That's the first name I came up with when I first saw the color. I may need to think on that.
I will be taking delivery of her in a couple of weeks. These are pics that Wookee took. I'll post my own when I get the van.
http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m199/wookeesvan/big6sdodge/ , i like the name Nate.......
I love the name but I also love root beer. Seriously that van is clean! Nice find.
What a nice van. I like the interior, very cool.
Thats a Sweet PANEL van Nate
I just knew sooner or later you would come over to the other side!
So what are ya gonna do with the A now? and when will we see "rootbeer"? Frostbite? SpringThaw?
O and you know how I feel about the "sludge" butt why not name it porter or stout?
I still cant believe that Stacy knows about it
Looks good Nate! Ya don't see the big round windows like that very often. Reminds me of the ones on Strait Arrow
gonna weld the windows up ? lol
So what are ya gonna do with the A now?
I'm keeping the A, but I'm probably gonna have to let the '72 go. Don't really want to but....
Nice score Nate,that van looks great inside and out.
Yeah man, i dig that alot! And Root beer IS a cool name for it!
Really cool van! Congratulations Nate!
that is bad ass vn congrats
nice turn key you got Nate.
Thats an awesome score Nate. I too can't believe your wife knows about it. But she is cool though. I'm hoping to make it to Thaw again, and I want to see it there, also.
Now thats a custom van that says "custom van".
This one looks like a keeper.
Thanks for the pics Wookee!
Thanks for all the kind words folks!
Damn man that thing is awesome! When we breakin' it in with a few cold beers?
Damn man that thing is awesome! When we breakin' it in with a few cold beers?
As soon as I get her. Hopefully this week.
I hate waiting!
Hey Nate, ya gonna bring it to the
pumpkin run next Saturday? You would luv it there!! and wtf you would arrive in class in a PANEL van!
hey snotty is it just one day thing car show and what time would you be leaving to go
Yes its just a one day deal Luke... I plan on being there by 10am...
Thats the color mine was before the paint is called "Brown Metallic Walnut" and I have dash parts and an instrument cluster for it if you need any. Here's the Phoenix van a year before paint,right after we fired the engine for the first time out at Fast Lane's truck-in
I lllllllllllike it! Can't wait to see it in person Nate!
Yeah Nate, Pumkin Run next saturday.
Looks nice.
I love it. Can you get a pic that large of how it sets now? I'd love to see more.
Nice score Nate..luv the name too..
Nice van Nate, good luck with it.
Pat brought it by Sunday and we made the deal. He's gathering up some extra parts to go with it. This week or weekend I should take delivery.
She needs a bit of TLC, but nothing major.
Hey Nate, nice van bro.These guys will hate the windows but I luv them.It looks like it's got a few dents n dings but nothing
to major.Any plans for that musterd dash? its eeeeeeuuuuuu nice trim rings on the lights and already a grill,nice rims to.
Well thats just my oponion I could be wrong.
good luck with her!
LIKE A RIVER THAT DON'T KNOW WHERE IT'S FLOWING
I TOOK A WRONG TURN AND JUST KEPT GOING!
Hey Nate nice purchase! Maybe we will get to see it at SS8 this year.
Pretty Nate--but I think it looks more like a Nut Brown than a root beer, stout or porter!! Goose Island used to make a Hex Nut Brown Ale--(yes, Snotty bribed me for a name change!! hee hee)
Glad you are excited about her--and good luck with it!
Suzie
shhhhhhh!!!
I don't know...I was just throwing that name out there. I generally don't name my vans really.
I just say to my wife..hey I'm takin' the '72 to work or I'm takin' the '94 to work.
I realized today that I own a Dodge van from each generation. An early, a mid, a late, and a current. LOL!
Yes but your signature looks much better without that GMC listed there. Funny I refer to my vans by there color.
Nice score Nate. Another for the stable.
Nate,did that belong to a guy named Don from maryland?looks familar to me
Naw...Don's has yellow flames on the front, but it is the same color brown! LOL!
Aaaaaaaaah your rite Nate,,been awhile since i seen Don's van thanks
Just an update! I still haven't taken delivery!
HOWEVER I did talk to the owner and I will be picking the van up this weekend.
Sheesh.
Dude, Christmas is coming too!
Good Luck, I hope ya do get "porter" this weekend!
Sure is a nice looking Mopar there Nate.
I know how the waiting game is, doing some of that myself.
I was thinking about that van earlier today while I was working on mine and wondering what was up with it...lol. Looks good sitting there with the sunshine on it. Congrats on the new toy
Kudo's to ya bro!
Is she staying at Brians or gonna be parked outside at your place?
WoW looks really good. Good Luck
I had her down at Brian's this morning so I could put her on the lift to get a worms' eye view.
She's gonna need a carburetor, shocks, tune-up, brake drums, and wheel alignment right off the bat. Later on a paint job.
This van was originally a standard shift, but has since been converted to automatic. Wish it was still a stick.
Very nice Nate i like the look of it a lot.
If this van was drivin allot over the last couple of years the Western Auto oil filter would be worry some.
This van has set allot more than it has been driven over the last at least 5 years......
Drive it like you stole it for a couple of weeks every day and she might start running better.......
Nice to see you finally got "hooked up"
.......Wookee
FINALLY EH
I trust that this won't be a winter beater, correct???
Looks great. Looking forward to seeing it in person, maybe at Thaw 09...
Nice looking ride Nate !!!!
Congrats buddy, now the fun begins.
Congrats, nice van. It reminds me of Lions Den with that oval window.
Woot! Got 'er home! Congrats!
This van was originally a standard shift, but has since been converted to automatic. Wish it was still a stick.
I know that feeling well.
Congrats Nate! Awesome find. And welcome to the Odyssey spoiler club!
Clear skies!
That Van Is Sick. I Can't Wait To Get Mine, Probably Get It Aftyer X-Mas. I Almost Wanna Tell The Kids Santas Not Comin This Year So I could Get It Now. Lol
Anyone Know Where I CAn Get A Grill Like That For A 78 Chevy ?
Anyone Know Where I CAn Get A Grill Like That For A 78 Chevy ?
I would imagine Stull still makes a grille like that for GM. Try Summit Racing...they may have it.
Thanks for the kind words folks. Anyone know what wheels are on this van? I wanna say American Racing or Cragar. I would like to find a pair of 10" wide ones for the rear.
I'm sure those wheels are still available...<close up pic?> I thought that it could use some wider rears too butt didnt wanna bust on ya about that "YET", i'm just so proud that you finally got a "panel" van!
Thanks for the kind words folks. Anyone know what wheels are on this van? I wanna say American Racing or Cragar. I would like to find a pair of 10" wide ones for the rear.
Are they chrome, or polished aluminum?? Whats the center cap say??
Chrome steel. The center caps are covered over with RAM decals. I'll take an up close pic and post it.
Looks very nice Nate, best of luck. I too am glad to see ya in a custom panel van, theres no turning back now.
Lets see more pics.
Good luck with it Nate. Looks like it's not too bad of a van.
Chrome steel. The center caps are covered over with RAM decals. I'll take an up close pic and post it.
Any chance of peeling back one of the RAM decals?? Maybe there is some info on the inside of the wheel. I am just going to have a look on the inside of one of mine, I have in the house.
Nope, nothing pertaining to the make of the rim. Just rims size, where made, and load rating.
I'm just gonna get new wheels for Christmas and sell these. 8's for the front and 10's for the rear.
That might be best. Are the rims that are there now, the same size all the way around?? What size tires are on them??
They are 7" all the way around with Goodyear Regatta tires. P225/70R15
Tires are in very good shape. The rims have some rust beginning to form, but not too bad at all. Driver quality.
Thats what I thought. Not a look I like at all on vans. The rears have gotta be wider then the fronts. Its the only way to go.
Especially with flares...
I do have a set of 255/60R15 on 7" wheels on my '94 and they look good but I do not have wide flares on it either.
Plans for Root Beer are 255/60/15 on an 8" wheel up front and a 275/60/15 on a 10" wheel in the back. I was going to go with 295/50/15 on the back, but they are not tall enough for my taste.
Congrats Nate! Awesome find. And welcome to the Odyssey spoiler club!
Its an Odyssey WING......
Spoilers are up front under the bumper and Wings are on the back on the roof......LOL
Here is a good picture of the wheels
As far as the tranny swap goes.That van had alwys been an auto as long as I have known it.
.......Wookee
Nate, bag it!!!!!!!!! thos 50s will look good then
Nate, bag it!!!!!!!!! thos 50s will look good then
Nate sorry for the double,so Santa is making A SPECIAL DELIVERY?
Look a little like Enkeis, but probably not.
They'd make a good trailer set!
Nice find Nate..I had a set of wheels like those..they are made by American Racing..mine were 15x7 but with a deep reverse..I also had the same type wheels on my Aerostar(14x7). seems that if I like a wheel type I put that on more than one of my vans. My 96 Safari & 2000 Astro have the same type wheels & tires.
As far as the tranny swap goes.That van had alwys been an auto as long as I have known it.
It's the little clues that led me to that conclusion. Small brake pedal pad (automatics had a large pedal pad), no gear shift indicator on the dash...just a blank out, manual trans. type starter relay (no neutral safety feature), headlight dimmer switch is in the center of the floorboard rather than mounted in the upper left corner of the floorboard. Not sure what year auto is in it, but it has a short dipstick & tube where you have to remove the doghouse to check the fluid. By '85 Dodge installed a really long dipstick & tube so you could check the fluid from under the hood.
I thought it was kinda strange that it didn't have a gear indicator when I first drove it. LOL!!!
There's an 85 up at the local pick n pull that I will get the indicator and tranny dipstick & tube from.
You might want to consider 245-60's up front. I'm feeling like my 255-60's are too wide a tire, in comparison to the rear. My rear 275-60 is almost too narrow a tire, for the 10" rim. Thats just my 2 cents.
Update. Put the new carburetor on and rear shocks (didn't get to the fronts today). Runs a heck of a lot better, but I need to tweak the timing a bit.
New carb!
With old carburetor, it would bog, sputter, and die. At cruising there was absolutely no power. 95% improvement with the new carburetor, but there's still a flat spot at take-off. I think I can remedy by tweaking the timing a bit. I need to see if the vacuum advance is functioning properly. I usually set the timing using a vacuum gauge instead of a light.
I knew u would be tweekin it as soon as u got it!
u go boy!!! get er runnin like a top then jump back on that A project... dont forget about her!! lol
If you run flairs ... 265-50-15's on 8" wheels on the front and
295-50-15's on 10" reverse wheels on the rear, nothing else will loks as good or performs as well. I have run them for years. They fill out the flairs and are a great running size for mopars
and besides the Phoenix was the same color to start and it had a slant six with a four speed on the floor
Okay..I'm looking into possibly having my rear wheels widened to 10"...they are 7" now. Those of you running 10" wheels on their Dodge, can you give me the backspacing and offsets? I will be widening towards the front to fill out the mud flares.
I lose sleep at night thinking about the direction I want to take this van. I don't have gobs of cash so she will be built on the cheap. I'm cheap anyway.
As of right now my plans are to retain the wheels I have, but swap out the 225/70R15 tires with 255/60R15 tires just like I have on my '94. I like the fat tire look all the way around. I will remove the steel running boards and mud flares and install a set of fiberglass running boards from a conversion van...the one-piece type that you see on most conversions. I like the "sleek" look of those and will look good with the fatter tires.
In the spring the van will be sanded down, dents repaired (luckily no rust work needs to be done), and she will be painted black enamel. I think black with that tan/chocolate brown interior will look sweeeeeet.
So that's how it stands now..I think she'll look good in black.
Nate, How about getting a set of billet spacers/adapters for the rear to push the wheels out where you want them? I have run many sets on diffrent trucks. the last set i had pushed the wheels out 2in. they would prob set you back about 100 bucks for the two.
Thats not a bad idea. Something to consider Nate. Just the same, PLEASE post pics, with the 255-60's on your 7" rims, so I can see if you retain that fatter rear end look. I was going to go this root with my 86, but never got around to it, and now that winter has set in, I likely won't get to it, till spring.
Black should look awesome Nate! That's the route I'm going, though my roof will be flat white, with my Odyssey spoiler being black. It should make the van's stance look even more aggressive than what it actually is. One of these times I'll try to Photoshop it. Might be my next avatar...
Clear skies!
Thats not a bad idea. Something to consider Nate. Just the same, PLEASE post pics, with the 255-60's on your 7" rims, so I can see if you retain that fatter rear end look. I was going to go this root with my 86, but never got around to it, and now that winter has set in, I likely won't get to it, till spring.
If it's not raining when I get home I will take pics.
If you are going to be removing the flares, and don't have a current buyer, I would like to buy them from you. Figure out a price, and we will figure out how to get them to me. Maybe we can hold out until THAW...
BTW Brad these are J&J mud flares..one has some slight damage. I'll snaps some pics of those as well.
Ah Nate, you're gonna change the Root Beer color? Are you going to rename it now?
Ah Nate, you're gonna change the Root Beer color? Are you going to rename it now?
I was thinking maybe "Black & Tan" like the drink.
Nate I can make up a set of "blend kits" so you can keep the runinng boards.
Even the converion van boards look funny/empty with out a deep dish wheel filling them up........
Hold on to those J+J flares they are hard to come by now a days
.........Wookee
Nate I can make up a set of "blend kits" so you can keep the runinng boards.
I just may take you up on that Joe!
Nate, How about getting a set of billet spacers/adapters for the rear to push the wheels out where you want them? I have run many sets on diffrent trucks. the last set i had pushed the wheels out 2in. they would prob set you back about 100 bucks for the two.
You mean something like this Dave?
Spacers
Yup that would do ya perfect Nate, you sure you wanna get er painted right away? In the pics at least it does not look bad at all, have you priced a decent paint job lately? I'm thinkin u may change your mind... lol
Not a nice as she looks in the pics Snotty. LOTS of scratches and some dents but no rust thank God. Brian and I plan on painting ourselves this spring hopefully. He has a paint booth.
Sorry I would NOT run spacers.The last thing you want is a 275/60/15 tire working loose and tearing up you rust free body.
I was talking to Pat tonight.The running boards and the brackets are welded in place.
I remember asking Walt about running "winter trim" and him telling me "this van will never see the salt"
The brackets holding the boards on are welded in place.
........Wookee
I understand where your comming from wookee, i felt the same way at first but if you check them on a regular basis and make sure you install them correctly they are relatively safe. i have run at least 4 sets and not had a single lugnut work loose.
Sorry this is one place I refuse to cut corners.
Buy the correct wheeel with the right back space, lug pattern,lug nuts and you will have less problems in the long run.
..........Wookee
Yes i fully agree with that. but in my case i got good deals on wheels and thats the way i made them work.
But yes to do it right if you can.
Maybe go with some Locktite on the lugs and proper torque specs???
yes you are susposed to put Loctite on the factory studs only. then torque thoes to specs then put wheel on and torque thoes to the specs that the spacer co. recommends.
Also if you dont like the billet there is a company that makes custom steel spacers any size you want.(not sure of the name but i could find out if you want).
I agree with Joe, Plus wider tires look cooler!
It certainly is a tough decision, when you are on a low budget, EH NATE!!! And I'm believing the main problem stems from his wheels being outa production. I have 000 experience with spacers, but would like to think, if they are warrantied, and installed to specs. they should be OK. But thats not to say they are OK. I agree with Ken, fatter wheels altogether look the best, but when it comes down to the almighty $$$, you gotta do, what ya can afford, and stay safe.
Well...I walked outside to hop in RB and take her for a spin and found she had a flat. The tires are dry rotted bad (Goodyear Regattas). Today I took her up to Mr. Tire for tires and a front end alignment.
Don't have the $$$ for fancy, so I'm with the Kelly Springfield Safaris XL rated.
as long as there NOT white walls they should be ok for now... lol
white walls rule but on my cutlass lol
Where are the
Nate. What size tires did ya go with??
This is awesome...
Where did that big oval window come from???
I really like the look of that window Jess,get your tires yet Nate!
yeah...went with stockers 235/75R15 XL. It actually looks pretty good.
I had to get tires pronto and I didn't have the shinola to get the wider tires I wanted. Oh well..I'm not riding around on dry rotted tires anymore.
This is awesome...
Where did that big oval window come from???
Hey Jesse! Thanks!
Not sure where those winders came from..they were in the van I got it. The original owner..a fellow named Walt...put them in I suppose.
The Lion's Den has these winders as well.
Hey gang...
Hate to say, but I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this van. I just dropped over $500 for tires and another $460 for some other things that were wrong. I just don't have the money to tend to some other nagging problems the van has. I don't know.....
Slow it down Nate. Do what you can, when you can. This one should be your summer cruiser only, anyways. CORRECT!!!
Nate,take your time with it,first events are a way off.Its a nice looking van,get it ready for spring,you have others to go to early events
Don't get in no hurry!
Here's the thing...
The '94 has some issues, the '72 has some issues, and I'd like to get my early on the road. The '94 is my daily driver so I need to get that one squared away.
I guess I could let this one sit until I can the things fixed. I get into a panic sometimes...they're my children!
It's all good Nate. Just take your time. I know what you mean. I have my 2000 Caravan that I wanted to sell off, but now have a bad PS line, and a blown break line. It will wait until spring, so I can fix these issues, and decide if I still need to sell it.
I'm probably going to have to sell the '72 once I get it straightened out. I really can't afford to keep 4 vans.
I hear that Nate. Same problem hear. But I like to keep one in reserve, just in case, ya know.
I too have a similar problem. I have too many projects, not enough time and money to do them all, but cannot figure out what to part with. The biggest thing it that even selling something off, will not be enough to do what I need to do with the others.
Slow Down Nate, Rome was not built in a day! LOL You BETTER not even think of getting rid of "porter" The 72 even thou its your child, you know it has T.M.W. so it will be ok to let someone else adopt it! LOL What are you taking to Freezeout?
What are you taking to Freezeout?
My "generic" van. The '94 conversion...the one Moon Lite likes to crawl in the back of.
bummer, was hoping to see "Porter" lol
"Hey Porter, hey Porter..."---Johnny Cash
Naw...she still needs ball joints and a front end alignment bad.
Unfortunatly no older van is PERFECT.
ALL of them will need some kind of work or money thrown at them to make them "right".....
On the bright side you have the mechanical abilities to make the keepers "right".This is a BIG advantage over some one who has to pay to have the work done.
Some times "buying and selling" can get you farther behind than just sticking with a shure thing......
.........Wookee
The idea of selling the van lasted about 10 seconds. I'll be ordering the new ball joints soon.
It's just been too dang cold to work on the the thing. Right now I have the dash pulled to replace the bulbs and found that some yo-yo screwed the speedo cable up. It wasn't me! LOL!
Have to pull the dash to replace bulbs????
Must be a Dodge thing........LOL
.........Wookee
Just instrument cluster you stinker.
OKAY. I've cooled my jets on this van. I won't be selling it after all.
This weekend I'll be taking her down to my friend's garage and I'll start on the repairs. First on the list is yanking out the emissions crap and installing a non-catalyst Y-pipe. Hey..it's free!! Then a full tune-up.
After that I'll install the new ball joints and get the front end aligned. Hopefully she'll finally run right and I can take her to Fools Follies in April.
Glad you're keeping her Nate. I hope you can bring it too the nats. I would love to see it close up...AL
At least it takes a pretty picture.....
.......Wookee
GOOD! your lucky mister I was gonna kick your ass if you sold this PANEL van! Just take it slow, if its not ready for Fools Follies dont sweat it, it will get done and make it to some other run in the future!
Good for you Nate
Thanks for the support guys.
Glad it worked out so you hung onto it Nate.
One can't have too many vans IMHO!
Thats the best news I've heard all day. Take your time buddy, and remember to have fun...
That's great news Nate! I figured it'd work it's Dodge mojo magic on you given time...
;0)
Clear skies!
Glad to hear! I don't have the $ to buy it from you now anyway
Found two brand new rotors on a '94 up at the pick-n-pull with new bearings, seals, and grease. Grabbed them...$12.50 each!!!! Did a little research and they will fit on the '85. Weeeeeeeee!
Sweet deal you got there Nate! You'll be rolling in style. Great idea too - I hadn't thought about peeking just to see what might be new parts... I'll have to add that to my bag of tricks!
Clear skies!
"This is the style I want to use on my '85. I don't like the mud flares that's on it now."
Too bad your van is a Dodge.I would buy thoses J+J flares/custom steel running boards off of you in a minute if it was a Chevy.......
......Wookee
Right now the plan is to retrofit the running boards onto my '72 and sell the flares. I know of one person that was interested in them.
I want to get a set of polished aluminum steps (not running boards). Should look good when the van gets painted black.
Do I know that one person interested in these flares Nate??
Have you checked to see how they are installed?? Mine didn't have enough of a lip on them, so I had to bolt them on through the side of the wheelwell. I also read this in an old vanning magazine.
Darn Brad..you ruined the surprise. LOL!
I don't know how they're mounted yet, but my best guess is that they are screwed on.
Let me get them off, determine their condition and we can work something out if you are interested. I'll snap some pics and send them to ya.
I know they aren't busted up and there is at least one brand new one on the rear.
Right now the plan is to retrofit the running boards onto my '72 and sell the flares. I know of one person that was interested in them.
I want to get a set of polished aluminum steps (not running boards). Should look good when the van gets painted black.
You can take the man out of the conversion van but you can't take the conversion van out of the man........LOL
Brad,those J+J flares have the right amount of lip on the bottom edge so you can attach them with screws to the wheel well lip.
.............Wookee
You can take the man out of the conversion van but you can't take the conversion van out of the man........LOL
Ug Ug Ug Ug! (popeye laugh)
All things come in time leave that flare combo on there.
I would just keep an eye out for a good "wheel deal"
Filling those flares up with the right tire/wheel combo will look much better than a set of steps.
........Wookee
Darn Brad..you ruined the surprise. LOL!
I don't know how they're mounted yet, but my best guess is that they are screwed on.
Let me get them off, determine their condition and we can work something out if you are interested. I'll snap some pics and send them to ya.
I know they aren't busted up and there is at least one brand new one on the rear.
Thanks Nate. How's Spring Thaw for a timeline?? And I know they will be better then my existing fronts, which I will mount onto the front of my Maxi when it goes to a dually. The rears will likely go onto my trailer, as I believe the flares I have on my van might be the same. If not, I will swap out all 4 of mine, with yours, and mount my rears on my trailer. Is there an airdam that goes with these?? Just curious, no biggie if no.
No airdamn unfortunately. It was gone when I got the van.
Spring Thaw will be fine. These flares will fit all Dodge vans, 79-93.
Thanks Nate. And those are the key years, as its better then retrofitting Mid Dodge flares to fit my 91.
Chopped vans should not have bolt on flairs
yea what superbeast said..........ya dont use vinyl either....hehehehe
doing away with the flares? dang. I like em myself, but hey it's your ride.
Chopped vans should not have bolt on flairs
You got that right...
They will eventually be molded in. And I'm not using vinyl, I'm using canvas...
How about astro turf Brad?
Hmmmm....maybe Nate, but then how do I keep the GOLFERS off my roof???
Okay..got a lot done today. Removed all the smog equipment, replaced all the vacuum lines, and did a fresh tune-up. I did retain the EGR valve and the evaporative canister.
Got the old cat conveter Y-pipe off so I can install the non-cat converter Y-pipe in it's place. I do have to replace the right exhaust manifold because it does not have the "dished" end for the Y-pipe to seal to...it's flat.
Next up..I have to drop the transmission to replace the from pump seal and it also needs the rear seal.
Now, just get rid of all the TMW siblings, and you are away !!!
Now, just get rid of all the TMW siblings, and you are away !!!
Bah..humbug!
I second what Doc Eh! said...
Bah-humbug to you too!
How about those flares Nate?? Did you check out how they are installed?? I can't wait to have the fronts actually fit right, and just in time for NATS this year.
I'll double-check again. They are screwed on...
Just checkn to make sure you haven't changed your mind on these. I chnage my mind often, and so do you, so just checkin in.
Yes I do! LOL
Nope..don't want the flares. I'll snap a pic of them for ya Brad.
This is the best picture I can come up with of them.
the mounting surface is too dark.......
........Wookee
I don't care what everyone else say's. I like the windows in that van!
They give it style thats S-T-Y-L-E... style!
Thanks Charlie.
Ya see..there are vanners that aren't winder haters.
I have windows and I HATE them. I do have a parts van that I could cut out a panel for each side and get rid of the windows,but i'm not that good of a fabricater,plus don't have that much cash to pay for it. so I will keep the windows and use them for what they were intended for. giving someone the full moon when they walk by.hehehehe
I like them windows in that van! You are right Charlie, BUT it's not MY van
I like the window too, along with the flares and the color brown, I would leave it just as it is, maybe just wider rims and tires.
I totally agree with Dan and Snotty, but Nate doesn't seem to dig the flares, so lets not try and convince him. And I'm looking forward to front flares that fit properly.
You can take the man out of the conversion van but you can't take thoe conversion van out og the man.......
.....Wwookee
You can take the man out of the conversion van but you can't take thoe conversion van out og the man.......
.....Wwookee
Update.
Saturday got the trans. pulled and replaced the front pump seal and rear housing seal and got it back together. Next is double-check everything and get the new exhaust installed.
After that..check the brakes and replace the upper ball joints.
I know we're past this point in the thread all ready but did I mention that I'm glad you didn't sell this van I also love the way those windows look. I think dodge vans look just as good with 8 inch wheels and no flares as they do with flares and bigger tires and more backspacing.
I dig this Van a lot too. Very VErY clean.
Right now the van has 7" American Racing wheels with brand new 235/75R15XL tires. I HAD to get new tires stat as the old ones were dryrotted. Hopefully I will upgrade to some new wheels(7" front/8" rear) with 255/60R15 on the front and 275/60R15 on the rear.
That will look good Nate. I had that setup first time around on my 91. But because I wanted flares, I upped the sizes.
As Nate should do because Porter already has flares! wider is better!!!
Okay today i finished buttoning up the transmission and got the new "temporary" exhaust system installed. While I was under there I noticed I had a freeze plug leaking so I changed that..boy the old one was paper thin. I also noticed trans fluid leaking from where the shifter shaft goes into the transmission. So I pulled the old seal out and installed a new seal. I was told the transmission had been recently rebuilt but I guess the rebuilder forgot to change all these seals I'm replacing
The flares and running boards have been pulled off and the van looks better to me. There are holes from the flares along the leading edge of the fenders
but my buddy Brian is going to weld them up for me.
Awesome, glad to hear you're gettin her in good shape, any pics without the flares?
I hope my flares came off nicely Nate. I just cracked the same one I cracked last summer, again. DOH!!!
Pretty sure I know who did the tranny in thaty van.....
If you can't say any thing nice don't say any thing at all.....
Some people did screw through the rolled edge of those flares to mount them.......
On my Chevys I always used the lower flange to mount mine......
......Wookee
Okay..
Today I refilled coolant and trans fluid and swapped in the extra long tube and dipstick so I can now check the trans fluid from under the hood rather than pull the doghouse. Got the engine timed spot on and she purrs like a kitten.
I also put a new set of brake shoes on. I discovered the bang up job MR TIRE did to my rear lugs. On the passenger side they left a lug nut off and on the drivers side the crossthreaded a lug so I had to replace one of the studs.
Damn...I hate shoddy workmanship.
Anyway..next week is replace a front brake line, replace the rotors, and upper ball joints.
Replaced the negative battery cable and I just ordered me up a new positive cable from Chrysler. The positive cable is special because it has these wires and connectors for the fusible links as part of the assembly. 35 beans..not too bad I suppose.
Sounds like your doing it good Nate,you should be good to go vanning.
All sounds great except the part where he said he removed the flairs.
I hope he's not putting hubcaps on it and more windows in it.
U know Im just busting on U nate, its your van, do as u wish.
Dont encourage him Dan...
I gotta say one thing IF I see hubcaps on "porter" I'll be stealing them when he crashes at 9 on Fri night!
9??? Don't you mean 8????
no it was 7
yeah but that wasn't on pure beer
7....I crashed when I fell into, and outa my van, in one foul swoosh...
Please Nate, no hub caps. Especially those fake spinnners.
No..no hubcaps. I'm gonna run the American Racing wheels for a while and then hopefully by next spring I will have a set of Cragar Soft 8's on her.
Mini-update..
My buddy Brian has welded up all the little holes in the fender edges from the flares. Weeeeeee!
Cool, sounds like a done deal for your flares. I can't wait to get front flares that fit properly. Thanks again Nate. See ya at Thaw in several weeks.
I was waiting for you to say Brian welded up the window holes
I was waiting for you to say Brian welded up the window holes
I'd let you do it, but I might come back and find the roof chopped too!
Naw, nothing to worry about there. Not a big fan of chopped maxi's. Plus, I think those winders look good in that van.
??? She ain't a maxi silly. The 72 is but not the 85.
Plus, I think those winders look good in that van.
Did Ken say what I thought he said
??? She ain't a maxi silly. The 72 is but not the 85.
Really, by the pictures, I always thought it was a maxi. Maybe I need to look closer at them.
Plus, I think those winders look good in that van.
Did Ken say what I thought he said
Sure buddy! It's not MY van!
It's the regular wheelbase van.
Is Brad buying the running boards?
that camera angle makes that ride look long
maxi van
LWB van
.......Wookee
Is Brad buying the running boards?
Actually Wookee wants them, so I'm going to take them over to him.
Didn't get anything done on the 85 this weekend. I was helping club member Tony get his 78 Dodge squared away before Fools Follies. I changed out the front calipers, pads, front hoses and master cylinder. I also found that the right outer tie rod was about to expire. Couldn't for the life of me find a parts store that had one. I found a used assembly (inner, outer, adjusting sleeve) off of a 77 that fit. I cleaned it up, flushed out the old grease, installed new dust boots and now he's good to go. Ordinarily I don't like install used parts, but we were desperate.
Seriously, I love the back window...It really sets it off. Sweet van man...
I was helping club member Tony get his 78 Dodge squared away before Fools Follies. I changed out the front calipers, pads, front hoses and master cylinder. I also found that the right outer tie rod was about to expire. Couldn't for the life of me find a parts store that had one. I found a used assembly (inner, outer, adjusting sleeve) off of a 77 that fit. I cleaned it up, flushed out the old grease, installed new dust boots and now he's good to go. Ordinarily I don't like install used parts, but we were desperate.
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do but hopefully he can get a new one and upgrade when you have a chance..
Got my NOS positive batt cable yesterday. Looks nice..got all the correct connectors and other doo-dads coming off of it. I'll install it this weekend.
Looks like this is the van I'm going to have to take to Fools Follies. My '94 is pissing me off!
Sounds like your getting all the kinks worked out Nate,hope to see it this year.
Looks like this is the van I'm going to have to take to Fools Follies. My '94 is pissing me off!
Better to be pissed off, then pissed on...
Looks like this is the van I'm going to have to take to Fools Follies. My '94 is pissing me off!
Better to be pissed off, then pissed on...
You do have a point!
Looks like this is the van I'm going to have to take to Fools Follies. My '94 is pissing me off!
Ah, '85 was a great vintage... she'll be fine!
Clear skies!
Well..she's finally home! Looks odd without the running boards and flares, but that's okay. No pics yet..it's foggy and raining here.
Tomorrow I take her to have the upper ball joints done and a front end alignment. Looks like this is the van I'll be taking to Fools Follies and probably Thaw too.
Well..she's finally home! Looks odd without the running boards and flares
well Duh!!!
Hope its what u had in mind buddy WE all know how you change your mind!
Naw..not me!
Just dropped her off to have new ball joints, front rotors, and an alignment. Weeeeeeee!
that oughta tighten up front quite a bit.
Naw..not me!
No mind changing now. You have sold your flares, remember..
Yepper..they're yours.
Ah..how nice it is to drive a van that tracks nice and straight and doesn't want to fly off to the left if you let go of the wheel!
Looking good Nate..better keep that a-hole in line
Here's a few up to date pics. Looks okay w/o the flares and running boards. I still may go with the one-piece fiberglass boards in the future.
please please DO!!! NEAR future please!
looks great without the flares!
Here's a few up to date pics. Looks okay w/o the flares and running boards. I still may go with the one-piece fiberglass boards in the future.
please please DO!!! NEAR future please!
This is what I want to go with...
When the van gets painted black, the running boards will blend in better.
Here's a few up to date pics. Looks okay w/o the flares and running boards. I still may go with the one-piece fiberglass boards in the future.
please please DO!!! NEAR future please!
I agree. It seems a little plain w/o the flares. But of course, its your van Nate, so you do with it as you please.
Still looks great though.
to bad its a dodge i have a set for a chevy going to toss them
Well Luke..wave a magic wand over them and change them into Dodge parts!
I can't believe no one wants them..shame you have to throw them away.
My dilema is that new fiberglass running boards are about $450 and most of the ones in junkyards are all busted up. Grrrrrrr!
Pick up the best set of busted up ones from the j/y, and start f/ging them back together. I just completed repair number 2 & 3 on one of my front flares. Not too worried about it though, with your old ones waiting for me.
Today went out to have a final check under the hood before the long trip down to Virginny this weekend and I noticed my heater hoses were very soft..almost gummy. I took a closer look and saw that they still had MOPAR printed on them!!!! Original hoses from 1985!!!!
Needless to say I took a trip up to the parts store and replaced them. Man...that woud have been great to bust loose on the highway!
does that mean you changed them? what about the belts and bypass hosefrom pump to manifold.
Belts are in good shape, but I might just changed them anyway and the bypass hose has recently been changed.
Rad hoses are new too.
Well...
On the way to work this morning the engine blew up. Not sure if I should just cut my losses and sell the thing or have an engine installed that I don't have the money for.
Decisions, decisions.
Sorry to hear that. What happened?
bummer Nate..well depends on how much you like the van weather a new engine goes in? I know where a 360 from a 97 is...
Capt: are you sure?
Bones: I've given her all i got capt' she just got no more!
good luck man.. that SUCKS
Sorry to hear that. What happened?
I don't think it threw a rod, but there's definitely something clanging around inside the block. Maybe the crank broke.
I know where a 360 from a 97 is...
never mind I should have looked at what year it was..
O my!!! That blows... looks like your destined to be a winder vanner huh! lol
Time to switch brands.........
......Wookee
Time to switch brands.........
......Wookee
I would go for another engine nate but I don't have any extra money to send your way, but maybe someone has something laying around they want to get rid of?
Having more tha one project laying around at one time, some times you have to bite the bullet an lump then into onme big project.......BTDT it's called the "Beast".....
let's see you have a Maxi winder van ther that you will have a hard timme getting back out of it what you have in.You have the brown van that needs a engine,has a nice body with less windows .A buddy with a garage to do the work in.....
Now if we where talking Chevys it would be a weekend swap,unfortunately we are are talking Dodges here.... Wookee don't speak Dodge very well.......
Or you could just un load ALL of the old stuff make enough for a down payment for a newer one and buy something with a payment but less, miles, less hassels,and a GOOD waranty and a payement.......
Dealing with older vans can be a major pain in the butt.....
........Wookee
Hey Nate!!
:(Sorry to hear about that!! I know having 2 of your Vans, giving you problems(needing $$$ put into them) must Really Suck.
But, it is a "Very Nice looking Van", and if thats Original paint, I'd get a Nice Cover for it, park it, until $$$ gets better. That is a SWEET VAN!! "I" wouldn't sell it!! Keep your Spirits Up, Man!!! Nate, I know you've done alot to it already.
I got my '77 after a carb. fire, so I don't know really what Ive got going on inside yet. The guy told me that it ran "fine" before the fire.
I,ve got a Holley 600/Edelbrock Combo on it now. A few more things(battery, alt., belts and fluids) and I'll be ready to see what I'm dealing with. If all is good, I'll install my Headers. Wish me Luck!! It's a pretty decent Van.(Georgia Body/Original faded paint and some Primer), but alot of the Kustom interior is '70's Original, and in decent shape. Don't give up on..."ROOT-BEER"!!!
Later,Kev-
UPDATE:
Through the generosity of my buddy Brian Bowie, Root Beer will have a new engine installed. He has agreed to loan me the money. Weeeeeeeeee!
As far as the maxi winder van goes, that old girl has bailed me our more times than I can count. Brings a tear to my eye....
Great news Nate..when is she going under the knife
Wow, Nate!
It's good Karma... you have been more than generous in the past... I'm sure Luke will agree that you earned and deserve this kind of "reward" for the help you've given vanners!
The guy told me that it ran "fine" before the fire.
ya know, I told my dad my engine was running great once and he said " dave what do all the nascar guys or the drag strip guys say after their engine blows up "well it was running better than it ever had." haha.
Thats great news Nate! You've got some good friends for sure.
Whats up Matchstick!!?? Hey Man, you've got some Really Kool stuff 4 sale!!
Need to pick up a few things from ya. Gotta support your fellow vanners!!
That's Great News Nate!! So it's a 440 six-pac, out of a what?????
That would be SWEET! Good luck with it. Later on, guys!!!!!!Kev-
Thats great to hear Nate!
UPDATE:
Through the generosity of my buddy Brian Bowie, Root Beer will have a new engine installed. He has agreed to loan me the money. Weeeeeeeeee!
As far as the maxi winder van goes, that old girl has bailed me our more times than I can count. Brings a tear to my eye....
Right on!!!
UPDATE:
Through the generosity of my buddy Brian Bowie, Root Beer will have a new engine installed. He has agreed to loan me the money. Weeeeeeeeee!
VANNERS helping VANNERS......
........Wookee
Coolbeans! I sure hope you let Brian claim u on his taxes! You are like a son to him!
I don't think Brian ever delivered milk or mail to where nate lived as a kid.......LOL
.........Wookee
I don't think Brian ever delivered milk or mail to where nate lived as a kid.......LOL
.........Wookee
For the rest of the story of my day got to Off Topic "What a day!"
I don't think Brian ever delivered milk or mail to where nate lived as a kid.......LOL
.........Wookee
Glad to hear things are going your way...can't beat vanner friends!
Thats great news Nate. It helps having friends like Brian. So we should hopefully still see Root Beer at Thaw??
I hope so...crossing my fingers!
sorry to here nate i know how you feel if you need any help let me know
ya that sucks man sorry to hear
looks to be in really nice shape though so certainly justifies the new motor
Howard, do you know Nates friend??
I do Gary!
B.W.
I anyone remembers, Brian had/has a yellow 8-door early Dodge called "The Notel Motel"
Now he has that tandem Xplorer A-100 RV.
Howard, what did you decide to do with your work van??
SHE'S HOME FROM THE ENGINE SHOP!!!!!
Runs great! Friday I'm gonna take her up to my exhaust man and see about getting some nice dual exhaust!
"If you're happy and you know it drink a beer, if you're happy and you know it drink a beer...."
Excellent new Nate..wow that was pretty fast as well..
Congrats Nate...
Good deal Nate. Go out and enjoy it now.
Kudo's buddy! now there is NO excuse not to make the Van Blessing this year, yeah yeah the wife has a bbq I know, the blessing is EARLY, you can do both! I gotta tell ya seems your vans lately could use all the blessing they could get! You surely dont wanna jinx em by not getting it/them <pics> blessed!
At this point I have to drive it. I check the water and oil every day. It uses a couple quarts of water every hundred miles or so, but no water in the oil, no overheat, nothing but an occasional miss and a puff of steam out the pipe...I've been staying home and saving money, and right now I am 3000 bucks short of being able to get it fixed!
That shop works pretty fast great news.....
Howard, are you talking about your van in your post????
........Wookee
Great news Nate! Bummer Howard. Too bad you weren't closer. We could fix that up in a weekend.
Tomorrow I take her up for a new dual exhaust system. Stay tuned for pics!
Glad you got it going nate!!!!!!! Are you going "true" dualls or are you just gona go single to a "Y-pipe" then 2 out the back?
True duals in front of the rear wheels. Can't run them out the back due to the large 35 gallon gas tank...no room.
There's no room with the 22 gal tank either, at least no room on the pass. side.
Here's a couple of engine pics. Ain't much too look at really, but I've never been one for flash anyway.
what size you going with? i got headers and exhaust off a parts van and i'm having put on my '75 Dodge. they're 3 inch off the collector then shrink down to just under 2 1/2 inch the rest of the way out. is there a "right size" or does it depend on the power of the engine?
actually that picture says ALLOT about the shop that did the work.New parts and clean in all the right places and NO freaking grease in all the wrong places........
..........Wookee
actually that picture says ALLOT about the shop that did the work.New parts and clean in all the right places and NO freaking grease in all the wrong places........
..........Wookee
I agree Joe..looks like the shop did a nice neat job.. Looks good Nate..get out and enjoy the ride..
Looks great Nate..looks like a good sunny day as well..go for a drive..
Nice, now take it for a nice long blast before the BBQ on Sat! Nice to have good friends with knowledge!
All right! shes bacccccccccck!
Well...I found one "flaw". I took the van out for about a 20-mile drive and the transmission started slipping. I got it home and checked the fluid. Wasn't even touching the stick. I had to add 2-1/2 quarts just to get it to the "OK" mark.
Funny thing the shop charged me for 1 quart of fluid. They had to replace the TQ converter because it had broken teeth (a Mopar flaw is not having a flywheel with teeth on it). I guess 1 qt wasn't enough.
Torqueflite transmission have to be checked in NEUTRAL. I wonder if the mechanic knew that.
The plot thickens. Went to down Brian's to do the front brakes and noticed a puddle of transmission fluid under the van. FRONT SEAL!!!
When the engine shop put the engine in, I told them I had just put a new seal in about two weeks prior and that it wasn't leaking and not to put a new one in. Well that bit me in the ass. It's not like I can take it back and bitch at them because of the decision I made. Looks like I'll be pulling the transmission after Thaw...again.
Oh and now the heater core is leaking too! Oh joy!
dang man. thats no good. You can't get any respect from this van. what all is involved in replacing the front seal?
Shoulda got THAT van blessed today Nate, sure sounds like its need it! LOL
dang man. thats no good. You can't get any respect from this van. what all is involved in replacing the front seal?
Pulling the transmission and torque converter. Not a hard job, but tedious.
Ordering a new seal and a repair sleeve for the torque converter. Should be okay after that.
dang man. thats no good. You can't get any respect from this van. what all is involved in replacing the front seal?
Pulling the transmission and torque converter. Not a hard job, but tedious.
Do you have a lift, or how do you do that?
My buddy has a lift..thank God.
Air tools, 36" extension, laying on the floor!
I have a trans jack, but usually take to long to get it out of the shed and strap it to the trans. Just use the old muscles.
Bummer Nate..sound like you have same luck as Courtney and I with the mid..good luck buddy. get in there and get r done
Crap Nate. At least by the time you finish, it will be like new.
Man getting something fixed, then you working on it just dosnt seem right.
Crap Nate. At least by the time you finish, it will be like new.
then its up for sale!
Crap Nate. At least by the time you finish, it will be like new.
then its up for sale!
NOOOOOOOOO!
Nate, I hear there's a recall on dodge lifters in 94 that might be your high tops problems
Air tools, 36" extension, laying on the floor!
I have a trans jack, but usually take to long to get it out of the shed and strap it to the trans. Just use the old muscles.
that sounds right ken i have done 8 trans on my back
o only dropped one on me lol
Nate, I hear there's a recall on dodge lifters in 94 that might be your high tops problems
Ended up being a bad fuel pump. Was intermittently putting out only 15psi.
Well that wasn't that bad of a fix
o only dropped one on me lol
BTDT!
Crap Nate. At least by the time you finish, it will be like new.
then its up for sale!
NOOOOOOOOO!
No kidding. I had a bad year with my 91 Dodge shorty, bt just kept replacing stuff, and it is still purring like a kitten. Keep at it Nate, it wil work out in the end.
PS. Please don't forget to give Ken my flares....Thanks to both of you.
Once I get the transmission fluid leak fixed and put a few miles on the new engine, I want to go to a 4bbl. setup. I was thinking about this Summit Racing combo kit.
Summit Goodies! I need to make sure the Summit intake will work with the A/C compressor AND I need to make sure this won't void the warranty.
Thats real purty Nate. Is yours currently a 2bbl??? I'll assume yes. Which carb do you have right now??
Very nice Nate
Thats real purty Nate. Is yours currently a 2bbl??? I'll assume yes. Which carb do you have right now??
Yepper..it's a 2bbl. It's a Holley 2280
Summit now has their own line of carburetors. They look similar to a Holley, but if you compare the two side-by-side, the Summit carb is way different in design.
Summit Carb
Just an eensey weensey update. This Friday I finally get a chance to take the van down to my buddy's to fix the horrid transmission leak. THEN I CAN ACTUALLY DRIVE THE VAN!!!
And now I have a little part of Rootbeer in my 91. Its raining, and I'm working tonite and tomorrow nite, and then off to Montreal for the weekend, but hope to have at least the front flares on early next week. Thanks again Nate, Ken, and Doug, for getting me these flares.
Weeeeee. Good news!
I didn't have to pull the transmission after all. The leak was caused by me overfilling the transmission. I guess I just misread the stick. So I spent the day getting the speedo hooked back up, installing a rear-view mirror, adjusting the kickdown linkage, and just driving her around a bit.
She's gonna need u-joints soon and I need to get the idle speeds dialed in.
OH..and driving home from Brian's today in a tyrantial downpour, my wipers quit working. It's the motor..luckily I have brand new one sitting here that I had bought for another 85 Dodge I had. That's Saturday's project.
AH HA! The plot thickens. Turns out my wiper linkage bushings are SHOT! I guess that's okay after 24 years. Went to the the local Salvo Auto Parts and they had 4 bushings in stock!
Just had a bit of an ordeal getting the linkages to snap into the bushings...even after lubing them. Geezy peezy.
i also struggled when putting new ones on my '75 Dodge
Just read this. Good job with it nate!
Cant wait to see what it looks like when you have the flares/running boards you want on.
To me it changed dramictly with them off... but it still looks Damn good!
Smitty
Once I get the wider wheels and tires on, I still want to go with a set of the fiberglass one-piece running boards. Eventually the van will be black.
Cant wait to see it in it's new look later down the road Nate.
I wanted my van black... but since i dont have A/C aint gonna happen!!
This one has A/C, but it needs recharged. I thought it worked until I tried this past weekend and it still has R-12.
Hey, another van's going to the dark side!!
;0)
(Mine's going to be black too...)
If you want to spend an afternoon cramming from free study materials and taking a test from your computer, for $25 you can get your EPA certification as a small appliance refrigeration tech and buy all the R-12 you want.
http://www.epatest.com/software/R-12 is still readily available, even if at somewhat of a premium price, but it needs to be recovered, and from what I read so far, it can't be mixed with other refrigerants in the recovery storage vessels.
Since your refrigerant is already gone, that simplifies the situation considerably...
I've been meaning to get certified, but too many diversions keep butting in!
Clear skies!
I do have a card that I was given when I was still turning wrenches. It's a MACS cert.
I don't think that allows me to buy R-12 though. I'll probably have it converted to R-134A eventually.
Seems like I keep taking steps backwards on this van. This weekend I installed new front shocks and installed new wiper linkage bushings and dialed in the trans. kickdown linkage. Good there.
Now..the A/C has stopped working (leaked out) and the brake pedal goes almost to the floor, the trans. still has a leak, AND now the damn engine won't idle right! I think that new carb. I put on is starting to take a crap. Oh yeah...I have a hellacious vibration at highway speeds too.
It's cursed I tells ya!
*sigh*
At least my conversion van is running great.
hee--that's cause of the identity crisis Snotty and I are having--'PORTER' would be much more well behaved!!! hee hee
Just picking on ya Nate--
hope you are able to get it all worked out before the Nats!
Suzie
Seems like I keep taking steps backwards on this van. This weekend I installed new front shocks and installed new wiper linkage bushings and dialed in the trans. kickdown linkage. Good there.
Now..the A/C has stopped working (leaked out) and the brake pedal goes almost to the floor, the trans. still has a leak, AND now the damn engine won't idle right! I think that new carb. I put on is starting to take a crap. Oh yeah...I have a hellacious vibration at highway speeds too.
It's cursed I tells ya!
*sigh*
At least my conversion van is running great.
I'm in the same boat with ya nate. My brake light has been on since I bought the van (pretty sure back brakes aren't doing anything), my tail lights get brighter when I hit the gas, and I'm hearing weird noises that I don't hear often enough to even guess where they're coming from. maybe it's just my antenna whipping around, and I broke my new spoiler already, either way I feel the same as you. Every time I put something new on something else breaks. I want to yell at the van "he hates these parts!" kind of like in the jerk, "he hates these cans!"
Wow, those are a lot alike. Did you think to ask who did the oval conversion windows? He's also got nearly the same idea for a tube grille that I have, only his tubes were longer, so he removed the entire center trim. I like the sea chest and the overhead console switch center. He's rearranged the electronics modules on the firewall and added a small battery isolator too from the looks of it. Also looks like there's no air con... that's no fun!!
Clear skies!
Would be nice to see those two side by side at the nats!
Well I do know that this one is for sale. I believe he is asking $7900. I offered $5500 and got a funny smile/smurk...
But man is this one ever clean, I mean super clean. He pulls the headers off every 2 years and paints them. And same with the brakes, and alot of other stuff. It is very well cared for, and it shows. A beauty of a 79 she is.
Oh wow..she's sweet. I'd be embarrassed to park next to that van.
Small update.
Van has been sitting for over a month since I'm discusted with it. However I did fire it up and drive down to my buddy's garage on Friday. While rolling down the highway at about 70mph...a bad vibration started developing and got worse and worse the more I drove it. Felt like the van was going to rattle apart. Vibration got REALLY bad when I touched the brakes.
Got to his house and let the van sit for about 45 minutes. I went over and touched the front wheels and they were cool to mildly warm..touched the back wheels and burnt the hell out of my fingers. So hot you could fry an egg.
I think now what is happening is that I have the rear brakes adjusted up way too far, the drums are getting extremely hot while I drive and warping thus causing my vibration. I'm sure the shoes are either heat cracked or glazed up. I'll get the drums checked to make sure they are salvageable, have them cut and then install new shoes (again!).
Once I remedy that, I'll see what the future holds. I just don't have the funds to put into the van anymore.
Take your time with it Nate and you will get her rolling again..
I think now what is happening is that I have the rear brakes adjusted up way too far, the drums are getting extremely hot while I drive and warping thus causing my vibration. I'm sure the shoes are either heat cracked or glazed up. I'll get the drums checked to make sure they are salvageable, have them cut and then install new shoes
Sorry to hear that your having so many problems Nate.
Hang tuff and she will come around.
Just a thought...
Did you check to see if the parking brake was stuck on?
Did you check to see if the parking brake was stuck on?
Yepper...works great. Cables are good and free.
Okay..this Friday I'm going down to the garage and totally redo the rear brakes. New shoes, hardware, adjusters, and wheels cylinders. No more screwing around.
I should have done that to begin with.
I didn't have a choice when I did my rears, everything about them was shot! I'm kind of surprised you didn't go all the way nate but I know this van has been burning a hole in your pocket as of late.
I want to drive it to an evant so bad I can taste it, but with the nagging issues that seem to creep up, I'm leary. Once the brake job is finished, I'll start driving it regularly.
Perhaps I'll drive it to Keystone this year.
Sorry to hear its giving you trouble Nate, you'll get through it and get to enjoying it soon enough.
As for the R-12 problem, (Here in NJ at least) you can buy stuff called Freeze-12 that is R-12 replacement at any parts store. Had good luck with it in my 88 fifth ave, 84 diplomat and a couple other cars.
Well, at least part of Root Beer lives on Nate. But I have still only replaced my front flares, as they were shot.
Chin up buddy. You will get this van purring like a kitten yet.
Wow Nate, I sure hope your drums aren't too far gone.
Don't forget the flex hose... maybe since you had both rear brakes binding, it's the real culprit.
When I did my brakes, I shot the entire batch out at once like you're talking about. I'm a lot more confident driving it thanks to that. I'm sure you'll be too.
Please take some pictures of what you find - might be a good reference for other Vanners with vintage vans.
Clear skies!
Like the exhaust Nate. Who did it for you? Stainless and welded?
Jim
Don't forget the flex hose... maybe since you had both rear brakes binding, it's the real culprit
I don't think they're binding up. They do release when I take my foot off the pedal. It's just that when I did the initial install of the shoes, I adjusted them too far and they were constantly rubbing on the drum creating buku amounts of heat. It was getting so hot that I began to loose the brake pedal. Brake fluid was developing air bubbles.
Like the exhaust Nate. Who did it for you? Stainless and welded?
Jim
Hey Jim...I had a local "mom & pop" place do the work. No it's not stainless, but they did weld the system. Sounds good too!
I want to drive it to an evant so bad I can taste it
Take a test drive to CT. on Saturday!
Good luck on the works over there.
BTW nice mug shot!
Okay! Got heavy into it today. Replaced just about everything on the rear brakes. New shoes, hardware, adjusters, wheel cylinders, rear brake cables (they were seized afterall!), and I also ended up replacing the steel lines that run across the rear axle to the cylinders. Somebody at one time did a repair and used a funkin compression fitting for the repair. I HATE THAT!!!!!!
Tomorrow I finish the job up since I had to order the brake cables.
UGH! When we got my brothers fifth ave someone had run new brake lines on the rear. Instead of flaring the line at the right length, they took a line too long and bent it up and down in waves to make it fit. That car was full of half ass repairs...
At least it's all straightened out now!
I hear ya...I always cut the lines to fit. I hate loops!
Here's some pics of the new parts.
New brake line
Rebuilt rear brakes with all new components
The brakes work like a dream now! Weeeeeeee!
Sounds like we just "might" see PORTER at Flamingo Fest!!!
Not at Flamingo, but probably Keystone.
"Hey Porter, hey porter...."
Trip to Keystone in Root Beer is in jeopardy. I think the carb took a crap on me yesterday. I going to swap the one from my 72 and see how that plays out.
I tell ya..this funkin' van is CURSED!!!
Okay! Got heavy into it today. Replaced just about everything on the rear brakes. New shoes, hardware, adjusters, wheel cylinders, rear brake cables (they were seized afterall!), and I also ended up replacing the steel lines that run across the rear axle to the cylinders. Somebody at one time did a repair and used a funkin compression fitting for the repair. I HATE THAT!!!!!!
Tomorrow I finish the job up since I had to order the brake cables.
Nate, approximately what did the full brake reworking run you? This is something MCR needs but I haven't priced parts. Any help?
Oh gosh...if I had to guess, it was probably around $150 for everything. I did the actual work myself.
I'll sell ya a good running carb for it, comes with a complete 79 b200 attached
Wish I could buddy...I like that van or yours.
Very small update. I still haven't gotten my rebuild kit from Jeg's yet. It's on backorder from Holley.
In the meantime, I bought a used carb. off a running van. Hopefully it's a good one. I'll slap it on tomorrow and see how it goes.
Poor van has been sitting up against the curb next to my house for 2 months. I hope no squirrels or cats have moved in.
a buddy of mine parked his diesel pick up for like a month, started it up and found out a ground squirrel had moved into his muffler... boy was it pissed off! when he started the truck! lol
load it up with bounce dryer sheets Nate, thats what I do and have never had an issue "knock on wood"
I'm really bummed. I put the "new" carb and she fired right up. Let the engine warm up and then it wouldn't idle so I made a few adjustments to the carb and the engine just won't idle right and it's running rough.
I pulled the wire to no. 3 and no. 7 cylinders and the engine sounded the same with no drop off or anything. Tells me somethings amiss on those two cyls. Plugs are good, wires are good, cap/rotor are brand new, etc. I guess next step is a compression check to see if those cyls are doing anything at all. This is a brand new engine so I don't know what's really going on and I don't have the equipment at my house to do a whole lot of diagnostics. Guess I'll have to break down and have it towed to the place that put the engine in and let them figure it out.
I'm running out of patience.
Drive it back there Nate.
Unless it is running that bad.
Considering you really have NOT put ANY miles on a freash engine it should still be under some type of warrenty,
Call them on Monday morning and see what they say.
Did you pull the plugs to see if they where fouled, or are you assuming they are good because they are new.
You can foul a new plug as easy as a worn one.
.......Wookee
I just had an issue with WTF...put on new wires and two were faulty...swapped the old ones on and all was good....took them back and the counter guy realized that the box said Champoin.....Turns out they were counterfeit
took them back and the counter guy realized that the box said Champoin.....Turns out they were counterfeit
OMG!!
Thanks for posting that Doc; I never heard of that before. Got to be on our guard for everything anymore...
I wonder if some innovative Chinese businessmen figured out how to incorporate Melanine in the wires... Bad enough that they poisoned our children, now they've graduated to poisoning our vans!
Clear skies!
You said the van is Cursed a few pages back, Ali's van had alot of issues & the garage guys and the body shop/painter asked why did she get a Personal Plate(VANity Plate) that reads CURSED and they ask me why? I tell them it has something to do with the mural she wants on it but that will have to wait. Before Dec 09 we can get new names or keep the same ones,I am hoping she will change it.
We have VANSRUS on Alice's 2000 Astro & VANSRUS on my 96 Safari,normally you can't duplicate but since one is registered as a car & one as a truck you can. VANVIDA(LIFE) is on the Chop Top Van. I want to change them to something else but don't know what. Sorry didn't mean to high jack your thread. Good luck on your van.
Drive it back there Nate.
Unless it is running that bad.
Considering you really have NOT put ANY miles on a freash engine it should still be under some type of warrenty,
Call them on Monday morning and see what they say.
Did you pull the plugs to see if they where fouled, or are you assuming they are good because they are new.
You can foul a new plug as easy as a worn one.
.......Wookee
Yeah...I'm going to give those folks a call. The engine has a 3-year/100,000 mile warranty. So if it turns out to be something mechanical, it should be covered.
I didn't pull the plugs, but I guess I could just to see if they are okay.
HS Nate, that a Great Lookin van, i just read all 41 pages, hopefully Someday she puts out, like you paid her alot of money, and spent alot of time on her.
hopefully Someday she puts out
I could say the same thing about some of the women I knew. LOL!
hopefully Someday she puts out
I could say the same thing about some of the women I knew. LOL!
Nate
Well, how is Porter now? got her up n runnin and ready for the pumpkin run? be great to c u there!!!
Nope..still sitting. At this point I don't really give a rat's ass.
Come on Nate we all get that feeling at some point.Take a break and go back at it.
Too many "breaks" and not enough seat time. It's nice to hop in my 72 or 94, hit the key and go. I hop in the 85 and wonder how far I'll get up the road before I have to call the hook.
Call the shop that did the work and have them pick it up. Sounds like you have spent a lot of time on something that they should have made right...
You're right Howard...I'll give them a call. I hope it's nothing terminal.
Don't give up on her Nate... problems are always big when we cant figure them out, but there's 100,000 smooth miles after it's all figured out and repaired. And those miles will be sweeter...
I'm still waiting to see this van in person. luvs it!
Okay...called the shop and I'm going to have it towed over there this evening. Hopefully it's nothing serious (or too expensive) if not covered by the warranty.
My fingers are crossed for ya buddy. Just be patient, it will work out. Look how long it took for me to figure out my problem awhile back, when it was backfiring. Can't timing chain, waterpump(just because) wires, and all, and turned out to be a bad wire.
It will work out in the end.
It's nice to hop in my 72 or 94, hit the key and go. I hop in the 85 and wonder how far I'll get up the road before I have to call the hook.
It's an "80's" thing... it just misses all the long hair. Put on some spandex and a big hair wig and I bet it'll run like a top!
Clear skies!
Update:
Shop called and it turns out the reman carburetor and used carburetor were literally dumping gas into engine and fouling out the plugs.
New carb and plugs are in order. They're going to do the work because quite frankly I was done screwing with it.
I guess...the price tag isn't good news, but at least I know the job will be done right. This shop does good work.
I am 1-for-2 in carb rebuilding success rate... have no idea what I did wrong on my second QJet... it's not easy!
so this work isn't covered by their warranty?
Just the engine itself and the labor to install it. The carburetor is a reman that I put on previously.
great news Nate..
Got my fingers crossed for ya Bud, hopefully soon you'll enjoy DRIVING it. My Black shortbed that looked for, forever was an Electrical Nightmare it sat in the backyard for atleast 4 yrs,i put less than 500 miles on it, but i liked looking at it and the mileage was Good.
I was thinking about stopping by your place last weekend.If nothing else to piss off your nieghbor again.......LOL
I am sorry now that I got busy and did not make it.....
.......Wookee
running or not I like that van!
Nate, just out of curiosity, where did the reman carbs come from that you had problems with?
Hope this shop has a different source. I'm looking forward to seeing your van one of these days - gotta get that puppy running right!
Clear skies!
RB is done and I'll pick it up after work. I bought the reman from that place in Florida called Guaranteed Carbs and previously had never a problem with the carbs I bought from them. They have a lifetime warranty on workmanship...not dirt getting into the carb (I put a new filter on too!). Oh well...I still have the rebuild kit coming from Jeg's so I'll have an extry. I'll chuck the old carb unless somebody wants it as a backup. It's a Holley 2280 non-feedback carb.
No problemos Wookee. I'm off next Friday...maybe I can make my way over to your place.
I told you you just got lucky with the last rebuild you bought from them......
I have off from Pap Pap duties this Friday.
I will not know what days I have off untill tonight for next week......
.......Wookee
The shop said they got the new carb from PAPA Auto Parts. I've had good luck with them in the past. There's a store right in Brooklyn too.
Got RB back and she's purring like a kitten. Hopefully it will stay that way!
WOOHOO. I bet you are happier now. Hopefully your weather holds out better then ours, so you can enjoy her a bit, before the white season sets in.
Congrats... a few miles in it will make your wallet pain feel a little better!
Just in time to park her for the winter! Glad it worked out!
Got RB back and she's purring like a kitten. Hopefully it will stay that way!
Awesome Nate!
Take her for a nice road test to South Jersey for the Pumpkin Run tomorrow.
Ya Know it was probably all that talk about BLACK and a NEW Name,that pissed her off, so Stop that, and she'll continue to PURR like a Kitten.
Great news Nate
Won't make the pumpkin run. Going to down to Brian's to put RB on the lift to adjust the parking brake, dial in my kickdown linkage, and hopefully put that rear swaybar kit on.
You can do all that on Sunday! Go to the Pumpkin Run and see your vanner bros and tons of cool shit on Saturday...
Sheeeeit. Sunday is race day! Sheeeit.
That's what DVR and TIVO is for buddy.
Thanks for the great pics Nate, that looks really sweet!
They sure came up with a clever, simple way to couple the end links to the axle, using an angle bracket on the shock bolts like that...
I like their attachment to the frame *much* better than the scheme I've seen with some other sway bars which are attached to a floor rib, much closer to the center. Having the wider footprint should provide the most bang for the buck.
You'll like the greased bushings; they'll last just about forever, and they're not going to squeak.
I'm curious about a couple of things; did you have to drill the holes for the frame mounts? My B250 doesn't have any stock holes in those locations, but it's a few years older than Root Beer.
Is the sway bar Cadmium plated? It looks really bright in the pictures, but there's enough glare from the bright light that I'm not certain of the color.
About how much clearance do you think there would be between the arch in a stock exhaust and the sway bar?
Thanks for pointing out the interference between the Hellwig units and the 35 gallon tank; that's what I've got, so I'll steer clear. I just installed the Timbrens, but I'd still install a bar anyway if I could find one dirt cheap.
Root Beer's still in mighty fine shape underneath - glad you found such a nice van!
Clear skies!
Lookin good Nate!
yea looks good Nate, butt Charlie is right, thats what TiVo is for, its worth the investment! I watch ALL the races that way... FF thru all the comercials and boring stuff and stop at the crashes and the last 20 laps or so... you missed a good show at the pumpkin run... check out the pics!
Nice job Nate looks great.That should help ya some
Craig..
yes..you drill 3/8 holes in the frame and then fish a U-bracket through the holes. All the nuts used are lock nuts.
Not sure of the clearance on the stock exhaust. My duals exit out in front of the rear wheels.
That's a U-bolt!? Now *that's* a real surprise! Do you happen to have taken any pictures of it or the parts of the kit laid out?
Your B250 has some differences compared to mine, like the heat shield for the stock exhaust; mine wraps around the edge of the gas tank, while yours is on the bottom of the floor!
Any idea what the finish on the bar is? I can see the gold color on the bushing's brackets pretty clearly, but can't make up my mind about the bar...
Thanks for the info Nate!
BTW, why I'm asking about the exhaust interference is that I'm fairly serious about still wanting a rear sway bar. (the more the merrier!) My side pipes will just be showpieces - I intend to keep my stock exhaust. Sshhhhh...
Clear skies!
It's more like a square u-bolt.
No pics of the parts laid out sorry to say. I would imagine the bar and brakets are anodized.
So how many miles have you put on her now.They swaybars should really help on the highway.
Nice job on the install. Looks sweet!
Looks great Nate. My 91 has a front sway bar and i feel it really helps in crosswinds and cornering.
Next up on the agendar for RB is a new set of tires. I do have a brand new set of 235/75R15 on her now, but they are going to end up on my '94.
I'm going with 255/60R15 up front and 275/60R15 in the back. Should give her a nice stance.
Just a bit of an update.
I drove Root Beer all last week and I'm happy to report no problems. I removed the hitch that I will never use and it is going to a friend who wants it locally.
I've been having an issue with the visor flopping around while I drive. Turns out only one screw was holding in the center so we replaced it and added another screw. I think I'll need to add a third because, one of the screws popped out while drving. Grrrrrr.
Use some good epoxy where the visor meets the metal and put the screw through that......prevents the initial movement that leads to "loose screws "
Depending on where the screws go through, you might think about bolting it on. I used SS carriage bolts, and mine go through in the region of the interior visor center clips.
Well maybe on the rear screws anyways.
Okay...ordered up my new tires today, so hopefully by this weekend I'll have them installed. New pics will follow.
Added a third screw to the visor and now it's not flopping around. Used clear silcone on the threads. It's raining here today, so that will be the test.
Cool,Now get the heater core fixed and bring it to Freeze Out
I used well-nuts to screw my visor in:
But it's still flapping once I'm going faster than 65mph. I think I will add another screw too!
Got the new tires on RB finally. What I did is swap over the wheels and tires that were on it over to my conversion van since it needed new tires anyway. Dismounted the old AVID S/T's off of the factory chromies and mounted the new ones. I think it looks good.
275/60R15 on the rear:
255/60R15 on the front:
The day was bittersweet because as soon as my wife got down to Brian's garage with the conversion van, the transmission took a shit. Monday or Tuesday it goes in for a rebuild. ACK!
Got 170,000 miles out of it, but that doesn't make me feel any better. Oh well.
Firehawks, nice! I likey those. Lookin good Nate.... you're all set for Freezeout?
Nice!!!!
Looks great Nate. Hey that rhymes...
Looks good Nate, i thought about N50-15's on the back of my van, but i think they'll be too wide, i'd like to try my P285/70/15's on there, but they're mounted on the 15x10 Weld wheels i had on my chevy truck, don't have 15x10 Dodge wheels in the 5.5x15 size yet.
Looks really good Nate. Bummer about the tranny though.
What happened with the tranny Nate?
Hope it doesn't cost much; holiday season's not a good time for it if there ever is a good time!
Clear skies!
Lost reverse. Everytime I put it in R, I hear a bit of a "crunch" and the engine stalls.
Thats a bummer Nate, hope its something easy.
I am confused...which van lost the tranny, conversion or Root Beer ?
Either one sucks though
Not RB..the conversion. RB just got a new engine back in April. I'm ready for '09 to be over.
I hear your pain Nate, it almost cost as much to rebuild a tranny as a motor these days with labor.2010 will be a great year for ya.
Not RB..the conversion. RB just got a new engine back in April. I'm ready for '09 to be over.
Hmmmm so a new engine caused the tranny not to fail in Root Beer / Cool !!! 2 for one special...who is your wrench, I want to add him to my Rolodex
Okay...blew the heater core out a couple of weeks ago so I had it bypassed and well, it's been chilly driving to work to say the least.
Picked up a new core, hoses, and just for shits and giggles a new heater valve. I'll throw the parts in this weekend.
On a side note, my '94 should be out of the shop by the end of the week.
I Like replacing parts one or two at a time...you end up with a NOS van you built yourself
Great Look van Nate! Dont know why but I love the color and the name fits it! I admire you man Life throws Lemons at you and you make Lemonade! I've had so many problems with my van everytime i drove it too and it threw a rod this past summer (09) But reading your posts about fixing it like every week keeps me working on mine Thanks
Update.
Got the conversion van back with it's rebuilt transmission. Shifts great again.
Installed the new heater core in Root Beer yesterday and now it's all warm and toasty inside! Hopefully will be bringing it to Freezeout in Jan.
Thats great to hear Nate,hope there's no more problems for ya.
Me too! I'm thisclose to have a nervous breakdown.
Drive it like you stole it........
At least if something does break you have a really good excuse to fix it......
At least you had some fun before it broke.........LOL
........Wookee
Thanks Joe. I'm glad I finally have this van basically where I want it except for a paint job.
You need to post a better picture of it with out the flares and running boards....
Conversion Van style.......
.......Wookee
I've decided against running boards now. With the lower profile tires which are now on it, it sits lower. The rain gutters in the rear corners need some work, but other than a few dents and dings, the body is rust free.
I'll snap some new pics this afternoon after I get home from work.
Here's two pics of what Root Beer looks like with the new tires and the factory Dodge wheels (off of my 94). It sets the van down about an 1-1.5" in the front and rear is set down about 1/2". I like the factory wheel because they will never rust.
Looks good Nate. Glad too see it up and running for ya.
That looks really good! I still miss those flares but this is a good look. sorry to nit pick I just am a flare guy. I mean heck I just sold mine but I'm gonna make a set from metal.
Still looks great, love the tube grill. those big windows are cool too.
That looks really good! I still miss those flares but this is a good look. sorry to nit pick I just am a flare guy. I mean heck I just sold mine but I'm gonna make a set from metal.
Still looks great, love the tube grill. those big windows are cool too.
I don't miss his flares, seeing how they are on my van.
The vans looking great Nate. I hope they both perform well for ya.
Update.
Got the conversion van back with it's rebuilt transmission. Shifts great again.
Installed the new heater core in Root Beer yesterday and now it's all warm and toasty inside! Hopefully will be bringing it to Freezeout in Jan.
How much for the Rebuilt Trans ?
Update.
Got the conversion van back with it's rebuilt transmission. Shifts great again.
Installed the new heater core in Root Beer yesterday and now it's all warm and toasty inside! Hopefully will be bringing it to Freezeout in Jan.
How much for the Rebuilt Trans ?
$1600
OUCH, i guess i'll have to take it Easy on my truck, its going Bad.
$2500 for a Jasper unit though.
Maybe it's expensive because it's the A-518 OD trans.
There goes the sale money from Big Blue .....
That looks really good! I still miss those flares but this is a good look. sorry to nit pick I just am a flare guy. I mean heck I just sold mine but I'm gonna make a set from metal.
Still looks great, love the tube grill. those big windows are cool too.
Never saw it with the flares....
by the way nice chevy mirrors
by the way nice chevy mirrors
Those Brand X mirrors will disappear when the paint is done. I have a set of "correct" mirrors that will go on.
Awesome! looking good bro. Still planning on running her down to Freeze Out?
That looks really good! I still miss those flares but this is a good look. sorry to nit pick I just am a flare guy. I mean heck I just sold mine but I'm gonna make a set from metal.
Still looks great, love the tube grill. those big windows are cool too.
Ohhh NOOooo Dave you did it, ya just jinxed it, Nate will now have a stock grill going in too!
We all just gotta remember that Nate's our STOCK guy... LOL I think once he turns 40 he will suddenly become a CUSTOM guy like the rest of us..
Just bustin on ya buddy...
Hardy har har Snotty
. Naw..I like the wing, visor, and tube grille. The grille needs replaced which is no big deal. The parts of the original grille that are left and headlight bezels I will sand down and paint a light argent silver.
However...if I ever get an early Dodge again, I will fix it up totally stock...whitewalls and hubcaps to boot!
You can take the man out of the Conversion Van,but you can't take the Conversion Van out of the man......
........Wookee
Hey Wookee..speaking of conversion vans how's Mary's van coming along?
As soon as I find the right A/C parts it will be back on the road.......
I would love nothing more than to be driving her again.
I could really use the garage space that turd has been hogging up......
Unfortunatly my house has had my spare time really tied up last summer....
.......Wookee
what's wrong with your grill nate?
what's wrong with your grill nate?
The chrome is getting all rusted up and pitted, plus it wasn't installed very well.
Hey Wookee..speaking of conversion vans how's Mary's van coming along?
That's just MEAN!
Little itty bitty update. Went up to visit with Gary and Larry (the twins) on Sat. morning and to pick up a nice set of captains chairs they had.
Was going to mount them this weekend but alas, Brian and I will have to make an adapter plate of some sort to mount them to the swivel bases. Dadgummit.
Was actually thinking about going back to the factory seat bases, but the swivels are like brand new so I'll leave them in.
What kind of seats are you putting in Nate ?
Conversion van seats out of a 96 Dodge. I figured they would have the universal 11 x 8 mounting base, but they don't. Haven't taken any measurments yet.
Just thought I'd share some pics of ol' RB before I owned it. The van was owned by a feller named Walt who I think also was a member of North Chesapeake Bay Vans at one time. Gary and Larry gave me the pics. She looks good with the flares with the wheel/tire combo that he had on it at one time. The front spoiler was long gone when I got the van. I don't know, maybe I'll get another set of flares and spoiler for her. No mud flares though!
The Gold/Orange van is a 77 Dodge that belongs to Larry Kerr. He last had the van out at the '05 Nats. He told me Saturday that he wants to get it out and clean it up this summer. I'd be more than happy to give him a hand if he does.
Yeah Root Beer needs flares and a spoiler
Got the new seats in with the help of Brian. They need cleaned but other than that they are perfect!
Don't trust us to work on anything! LOL
Ewww..look at the head on that.
Adapter plates made out of aluminum. Materials "courtesy" of Northrop Grumman.
Passenger side in!
Drivers side in!
The seats need cleaned. That isn't a jizz stain thank you!
The seats match the vans interior really well. Looks good Nate.
That's a bad hat Harry!
Yup, thats one bad hat Harry!
Nate, you really expect vanner's to believe thats NOT a Jizz stain?
aint gonna happen!!! They will clean up nice and from the looks of the pics they match perfectly!
And YES you do need to put some Flairs and wider tires back on Porter.Running boards ahhh... I can take em or leave em... c'mon buddy I know your fighting it, butt Porter wants to be a CUSTOM van again!!!!
Nate....the seats look great!
Nate, you really expect vanner's to believe thats NOT a Jizz stain? aint gonna happen!!! They will clean up nice and from the looks of the pics they match perfectly!
Well if I ever see brown Jizz coming out, I think I'd have to go to the doctor!
Nate , those seats look great !! nice work .
Yup the seats are a Good match.
Doggone wipers stopped working. Just for the halibut I checked for power and it was good. Ran a ground jumper to the body of the wiper motor. Zing! Off it went. Ran a permanent ground wire from one of the wiper body bolts to a good ground.
Stinkin' factory grounds! Grrrrrrr!
Yeah Grrrrrrrrrrrrr
Put a Bad Hat over the Jizz stain Harry
Sorry Nate, you can't have your old flares back. You can have my old flares if ya want them. Oh yeah, the fronts came off in three pieces. The seats look good buddy. Can you tell if the swivells were redrilled to fit, or were they made for the front' When I put universal swivells in, they sat way to far back, and me being 6'2" i had to slide my seat all the way forward to drive. Not good for shorter girlfriends.
Hey Brad...
These are Dodge specific swivels. No redrilling was done.
As you can see we had to make adapters to get the seats to bolt to the swivels.
Lookey here at what I got! Next project for RB
Cruise Control
Wow... looks like a steal Nate! Cooooool!
That's cool Nate... how did ya stumble across that? can ya find one for Fog Cutter? its a 97 with a 318 I looked to no avail... u seem to have the magic touch thou...
That's cool Nate... how did ya stumble across that? can ya find one for Fog Cutter? its a 97 with a 318 I looked to no avail... u seem to have the magic touch thou...
Nate has "Dodge Magnetism".
A Nice addition for any ride, makes Long Haulin a little more relaxing. Nuthin Better than cruisin 70mph with cruise on and the classic Rock crankin.
Found it NOS on Ebay. Seller had two of the kits.
Didn't see anything for the newer vans.
Funny, shortly after I got my van, I ripped out my cruise control. I blamed it for blowing a new coil (ACCEL). Oh well, its not that hard to keep a steady foot while on those long drives. Ironically, I use it all the time in my 2000 Dodge Caravan beater.
Started the install of the cruise control today. Very tedious since I had to get my fat arse under the dash to install the new brake light switch. That took some time. Pretty awesome that this kit has everything you need to install.
Anyhoo still have to hook the cable up to the carb and do a test. I'll probably get to that tomorrow or when I feel like it. Next weekend is finish up work on my wife's car.
I'll post some pics of the progress tomorrow.
i added one to my '86 Dodge and yes, changing that switch was kinda a bitch. but i love having cruise control
Anyhoo still have to hook the cable up to the carb and do a test. I'll probably get to that tomorrow or when I feel like it.
Before or after the Bristol race tomorrow ?
.......Wookee
cruise control kit?
details?
you DO have your eyes open for a cruise control kit for Fog Cutter right?
Very tedious since I had to get my fat arse under the dash
Mission impossible huh
you DO have your eyes open for a cruise control kit for Fog Cutter right?
Can you get one from a dealer?
The "kit" I have was an NOS Mopar unit from Ebay. I would imagine this is what the dealer would install if the van didn't have the option from the factory. The install was pretty straight forward and luckily the main harness under the dash had all the provisions to plug everything in.
Snotty...I'll keep my eyes peeled but I imagine stuff like that doesn't pop up too often. You may want to maybe find a donor van in a a pick n pull and grab the parts.
Wookee...nope, didn't go jack squat before or after the race. It was depressing seeing Jimmie Johnson win again!
Wookee...nope, didn't do jack squat before or after the race. It was depressing seeing Jimmie Johnson win again!
If Tony would have taken 4 tires he might have been holding that trophy........
.......Wookee
True true! After his mediocre start to the season, second place looks good.
Here's a couple of pics. Not much to look at really. First pic shows the servo with the speedo cables coming out of it along with vacuum hose and wiring. Second pic shows that the factory connectors are used.
ROOT BEER has rust?!?! Tisk tisk nate... you needa paint that brake booster dealio
so thats the CC? thats pretty cool.
does it work? c'mon we need a better report then that!
I'll tinker around with it some more after work today.
I'm sure you will get it Nate
Nothing much to report. Put on a new set of front shocks this past weekend. Ride is MUCH better now. Changed the oil and lubed the chassis..blah blah blah.
Found the trans leak. I thought it was the front pump seal, but it turned out to be a bad o-ring on the dipstick tube. I'll stop by the Dodge dealer and pick up some new o-rings.
Next weekend is trans fluid and filter change as well. I'll be taking the rear couch out so I can start building a bed.
ho hum.
DON"T change that fluid Nate........
If it does not smell burt just run it.
If it shifts good leave it alone.......
........Wookee
Well...I have to drain it anyway. The pan is leaking too so I figured while it's apart I'll put in a new filter as well as change that dipstick o-ring.
This fluid is nice and pink though.
I chased a leak like that on my first car. I swapped in a TH350 that I rebuilt and used the old dipstick tube and o-ring. It's akin to changing your VC gaskets a few times before realizing it's the oil sender leaking. A great lesson to teach the importance of not overlooking the simple things.
Absolutely...I don't feel like pulling the trans!
DON"T change that fluid Nate........
If it does not smell burt just run it.
If it shifts good leave it alone.......
........Wookee
how bad is the pan leaking? if its not bad I would heed Wooks advice...
I've changed tranny fluids in every vehicle I owned, regardless of how it looked, how it behaved, how it shifted, or how much metal was in the pan. I also switch over to synthetic ATF during the change.
I haven't had a tranny fail on me just because I changed its fluid. This IMO is a stupid myth.
I say go ahead and change. It will drive like new with new fluid.
i've seen it happen when you change fluid out that you don't know it's history on... my advice is this - drain it all into a big pan and try to re use it... if not, get some Lucas trans stabilizer and put that in when you refill...
That tranny fluid is a weird thing. I had a Firebird and the fluid looked like black water. It ran fine until I changed it and the tranny went out in Delaware the next day.
I haven't had a tranny fail on me just because I changed its fluid. This IMO is a stupid myth.
actually it is NOT a myth.......
In my younger years I got the chance to work in a shop that specialized in transmissions.I pulled them the shop owner rebuilt then and I put them back in.
After a hundred or so thousand miles varhish can build up inside a trans.As long as trans is not run low on fluid or badly over heated the fluid is fine.When you install new fluid it will dislodge the varnish and it can go into the small holes in the valve body clog the new filter,and can cause a multitude of problems.
Some times you can get lucky.IF it does fail it will have to be rebuilt.
Places like AAMCO rely on you not being lucky and make a huge profit.
As with any of my advice,it's not hear say.Real world first hand experience talking.....
If the fluid has been change every 35,000 miles or so it's good.
In Nate's case who knows the last time this van has been serviced. Most ALL of the problems he has had from this van was due to it setting and bad maintenance.......
.......Wookee
A little history...
The van was originally a 4-speed van stick shift van. An automatic from a mid-Dodge was installed (I think Pat McFaul did it Wookee) at some point and I think it was rebuilt before it was installed. The fluid is almost like brand new, very clean and doesn't smell burnt. I added Lucas oh probably about 6 months ago. Shifts fine although I had fine tune the kickdown linkage when I first got the van.
The pan isn't leaking bad but it's still leaking enough to annoy me. Since the fluid isn't bad, I'll reuse it but I will put a new filter in before I bolt the pan back up. Also I need to make up some sort of heat shield since the pass. side exhaust pipe runs close to the pan...don't want it to start leaking again.
It should be like new Nate,good for cruising this year!
Nate, as far as I know the van was an automatic as long as the owner before Pat owned it.(it was an automatic when I mounted the running boards on it over ten years ago).......
......Wookee
Oh wow..I didn't know that. Small things like a blank plate where the shift indicator goes, hole welded up where the shifter came up through the floor, and a small brake pedal. Factory automatic vans had a larger brake pedal.
Next time I talk to Pat, I'll ask him and see if he knows what goes.
Ok the van was a manual van when Walt the owner first bought it.There was a member of N.C.B.V that did tranny/mechanical work.He MIGHT have done the conversion.
In any case the van is a low mileage van.(under 100,000) so you are more than likely safe to swap out the fluids
......Wookee
Cool..thanks Wookee! As Paul Harvey used to say, "And now you know the rest of the story"
Nate- Change that tranny fluid! Switch it over to the correct ATF+4 required by Mopar transmissions.
The transmission is out of a 70's model van...they didn't have ATF+4 back then. They used Dexron.
Hmmmmmm. You know what? I just had the transmission rebuilt in my 94 and I asked what fluid they used because I wanted to know if I needed to change the fluid/filter after 500 miles. They told me they used Dexron!!! Yikes. I think I better have it changed out soon.
Nate,
Don't change the fluid!!!
Dump the Dexron. Outdated technology.
Nate, I used ATF +4 in my 727; put it in at the same time I installed the Derale transmission cooling pan. So far so good. I've only put several hundred miles on it so far, but much of that has been rather harsh test runs with lots of stops and sudden wide open throttle activity. I think it works great.
This might be of some use to you; it's a chart showing how much of the original fluid remains after each drain and refill cycle. With the price of ATF +4 it's actually fairly depressing... may be the best argument for a commercial trans flush that I can think of.
I've also begun using Magnefine in-line filters in the return line from the radiator.
They're a 30 micron filter followed by a large ring magnet. I've also got one in my power steering return line.
Clear skies!
Craig, that is a neat, and depressing chart. I have added a drain plug to my tranny pan, and have dropped my atf+3 and replaced with atf+4 numerous times.
I like to let it drain overnight. I park on a slight incline, and unhook the uppermost aftermarket cooler line, and have been able to drain slightly over 5 quarts.
In the following link, they say ATF+4 is backward compatable with all chrysler trannies, except some jeeps.
In multiple places they say DO NOT USE DEXRON or MERCON!!
Allpar and ATF+4 I had a newly rebuilt Aamco tranny start shuddering while still under warranty. The issue was only resolves when I had the tranny flushed with atf+3 at a dodge stealership.
Aamco is proud of their universal fluid, and their additive, and are ignorant shysters whom I regret ever doing business with.
actually it is NOT a myth.......
In my younger years I got the chance to work in a shop that specialized in transmissions.I pulled them the shop owner rebuilt then and I put them back in.
So you're basing this on an ancient observation 30-40 years ago? Wake up, Rip Van. Times have changed. Many times. Transmissions and ATF has VASTLY improved since then. Dexron is as obsolete as a mainframe computer. Dexron II/III shouldn't be used anymore in anything other than cleaning.
Most ATFs sold today are Group III oils (full synthetic) which is a million miles better than anything 10, 20, and 30 years ago. The same goes for engine oil. There are no bad oils anymore. Oils today are much superior to oils of only a decade ago.
If you change ATF and the tranny dies after, it's not because you changed the oil...the tranny was already done beforehand. You just got a great deal on it, right? Why was the guy selling it cheap? ;) If I go look at a car, I check the ATF with a crisp white cloth. If it's too thick, gooey, or as black as used engine oil, it's done for.
Everyone has their opinions about changing or not changing fluid. Agree to disagree...let's move on. Thanks.
In summary..I'll reuse the fluid that in the transmission of Root Beer. It's clean and not that old. As far as my conversion van goes, it just plain has the wrong fluid in it and I'll probably take it to get flushed out to have the +4 added. Hell that's what was in it originally and it lasted 170,000 miles!
Okay...got the transmission leaks squared away with a new pan gasket and a new o-ring for the filler tube. I reused the fluid since it was still nice and pink.
Took the rear couch out and started ripping the carpet and plywood off of the back half of the van so I can start building a proper bed. I plan on leaving the floor bare and coating it with bedliner. I was amazed at how little rust there was on the floor pans in the rear. Dodges rot very easily along with wheelwells and rear corners. Minor surface rust. There are holes from screws and stuff that need to be patched.
When I pulled up the carpet up towards the front, I noticed that there was hardwood flooring in the van! Might restore it or just leave the carpet down.
Wookee came down to Brian's as well for a visit so it was nice to see him again.
Cool, you'll be ready for Cruisin.
Maybe you will bring it to Butler!
The fun never stops EH Nate. Good to hear your tranny issues resolved. I know JACK about transmissions, and just use ATF +4 in all my Dodge vans.
just keep in mind, opinions are like assholes, we all have one, sometimes they stink, lets not get combative over them, and please remember to play nice and be respectful of the other members. you don't have to agree, just get along.
Astro--your 'asshole' line made me giggle--had a boss once that would say something very similar--
'people are like assholes--everyone has one--just
some of them stretch more than others!'
and, personally, over tranny fluid? Really?
Okay--back to your regularly scheduled program....
The only thing that really confuses me is why reuse it? I think the idea of not changing it is to NOT open up the trans and stir things up? Once the pan is dropped you might as well put new stuff in IMO
Well...ol' Root Beer is back in the shop at the place that installed the engine. Rear main seal blew out. Supposedly it's under warranty. Dropped it off last week and hadn't heard a peep back. Called the place yesterday and they confirmed a bad rear main. They're just waiting for the engine company to give them authorization. tick tock tick tock
Oh well. I'm glad I don't have to do the repair. Damn engine only has about 2000 miles on it!
damn dude, your van is cursed. drives me nuts having to have things done over and over. seems to happen to me a lot also, hope everything goes for the good with it
Just caught this thread. Really like the van especially the inside back. The coach and bay window. Kinda reminds me of a siting lounge very comfortable.
Man Nate you do have some patience!
I'm trying to be patient. Maybe I should changed the van's name to dickhead or something. LOL!
Naw...it's been a good van really since I basically rebuilt the thing. I'm not in a big hurry..I kinda wanted to get the bed built and all before the Nats but I'm bring my conversion van. It'll be nice to have the A/C on for the trip up.
Anybody wanna replace the flexplate and trans front pump seal for me?
The shop called me yesterday and said the rear main seal is fine but the flexplate is broken causing the converter to "wobble" and allow the front seal to leak.
I did start hearing a "ting ting ting" sound from underneath the van lately. Must be the busted flexplate.
flex plate is a pretty simple bolt in part......
front pump seal is not too bad of a job....
I am a little confused there is a BIG difference between the color of tranny fluid and oil.......
I take it that THAT shop wants too much to do that job.....
.......Wookee
Easy peasy job as you would say
I'm sure you want this done by the Nat's though, huh?
What kind of price did they give you to do it?
I'm waiting for the estimate as I type.
I can do the job, but I don't feel like it. I want to get started on the bodywork and this situation has put me back. I'm driving my conversion van to the Nats this year.
Yeah..I said to the guy that I saw oil dripping, but they have it on the lift and said trans fluid is coming right out of the front of the bellhousing. I don't have a reason to think they are lying to me. They've been fair and square with me so far.
Update. Finally got the van back fromt he shop about 3 weeks ago. The flexplate was grenaded for sure. Wish I would have taken a pic of it. Anyhoo...no more leaks so I'm happy. Yesterday I sanded down and painted the hood I got from Cloudy at the Nats. I also orded a poly transmission mount from Summit and installed it. Much better design than the OE/Import aftermarket junk.
Next on the list is to order up a front sway bar kit and install it.
Looking good. My first van was an '85 Dodge, I miss it.
Go get ya another one! ;)
The "square-nose" Dodges are become my favorite body style.
Nate- scout junkyard vans for the factory swaybar. I have installed two- one on my 83 Dodge and one on my brother's 83 Dodge. Both bars were off of later vans, but bolted right up to the lower control arms and existing holes in the frame of the vans. I believe I paid about $12.50 per sway bar including all the mounting hardware. Get some new bushings and you are set! Way cheaper than aftermarket stuff.
The hood's looking nice Nate.
Do you notice any difference in vibration or noise levels with the poly trans mount? What part number was it?
Ditto what Reed said; I've got two swaybars from yards so far. As long as you get the front frame clips it's a no drill job.
Clear skies!
Yepper...I have all the brackets for the install, but rather than a stock sway bar, I'm going with an ADDCO 1-1/4" bar. I have a rear 1" sway bar from ADDCO already installed. I think they'll compliment each other nicely.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-7751101/
Your hoods looking great Nate. I'm so jealous. Mine has more hunks of paint flying off everyday. I am however painting up the one from my 86 chop project, as it is the only extra one I have that doesn't have the hand dent in the middle of the hood. I know you know what I'm talking about.
Looks pretty sturdy, and Lots of storage underneath too.
looks good man how ya ben bro long time no talk
Wow, that's nearly a bunk bed Nate; you could have a party on both levels!
;0)
Did you dimension the space for a big cooler? A pretty awesome one would fit in there... maybe even a keg! Now if you just install a nice stainless tap on the outside, you could re-christen Root Beer as the Beer Wagon!
BTW, thanks for the link to the poly transmission bushings - those look great! I may join you soon. I haven't been all that happy with the SMP rubber bushings I put in; they're sagging already, and I've hardly put any mileage on them!
Clear skies!
Wow, that's nearly a bunk bed Nate; you could have a party on both levels!
I'm not sure I'd want to sleep below ANYBODY consuming mass quantities of beer and truck-in food.....
Lookin good Nate! Congrats on the foam slab score!
Thanks all!
Found that my side cargo door bottoms are rusted out. Dang. I'll probably have to have them repaired as finding non-winder cargo doors is kind hit or miss.
Installed a set of the Sylvania Xtra Vision headlamps. WOW..what a difference! Now I can see the road at night...what a concept ay?
I was going to buy the Silverstars, but these XV's are good.
But, it's blocking the windows
But, it's blocking the windows
HHHUUUMMM.....The though if peeking in those widows and seeing Nate is kinad scary.......LOL
......Wookee
But, it's blocking the windows
HHHUUUMMM.....The though if peeking in those widows and seeing Nate is kinad scary.......LOL
......Wookee
C'mon I saw you peekin' in my windows at the Nats. Nice lady.
But, it's blocking the windows
HHHUUUMMM.....The though if peeking in those widows and seeing Nate is kinad scary.......LOL
......Wookee
Now that you mention it, maybe the bed needs to be higher
C'mon I saw you peekin' in my windows at the Nats. Nice lady.
One too many blander drinks for you my friend......LOL
hallucinations, a bad side effect of parking right next to Moon Lites bar/camp.......LOL
........Wookee
Well..I FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY finished hooking up the cruise control and it works great! I had to adjust the speed because it was about 2-3 mph slow. In other words, at 65mph it wants to drop down to about 62mph. I turned the adjustment screw 1/2 turn counter-clockwise so the next time I'm on the highway, I'll see how it goes.
Had to readjust my shift points on the kickdown lever because the new bracket used for the cruise control cable messed them up. Now the transmission is back to normal.
If anyone has factory CC, I do have a parts list I can scan and I also have the part number for the entire kit if anyone needs it.
I did post pics of the install further back in this thread.
kudos! did u find me one yet for Fog Cutter? lol I want one i want one!!! that AND a tilt column!
I would love top see the diagrams for the parts. I am going to be adding factory cruise to my brother's 83 Dodge van and I want to be sure I get all the parts.
But, it's blocking the windows
HHHUUUMMM.....The though if peeking in those widows and seeing Nate is kinad scary.......LOL
......Wookee
Lookin Good Nate!!
Wookie......you aint right!! LMAO ;0)
Reed..all the diagrams are in the factory manual as well in the electrical section under speed control. I can scan the actual directions and parts list.
Nothing real fun and exciting today. I FINALLY found the heat stove that mounts to the pass side exahust manifold so now it runs better cold. I also added the factory cold air intake setup.
I still have some flat spots in that hunk o' junk Holley 2280 but the engines seems to run smoother now with the new parts. I'll snap a few pics tomorrow.
I'm still considering going to a Carter BBD in the near future.
Nate- did you adjust the power valve on the Holley 2280? There is a mechanical adjustment for the power valve. I haven't read through the 63 pages of this thread, so I apologize if you have already done this.
factory cruise... Bitchin! Im going to have to do this to the Astro one of these days.
Nate- did you adjust the power valve on the Holley 2280? There is a mechanical adjustment for the power valve. I haven't read through the 63 pages of this thread, so I apologize if you have already done this.
Didn't know the 2bbl carbs had those. I know nothing about adjusting the power valve. I suppose the factory manual would have that procedure. ???
From my 83 FSM:
Most modern carbs have some form of power valve.
Yup...there it is! Thanks!
I did look in the book when I got home and it's the same as this.
Hopefully it solves the surging/lack of power problem.
For the past few years I have been tuning the 225 in my brother's 83 van for performance and economy. I have been bouncing back and forth between 2280s and BBDs on it. I do know that this power valve adjustment made a BIG difference the last time I was running a 2280 on the van. Adjusting this valve improved idle quality and power and eliminated some big flat spots. Hopefully it will do the same for you.
I found that I had a spare 2280 in my basement and one thing I discovered is there are two holes drilled into the accel pump arm...an inside and outside. The inside allows more movement of the accel pump arm, thus pushing accel pump and the power valve down further. I'm going to see how it is on the carb on the engine.
I'll snap a few pics tomorrow.
ahem.
I'll snap a few pics tomorrow.
ahem.
I didn't say which tomorrow.
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, there's always, tomorrow. It's only a day away."
I found that I had a spare 2280 in my basement and one thing I discovered is there are two holes drilled into the accel pump arm...an inside and outside. The inside allows more movement of the accel pump arm, thus pushing accel pump and the power valve down further. I'm going to see how it is on the carb on the engine.
Let us know how it works out for you. My 83 FSM has a diagram of the 2280 that shows it with two holes on the pump arm and the linkage on the inside hole. That is the only reference I could find to two holes in the pump arm. There wasn't any written instructions on which hole it should go in.
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, there's always, tomorrow. It's only a day away."
I found that I had a spare 2280 in my basement and one thing I discovered is there are two holes drilled into the accel pump arm...an inside and outside. The inside allows more movement of the accel pump arm, thus pushing accel pump and the power valve down further. I'm going to see how it is on the carb on the engine.
Let us know how it works out for you. My 83 FSM has a diagram of the 2280 that shows it with two holes on the pump arm and the linkage on the inside hole. That is the only reference I could find to two holes in the pump arm. There wasn't any written instructions on which hole it should go in.
Same way in the 85 FSM. Maybe cars needed a leaner shot of fuel and trucks/vans need a richer shot. Sounds like a good guess.
Okay..here's a pic of the factory cold air intake hose I added and the hot air stove I found in the junkyard.
and the hot air stove I found in the junkyard.
You know, it's a good thing I never found what you were looking for, because I would have sent you the wrong part. I thought you wanted the flappy thing in the pipe
That piece I know I don't have.
and the hot air stove I found in the junkyard.
You know, it's a good thing I never found what you were looking for, because I would have sent you the wrong part. I thought you wanted the flappy thing in the pipe
That piece I know I don't have.
Funny you mention that. That was seized open on the original manifold. I just did away with it by using another left side manifold. Seems to run fine without it.
Eventually I will be adding a 4bbl/alum intake. Maybe a cam too, but not sure about that right now.
put an rv cam in it, you will love it.
Nice! THe cold and hot air intakes are great upgrades. Make sure the little thermostatic vacuum switch on the air cleaner still works right. It has to open the flapper on the snorkel below a certain temp to let the hot air in, but then closer it once it gets warm to let the cold air in.
Nice! THe cold and hot air intakes are great upgrades. Make sure the little thermostatic vacuum switch on the air cleaner still works right. It has to open the flapper on the snorkel below a certain temp to let the hot air in, but then closer it once it gets warm to let the cold air in.
Oh yeah..works great. Much better driveability in the cold.
If I go to a 4bbl, I have a dual snorkel air cleaner and one of the "horns" has the flapper in it.
Hey Nate- here is a 1978 Chrysler service video telling you everything you ever wanted to know about how to adjust a 2280:
http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Films/359/
Wow Reed, thanks tons for that link! There's some pretty cool information in those old training filmstrips and videos. I'd watched some of those videos several years ago but I neglected to bookmark the website and I'd been unable to find them since, despite determined Google searches. It didn't help that I'd renamed the videos so I wasn't sure of the original file names...
Nate, I have a bunch of info on the Holley 2280; it's what I've got in my van. I even figured out how to modify some parts of it and tweak some of it's adjustment procedures for improved results. Some of it was simply a matter of finesse, some was more brutal...
The video describes mostly the correct procedures, the big difference being in the newer version carbs having the electric bowl vent. Fortunately the video does show the truck/van version of the carb, which has 2 needle-type brass power valves. The quickest way to tell the difference on our vintage of carb is that the automotive version carb has a different bowl vent cover, with a kind of large flat "ski slope" on it, while the truck/van version has a round dome.
I hope Root Beer's working well now that the cold's moved in; that was a great move getting your hot air riser operational. I just fixed that system on my Son's 91 Jeep Grand Wagoneer and it made an immediate positive difference with the 30 degree weather we've been having. By odd coincidence, his Jeep's power valve was a concern too; it was totally inoperational thanks to a previous owner (stoner?) who yanked things he shouldn't have. -Inuendo intended...
;0)
I dug that link out because today I swapped the Carter BBD on my brother's 83 slant six equipped van to a NOS Holley 2280. THe BBD was worn out, so I swapped the fresh 2280. However, I did discover that the 2280 I installed only has the vacuum operated power valve, NOT the mechanical! Never seen a 2280 like that before. It has the hole in the air horn for the power valve and the hole in the bottom of the float bowl for the mechanical power valve is blocked by a threaded in brass plug. It seems to be working fine, it just surprised me.
That Imperial website actually has TONS of great old Chrysler training videos on everything from one barrel carbs up to four barrels.
My 2280 only has a mechanical power valve.
Really? Have you opened up the float bowl to verify that? The vacuum operated power valve is hidden entirely inside the carb and is on the throttle linkage side of the float bowl and air horn.
All of the 2280's had two small brass power valves; one was mechanically actuated, the other was driven by that brass venturi vacuum actuated plunger that rides inside the little tower that sticks out of the bowl vent cover. The brass power valves are on the left in this picture:
The arrangement of the bowl vent solenoid linkage and power valve/accelerator pump linkage is responsible for the shape of the lid of the bowl vent that I mentioned.
Check out the ski-slope shaped part of the bowl vent cover on the automotive version:
And spherical dome on the bowl vent cover on the truck/van version:
There was also a difference in the accelerator pump plunger; the automotive one used a small cotter key to hold it in place, so there's a hole in the pump shaft for the key. As best as I've been able to tell the accelerator pump diaphragms were both the same diameter, but I've not been able to tell if the main jets were the same size. Chrysler listed 4 different main jets in their parts manual for the 2280, so I'd strongly suspect a difference there.
Some of the automotive carbs had a wire-coupled throttle position sensor which mounted under the choke vacuum kick assembly. If I could have found one of those sensors I wouldn't have had to spend more than a month building that crazy complicated custom TPS for my van!
All true, except your claim that all 2280s had both vacuum and mechanical power valves. Mine has the vacuum for sure, but the hole in the bottom of the float bowl for the mechanical is plugged by a screwed in brass plug and the linkage and adjusting screw for the mechanical power valve are missing. This is a NOS carb so I know it hasn't been tampered with. This same carb has the ski slope, but no bowl vent valve or linkage for the vent valve under the slope.
I had never seen a 2280 without a mechanical power valve before, but I contacted the seller, a guy who knows a bunch about carbs, and he said that some of the california emissions package 2280s didn't get the mechanical power valve. Odd. I am tempted to try adding one from one of the core 2280s I have.
Boy, you've got a puzzler there Reed!
Does it have a Holley "R" vendor spec number stamped on it? Since Holley could sell their carbs to whoever they wanted, I wonder if they sold these in the modified form you've got to another company? With the unique combination of features it makes me think it must have been for a relatively light vehicle, whether Mopar or not.
