Welcome to H Garage The dumbest Automotive channel in all of YouTube and I am more excited than I've been in a very long time to unveil my latest purchase to you because I have always been a van Enthusiast my entire life literally from birth, my mother in 198 86 when I was in her tummy she traded in her C4 Corvette for a 1986 conversion van. that's what I was brought home from in the hospital and some of my earliest memories driving down the road was in an old conversion van with the crazy high top Golden Oak everywhere a little bitty TV to watch TV as a kid I thought it was the coolest thing ever. basically a spaceship and they are still made to this day. A lot of people don't know it, but the same conversion van over 40 years ago and its Heyday is still being made today in a modern, amazing version.

and I've owned three now. one was a 2000 and then another in 2016 that I bought 3 years ago and I knew when I sold that one I needed to replace it immediately because it was so handy. An amazing tow vehicle, an amazing family hauler, a great office on Wheels It fit my lifestyle so darn well. I needed a new one right away and that's when I found this.

but but I didn't just buy it I went to the factory and had it customized to my own personal specifications I Went to Warsa Indiana to explore conversion van company. They've been in business for almost 40 years and they gave me the full nickel and dime tour and let me spec this van to exactly how I wanted it. In the Heyday of the early 90s they were making over 50 conversion vans per day. Nowadays they're making about eight, but because of the recent strikes of the GM plants, they slowed that down a lot.

and if they don't get some more Vans here in the future they'll have to stop production entirely. So when I was there, it was quite a bit slower than it normally was, but they were still doing quite a bit of work. So these Explorer Vans Start Life As a no frills, nothing fancy Express passenger van with minimal options on purpose. they start about 35 or $40,000 for the base fan and you get very very little Creature Comforts on purpose because all of it comes out all the seats what little Interiors there everything is completely stripped so you can start completely fresh much like the coach Builders of the days of your and that's why I Love this so much.

Back in the day if you were buying a Dusenberg You' buy the bare chassis and then you would send it to a custom coachwork company to build the interior, build the body to your specifications. Did you want a limousine? Did you want a coupe or convertible? They would do that? obviously. Explorer They do some body modifications that are very, very cool. Uh, but they do all Vans Obviously no convertible Express Vans although AI could probably generate that up.

but all they do is amazing van conversions. They start very very basically with the Express. Now they start with the Vans by stripping everything out obviously and then on the high tops. Like this one, they actually saw the roof out so they'll go through and cut a giant opening the biggest sunroof ever to make room for the high toop conversion If you option that out and then once the Vans are completely stripped, they wait their turn.

But first they have to make all the components. That's the other amazing thing about Explorer Conversion Van Company. They make basically everything in house from scratch probably 15 plus buildings to accomplish all these small tasks that get put together on the vans on assembly later. and I got the full tour with Spencer who had been there over 30 years and Ro who helped me Speck my van.

So we started in the fiberglass Works where they make a lot of the pieces including the high top part of these. Vans If you option them, it gives you an extra 12 in in ceiling height room for a 30in. TV and all this amazing lighting inside and they build it a lot like a luxury yacht. so they'll make a giant mold and then put it in with fiberglass.

they split it apart and you have something really strong. Something can take a rollover or a ser ious accident, say a drop or something like that because they build it to that standard. Once it's fully cured, they cut Windows into it to make it look sort of like a spaceship and then paint it and then that is ready to go on to the van. one of the first of many body modifications.

and then they have a massive sort of assembly line style paint facility where they start on one end and sort of work their way through with the base, the clear, the multiple colors, the fade jobs, and then baking it at the end. So a really impressive process there to do all the exterior modifications to the van. But where they're really at when it comes to these conversions is the Interiors. Now there's a lot of Plastics in today's Vehicles that's just the way of the world.

but Explorer does do a lot of the soft touch stuff that we sort of like nowadays likely '90s hard plastic. fantastic stuff. And they have actual machines that press this stuff. They heat it up to a certain temperature and then have the molds and press down onto it.

They make pretty pry much everything in house on a crazy array of machines. A lot of them look as old as me, but obviously it still works now. Another thing is very old is the wood shop back in the Heyday. Obviously they would use a lot of wood in conversion van.

Golden Oak would be everywhere hard wood and it didn't age as well, especially if it had a veneer on it. You see that with old Mercedes and old cars that use real wood. when the wood needs to be refinished because of temperature extremes and such UV rays, they would not last as long. So so explore Conversion Van.

They changed their process. They still use a lot of plywood for backing on the interior panels, but all the prettywood you see in the veneer is completely fake. It's all from their own Plastics or the dashboards existing and they have an amazing dipping process that is actually pretty simple from the looks of it. They have a sheet that's on vegetable paper that dissolves in water with an activator.

They put it in a tank and then the Asm our process of Dipping This happens. You have to see it for yourself and just relax. Wow! and that's how you save the rainforest, huh? So once it all rinses off, the Finish is actually pretty impressive. It does look really nice and pretty real and supposedly it is very durable.

In my old van, it wasn't showing any signs of wear at all and it does well. It looks really nice. So you have all the interior components done. except obviously the most important part.

