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1984 Dodge B250 Prospector "64K RAM"
#609406 April 04th 2013 2:15 pm
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 7
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stranger
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Thanks to everyone for your greetings yesterday, I figure now it's a good time to introduce my van to the crowd in a little more detail.

As I mentioned in my introduction post, my van was a $600 purchase from a tow truck driver that purchased it at auction after it was seized as part of a string of local burglaries. And to be completely truthful - it's seen better days. My partner and I decided to buy it as a way to get a decent hauling vehicle for everything from dump runs, to 300 mile road trips over the mountains between NV and CA.

[Linked Image]

I love doing research, so I've been able to determine a number of things about the history of this van. It was sold as an incomplete chassis and farmed out to a conversion company I can't quite make out the name of, and then sold as a Prospector trim level from there. It's got a Carter BBD carburetor on a 318 motor, and the air conditioning unit that was once installed is no longer anywhere in the engine bay. Records (pseudo-Carfax, the cheap alternatives) are scant, but it changed hands 2-3 times here in Nevada in the last 5-10 years.

[Linked Image]

Now I'll be the first to admit - this van is never going to be a show van, and in fact, it will probably never be considered a "good" van. However, to me, the idea of a "daily beater" certainly doesn't allow for me to let the state of it grow any -worse- from day to day. So my goal with this van is to make gradual and incremental improvements in areas that really matter - wiring, engine, durability and interior functionality/flexibility. In addition to those things, I'm hoping to get the chance to play around with electronics and gadgetry.

[Linked Image]

The name of my van "64K RAM" is both a joke on the model, and the fact its coloring looks rather similar to that of my first computer, a Commodore 64. I plan on going to the DMV this afternoon to get that name on it as a license plate. I'm a vintage computer collector and hobbyist, so it's a particularly fitting one.

[Linked Image]

Another of my newer hobbies is ham radio, and one thing that had real appeal about this van is the spot above the driver and passenger for a CB mount. There is wiring in place there, but the hot wire appears to be disconnected and the CB antenna is properly placed at the center of the roof but would need a complete replacement.

So, what have we done so far?

Minor things such as the first phase of a complete cleaning job, which I'll be working on again today. It was a terror when I brought it home, as some of the pictures above will show. It was completely debadged, but I was able to find a set of appropriate badges for the front doors as a start and will be looking for rear badging as well. One of my first goals is to make this van look less "free candy" or "casing the neighborhood".

My partner and I cracked open the doghouse and started to check out the engine the day after I bought it, and discovered that the air filter was completely clogged with oil. Replacing the PCV and air breather and related hoses seemed to have fixed that problem, as well as a complete cleansing of the air box and a new filter. The end result was that the engine would stall out like crazy however, and that's been tweaked to the point where the engine will run, but not without some roughness to the idle.

[Linked Image]

When I originally bought the van it didn't have a working stereo or speakers, and in fact the dashboard seemed designed to disallow for the installation of one. But some handy work with a dremel and some multimeter probing resulted in a halfway decent install of a new $75 unit from Walmart and a couple of cheap speakers for the front doors.

The doghouse got a quick paint job, a "hammered" gray from some paint I already had kicking around. It will probably get a coat of brown later, and the padded wrap that goes around the doghouse as seen in some pictures above will be reinstalled. If I can find someplace to repair it without costing an arm and a leg, I may go ahead and do that. Otherwise, I'll clean it up and use it as-is.

Both front seats have been replaced since the pictures were taken, pullled from another '87 conversion B250 located at the Pick and Pull here in town. We replaced a couple of the vent windows, because it was simpler to do that than replace the broken latches.

So what's next?

There are a lot of things we'd like to do here, and some of them are more important than others. To start, though. It needs good seat belts! I'm a big guy, and there's no shoulder belt mount point exposed on the frame, or the seats. This makes me nervous as hell. The seats themselves are around 1-2 inches lower than I'd like them to be, and I get a sore ankle once I start driving it around. It's manageable, but not pleasant.

The engine idling needs to be adjusted, and it probably needs a once-over by a capable mechanic. This is the first carbureted engine either of us have ever dealt with, and so we're kind of stumbling blind at this point.

The T-slider windows need some repair, as none of the sliding portions have any kind of handle on them anymore and refuse to move. Additionally, the frame around the rear passenger side window seems to be somewhat tweaked, probably due to accidents over the van's lifetime.