I can't think of any great benefit of plugging the mechanical power valve; it has little effect until the throttle is pretty nearly at WOT... plugging it wouldn't have much of an impact on pollution.
If it was a California model I'd speculate that by plugging the mechanical power valve perhaps they were trying to lean the WOT mixture to reduce pollution from leadfoot drivers, but without pretty huge main jets such a lean mixture would likely cause massive pinging with a heavy vehicle, especially on a grade. I had to enrich the output from *both* my power valves to reduce mild ping under heavy acceleration... and that was on my low 8:1 compression 318 engine. I captured quite a lot of exhaust gas and other data during multiple test drives to prove it needed a change, and it took several significant alterations to get to where it needed to be.
If pollution was behind your carb's configuration, not having a bowl vent valve makes no sense to me, especially in California, since it's a significant antipollution feature... even the earliest 2280's had that. I wonder if this carb may have been from a system which used an external bowl vent solenoid? My Son's Jeep Grand Wagoneer is like that.
It makes sense that the vacuum power valve is the one that's still operational. They use it to supply sustained enrichment through a wide range of throttle openings, since the accelerator pump alone won't provide sustained enrichment after it's shot is used up, and the mechanical power valve is only operational near and at WOT.
I *have* heard of shortening the vacuum power valve's piston spring or adding shims behind the spring, either of which will alter it's tip-in point, but even with that change in operating point the enrichment at WOT would be nowhere near the amount available with both power valves.
It's really fascinating that your carb is missing the mechanical power valve linkage, which is what the carb would ordinarily be using to actuate the accelerator pump plunger. How does the accelerator pump work in that carb? Do you have any pictures of it's insides? I'd love to see them!
Okay then yes my 2280 has both a vacuum and mechanical power valve.
I'm committed to putting a 4bbl. on next year anyway.
The next time my brother brings his van around for some work I will get some pictures of this oddball carb. The carb runs fine, except once fully warmed up it has a bit of a rough idle and is more difficult to start. I need to fine tune it, but I may end up swapping it out for another carb if I can't get it to run right.
-And then you can both send me yours so I can perform even more evil experiments!!
;0)
LOL!
Well, I do have two extra 2280s...
Alright you two..don't make me grab a broom and chase you out of the kitchen.
Dropped the gas tank today to see where the leak was coming from. Other than the hoses being old and brittle, I found that the sending unit o-ring was split and the plastic lock ring was cracked in two places. Dammit.
Dealer only parts too but they're closed on the weekends. I won't be able to get back to finishing until after the new year.
Oh well.
Years ago I swapped the gas tank on my great uncle's mid 80s T-bird. The sending unit o-ring was all dried up and shrunk, but I was able to use some RTV gasket maker to get it to seal up again. Just a thought.
I used to own a 79 Dodge shorty where a previous owner had cut a handy little square in the floor in the back of the van to access the sending unit. Was a good idea, except I would occasionally get gas fumes coming into the van.
I Hate when ya can't get the parts ya need.
I was lookin through this thread nate and i hope you know this van and oops van from FVC are the two that made me decide i wanted a late model square dodge. I cant wait to bring home my 87.
Well..RB is still sitting with the tank out. New parts have been discontinued from Mopar for the 36 gallon tank. Sumbitch!
I do have a lead on NOS parts, but can't order until Jan. 10th! Dammit. Well worse case scenario is I'll swap to the 22 gallon tank. The aftermarket supports parts for those tanks.
i havent filled my tank yet, so im not sure which one i got. Kinda hopin i got the 22 gallon. Mrs will sh%t seeing the bill to fill up a 36 gallon
The big tank hangs down in the back and is plastic. The 22 gallon tank is steel.
Just a visual and you can tell which one you have.
Okay...FINALLY got the proper part to fix the tank. Amazing how everything goes back together easily with the right parts!
Once Spring arrives, I'm going to gut the interior and do my own thing. Something simple like wood paneling on the ceiling and walls and some nice neutral color carpet tiles for the floor. I may or may not build a permanent bed in the back. I've been mulling the idea of a cot to sleep on at evants so I can keep the floor flat for trips to hardware store just in case I need something for the house.
This van will be a nice driver and not show quality. Hopefully I can strip the body down for paint at some point too.
Time and money folks, time and money.
Nate, I have a good idea for a bed that can be easily converted over to a flat floor.Plus give you storage when the the van is in flat floor set up......
........Wookee
Sounds good Joe. I'd like to come up for a visit soon.
Wait till the snow disappears........LOL
We can knock some thing out like that in a day......
........Wookee
This weekend RB has it's guts ripped out! Naw....ripping the old interior out so I can come up with something else that I like. Once that's done, I can start on bodywork
I'll take some pics and post.
The big tank hangs down in the back and is plastic. The 22 gallon tank is steel.
Just a visual and you can tell which one you have.
crap, that means i have the 36 gallon. Bet that will go a llooonnnggg way in my /6
Wow, that's a lot of work Nate!
The shot across the roof of all the fiberglass hanging down makes me think "Vanner's haunted Halloween Castle", LOL!!
Do you already know what interior layout you're putting in it's place? I'll be looking forward to seeing it.
Are you going to use the bagged fiberglass insulation in your new interior?
What on earth happened to the passenger side rear wheel well? It looks totally out of place compared to the rest of the van.
A lot of work....what do you have planned for the "re-build"?
Yep...the plans are in my head! A nice but simple interior will go in after the van is painted.
I'm not putting any insualtion behind the new walls and I can't really afford to spend a bunch on that fancy shmancy foil stuff.
Not sure how the pass side wheelwell got smashed down like that, but we'll pop it back up into place.
nate what did they do glue that pink insulation down in side ? It's aways something right ?
Good luck in the rebuild : ) i'll Be watchin .
No insulation at all? I'd think it would be awfully noisy and pretty taxing on your climate control.
Why don't you at least look into this plastic bagged stuff I got at Lowes:
It's made by Johns Manville, and the R-13 rating is hard to argue with. The part number is B-011. It was almost the same price as the standard fiberglass. It covers 40 sq feet per roll.
Here's links to the datasheets:
http://imgs.ebuild.com/xCat/ebuildWebB/15?ObjectID=17330&Variant=Originalhttp://www.specjm.com/files/pdf/bid0007.pdfAccording to them: "Twice as resistant to vapor penetration. Compared to
kraft paper, the poly vapor barrier facing keeps the
wall cavity drier and helps eliminate vapor penetration
to maintain thermal effectiveness"
It's a simple solution to many of the sins that good old pink carries with it. No paper/foil backing, no exposed fibers to float around and get in your lungs, and no water trapping. No formaldehyde either, so you may not look as well preserved as me, but you'll be healthier... LOL!!
dude! without anything its gonna be a rattletrap and chilly as hell on them cool truckin nites!
nice progress wonder what ur minds cookin up for the redo =)
Gettin rid of the rest of that pink shit will be a pain, but it won't cost nearly as much as the Motor or the tranny rebuild. Ya gotta have some insulation or it will be Hot as Hell at vannins in the summer and Freezing in the Spring and Fall.
how about some styrofoam insulation panels,there pretty cheap.And better then nothing.
i really like watching these interiors go in, so many different choices to do. good luck with it
how about some styrofoam insulation panels,there pretty cheap.And better then nothing.
Yeah if you like to squeeeeeeeeeeek on down the road.
Hmmmmmm. That's a good idea Craig. I'll look into it. Thanks!
nate what did they do glue that pink insulation down in side ? It's aways something right ?
Good luck in the rebuild : ) i'll Be watchin .
No glue, just sticking to the metal. It comes right off if you scrape it.
Or at least a layer or two of Reflextic Nate as it's cheap,easy to work with and works pert dang good plus way way better then nothing.
nate what did they do glue that pink insulation down in side ? It's aways something right ?
Good luck in the rebuild : ) i'll Be watchin .
No glue, just sticking to the metal. It comes right off if you scrape it.
Man that makes me itch just lookin @ it
looks like you got soem work ahead of ya Nate. I do like how all the carpet was one piece all the way around though, nice and clean with no seams. How did they have it held up there?
looks like you got soem work ahead of ya Nate. I do like how all the carpet was one piece all the way around though, nice and clean with no seams. How did they have it held up there?
Not me. It may clean with no seams, but if ya ever have to get behind the wall panels to add wiring or repair any wiring, it makes it really hard.
The carpet was held in by at least a million carpet tacks.
Okay..got a little more done today.
Little surface rust on the driver side floor, but solid.
Particle board on the floor. All the glue that was holding the carpet down is covering up the screws, so rather than rip it up I'll go over top with a piece of masonite or luan to smooth it out for the carpet tiles.
Headlight buckets on Dodges bolt in...
I thought you were just rebuilding the interior?
Or are you rebuilding the entire van at this point?
Whole thing Charlie.
New paint and interior.
That's great Nate, I'll be watching this tread.
lol once u start theres no stopin right nate? =)
looks like progress brother! Good luck with it.
Thats the way to do it Nate.
I got a set of headlight buckets if ya need 'em.
Why I have Dodge parts, I can't remember.
Nate, how did Root Beer handle with both ADDCO swaybars installed ? done any serious cornering ?
Hiram..right now I only have a rear bar installed. No front bar from the factory, but soon I will add one. I have all the brackets necessary, but haven't purchased a bar yet.
Catfish...I'm swapping over to the round headlamps using parts from the 84 that Superbeast is working on. Member "Lee7673" is looking for a set. I told him to send you a PM.
The factory didn't make a swaybar or you just want to buy a new one ? How about the newer style ?
At that time front swaybars were optional on 1/2-ton models, but standard on 3/4-ton and 1-ton models. I would imagine later on the front swaybar was standard across the board.
Catfish...I'm swapping over to the round headlamps using parts from the 84 that Superbeast is working on. Member "Lee7673" is looking for a set. I told him to send you a PM.
Guess that means I better get them out soon.
We swapping harness's also?
No need to swap harnesses. The plug for the hi-beam should be tied back.
No big rush Ken, I'm not ready to swap in yet. How about we make the trade at the campout in April if you can make it?
Sounds good to me. I'm hoping to make the camp out. Please remind me as it gets closer though.
I really don't understand the reason behind this swap.
The square stacks where the upgraded light system for that model van......
Sorry I really think they even look better.
I don't think the single rounds performed better ether
??????????
.......Wookee
Not a performance thing really, I just like the way the round headlamps look. That's the only reason.
My understanding is that the best beam pattern is produced by the old 7 inch round headlamps. The four small rectangular lamp setup was a appearance package, not a performance option.
Sounds funny using performance and headlights in the same statement.
Yeah, man! My van is a rocket ship now cause I swapped out the headlights to round!
The ultimate goal is to have Kurk from Custom Van make me a custom billet grille, but you have to retain a portion of the stock grille to do it. I think the billet grille along with the round headlamps would look good. Different.
He already said my van would be the guinea pig.
being differnet is always good nate =)
I used to like the square headlights better when they were the "new thing". But now that they are the "norm" I have started to like the round lights again. I think the same thing has happened to me with big wheels. Now that even new trucks on the showroom floor have them I have seemed to go back to 15's lol. Anyway here is a pic of a Streetvan with round headlights. I think they look nice.
i like the newer style with the one rectangle headlight like mine has. Never did like round headlights cept on the old chevys
I don't dislike the square lights. but the round ones are pretty nice. I think it just gives an older look.
Very nice clean Van Nate. Good choice and i agree with you the round headlights fits the van better. The round light give the Van a more oldschool look and with a billet grille it will be great. It´s on my wishlist too the billet grille.
for this style year they do look cool i think..
yeah..the ol' "square nose" body style has grown on me.
Just a few pics today. Got the new side doors on...that was a chore. Actually had to elongate the holes more than what the factory had to get the left cargo door to latch and shut properly. The right cargo door went on much easier. Gaps aren't perfect but the door shut correctly and the body lines line up nicely.
Visor off and holes getting welded up
Wing off and holes getting welded up
Had to cut a hole in the floor so I could get a socket out I dropped down into the abyss when trying to unbolt the door. Brian welded a new patch in place. I have to say that I have early Dodge sheet metal in this van now. A patch for this hole and a new patch where the original 4-spd. shifter came up through the floor.
New doors in place! These are off a 78. Bought them from Steve (Simba) in Canada. He basically had them in a garage almost since new. Weatherstrip is in beautiful shape.
I really don't understand the reason behind this swap.
The square stacks where the upgraded light system for that model van......
Sorry I really think they even look better.
I don't think the single rounds performed better ether
??????????
.......Wookee
diddo!!!!
Nice job , looking good nate
Looks good but your new doors dont match the rest of the van.Wrong color.
comin along nicely, are you leaving the wing and visor off then? on my 75 i had to dremel out the holes also to get the doors to fit decently.
comin along nicely, are you leaving the wing and visor off then? on my 75 i had to dremel out the holes also to get the doors to fit decently.
Yes leaving them off. There was rust bubbling up underneath the visor, so I decided to just keep it and the wing off. A couple of fellas in my club want them.
Looking great Nate,nice new doors ya picked up there.
This should be the "how to un-customize a van" thread!
to each there own and we all know that Nate loves the stockers and the winders!
This van is going to be a driver and I plan driving all year round. Personally I don't like all that bolt-on fiberglass stuff on my van. Not that it doesn't look good on other people's vans.
It will have a custom grille eventually.
i'm not a fan of visors, but i am starting to kinda liking the rear wings however. well, keep on pluckin away on the van, i enjoy watchin them come together.
Those doors will be like a beacon when heading to the van on those nights during runs when it's drunk out.
Those doors will be like a beacon when heading to the van on those nights during runs when it's drunk out.
But they do look like good solid doors.
Those two colors look awesome together!
Looking good buddy!
Any ideas about the color yet?
High gloss black.
I haven't decided on Basecoat/Clearcoat or Acrylic Enamel. This is going to a home paint job, so I can't get too fancy....or too expensive.
those doors are in great shape , can't ask for better ..
High gloss black.
I haven't decided on Basecoat/Clearcoat or Acrylic Enamel. This is going to a home paint job, so I can't get too fancy....or too expensive.
We're gonna have to start calling it "Black Beer" or maybe "Guinness"...
Not much was done today because of the rainy weather but did score some goodies at the junkyard.
Sweet wood dash trim and a set of factory tinted pop out winders!!
Welded up the spare tire carrier mounting holes and knocked out a couple of dents. Cell phone pics
I was really glad the door could be salvaged.
Real nice find at the PNP!
Nice progress Nate...just came upon this thread ...lookin good !
Nice yard scores Nate,good job on the back door!
Nate what are you doing with the fiberglass cover and the stainless trim ring that was not that tire?
...........Wookee
Nice finds, That dash trim looks brand new!
The cover was cracked and the ring was actually black plastic from a Toyota. I chucked them.
Brian is going to weld in the factory holder. I'm going to keep the spare inside.
I was originally going to get a new "continental" kit for the rear door, but decided not too.
It amazed me too! I was surprised all the shelac wasn't peeling off!
nice! i gotta weld up my extra spare tire holes one of these years too...
i like it...but i like the round headlights alot more on the 71-77 models.. =)
I had a buyer lined up, but that fell through so I'm just going to keep the van for awhile.
I spoke with Kurk from Custom Van and he said he could make me a custom billet grille when it's done. He has those billet grilles for Chevy, but not Dodge. I think that should set the "rounds" off really well.
With the grille Nate that should look sweet.
Nate glad you are keeping Root Beer for awhile ~~ its a very cool van and i cant wait to see it when you are done ~~ Root Beer is a part of you : do you have a number for Kurt at Custom Vans also where is it at ??
Here's his website.
www.customvan.com
Sounds like a good idea Nate.
It took me about 10 minutes to figure out that the plates are right and left specific. Bolted the pass side in and then couldn't figure out why the dr side wouldn't bolt in right. Duh!
Sorry, I guess I shoulda marked them for you
Bet they have an 'L' and an 'R' stamped in them
It took me about 10 minutes to figure out that the plates are right and left specific. Bolted the pass side in and then couldn't figure out why the dr side wouldn't bolt in right. Duh!
Sorry, I guess I shoulda marked them for you
Bet they have an 'L' and an 'R' stamped in them
Yup...they are stamped L and R.
Geez Nate, how did ya miss that one?
Okay..I went down to Brian's for him to fix the exhaust on my 94 and I got to tinkering around with Root Beer. I fixed the gaps on the 'new' side doors and made the decision NOT to sell the old girl.
This means that my early Dodge project is not on the back burner, it's off the stove completely.
Not having the money for the paint job I wanted originally, I have another idear in the works and I think the van will still look good. This spring Brian I will start sanding her down for paint.
One thing I'd like to do ASAP is pull the hacked up wiring harness behind the dash and replace it with a new harness. I know of two 85's I can grab that from.
Good luck with it!
Thats good to hear Nate.
Uhh... should I return the parts that I borrowed from the van?
Uhh... should I return the parts that I borrowed from the van?
my van? What parts?
I had a buyer lined up, but that fell through so I'm just going to keep the van for awhile.
I spoke with Kurk from Custom Van and he said he could make me a custom billet grille when it's done. He has those billet grilles for Chevy, but not Dodge. I think that should set the "rounds" off really well.
Sounds cool brother !