This is where it really starts to feel like a private aircraft manufacturing facility here. Everything handmade in house. So they start with Italian hides and then everything is made in house. Their head seamstress has been there for a very long time as well.

Started working there as a teenager and they can do all kinds of things inside of their facilities. They have Diamond stitching different options for looks, custom embroidery, but everything done old school by hand like old school luxury Craftsman and the finished product. It's absolutely incredible. They still use the old foam so the seats are really comfortable as well.

deep cushy seats you can't get in new cars and it's all put together by hand. Once again, the only thing they Source out is the seat frames themselves, the rear bench that folds down into a bed, as well as the frames. they come from an RV manufacturer now they used to even do that themselves well the seat frames, but I'll give them a pass on that one because the finished product when they assemble it is totally custom oneof and about the most comfortable seats ever as I'll show you in a little bit. Next, they showed me how the wiring harnesses were made and when I mentioned that the other technology in the stamping room for the Plastics was out of the Stone Age Uh, this was all state-ofthe-art I Was so impressed by the organization of it and how they put it all together.

It's way more complicated obviously than how these Vans start life. So that one thing that you do want to get right you going be chasing wiring issues forever on some weird electronic part. So they definitely pay attention to the fit and finish there. But once all those components are done, then the van goes into assembly and their facilities there.

Well, very simple actually. So in the back at the rear there's the spaceship sitting on the ground about to get mounted on the high top of the Explorer conversion van right in front of it. one that was just freshly mounted but nothing inside of it yet you can see totally bare. The only thing there is the mounting for the seats, which they do on the lift bolted in to where they're not going anywhere more stable than the factory.

Also, they go way over the top mounting the roof as well. double bonded so water never gets in and obviously bolted in a lot of places so it is very safe. The next van up was getting all of its wiring put in to get ready for all the electronics and lighting that go into these things. Obviously that all needs to be behind the interior and the one in front of it was beginning to have all that custommade paneling put in.

No carpets yet. You can see some of that plywood backing as well in there for the lighting and a few of the panels, but still not looking like a luxury liner quite yet. Now the van in front of it. Well here it.

starts to get really, really pretty. You have the the carpeting and a similar interior scheme to my old van, the paneling starting to get fitted and the one in front of it. well that's actually a high toop. Mercedes Sprinter Van They do other makes and models as well Mercedes being another popular one and Ford But as you can see we're getting closer to the front and the Vans are getting more and more finished.

The interior is now completely done, but now they're working on the exterior mounting all of the cool body kits, all the molding, the wheels. the chrome bumper gets covered up by its own custom Arrow bumper cover. the one in the front is basically finished. The interior is completely Ked out beautiful.

Diamond Stitch Interior red Explorer Logos The only thing left I think is the front bumper and with the tour complete, it was finally time for me to see the finished product. My van Ross Drove it around the corner and I got to see it in the light for the first time and oh my goodness it was love at first sight. I Got the keys and drove it flawlessly 1,000 miles home and with that I'd like to proudly present to you the newest Hoovies Garage Van. Now all of you die hard! Hub Garage fans are going to know what this color is.

Yes Rip Tide Blue is back but more on that a little bit. Let's start with what I started with. When it comes to the van, it's actually a little bit. Used the 2021 which is a big change for Chevy Express Vans Forever they had the 6 l Vortek in them which is an incredible engine.

Very very old though I think it unveiled in the late '90s and that's what GM was still putting in their commercial vehicles. It was a little overdue for an upgrade, but I was very nervous about that upgrade because they might offer some fuel saving cylinder deactivation, active fuel management, some of that gyg which we're seeing as a big issue with modern Chevy V8s but thankfully they didn't do that. They basically made a 6 lit Vortex stroker. It is so darn cool.

It has a 6.6 L displacement because they increase the stroke kind of like an old 350 going to a 383 back in the day. and they did change the fueld delivery a little bit. Now it has direct injection, but that means a big increase in Horsepower. We might as well have a looky L at it while I'm talking about it even though you can't see very much on these.

Vans the horsepower raised up to 401 versus 340 or 50 depending on what year van you get but the torque way way up. I think 460 or 70 pound feet of torque and you can see the alternator. that's the front of the engine obviously so it is buried deep deep in there. but that is like over 20% more torque and a lot more horsepower in the The difference is pretty astounding.

I'm so relieved that they did this power increase in such an old school way without compromising what makes these vans so amazing because this is a throwback to the 90s right here. The Express replaced the G20 vans from the 1980s and basically they're unchanged since like 1995 or 1996. Obviously some changes visually outside and safety-wise but the basic chassis is going on 30 years old which is just absolutely crazy. but you can see well.

the exterior of this thing is just so darn cool. The retractable running board there and this one also is a 3500. My old van was a 2500. This is a one ton chassis so with this motor, I can tow over 10,000 PBS even with this giant heavy van, I Can tow basically anything with this van but also have so much practicality.

The size obviously absolutely massive and the high top, well, it makes it look a lot less weird obviously in person. if you were here, it would look huge. It is stupendously huge, but I think it is gorgeous, especially with a little aerodynamics here and the body kit and the fade job. Now when I got this van, it had already been converted but it was still its Factory sort of cargo van looking white so I was able to send it back to Explorer van conversion company and they did this fade job for me.

