The Making of a Chase Vehicle *LOTS OF PICS WARNING*

[David Drummond]

EDIT: I realize I left this thread sorta hanging with the van not "finished". Due to ST moving the board to StormTrack X2 and the thread getting stuck in the archives, I sorta lost the motivation to finish it. Then when ST moved to Invision Board it broke all the image tags in the thread, which pretty much ruined the whole thread. The thread was way too long to go back and try and edit all of those to fix it sooo......

I will be recreating the chase vehicle buildup on my personal website. Once that is done, I will post a link to it here (if I am still able once the board is frozen, nonetheless you will be able to find it linked on http://wx5tvs.com). I have deleted all my other posts in this thread since they are broke, they really no longer serve their purpose.

 

[Tim Johnson]

Facinating read! I love vehicle fabrication stuff, and you seem to be doing a superb job. Very pro looking. I probably would never go to such lengths in my own truck, but I still like seeing mods.....Keep em coming!

 

[John Erwin]

Chase Vehicle

David,

Thanks for the indepth coverage of your vehicle!

I've been thinking about using one of those TV antennas on my vehicle as well, however in my case I might setup something more temporary. I normally move the spare tire to my roof when I go on a trip (it usually sits in the rear area of my Grand Cherokee); I was thinking of a setup that would place the TV antenna on top of the spare tire, mounted in some fashion that would allow quick removal if necessary. Seeing that you and others have had good success with these types of antennas then the decision is a bit easier for me.

Keep up the good work, I'll be looking forward to seeing what comes next!

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

This entire thread needs to be moved to a "Hall of Awesome Posts That Every Chaser Should Read" group.

 

[Patrick Ware]

GREAT GREAT GREAT THREAD

David,
Sorry about the setback. However, this is absolutely the best thread I have ever read on any internet forum. It's better than prime time TV, or even (dare I say it) Oprah. :wink:

No kidding, this is a real education and it really demonstrates your dedication and talent to chasing. Everyone here is learning from this thread.

Take lots of pictures and keep good notes and documantation so when it all done, you can write a book, get it published, and buy a brand new Van with the profits.

Keep it coming.

 

[carey libby]

One cosmetic issue that was bothering me, was that during the repairs from the accident, they replaced the passenger side headlight, so I had one nice new headlight, and one headlight with lots of oxidation that looked like crap. My solution, rather than buying a new replacement for the driver's side at nearly $200 was to use some plastic cleaner and buff out the old light.

was wondering what type of buffer you used to do this?i have the cleaning liquid,but don't know what type of buffing pad to use.

 

[George Tincher]

Excellent thread! However, my poor dial-up connection really struggled trying to load all those pics. Hehe. Nice work and thanks for sharing.

 

[Sheila_Ward]

This is like a great mini-series!

How will he wire all this stuff up without blowing up the van? What will be done about the trim and headliner? Will the van be ready for the first chase?

I'm eatin' popcorn David, waiting for the next episode.....

 

[George Tincher]

Agreed Sheila!

This thread is much like one of those shows you see on Home and Garden TV where they show you a project from beginning to completion.

Of course there is one major difference: This thread is interesting, whereas those HGTV shows are not. Hehe.

 

[cedwards]

This thread should be renamed "pimp my ride... chaser style"

good work.

 

[patrick hedges]

Wow! :shock:
Thats totally amazing! Too bad I dont know enough about cars to make my own vehicle.
Keep up the good work!

 

[Blake Michaleski]

i love a good build up thread. good work

 

[Ben Engle]

This is one of those things that just makes you want to tell another grown man "I LOVE YOU MAN!!"

 

[John Erwin]

Again, Bravo for an excellent article!

I will be particularly interested in your experience with the monitor in the dash, especially the plexiglas cover; I was anticipating a similar protective cover for another screen, but was wondering how the glare will work out; LCD panels usually have a "matte" finish to prevent glare, but the plexiglas is quite reflective. I was thinking of somehow taking the glare down a notch or two with some very fine abrasive, but I might just try it first without it.

This article should be preserved somehow; were you considering archiving it somewhere on your site or elsewhere?

 

[Buddy Sallee]

very nice david this is a pretty cool thread.. just been watching it and stuff... cant wait to see it finished

catch ya later.
Buddy

 

[Blake Michaleski]

very nice job david. one thing you might want to consider though... the main line where you solidered the 60 amp fuses in jsut doesnt seem the best way to go about that. sure it'll work great but what if in a freak occurence one does blow mid-chase? perhaps it has a flaw from manufacturing? who knows.... but anyway I think that you standard spade lugs will slip right onto them and are available in larger guages. if not then i'd consider going back to the junkyard and getting the fuse panel from the other van and modifying it to work for you.

I had a fuse blow mid chase before and thanksfully i had a spare on hand and it never blew again... so i could have had a bad fuse to begin with.

just something to think about.

anyway i really dig the console, looks great!

 

[Blake Michaleski]

yeah no doubt you'll have a trouble free setup but ya know, just thought i'd throw that out there.

its basically the same as the fusible links used on older cars. if one blows its gotta be resoldiered anyway.


keep teh pics coming. I'll be basing in San Angelo from may 8-19 so I'll be somewhat near. I'd like to check this thing out while i'm out there

 

[John Erwin]

re: fuses

I just thought I would throw in here some commentary on the fuses; I used one of those AGU fuse blocks to add the extra circuits. These are the "flashy" ones you see the loud stereo guys using; the advantage is that you can easily find the fuses at most stereo shops and super centers (Circuit city) etc. These blocks make for a nice installation too and will accommodate heavy 4 or 8 ga wires.

 

[Scott Taylor]

David, how's the van coming along? I've thoroughly enjoyed this thread btw... looking forward to seeing the images when it is completed.

Later
Scott

 

[Scott Taylor]

lol, i hear ya bud.... not rushin' ya or anything, but just curious.

good luck!

 

[Derek Lee]

I can't wait to see more.. I've been following this build since day 1. Once I get my act together and get ahold of some money, I'm going to try and build something along the lines of your setup.

A+++ thread!

 

[Alexander Wall]

One thing I am enjoying in this thread is the level of detail you go into and the pictures! While I am probably not doing the exact same mods, I can pick up ideas and some suggestions when modifying the van I use.

One question - you mounted the LCD screen in the van (looks great BTW) - what do you plan to use it for? GPS/moving map? WxWorx? Wifi and internet?

Thanks again!

Alex

 

[Blake Michaleski]

Hey david, A little idea for ya I came up with while looking at one of the pics of the console... You might want to consider some sort of false top that covers the radios but has a lip around the bottom to stand it off abit so its not actually contacing the radios. This should deter some prying eyes in motel parking lots.

just a suggestion. Good luck with whatever ya got let to do. it looks great.

 

[Tyler Allison]

I don't think there really is a van personally. I think Dave simply hooked us all on his project like a drug dealer giving out freebies. Then he's going to want us to pay $13.95 to see the last article.

:twisted: