I've got a 1988 Chevy van . I am converting over the 4.3 liter V6 to a 5.0 V8 , removing the fuel injection for a carburetor and using a mechanical fuel pump . I'm also switching the distributor to a points setup . My question is , can I armor this van from the inside without legal problems and can anyone give more advice on this subject ? :rolleyes:

The condensor in a points system will still die from an EMP, if you truly want to EMP proof the rig go old school diesel.

Armor is heavy you'll need a very large engine if you want to have any speed once the armor is in place.

Yes you can lawfully armor the vehichle but practically is another matter.

If you just want to protect the driver it cam be done simply without too much weight but if you want to armor the entire rig on all six sides not too practical.

One method that is effective and inexpensive is sand, all you need is 6inches of dry sand or pea gravel to stop a 308, use the sheet metal for the exterior form and usb/chip interior, only have to be 24 inches high off the floor, just enough to shield a crouch position.

The Afghannies would spread the door panels and poor loose gravel in them for driver side protection.

1/2" thick ALGOTUF steel plate will stop 50 bmg rounds unless it is AP at 2foot distance.

You can also try 1/2" or 1" polycarbonate in the doors if your car can't handle steel. Strat is right, though, 1/2" hard steel plate is your best bet.

Thanks fellas I've got a question for Stratiotes . It is my understanding that the condenser absorbs electricity . The electricity that it absorbs is enough to jump the gap at the points and burn the contacts out . I found a quote from an article on line about static electricity , " "Static Electricity" means "High voltage" " "The tiniest spark requires about 500 volts . Big , nasty , painful sparks require lots more voltage up to several thousand volts." . now as far as I know EMP voltage is not that high but I don't know how high it can get . Where did you learn of this so I can read about it myself . and I wish I had a diesel to use .

As for armor I was thinking of some thin plate steal just enough to stop 9mm 45 40 cal. you know "handgun rounds" and do the doors up extra heavy enough to stop .223 rds . I also had an idea about using glass from windshields cut and layered thick and held together around the outside edge for the two side windows but only if it can stop hand gun rounds I'll have to try it first before I go to the trouble of making such windows and tint the rear windows and place armor over the window and have slits in it to see out and something similar to the front core support in front of the radiator to let air get by and armor around the batteries . I also want to run dual alternators and dual batteries .

I'll also want to carry extra parts . So can something be built to house other electronic parts that I might want to keep with me like a radio .

The V8 should have enough power to move the van . I used a similar van to paint houses it held lots of wait and would move rather well . I like the idea of keeping the armor low in the back 3/4 the way up should be plenty , none will be used on the under side of it and most of the roof will not be armored . I'll look in to polycarbonate $? .
Thanks again guys .

Use the polycarbonate on the windows, you should be able to do all the windows for a few hundred. NOT PLEXIGLASS - use polycarbonate - stronger.
I advise about going for all around rifle protection. Handgun protection is pretty pointless on a vehicle. How much handgun fire do you think is going to be coming at you? I don't think any service rifles fire handgun rounds.

Also, you could armor the whole way up the sides, and lightly armor the roof. Rounds coming at the roof would probably be coming at a shallow angle.

I was thinking of the MP5 some swat-ies use and other 9mm rifles. Well I was thinking that the 223 frags on impact as it travels through the thinner armor so if you had helmets and flack jackets you might? might? be OK . The van is going to have 2 seats in the front and 4 seats in the rear in a row along the drivers side of the van and 2 more seats that are back to back on the others side in the rear . well the point is I'm not making an armored car just something with a little more protection . Rifle protection would be great if I could find steal thick enough that's almost free $ I'm trying to do this without spending a lot of $$$ . and by using stuff I already have .

The biggest cost would be the NEW tires what type of tires would be best against bullets I was thinking of getting tires with a high load range so it has thicker sidewalls so I could run on flat tires with a hole in the side wall .

I also want to add a smoke screen in to the exhaust system any thoughts on how this could be done ?

smoke screen? ok seems a little over the top to me but this is your rig and your turf you know it best..how about a small plastic container such as a soda bottle with used motor oil in it and a cork with a string that can be pulled..mount device to the under side of your floor board using metal straping ..make sure that the open end is placed right above your muffler or slightly forward of it since forward movment of the vehicle will make the oil fly to the rear of the vehicle..oil on a hot muffler will give you smoke

As for police : I think they have to have the target what ever it is in site before they shoot but if the target was concealed by smoke they might not be so quick to fire on the target .What ever it is .
I'm looking for something more permanent than a soda bottle . Has anyone seen this done before . With a smoke screen it's hard to fallow someone closely down a winding road . So one is able to pull ahead let people out and set up an ambush .

Armoring the inside can be done with the boards of kevlar paneling which are about 1/2 inch think and WILL defeat pistol calibers and some rifle rounds. They are NOT cheap though. They are used all the time inside Judges benches in court rooms.

Yeah you can buy them from Infinity Composites.

Bottle of caster oil , plumbed into the exaughst after the catalytic converter, use a simple fused switch and a windshield wiper pump.This will give all the smoke you need.
A similar setup with a rail under the rear bumper and several irrigation nozzles and heavier pump will lay down a good oil slick as well.
Smooth paved road,150-200 feet before a good corner,and scratch a couple of pursuers.
It's james bondish,but thats the right way to do it.
Used motor oil is fine for a slick,lousy for smoke,castor oil or marvwels mystery oil is the ticket.

You know, as dorky as it sounds, there was an old role playing game/tactical game called "Car Wars" by Steve Jackson Games that was all about taking a car and turning it into your ideal "tank" and then racing it on the road against bandits and the like.

The thing is, that though the premise of the game was obviously "Mad Maxish" the way they set up the vehicle development part of the game was very realistic. It also illustrates the construction spiral as you try to balance armor, weaponry, speed, fuel consumption, agility and cost. Obviously the game mechanics might be skewed for fun, but the GURPs version might be more realistic as they have a lot of balancing calculations. Might be a good "tool" to play with before you start trying to build one for real (ignoring of course silly game mechanics like how they set up "blueprinting" your engine and the like). If nothing else it will help you set up a limit to your real life experimenting. Costs of course would have to be completely thrown out from the game as it was designed back in the 80s and 90s and the FRN is worth alot less now.