in paradise. He took an art form that was considered lowly and beneath a true artist and made it legendary.
And while he was never completely accepted by the art establishment, he probably didn't matter a whole heck of a lot to him in the end. He led an amazing life. We'll toast to that. 

So there you have it. The plan for Pandora is locked and loaded. She's waiting patiently right behind me. Now all I need is my lottery ticket to hit. Or to sell a kidney. Or a shit-ton of Vinvanco merchandise. Maybe all three. I invite you to subscribe to this blog, follow Pandora's progress and learn all about other vanners and their builds from our reoccurring 12 Questions interviews. 

Until next time, keep the boxy side up.

SOMETHING DIRTY FOR YOUR CLOSET

We're pretty damn stoked to have added yet another great Dirty Donny t-shirt to the Vinvanco mix.
Behold, Donny's new "Van on the Run". But before you go buying one for your collection, we thought you might like to know a little about the man behind the art. So without further adieu, meet Dirty Donny, lowbrow artist, devoted vanner and all-around man about town.

A man, a plan and a van. Dirty with his trusty 73 Dodge. 

Donny adresses his discriminating art patrons. 

A personal fave. Everyone likes a little, well, you know. 

Hangin' Head. 

Tiki, the Dynotones and Dirty's artwork. A freakin' trifecta. 

Donny has created enough great art to fill a book. And here it is. 

All work and no play makes Dirty a dull boy. 

Picky artists choose Dirty.

Dirty, James, and the worlds most righteous pinball machine ever, IMHO. 

TWELVE QUESTIONS WITH BRIAN MORRIS.

INTRO: I’ve been a fan of Brian Morris and his van since he first sent pics of his build to Vinvanco's Facebook page. From what I’ve seen and gathered from our exchanges he's a damn great fabricator, family man and all around human. When his heavily slammed Econoline hit the streets, he officially joined the ranks of a small handful of guys who can actually drive their slammed vintage vans. I saw footage of his Econoline at speed posted on Facebook one day and was impressed.Then, Brian turned right around and built a slammed trailer to pull behind it. The next thing I heard he was on the Power Tour. Wow.

I recently asked Brian if he’d play Twelve Questions with us and he agreed. So here goes.

#1: First question, what do your sons, Max and Myles, make of your van? I know at one point you had door art with their names on your van. Have you dropped the boys off at school in it? What is the reaction from their friends? Other families? The crossing guards? 

The Morris boys and their dad's van, which they affectionately refer to as "The Box".
'.

A: Max and Myles are seven and four now, and they love the van. We have affectionately named her, "The Box".  They love to ride in it, and that was part of the attraction to this van, that I could bring my family with me. I pick them up from school in it every chance I get, and the crossing guards and all of the students really get a kick out of it. We live is a small town in upstate NY, where we all know each other. My family thinks I am nuts of course, but they love the van.

#2: I get the impression you did a lot of the work yourself. Do you own a shop or was it built at home?

Note the extended stock headlight grills. About 5" were added to each side. Subtle but tasty.

A: I had great people helping me. We did all the work in my two-car garage behind my house. A lot of people who deserve credit for helping and providing inspiration. Steven Bennett is a friend of mine from Saugerties and without him, this van would not be where it is today. He had a huge hand in the design and build, and he and I sat and looked at this project for untold hours wondering what we’d gotten ourselves into. Devin Larson from Kingston came in on the last half of the build, and did some great metal fab on the things like the doghouse and the floors. Also, a gentleman named Vic who goes by Army Of Six on the Vintage Vans Forum was a great source of inspiration. I encourage anyone interested to check out his build. Fellow van owner Steve Luckett and I have become friends over the past few years as well, as we both share passion for vans, and a quest to build what most say can’t be done.  Last but not least, I have to credit VanGo, the ultimate inspiration for all of us lowered Econoline owners.

Note the relief in the wheel well? It cleverly allows for the Econoline's front windows to roll down completely.

Allowing the windows to go down all the way was a big concern for me. I really wanted to keep that function. We started by cutting a channel in the bottom of the front doors as high as we could to accommodate the front tubs. So the window channel just rests along the bottom of the door. Then we tested different tires until it didn’t rub when fully aired out. Again, Steven Bennett was a huge part of getting that to work.

Note the marking on the the underside of the door. This gives you an idea of how it was notched for the wheel well. 

#3: You’re running a factory fuel-injected V8. Can you tell us about the setup and what the bennies are with the factory fuel infection. Was it harder to install?

A: We used a 1993 5.0 Mustang GT engine with a A4OD auto trans. We had to move it back about 2.5 feet so that it would fit. I basically moved the motor back as far as I could until the drive shaft was about 18 inches long, the minimum possible to allow the Air Ride suspension enough travel.

The driveshaft ended up being about 18" in length.

Note the amount of setback of the engine itself.  

Making the mounts was fairly easy, as the frame rails are straight. I used a Ford Racing wiring harness for the engine. That made that install very easy. I had to “trick” the engine into thinking it was in a Mustang, so we hooked up everything, right down to the inertia switch. I love the EFI, it runs perfect and has just the right amount of power for a street van.

#4: What are you running for a transmission?

A: We went with the A4OD trans to get overdrive and allow for taller gears.

#5:Can you take us through the front suspension? What parts did you use and what had to be fabricated? What was the hardest part?








A:The front suspension was the toughest part. I decided on a Mustang II front end. 
I was told over and over that it wouldn’t work, even by big suspension companies that have been building Mustang II front ends for years.

We built the sub frame for the front suspension on the bench, using rectangular steel stock to match the van's frame. The van’s frame is about 8 inches wider than the Mustang II. We then set it under there, and realized that the sub frame would have to be dropped about 4 inches to lay rocker. So we built drop brackets that would narrow that as well. The hardest part was figuring out the steering.

#6: What are you running out back, rear end and suspension-wise.

A: We went with a Ford 9-inch that we narrowed in my garage. It has 4:56 gears and positraction. Then, we set-up a triangulated 4-link with full Air Ride suspension.

Note the rear wheel widths. We're not sure whether this is the 9" or the original rear axle used for mock up.

#7: What about the steering column and steering box. Steve Luckett told us you were really helpful to him in fabricating his van’s steering set-up. I take it you’re running the same set-up you turned him onto? Tell us about it, unless it’s a trade secret.

A: No trade secrets as far as I’m concerned. We're all in this together, and I applaud anyone who attempts this kind of build. As we looked, we knew that steering was going to be our biggest challenge. Usually, when putting a rack and pinion in a car that did not have it from the factory, you are sitting behind it.  I needed to be sitting in front of the rack. Why not flip the rack upside down? That’s what we did, cutting the mounts off the cross member and making new ones to work upside down. 

This is a great tip. Make note of this if your're lowering an Econoline.

This is where Army of Six Vic from the Vintage Vans site was a big help. He’d used an Isuzu Amigo Steering box that is just a 90 degree in and out, with 1-to-1 ratio. That info was a lifesaver. I was able to cut the bottom of my steering column off and put a small bearing in it. Then I was able to use Borgeson joints to connect the Isuzu box, then some more joints to connect to the rack and pinion. It works perfectly.

#8: Didn’t you originally intend to make your Econoline like a Country Squire with wood inserts? What became of that plan?

A: I did start out with plans of wood paneling on the sides like a Woody, but as the build evolved, it didn’t find its way to the final vision. I have a few rolls of wood car wrap in anyone is interested! [EDITOR: IN THE SPIRIT OF SHOWING A FEW MODS THAT DID MAKE THE CUT, I'VE INSERTED THE NEXT FEW SHOTS WITH CAPTIONS.]

Brian used the dash from a 1956 Ford F100 in his van. We like. 

This should give true Econoheads an idea of just how much the headlight buckets were extended.

Before and after. 

About a foot of length needed to be added to make the dashboard work.

Note the Air Ride gauges and controls, the floor shifter and shortened steering column. It's a lot of work!
Brian cleverly re-purposed stock Econoline switches for all functions, including the Air Ride suspension. Nice work,

#9: I saw some interior shots with carpet and upholstery. It looks very nice and super functional. Where or what are the seats from? Did you do a lot of insulating of the doghouse and the interior?

A: I ordered the seats custom from a guy in Ohio. He built the four for me. I really just wanted it to be functional for me and my kids. We had to have the seats custom made because after the body drop, I needed the head room. Had to have seats with just 2 inches of seating cushion. I built the rest of the interior myself, did the carpet, the door panels, and I’ll be getting to the headliner this winter.  The doghouse was a fabricated by my buddy Devon Larson. 

He used the factory top to keep the traditional look and hand-fabricated the lower doghouse around the engine. I used DynaMat on all panels, inside the door panels and doghouse. It really helps to keep it quiet, but there’s no mistaking the sound of its small block right underneath you. Let’s just say its about as quiet as a hot rod can be.

#10: We’re starting to get towards question twelve and I want to ask about the trailer. Tell us about its build. Did you sleep in the trailer during Hot rod Power Tour? How was it?

A: I picked up a 1957 Mercury Travel trailer. It was about 14 feet long when I got it. When I put it behind the van, it looked way out of proportion, too tall and long.

I took it apart down to the frame and built new walls, and a rear cargo door so I could transport my kids' pedal cars and bikes to the shows. I shortened it about three feet in length, chopped it 10", and channeled it another 4". Then I built a 4-link for it and bagged it with the controls inside the van. I didn’t sleep in the trailer on the Hot Rod Power Tour. It’s set up more as a cargo trailer.

#11: What leg of the Hot Rod Power Tour did you drive and how was the experience?

A: I started in Illinois, and made two stops on the Power Tour down to Memphis. It was an experience I'll never forget, and I encourage any hot rodder to do a Power Tour. I’m planning to go again this year.

#11: Is there anyone you’d like to give credit to or plug, yourself included? This is the part where you mention if you’re available for hire to help others build their project vans.

A: There are so many guys that deserve credit. First and foremost, my Dad, Paul Morris, who taught me from an early age that I could do anything. His famous saying is "Most people will talk about doing things, if you want to be different, do those things most people talk about." Vic Army of Six was a huge help. Steven Bennett had as much passion as I did for this project and treated it as his own. He’s a talented builder, and I was lucky to have his help. Devin Larson also played a great part in completing the van. I guess if I deserve credit it's for having the courage to start this build when so many have started and ultimately ended up sitting in a garage unfinished. And then there’s Steve Luckett, who will for sure have his van on the road soon. I hope to cruise alongside him in his van someday.

As far as other builds go, I’m happy to help anyone who has questions. I think we all should share our trials and tribulations as we build our vans. That’s what Hot Rodding it all about. Thanks a lot for keeping the vanning community going.

THE END.

CONCLUSION: It’s guys like Brian who make vanning great and push the rest of us forward. His willingness to share the details of his build with other vanners can only lead to more lowered vintage vans finding their way back to the roads.You can check out more of Brian's inspiring work via his Instagram feed at @Hauntrod. If you or somebody you know is deep in the throes of building a killer early van or has recently finished one, feel free to contact us about a potential Vinvanco Twelve Questions feature. Until then, keep the boxy side up!