Hello Vanner Nation-

I guess I'll start by saying what a pleasure it is to find your web-site. I've been away from Vanning for over 25 years and am very excited to be back.

My name is Mark Brown. I am a Charter Member of the West Coast Van Club, Vista Chapter. Yes, I was there back in the day. I am an original 2%er. I remember when all that came down and got a kick reading about it here on this site.

I was involved with West Coast Vans back in the mid 70's thru the early 80's. I still have my Club Jacket (try putting that thing on) and all the dash plaques from back then. I also have the Club photo album, the pictures in there are priceless.

In 1980 we hosted the 8th National Truck-In at a campground in Alpine, Ca. To this day, one of the best weekends of my life. The memories (most of them fuzzy) I have from those years I wouldn't trade for anything.

I remember coming home from the `77 California Van Nationals in Visalia, Ca. We had all 3 Chapters of West Coast there. Whittier (The Mother Club) Saugas, and Vista. There were 87 Vans in the Caravan coming home. Over a mile we streched. It was a beautiful sight.

My 1st Van was a `72 E-150 and was one of the first trucks with a mural painted on the sides. It was "The Cosmic Storm". Had many a girlfriends Dad cringe when that bad boy pulled up in the driveway.

I later bought a `69 90 Series Chevy Van. Pearl White, Lifted about 18 inches, 4 spd on the column and a 327ci out of an early Vette. The "Polar Bear". That truck would bark all 4 gears. It would also spit u-joints out every now and then, but what the heck. Got real good at throwing in another one on the side of the road. I bought the Van from my dear friend Richard Duran, the original Polar Bear. Richard passed away a few years ago and I miss him dearly. Richard was one of the original "Big Time" Vanners here on the West Coast.

For the last 15 years or so I've been heavly involved with "The San Diego Mustang Club" I restore Mustangs today to Concours Condition and have been Featured in many Magazines. My current stable includes a `69 Convertible, a `70 BOSS 302 and a `86 5.0 Modified GT. The BOSS has been on 2 Calander Covers and 2 Book Covers along with a TV Show and was used in the making of a Viedo Game. "Mustang-The Ledgend Lives"

Last year I restored a `70 BOSS 302 for Parnelli Jones and currently have a `65 Convertible and `69 428CJ Mach1 I'm doing for other people.

Anyway, I just bought another `69 90 Series Chevy Van and look forward to the second coming of "The Polar Bear" in honor of my Friend. This truck has a 307 and is an automatic. Probably keep that the same, but I will be lifting the truck.

I would greatly appreciate any leads on where to find weather stripping for the doors and any other early chevy van parts. This truck is in really good shape. Very, very minor rust issues and only a couple dings and dents. All the glass is in great shape, but the front windows have a bit of trouble going up and down. All the lights and electrical work fine. I was told it sat in a barn in Oregon for over 10 years.

I also have a `72 SWB Chevy Van that I will be doing as a Father/Son Project that also needs door seals, window tracks, battery tray and the like. Any help with parts vendors for both these trucks would be awesome.

Well I wanted to say hello and get my feet wet. I look forward to being a member here and talking with all of you. Thanks for reading my 1st post.

WELCOME !

Welcome back..love your history..there will be some vanners here that will be very interested in your history..Howard?? anyway welcome aboard as you will here this a thousand times we luv pic's..get yourself a photobucket account and start postin.. ;)

WELCOME aboard Mark--Always nice to see Vanners from the past come aboard. I have only been vannin since the late 80s so alot of the founding history of Vannin was before my time. But I love to read stories about the good ol days. I will say this, Vannin may have changed over the last 30 years but those of us who are involved today are enjoying the lifestyle just as you did...

Again-Welcome to Vannin.com, thanks for joining us.

Also-How did you hear about this site??????

Welcome back ! Always good to read detailed posts like this. There are some active vanners down your way that you will meet here on the Vannin.com forums and a bunch more if you venture over to :

http://vcvc.org/

One of the vanners you will meet over there lives just up the coast from you and has similar taste in vans. I met him at a gathering we had in Huntington Beach last March :



This is an actual calendar page for the 2008 VCVC calendar that Wookee and Carl put together. Another great idea for an Xmas gift for early Chevy lovers. If you want one get over to VCVC.org quick ! Top notch calendars that help support their site.

Welcome back Mark and welcome to vannin.com!

Thanks for the warm welcomes guys. I found this site through Google and have checked out the VCVC Site also. Had some trouble getting on there but will try again. I did see there is a guy there from Carlsbad which is close to me. That surf van pictured above is on eBay right now I believe. I just bought the other `69 Chevy that was on eBay last week. Paid too much, but if I was worried about the money I wouldn't be a very good "Car Guy". As mentioned I plan on going through it bumper to bumper and the sky will be the limit.



These short wheel base, non fish bowl, `69's are hard to find and I'm so excited to have another one. I have looked for one off and on over the years and when this one showed up I jumped on it. Drove up to Long Beach to see the Van in person and cut a deal with the guy after seeing how structurly sound it was. Got him to end the auction and sell it to me right then and there. Dings and dents, any mechanical or electrical problems, none of that bothered me. Turns out though this one doesn't have many of any of those things. It's 98% rust free and that's the big ticket.

Gas gauge doesn't work and there's a hole in the top of the tank, has one of those square camper vents in the roof, and the tail pipe keeps falling off are it's worst features.

Can a guy still get a "Super Scoop" for the top of these?

Thanks again guys.

Welcome aboard! Yes I believe JC Whitney still has the super scoops. I can tell by your "Fishbowl" coment you are a new member of the "TMW" club (Too Many Windows).

Glad you found us and look forward to seeing what you create out of that sweet early.

Unfortuneatly there are not a ton of sites for parts. Most can be found through here, eBay, VCVC, and other smaller sites. I'm not sure about weatherstripping, I'm not too sure anyone makes repro stuff, but I could be wrong. You may want to check with Pat Walsh. I think I read he had it for the mids anyway.

welcome back

Thanks Ken- Trust me, I've been a TMW Member for decades.