I bought this van in early 2000.  My first car, a Toyota Tercel, was totalled in late 1999 so I had gone for a few months without a vehicle.  I managed to save a little bit of money working at a burger joint, and thought that if I could get a van I'd be able to really rake in the dollars doing courier work.  So I hunted around in Auto Trader and found this barely running van for sale for $400.

Once I got it home, I needed to replace a bunch of parts to get it running and through the safety inspection.  And of course I had to pull the transmission to replace the rear main seal.  Some other parts that got replaced included the carb, the alternator, the kingpins, and the master brake cylinder.  Anyways, after all this work it actually ran pretty well.  To get the safety sticker I also had to patch a big rust hole in front of the driver's seat with some fiberglass.

At that point I started using the van for courier work, and it did a great job.  It was reliable and never left me stranded.  The biggest problem I ever really had is that the radiator let go when I tried to flush it out.

It has the 300CI inline six, with a C-6 3 speed automatic and a 9" rear end.   It's straightforward, robust, and it's cheap and easy to work on.

Recently I did some major work on the engine.  I replaced the main bearings and installed a new (aftermarket) camshaft with new lifters, pushrods, and rocker arms.  I also cleaned up and repainted some of the engine covers.  Additionally, I had a class III hitch installed that I plan to use for towing a car trailer.

Maybe one day I'll get an opportunity to paint the van but for the forseeable future it will remain rusty.