All the paneling had to come off to paint it Rip Tide blue and then they did the fade which sort of looks like the ocean going back and forth on a white sandy beach. say in Destin Florida or something like that just looks so pretty but hard to believe it's actually more pretty inside. Are you ready for the for this? Yes I'm in a van. This this is a van.

It is not a private jet or a limousine, this is a passenger van. and I wanted to do this at night because all the lighting in here is just so darn pretty and in the middle of the day in the sun it just wouldn't pick all this up. The upper Windows of the spaceship here just looks so dark cool. The classic limo lighting up here with all the dome lights.

so darn neat. and you see the wood accents all around here like the ones that were dipped in the factory. Here's one for a little storage cubby lit up cup holders. Everything just so gorgeous.

Now for some reason they mount a sunroof to the back here where you can stick your head out sort of like an old limo in the back. sort of a cool touch. You have rear vents so your passengers are always comfortable back here and speakers for the entertainment system which is going right now with some vanon van action here. 30in TV back here and actually a smart TV to where you can watch YouTube or anything you want with a Blu-ray player and all the connectors down here to hook up say a video game player if you wanted to as well.

Now in the front you can see it does look very stock. GM with the exception of the modern stereo put in here with Apple carplay which is really all unque. need all the other Gobbley G technology in modern vehicles. absolutely you don't need it.

What you want is old school luxury and comfort like these seats I mean look at this incredible Comfort on that Italian leather that is Diamond Stitch And then of course there is the power operation as well and these old school switches heated Lumbar and the custom embroidery the Hoovies Garage logo right here in every every single seat of this nine passenger van which is just so darn cool. It'll make this thing harder to sell but I don't care cuz I Don't see myself ever selling this thing because this is Kingspec van right here I Am just so absolutely in love with it and basically I could live in this thing literally I mean this folds down into a bed so this van really does outclass its GM Factory Competition an Escalade a fully loaded Suburban but it offers so much more in comfort in Space Nine passenger versus 7 and practicality and it rides every bit as good thanks to that old school GM suspension that is very simple and sturdy but also very luxurious. Now I have a lot of junk back here actually, so the demonstration is going to be tough. but the other thing you don't get in a catalac Escalade is a bed which this without all the junk in the way, would fold down into a completely flat bed so you can pull over and have a nap on the side of the road or sort of use it as a truck almost.

You can put a blanket down on this and you have a lot of utility space when it comes to hauling something say a little more fragile but also bulky if you put something over the seats well, it doesn't do any damage to the seats and you have basically a truck bed say with a Topper on it so you can haul a lot of stuff as well I'll put it back up up. so when you consider how expensive new SUVs are and escalate over 100 Grand This van seems like an amazing value fully loaded like this. If you were buying it new, it would cost you about $80,000 which is quite a bit. but like I said, 20% off what an Escalade costs.

but it gives you so much more in a sturdy, simple, practical package with a lot of power and Longevity underneath it. Because these are built to be commercial vehicles that last forever and that's why I Think this is the best new car that money can buy. and now I'm getting distracted by the color, that color which these lights are not doing it justice. Right now, we are going to have to take this thing out in the morning and see it in the sun and it's Rip! TI blue metallic Glory So night night First Impressions Driving the new van is just as comfortable as the old van and just as big.

Yeah, this thing is massively long. Parking is definitely a challenge. If you don't like it, you can get the shorter wheelbase and that's much easier. But the biggest difference other than the looks of it is the power.

Listen to that stroker 6 L 6.6 it I mean it really really moves. Okay I'm really speeding right now. Uh, basically for passing Maneuvers or trailering getting up to speed at the highway. it makes such a massive difference.

20% more torque in the right range to where it feels it feels fast. which the old van it had decent power and made good noise. No. is this well, much much better.

Oh yeah, and this one being much newer, it does feel maybe a little bit tighter, maybe not. just might be rosecolor glasses with the new van. but the ride is still so so good on this thing. I Would sack it up to an Escalade mag ride control or air ride system any day even though it's just an old school traditional suspension system with no active thing at all other than some stability control to keep you from rolling this thing in a turn which it's not that Tippy it's It's really not that bad.

But with this van you do get excellent visibility which is an issue with a lot of newer cars in their weird sort of styling with the thick pillars and things to where it looks sort of Blocky and weird they go for a styling choice but then it gives you visibility issues in the interior. That's not the case here. you can see big tall Windows a massive windshield. There is one problem though.

my old van I bought with 40,000 M on it but a deer hit on the Carfax a few little scratches dings where uh to where I didn't feel guilty using it. This one so fresh and clean. in the rapper with the brand new Riptide blue paint job that looks so amazing in the sun I'm going to have a hard time using this thing as much or as hard as I did my old van when it comes to winter salt road driving when it comes to trailering and the trailer you know, dinging in the back or something like that which happened on my old one. I'm going to be very careful ful and really want to preserve this one so maybe upgrading and then making it into basically a show van was kind of a dumb Choice maybe just a little bit of a dumb one, but thank you so much for watching.