Thread: 1998 Chevy Venture - $250 Rat van to Brat van Ad-Venture!

Well here it is. The $250 rat van. Bought as a flip. So far I know for sure it needs a battery and tires. Oh, and a thorough cleaning. The fact that it starts, runs, and moves under its own power is a huge win as far as i'm concerned. First things first... Gotta clean it out before I do any mechanical work. I'm not a proud man, but I refuse to work in rat turds!

Body is solid. No rust. No dents. Looks great... errr... good enough from the outside





Pack rats never really got in the engine, which is a huge blessing. I'd rather run a steam cleaner than repair an engine harness





The interior is gross, no doubt. But it's in tact. No rips or tears.











To anyone who thinks they have ever had a really bad sliver, let me introduce you to jumping cholla. The packrats use it as cover and it's wicked. Microscopic barbs that lock into flesh. Kinda burns too.





No shortage of Palo Verde tree pods either



Vehicle sat with the window upen for a while so...



Base model blues. Empty switches.



Going to have to flush the radiator





Oil looks good though. Maybe the head gaskets have already been done? They are known to fail at around 100K.



But at the end of the day, it's a 121K mile 7 passenger vehicle for $250. How can I lose?



So I know this is't going to be the most exciting "build" thread, but maybe it will serve to show what can be done with a little foresight and elbow grease. Am I going to get rich on this? No way, but maybe I can put a single mother or a down on their luck family into a dependable vehicle for a fair price. All while showing my kids that you can turn hard work into real money.

3 very respectable goals, make some cash, help a lesser fortunate family out, teach your children that honest work = earned money. Best of luck to you & yours transforming "Rat Van" into
........"Brat Van"........lol.

Originally Posted by cheatah faheatah

3 very respectable goals, make some cash, help a lesser fortunate family out, teach your children that honest work = earned money. Best of luck to you & yours transforming "Rat Van" into
........"Brat Van"........lol.

Thanks man.


"Brat van"....... Dang it! Why didn't I think of that? Title change coming.

Originally Posted by FordMan77

That sounds like a good deal once it's all cleaned up. As soon as I saw the title I figured it was going to end up with an LS4 swap to go along with the S10.

Haha! It would be perfect for an L67. Who knows... Maybe someday I'll have my sleeper minivan.

I spent a solid hour vacuuming the inside. Didn't even make a dent. When I dropped the kick panel, I got this:



And it kept coming too. Probably enough to fill a 5 gallon bucket. I also found out why the airbag light is on. Yellow wire, chewed clean through. That wasn't the only one either. Got a purple, red and blue! I'm betting there's going to be some issues with the HVAC system. Hopefully I can get to all the problems without pulling the dash.

those seed pods? or french frys? lol damn rats

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

those seed pods? or french frys? lol damn rats

Good Lord... I thought it would never end. Half hour of banging and probing and there's still some in there.

Originally Posted by FordMan77

Ding! Fries are done, lol...

Finding that I'd end up pulling the entire interior out down to the sheetmetal (minus the dash) and clean the carpet in the driveway with some Folex and a hose. That's what it took to clean up my 00 GPGT after many years of abuse from the previous owner. No other cleaning would touch the junk left in it. The water coming out literally looked like coffee at first.

The vertical surfaces are decent. Mostly just covered in desert dust. I probably will take all the seats out. Back ones are "latch in" and the fronts are manual so it wouldn't be too hard. Our steam cleaner has a hand attachment, so I plan on giving that a try first. It may all end up coming out though. Or completely disintegrate. Just trying to get to the point where I don't feel gross being near it. An hour here, an hour there...

I'm trying to pick my battles. The more I look, the more I think the dash may have to come out.

Originally Posted by BrandonHall10

Haha! It would be perfect for an L67. Who knows... Maybe someday I'll have my sleeper minivan.

I spent a solid hour vacuuming the inside. Didn't even make a dent. When I dropped the kick panel, I got this:



And it kept coming too. Probably enough to fill a 5 gallon bucket. I also found out why the airbag light is on. Yellow wire, chewed clean through. That wasn't the only one either. Got a purple, red and blue! I'm betting there's going to be some issues with the HVAC system. Hopefully I can get to all the problems without pulling the dash.

I was just buzzing by this post and at first glance I was like dafuq did they get all those french fries.

Originally Posted by wstefan20

I'm tellin you, just need to drop in that L67!

Maybe on the next one. Still have much to do on the S10.

Haven't done anything in the past two days. It's been raining for the last 48 hours straight, which is really abnormal for us. However, I did stick a couple glue traps in before I walked away. And....





















I GOT HIM!



Or, one of them??? I'm hoping there was just the one. There's still one more glue trap in there, so we shall see.

damn you helped relocate his ass lol old owners to your glue trap, rip rat face rip lol