So, today was the start of the tear down for "remodeling". Pulled out the rear section that used to hold the speakers and rear AC vents. It was located near the rear doors, up on the ceiling. I would have left it as it was, but I had no clearance to pull the bike in. Also yanked out the rear bench/bed. That was a huge pain, more than I thought it would be. All bolts that held the seat to the mounting subframe were hard to get too. After pulling that out, I had a hell of a time pulling out the rear seat subframe itself. Had to crawl under the van and unbolt it that way with the impact. All bolts there were rusted and seized. Good news is that I don't think I'll have to add any hardware for the ratchet straps to secure to. I should be able to use the seat mounting points, or the seatbelt mounting points. The front captain's chairs are easy to take out, they're quick release. I think I'll leave one in if I can.
There are also pics of my new lawn furniture. It was my thinking chair for the day. You'll notice the end table near by. Then I moved it all inside the garage and set up a nice ensemble. You'll be quick to notice that my subtle use of tones and colors really pulls the room together. It gives it that "lived in feel".
Tomorrow when my chock arrives in the mail, I'll bolt that in somehow. I also have to replace the front brakes tomorrow too. The old ones are shot. Starting to squeal and the pedal is extra spongy.

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make sure you keep this thread updated,the more I see of your project the more I wanna do this...

 

Well, it's all done. Since these pics were taken, I cleaned up my mess inside there. What I didn't take a pic of, and will do later, are the shackles that are mounted to the former rear seat location. Then the ratchet straps go through those. The canyon dancer is strapped to the passenger side seat plate and the other side is secured to the driver's side rear seatbelt location with another shackle...will take pics soon.
To secure the ramp when folded inside, I used lag eye bolts and went right into the interior wood trim. It's thick wood, maybe 3/4" to 1" so the lag eye bolts hold in very well. I also did the same to secure a tool box and some other miscellaneous crap.
To secure the ramp to the van before ride up/down, I used the 1/4" pins that hold the hinges on the door. I just drilled a 3/8" hole through the ramp tangs and directly into the body of the van, near the bumper. These aren't structural, but just keep the ramp from comming out of location. Oldfatguy did the same, so I swiped the idea from him.
The only real thing I have to take care of is welding two bars to the chock, in the up/down position to give it more strength and keep from flexing so much. Going over to a friends this weekend with a sweet welding setup. I drove it around today, and noticed that while braking to a stop the chock gives a little with the weight of the bike up against it. I should have ordered a chock with the bars already on, but I cheaped out on that.
Here's the pics

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and a few more...

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Very nice!!! Looks like it wasn't that bad to complete. Great pics.

 

Awesome!! I had a similar idea with a short bus (The ones with the hydrolic lift). Looks good! You should back the bike in so you can ride it out in style. Everybody would be like, "DAAMMNN!"

 

that is cool as hell, I love it. Nice work!!

 

looks like it would be kinda close to the roof while you are loading it,do you have any problems riding it in there???

 

Oh man... that is hella sweet. That gives me all kinds of idea's for my "winter ride" that I'll get here at some point. Very nicely done!

 

Not too bad at all. It's close, but if you go into full tuck you can easily clear it.

As an update, I just got done changing out the rear axle bearings. The passenger side was totally shot and the bearing rollers had some flat spots on them. Also wore a grove into the axle on that one. Had the whole rear end torn apart...dropped the spider gears into the rubbermaid tub full of GL5 gear oil about 7 times. After lots of cursing general motors, all is well and no more bearing rumble! Will post pics of that too.