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Dodge ram over in the UK
#296423 June 01st 2009 1:52 am
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NeilR Offline OP
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Hello all.
I thought I would post a couple of pics of my new van which I am hoping to use as a race tow vehicle to sleep in at the various race tracks over here in the UK.

The van is an 89 B250 318cu in.
it was owned by an english couple who brought it back to the UK from Florida.

The build quality is really good with some suspension work for its MOT here in the UK.

I have been dealing with Rock Auto for parts who generally have delivered everything I need.

Couple of Questions:

Who can I buy a set of Mud type Van Flares from who would ship to the UK?

Does anyone know if an inner fender / battery tray repair panel is available to fix the only rust on the van? if someone could post me a pic of what the original battery tray looks like I would be very grateful since not much of mine is left.

Cheers everyone

Neil
UK

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

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Re: Dodge ram over in the UK
NeilR #296433 June 01st 2009 3:47 am
Joined: Mar 2007
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pooh-bah
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Hi Neil!

Welcome to vanning.com!

[Linked Image]

Great van you've got there! I see you've even got an anti-sway bar installed.

I can show you what the battery tray in my 1984 Dodge B250 looks like; yours should be fairly similar. By happy coincidence I was just working on mine a few weeks ago. I'm glad these reference images finally get some use!

[Linked Image]

(The peculiar color is due to the fact that I had just etched the surface with phosphoric acid to remove some rust, prior to painting)

Note that there would be a small plastic drain tube which plugs in the front hole in the tray, to drain water though a hole in the inner fender panel. I pulled the drain out during the etching and painting process... if you need a picture of it I could take one for you.

It looks to me like some one relocated your horn to the battery tray... I bet they were experiencing a loss of electrical ground (earth) through the chassis.

And here is a picture of the battery tray support from underneath, before I cleaned & painted it:

[Linked Image]

Regards


-It's been such a LONG TIME... BlueShift>> 1981 Dodge Ram B250 Custom Sportsman Maxi Van


[Linked Image]

It's what you learn after you know it all, that counts...

Are you living to work, or working to live?

[Linked Image]

Learning from my own mistakes is good, learning from yours would be much better! [Linked Image]
Re: Dodge ram over in the UK
Ram4ever #296559 June 01st 2009 11:42 am
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NeilR Offline OP
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Thanks for the Pics Ram 4 Ever. they are really helpfull. I am really pleased with my van which is the first big yank I have ever owned. I bought her in Southampton and drove all the way back to Northumberland without a hitch.

I plan to remove the running boards, fit some van flares and front spoiler and re-paint the van in a matching blue and silver 2 tone effect with some American Racing AR200S chrome alloys.

The mechanical stuff is very cheap to buy with the exchange rate, postage and duty knocks the price up a little so I will have to get more disciplined with batch ordering.

I have just ordered the special ball joint socket since the 2 upper ball joints are the last thing needed. The suspension was quite worn so I am looking forward to driving it after I finish the work.

American steel is much thicker than UK steel so it is a pleasure to have a rust free 20 year old over here.

The base colour to my van seems similar to yours? Where can I find the colour details on the van? there is a plate at the rear of the battery tray but this is confusing. The original base colour (metallic silver/grey) has faded and peeled in places. it would be nice to carry out some local repairs before re-painting.

PS Your photobucket site is also helpfull.

Check mine out.

neilgriff400

Cheers
neil.



Last edited by NeilR; June 01st 2009 12:02 pm.
Re: Dodge ram over in the UK
NeilR #296566 June 01st 2009 12:04 pm
Joined: Sep 2008
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old hand
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I had the same problem with several of my Dodge vans.I lucked out and found a new factory battery tray for one of my projects,how ever the last two I desided to fab up my own.
Looked like the cab recesses on this junker would work
[Linked Image]
Did some grinding,painting,patch panels and bending ended up with this
[Linked Image]
The bracket that holds it up on this van was so bad had to grind it out and fab up a little something.You can just barely see it,used some strap steel I had laying around.
Good luck and welcome aboard. cool


79 B300 4x4,80 B100,83 B150.If it's not a van I just don't understand it.
Re: Dodge ram over in the UK
SixShot #296571 June 01st 2009 12:12 pm
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NeilR Offline OP
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Thanks for the Pics Six Shot.

I have now cut most of the rot out and will fabricate replacement metalwork similar to your solution.

i scooped out 3-4 handfulls of earth and leaves from the fender / inner fender so I think I will be drilling a 2" hole at the base of the inner panel and filling with a blanking grommet to prevent any future rust harbouring which seems to have been engineered into this part of the ram.

Neil.