The ceiling lights are in shaky condition, two of them work, the rest don't. I'm not sure just how bad it's going to be to get that headliner down and work on them. It's scary.

What we're not rushing to fix?

The side barn doors are pretty badly dented, and so is the step underneath them. We could replace the doors, but fixing the sill to not be a problem with sealing them up would be a giant pain in the ass.

[Linked Image]

The bullethole adds character. It can stay.


1984 Dodge B250 "64K RAM", 318, 127" WB
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Re: 1984 Dodge B250 Prospector "64K RAM"
TellarHK #609427 April 04th 2013 5:30 pm
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Festerus Vannimus
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Nice van, I bought one like this ( a BIT rough ) for the same basic reason. . . . To beat on day to day and turn into a functional fishing van & daily driver. Best of luck and keep us posted !


My van : 1989 Ford E-150 Econoline, currently named “WOLF-DEN II”


Founder & President of Sooner or Later United Truckers and PROUD TO BE A S.L.U.T. ! !
Re: 1984 Dodge B250 Prospector "64K RAM"
TellarHK #609435 April 04th 2013 7:07 pm
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 201
enthusiast
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Posts: 201
http://my-time-my-way.blogspot.ca/p/chariot.html

Sorry the pictures are all messed up..changed my blog template and it changed everything.

I am a no experience dodge man and as you can see I was able to do a Sh!t load of work mostly with the help of everyone from this sight. Post up in the dodge forum for help from the guys.

Looks like a great beater, have fun!


1982 Dodge B250 Okanagan Camper Van
360 - 600cfm edelbrock carb + intake
Sensa-Track front shocks
New coil springs
Sensa-Track, load adjuster rear shocks
Firestone airsprings
3core rad
tranny cooler
helman h4 low beam//Sylvannia nighthawk highbeam
Mint interior (original floral velvet seating)
Queen size upper birth
2 burner stove + oven
3 way fridge
16000btu/h furnace
-carries -
Yamaha Vino 50cc Scooter
9.5ft Mainstream Sound kayak
Sportrack Luggage box
====Shows=====
1st place - furthest from home - Super Somer 12 (2100+miles)
==========
www.my-time-my-way.blogspot.com
Re: 1984 Dodge B250 Prospector "64K RAM"
TellarHK #609437 April 04th 2013 7:27 pm
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 12,107
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Hello and welcome!

(1) The Carter BBD is an extremely simple and easy carb to adjust and rebuild. You can absolutely do it yourself. Repair manuals and tuning information for your carb can be found here: http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33102 You say the van has idled rough since you replaced the air filter. Did you reconnect the little hose that runs from the carb to the bottom of the air cleaner? If not, you will have a constant vacuum leak.

(2) The Prospector was a trim package offered across all lines of Dodge pickup trucks. It is really irrelevant since t looks like anything related to the Prospector package was removed by the conversion company.

(3) The worst of the dents on the doors could likely be pushed out from the inside. Remove the door panels, close and latch the doors, then press on the inner door skin to push the dents out. A good wash followed by a weekend of polishing. buffing, and waxing would go a long way to clean up the paint. Some time with a sledgehammer might go a long way to reshaping the damaged sill.

(4) The wiring for the ceiling lights is usually pretty simple. If you know how to use a VOM from your HAM experience, then you can absolutely fix the ceiling lights. Conversion interior ceiling panels typically are secured around the perimeter and across the seams between the panels. Just poke around a bit and you will figure it out. You may need to take the carpeted trim off of the perimeter to the ceiling to get the ceiling panels down. However, before you go ripping the interior apart, try checking the bulbs to make sure they are good. You may be able to detach just the lights form the ceiling to check the wiring.

(5) There is a mount point for a shoulder belt for both front seats on the frame behind the front doors. Factory, your van came with three point belts for both front seats. Maybe a conversion company or a former owner swapped them out for two point belts. Grab the belts from any junked Dodge van 79-03 and they should bolt right in.


All in all, looks like a good score for a daily driver and hauling van. With basic maintenance, your van will run for YEARS to come.


Windows- they're what make a van worth owning!
Re: 1984 Dodge B250 Prospector "64K RAM"
Reed #609442 April 04th 2013 7:47 pm
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Thanks for all the welcomes, and also for the heads up on things here, Reed!

1. Yeah, the Carter doesn't look too bad. We think there's a chance one of the springs might be missing, since when you give it some gas, the flap opens - but won't close back up all that well. It seems to want to force a lot more air through than it needs at idle. We made sure to get that little hose connected, too. Spotted that one pretty quick.

