Hoonigan LS Swaps Merchandise Van for Speedy Deliveries
Hoonigan crew recently acquired a C-chassis step van, but immediately realized that it needed a power infusion.
If you ever find yourself bored and in need of entertainment, the loony folks at Hoonigan are always here to help. Most of us are familiar with Ken Block‘s automotive-centric entertainment organization and their many antics, of course. But aside from amazing productions like the Gymkhana series and all of those massive burnouts at Hoonigan headquarters, there’s also a YouTube channel that focuses on builds. And the latest vehicle subjected to cutting wheels, welders, and bloody knuckles might just be their finest yet.
The Hoonigan crew found themselves in need of a vessel to move their merchandise recently, and located the perfect candidate in an big old box delivery van. There was just one tiny problem – it was obviously slow. But like everything else in life, there’s a simple solution to this problem – LS swap it. And one member of the Hoonigan crew, Mike, just so happened to have an LS6-powered Silverado. Since he was planning on upgrading its powerplant anyway, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to spice up the old merchandise van.
“Mike has agreed to take the engine out of this thing and put it in that thing and make it do burnouts,” our host says. At this point, the van’s body is already off the frame, so it’s a simple matter of pulling the LS from the pickup and installing in its new home. But first, the Hoonigan crew sends the motor out in style with a big burnout in the Chevy pickup.
Of course, doing a burnout before you yank an engine probably isn’t the smartest thing to do. “This thing’s nice and warm,” the guys note. “We’re taking the exhaust manifolds out and they’re a lot easier to take out on a hot engine.”
While a few guys remove the truck’s engine, another Hoonigan is hard at work in the garage doing some measurements with a mock up engine. “What’s cool about this is we can bolt the stuff to this block, set it in the chassis, and start to figure out where we need to put everything,” he says. That includes making some motor mounts that’ll help secure the LS in place.
The good thing is, Holley actually makes quite a few swap parts for C-chassis trucks like this one. But the step vans aren’t quite as common, so some stuff will ultimately have to be fabricated. In the meantime, the rest of the Hoonigan gang manages to yank the LS6 out of the pickup, which is how this video ends. But you can bet we’ll be following along as this old van comes back together. If nothing else, we imagine that it’ll wind up being one of the cooler (and faster) delivery vessels out there when it’s finished!
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