Re: Dodge ram over in the UK
NeilR #296804 June 01st 2009 9:12 pm
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pooh-bah
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Neil, thanks for the kind words about my Photobucket account. I've always hoped someone would find it useful. I'll check out your account shortly - thank you kindly for the link.

There are actually already two drains on each side of the van at the bottom corners of the inner metal panel just in front of the wheel arch. They aren't very large, and I agree with you; to all appearances the design of this area would appear to have been relatively short-sighted engineering. Then again, I doubt the automotive Engineers ever would have believed that what they designed as utility vehicles would ever have developed a substantial base of owners who would take pride in nursing them into the next century, the way a Jaguar or Morgan owner (like me...) would with their sports cars.

Here's a picture of the driver side drains:

[Linked Image]

And the passenger side drains:

[Linked Image]

They require frequent maintenance to keep them open. After the thorough initial cleaning, I've taken to using a running water hose from above, and a brazing rod from below to ram out any debris.

I'm actually going to mount some stainless steel screen behind the wiper cowl grille vents to prevent leaf litter from ever again repeating this sort of buildup:

[Linked Image]

-Which is what I pulled out of *one* side of my van!!

When I looked down inside with a cantilevered mirror, I was amazed that the metal doesn't appear to have rusted internally! Odd design or not, they did a good job of making the metal relatively rustproof.

By the way, you will very likely need to heat the upper control arms with a torch to free up the ball joint enough to turn it with the big socket. Several treatments with penetrating oil well in advance of the main event might help.

Several months ago, someone here (maybe Shaggy?) posted some pictures of the interior of a shop in the U.K. which stocked many support items for custom vans, like the fender flares. It might be worth your time to search the website archive for it, as the duty and shipping would have been taken care of long ago, while they were lower.

The original color of my van must have been a solid metallic light blue. It has all been painted over by someone who had no idea what they were doing... they did bizarre things like applying an expensive vinyl graphics package directly on top of grey primer, without even de-waxing or scuffing the original surface first - which lead to flaking paint! And the darker blue was definitely applied with a hand-held spray can, without any masking in many areas. There's over spray everywhere! The dark blue hood had clear coat applied, but it was applied far too thickly, causing it to crack and craze. I none-too lovingly refer to the overall effect as "the world's 2nd ugliest paint job"... It's mostly going to be black in short order.

I checked my service manuals for you to see if they contained any information on decoding the data on the plate behind the battery, but they only decoded the V.I.N. - I don't know how to decode the paint information in that plate. Nate knows a lot about the various Dodge vans and their options; perhaps he could make some suggestions? Perhaps it would also be worth asking at www.dodgetalk.com if no one else here can help you with it.

Regards


-It's been such a LONG TIME... BlueShift>> 1981 Dodge Ram B250 Custom Sportsman Maxi Van


[Linked Image]

It's what you learn after you know it all, that counts...

Are you living to work, or working to live?

[Linked Image]

Learning from my own mistakes is good, learning from yours would be much better! [Linked Image]
Re: Dodge ram over in the UK
Ram4ever #296808 June 01st 2009 9:27 pm
Joined: Mar 2007
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pooh-bah
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Neil, I actually just ran into a condensed description of that plate - it's proper name is a "Body Code Plate Chart". It's located in my 1987 Dodge Dakota service manual

The paint information is on the 2nd line up from the bottom. You read it from left to right. The first set of digits are the paint procedure. The next set of digits are the primary paint. The next set of digits are the secondary paint. The next set of digits are the trim code, and the last set of digits are the Engine Sales Code.

Unfortunately, the service manual doesn't discuss how to interpret the values of any of these fields!!

I can't guarantee this code information or format is a standard across the various Dodge vehicles.

Regards



-It's been such a LONG TIME... BlueShift>> 1981 Dodge Ram B250 Custom Sportsman Maxi Van


[Linked Image]

It's what you learn after you know it all, that counts...

Are you living to work, or working to live?

[Linked Image]

Learning from my own mistakes is good, learning from yours would be much better! [Linked Image]
Re: Dodge ram over in the UK
Ram4ever #296926 June 02nd 2009 9:17 am
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 28,125
Madman!
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welcome aboard Niel! Nice Dodge you got there.


Ken Schwarz
Tricky Truckers, N.J.
Van Clan Plus One, Canada
Manse Vans, Finland
Rebel Vanners, N.J. "USA"
Toopa Sinner Tribe, N.C.

www.showvans.com

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/360991

[Linked Image]

"Coolness ALWAYS trumps comfort"
Re: Dodge ram over in the UK
Superbeast #297063 June 02nd 2009 1:59 pm
Joined: May 2009
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NeilR Offline OP
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Thanks for all the welcomes and information Guys. I will post some more pics when I have the welding done and it sitting back on all 4 wheels.

Neil.

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