2. I thought as much about the Prospector trim, but I've never seen an example of it intact before. That makes sense, considering how much this van has had done over the years.

3. There were some spots where the sheet metal has been thoroughly creased, and that might be a little tougher to repair than a simpler dent, I'm a bit leery of messing with that too much but you're right about the access of course. The inside of the barn doors where there's the worst damage are actually open from inside. That very well might be something to try. The sill, given where and how it's damaged, looks like it's going to be rough. Lots of damage right on the edge, where everything curves around. I'll post something about that in the bodywork forum if I decide to tackle it at all.

4. Yeah, we've looked at the headliner situation and discovered that the shag trim holding it in at the sides seems to be -glued- into place. We can't find any kind of seal, or screw, or anything that looks like a less than one-way trip to pull those off. It's possible that the headliner segments just slide into both those side panels, and then get screwed in place together. That would seem somewhat logical, and might be a project to play with this coming weekend. If we can get the headliner down then it's absolutely not likely to be tough at all.

5. Yeah, I've seen some other vans in the pick and pull lot here that had shoulder belts, but the conversion company covered up anything that I'd be able to use. I need to find out exactly where it is, and find a way to minimize the damage to the wall coverings behind the front seats. I believe the original, converted seats were taller and have built-in shoulder mounts, but they were in absolutely horrendous shape before I bought the van, and the seller replaced them before I bought it.

Thanks for the pointers! I definitely plan on keeping this thing on the road for a while longer, and with luck maybe I -will- be able to make a real project out of it. I'm just setting my sights lower now for financial reasons.



1984 Dodge B250 "64K RAM", 318, 127" WB
Re: 1984 Dodge B250 Prospector "64K RAM"
TellarHK #609444 April 04th 2013 8:26 pm
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 12,107
Likes: 37
Maniac
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Originally Posted by TellarHK
1. Yeah, the Carter doesn't look too bad. We think there's a chance one of the springs might be missing, since when you give it some gas, the flap opens - but won't close back up all that well. It seems to want to force a lot more air through than it needs at idle. We made sure to get that little hose connected, too. Spotted that one pretty quick.


Um, is the "flap" you are talking about on the top of the carb or on the bottom (closer to the intake)?

The flap on top is the choke. It is supposed to close when the motor is cold and then open as the engine warms up. Once the motor is fully warmed up the choke ("flap" on the top of the carb) is supposed to stay all the way open all the time.

The "flap" on the bottom of the carb (closer to the intake manifold) is the throttle plates. These are supposed to open and close as the gas pedal is pressed and released.

It sounds like you are having choke issues. The choke is actually very easy to repair and adjust. Follow the instructions in the link I posted.

Last edited by Reed; April 04th 2013 8:27 pm.

Windows- they're what make a van worth owning!
Re: 1984 Dodge B250 Prospector "64K RAM"
Reed #609453 April 04th 2013 9:59 pm
Joined: Mar 2013
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Yes, you're right in thinking I meant the choke. I had just come in from some work and didn't take a moment to rethink my terminology. (I really do wish editing had a longer window here)

We'll give those manuals you linked a looking over soon, thanks. We tried adjusting the choke already, but it didn't seem to take very well. We think there's a spring missing someplace like I mentioned before, but we'll need to do a better comparison to the manuals.

Your description sounds like what we're having happen, but it seems to be happening all the time. And when the engine has warmed up, that's when the idle is at its worst.


1984 Dodge B250 "64K RAM", 318, 127" WB
Re: 1984 Dodge B250 Prospector "64K RAM"
TellarHK #609462 April 04th 2013 11:24 pm
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No springs in the choke mechanism, but there is a choke thermostat (rod attached to a bimetallic spring in the intake) that holds the choke open or shut. Be sure yours is present and hooked up.


Windows- they're what make a van worth owning!
Re: 1984 Dodge B250 Prospector "64K RAM"
TellarHK #609464 April 05th 2013 12:40 am
Joined: May 2007
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Festerus Vannimus
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IF the choke is acting up, as in not opening when warm, it will make idling next to impossible . I am willing to bet you get the choke sorted out and she will run MUCH better.


My van : 1989 Ford E-150 Econoline, currently named “WOLF-DEN II”


Founder & President of Sooner or Later United Truckers and PROUD TO BE A S.L.U.T. ! !

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