Not much to report. Went down and grabbed a 'virgin' harness out of another 85 in the junkyard. It had the roundy round headlights, but the grill was gone! Crap.
Anyhoo, only took about an hour to pull the new harness.
Now I can hopefully eliminate the aftermarket fuse block under the hood. I hate hacked up wiring!! Why do people do that shit?
yay! glad to hear you're keeping her. I gotta say i liked the square lights better though.
Was driving home from work today and it just popped in my head...the new name for this van.
BURNIN' DESIRE
Will go along with the old school rod paint scheme I'm thinking of.
Were you burning brain cells coming up with that name ?
But sounds good though.
no no. That's later on.
Well...going down this Friday to get that new harness put in and fix any other wiring issues.
Brian's paint booth is empty so I hope to move it in there and start scuffing for paint! Keeping my fangers crossed.
Well...going down this Friday to get that new harness put in and fix any other wiring issues.
Brian's paint booth is empty so I hope to move it in there and start scuffing for paint! Keeping my fangers crossed.
Is there any chance that it may make it to the Spring Thaw?
Just happened upon this thread(this forum has such good readin' material it is hard to keep up!!)
Man you are doing a great job! It's undoubtedly going to look great when done.
I too think the single round light looks good. Gives it that retro look. Funny back then the in thing was to convert to square lights, now we convert to round. Gone full circle!
Cool name too! Now with the black paint job, put some ghost flames to live up to the name!
Richard
Just happened upon this thread(this forum has such good readin' material it is hard to keep up!!)
Man you are doing a great job! It's undoubtedly going to look great when done.
I too think the single round light looks good. Gives it that retro look. Funny back then the in thing was to convert to square lights, now we convert to round. Gone full circle!
Cool name too! Now with the black paint job, put some ghost flames to live up to the name!
Richard
It will be flat street rod black with flames, but not ghost flames.
Well...going down this Friday to get that new harness put in and fix any other wiring issues.
Brian's paint booth is empty so I hope to move it in there and start scuffing for paint! Keeping my fangers crossed.
Is there any chance that it may make it to the Spring Thaw?
No..it won't be done before then. Maybe Butler or Keystone. I don't know.
My cousin is an awesome carpenter...I'm going to run it by him to see if he'd be interested in putting the interior in.
Wait.... it's not Root Beer anymore? Dang, it's going to be hard to not call it that.
I'm thinking also going with a set of Cragar Soft 8 wheels. 7's up front and 8's in the back.
255/60R15 up front and 275/60R15 out back.
Those will look great Nate. Can't wait to see the transition.
Starting working on the wiring in the dash today..didn't finish because I was also helping Brian with one of his trucks. I'm really glad I dug into this. There were melted wires in the harness, but the biggest problem was all the splices that had been made using butt connectors and those blue quick-splice doohickeys.
Dash cleaned out of old wiring:
Old crusty harness:
New wiring going in. I used dielectric grease on all the connectors:
One thing I eliminated was the EGR timer circuit and also this harness did not have provisions for the delay wiper circuit. Oh well. I'm going back down Sunday to finish up.
good thing you replaced the wiring .It would have sucked doing so much work to it and it burn up on you . I find alot of over spliced wiring in these old vans .
Just a good idea to check any new van you get for now on .
Oh thats a tip for everyone : )
Nice work Nate
Nice job Nate. You just saved your self a lot of future problems!
Good to see your keeping it Nate...looking forward to progress pics..
Nate, did you trace which circuits were connected to the melted wires?
If they were for instance the wires which run to the rear where someone would attach a trailer, I'd be sorely tempted to replace the entire run all the way back. If they were connected to any of the fusible links, well; I'm sure you know the drill.
You should keep the old harness at least for the connectors; I've often wished they were still readily available. Those original multi-tap provision bullet connectors are pretty sweet to wire in when you need additional circuits which can be disconnected quickly in the future, like for a stereo. I especially like having lots of the original color code wire available when extending a circuit, so I've collected several harnesses over the years.
If you decide to reinstall the intermittent wiper system, I'm sure I could help you map out the wiring to support it. Your previous harness would have had the connectors necessary to do a good job, and even if the bulkhead connector was missing the necessary home switch sense wire, it's super simple to pop the terminal out and swap it over. I did just that on mine, which allowed me to keep the original color code wire.
good deal buddy, wiring is a mess im unwilling to screw with, im fortunate to not have to do too much of it. I bet this old girl is gonna be sweet when shes done.
Craig..the harness running back to the rear lighting is in good shape. I just think that with so many splices and ugly "fixes" that were done to the original harness contributed to the mess.
I will check everything before hooking the battery back up.
Finished up the wiring for the most part, but the fuel gauge and oil pressure gauge peg high now. I think I made a boo-boo somewhere and I didn't have my diagrams with me. No biggie.
Here's some pics.
Pulled the delay wiper switch and replaced with a non-delay switch as the new harness didn't have those provisions. I don't need delay anyway. Blah!
Dash buttoned up. You can see the non-delay wiper switch installed.
Had to run a starter circuit feed because the original was melted and gone on the engine compartment side of the harness. All safe and sound with a fusible link and correct #10 gauge wire. Much better than the hack-job fix that was on the van before.
I was able to utilize an unused battery feed slot on the starter relay for the new wire.
Short video of the van running with the new wiring done. Click the pic to play the video.
Oh..also ran new speaker wiring to the rear and pulled the van into the paint booth. Next Friday I go down so I can remove the bumpers and start scuffing paint!
sounds like good news. another van gonna get painted, i like seeing the progress.
Lots of work done Nate. Can't wait to see it in it's new coat.
Taking shape Nate,Can't wait to see it done
Fun Stuff! Looks good Nate!
Oh..also ran new speaker wiring to the rear and pulled the van into the paint booth. Next Friday I go down so I can remove the bumpers and start scuffing paint!
What color you going? PLEASE tell me it won't match those school bus doors. HAHAHA
Hot Rod flat black with flames. Brian is going to have one of his "street rod" guys lay out the flames for me. Future plans is to have Matchstick do some pinstriping at an evant. Maybe next years Nats.
sweet! i'm looking forward to it.
It's alive! And sounds good too! Great to see some more progress with this van.
And I really like the new name.
sounds good Nate keep up the good work !
I had been debating on whether or not to add a cam and 4bbl. to this 318. I may not now in this world of high gas prices. She's all bark and no bite, but I don't drive fast anyway. I'm a set the cruise control and ride in the right lane kind of guy.
Thanks for the compliments folks!
That's right set the cruise and go
Talk to Gary Kerr he added a cam and a 4 barrel to the 318 in his green Dodge and got improved gas milage along with performance.
The low end torque cam I put in the Beast also added gas mileage to it.2 to 4 MPG around town close to 6 on the hi way.
I have herd good things about the Edelbrock performer "pagkage" and 318's
.......Wookee
Good progress Nate! Gets me motivated to go work on mine!
NO pics but went down and tinkered a bit more. Got the rear window glass out and finished up some wiring repairs. I realized I cut the power wire to the electric choke assist and the "boo-boo" I mentioned in an earlier post is that I forgot to hook the ground back up for the gauge cluster which caused my fuel, temp, and oil pressure gauge to peg high. D'oh!
Most of my day was helping Brian swapping out the center section on one of his A-100's.
Just ordered a new doghouse gasket...50 bucks! Good gravy. All that for a piece of rubber.
I have a request in for new gaskets for the rear side markers and tail lamps. Hopefully Mopar still makes them. If not, I'll have to make my own.
where are you ordering your gaskets from?
I ordered the doghouse gasket from
www.moparpartsamerica.com Used my 94 B250 as the vehicle since the online catalog doesn't spec one for 85. They're the same gasket though. They also had the cheapest price.
I have a request in to my local dealer for the lamp gaskets.
What a fiasco! Got an email from the place I ordered the doghouse gasket from saying the part is discontinued from Chrysler and not available. I called my local dealer in hopes they had one sitting on the shelf...no dice. They even checked dealer inventories across the country....nothing.
I went to Arizona Parts and searched their database and found that they had one in stock. I called and the jackass proceeded to tell me he was going to keep it for himself. He told me he would give me the superceded part number (which I already had), then changed his mind and said no. I told him he ought to take the gasket off his database then. Jerkoff. He thought he was going to pull a fast on me by not giving me the new number, BUT he had the old part number listed on his website. I searched that number, and low and behold, some place down in Florida had it. I called and talked to a really nice feller who is sending me the gasket!!! Geezy peezy.
Hot Rod flat black with flames. Brian is going to have one of his "street rod" guys lay out the flames for me. Future plans is to have Matchstick do some pinstriping at an evant. Maybe next years Nats.
Coool! Bet that it's gonna bee sweet.
Keep up the good work, Nate.
I love finding treasure! Well, not really actual treasure, but parts I didn't know I had.
I found a set of brackets sitting on a shelf in my basement that I had bought to mount a front sway bar. I put a rear bar on a few years ago so I'm looking forward to seeing how well this van will handle after I add the front.
I found that PST has the best price so far for the ADDCO 1-1/4" front sway bar kit.
I found some other goodie sitting on that shelf too, like a set of full-size Street Van stickers that I had gotten from Johnny O. Yes..they will be going on this van. An '85 Street Van? No way! Way!
Got my new doghouse gasket in. This thing has a date on the label of 5/31/78, but the rubber is still soft and pliable.
awesome! any sources on front door rubber?
badass! thanks for the link.
A good sources weatherstripping is
http://www.am-autoparts.com
WOW! May 31 /78,let me see on that date Red Sox 3 games over Yankees,and we all know what happened that year.
A's 1/2 over Royals,Cubs 1/2 over Expos, Giants 1 1/2 over Reds.
Got my new front wheels in today. Cragar Soft 8's...reasonably priced and they look good. The fronts are 7" wide and I'll be running a 255/60R15 on them. I bought a set of 8" for back from Mutt (Chuck Plummer) at Spring Thaw. Those will get a set of 275/60R15.
This weekend I'm going down to start sanding to prep for the new paint. Slow project, but it's getting there.
Says you mr. new wheels for my Dodge.
Not yet buddy
probably another week or two
What brand tires are you getting? I thinking about giving BFG another shot I'm running 275-60-15 on the Dodge and nobody around here has them
I'm going to run the Firestone (Firehawk) Indy 500 tires. I have them on my 94 now, but I'll just swap them onto the new wheels. I have a set of stock tires that I'll put back on the 94. These have been great tires so far and the price wasn't bad. Got them through Tire Rack.
Cool ,I might check into those
Wheels look great! I think i'd pick the coopers over BFG's heard too many bad reviews about the BFG
I like my Coopers....235/60s and 295/50s.
$447.50 completely installed , balanced with
hidden weights , and an alignment.
Would have been a couple hundred more for the BFG's.
Very nice wheels, will look great on the van.. What color paint are you going with?
I'm going to run the Firestone (Firehawk) Indy 500 tires. I have them on my 94 now, but I'll just swap them onto the new wheels. I have a set of stock tires that I'll put back on the 94. These have been great tires so far and the price wasn't bad. Got them through Tire Rack.
Wheels look good Nate
I got the Firehawks on back now,not a bad tire for price! got them from tirebuyer.com came outa warehouse in Md,were @ door in less than 24 hrs!
it's going to look good Nate !
Very nice wheels, will look great on the van.. What color paint are you going with?
Hot Rod flat black w/flames.
Nate's Rat Rod
Nates STOCK Rat Rod
haha
Nates STOCK Rat Rod
haha
Not sure how you figure this van is 'stock' butt breath.
Shouldn't you be working on your house?
Started sanding her down for paint. Thank God this van is straight or it would take a fort night to get the sanding done. There is some bondo filling some dings here and there, but NO RUST!
A little primer where the old mirrors were. Going to need a bit of spot putty and I need to feather the edges better.
The kids
Brain's plugging away on his shorty early Dodge. He's putting an interior in...one of his famous rag tag interiors.
i enjoy watching the progress on all the vans on this site that have been getting new paint and such. this is just another one i'm anxious to see. good luck with it.
Who's Vette ?????
......Wookee
lets see he has a couple of street rods with Chevy engines.
Might as well have a nice Chevy to go fact and look cool in right from the factory ......
.......Wookee
Yup..Brian is equal opportunity now, which is a good thing.
Now he's thinking about buying a 5.0 Mustang too.
More sanding...sanding....sanding...sanding
Brian cleaning the old gasket material out of the tail light buckets.
We had the van inside because it had been raining.
has to be exciting, getting closer to paint.
looks like you will be ready for paint in no time.
Lots of work but looking good!
"Burning Desire" - Was the name influenced by 80's (Pittsburgh) rock legend Donnie Iris' "Ah Leah" song, at the 0:35 second mark?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH5Arbm47IQ
Got my new rear bumper in today!
It's perfect other than some smudges. It's was coated in a protective oil to keep it from rusting. I'll paint the back so it doesn't rust through.
Now to save up some beans for a new front bumper.
who did you get the bumper from?
Got it off Ebay.
'car parts wholesale' is the seller.
Looks good! Need to save up for a new rear bumper myself!
Ordered my new front bumper today. Pics to come.
Cool Nate movin right along !!
Looks great Nate. Hot damn...I'm a poet!!
Looks great Nate. Hot damn...I'm a poet!!
Ordered my new front bumper on Wednesday and got it on Friday!
Got more body prep done Friday, but no pics.
No paint yet. Still root beer!
This van is going to look great. Fresh paint and new chrome bumpers. Can't wait to see this one done.
Richard
Not much to report. I didn't work on the van this past weekend...wasn't feeling up to it since I funked my leg up last weekend. Oy vey.
Anyhoo Brian called me Sunday and said he finished prepping the roof and painted it. Says it came out great! Awesome! Things are starting to shape up.
Not much to report. I didn't work on the van this past weekend...wasn't feeling up to it since I funked my leg up last weekend. Oy vey.
Anyhoo Brian called me Sunday and said he finished prepping the roof and painted it. Says it came out great! Awesome! Things are starting to shape up.
I was getting ready to scum you out for high jacking a thread then i noticed you changed your name . LOL
Hey sorry about your Booboo and yay! your Van is taking shape ! Nice bumper ! Hey Nate look over there ----->
Haha
Far from done brother.
Hope to have it at least painted before Keystone, but I don't know. Lots to put back together after paint.
Body work is a Slow tedious process, having help makes a huge difference.It'll be worth the wait and you'll be glad you Kept er.
Far from done brother.
Hope to have it at least painted before Keystone, but I don't know. Lots to put back together after paint.
I'm not that far away.. let me know if want some help one weekend
Thanks Chuck..I appreciate that.
Looking good Nate.
looks good. Is the roof truck bed liner or flat black? What color is the van going to be?
looks good. Is the roof truck bed liner or flat black? What color is the van going to be?
1. Flat Black (no bed liner), but I may do the inside floor and part way up the walls in bed liner.
2. Flat Black w/hot rod flames.
I was originally going to paint the van white (a Corvette/GM white) and then add ghost flames, but I'm on a serious budget with this project.
it's looking good Nate working in this heat you need props just for that .
Lookin good nate!!
Actually Nate whits is no more expensive price wise than black is.......
......Wookee
I like it Nathan, I like it when your first got it. I am sure it will look splendid when done!
Cool Nate, and I agree with Chuck..I remember old "Rootbeer" when I first joined the site a couple years ago....
Looking good Nate. Takes alot of work to change the colours. Love the idea though, can't wait to see it done.
Wow...had to go back a few pages.
Well needless to say that since I'm a flake and keep changing my mind as to sell or not sell this van, I'm in "no sell" mode right now.
Just ordered all the weatherstrip goodies I'll need to put the front doors back together. Door weatherstrips, scrapers, and felt channels all from Rock Auto. The wing winder rubbers were shot (whistling Dixie), but I was able to find some off of a 92 that were like brand new.
Wow...had to go back a few pages.
Well needless to say that since I'm a flake and keep changing my mind as to sell or not sell this van, I'm in "no sell" mode right now.
Just ordered all the weatherstrip goodies I'll need to put the front doors back together. Door weatherstrips, scrapers, and felt channels all from Rock Auto. The wing winder rubbers were shot (whistling Dixie), but I was able to find some off of a 92 that were like brand new.
Cool Nate
....just be careful one of these days your going to sell it and it's going to suck a couple months later when U change your mind...
Yea!!!!! Glad you are keeping it.....it's a great van
glad you're puttin it back together. its fun to watch em get all redone, plus gives others ideas also. good luck.
I found out yesterday that the original owner of my van who was a ex-member of North Chesapeake Bay Vans passed away. His name was Walt...I never got a chance to meet the guy. Sad.
Well, maybe there will be a chance of me seeing it while you own it ;-)
One of these days Ken...one of these days. Once the weather gets warmer, I'm going to bust ass to get the body painted so I can start putting shit back together.
My cousin who's a great carpenter said he'd do the interior.
I found out yesterday that the original owner of my van who was a ex-member of North Chesapeake Bay Vans passed away. His name was Walt...I never got a chance to meet the guy. Sad.
RIP Walt
......Wookee
One of these days Ken...one of these days. Once the weather gets warmer, I'm going to bust ass to get the body painted so I can start putting shit back together.
My cousin who's a great carpenter said he'd do the interior.
Sounds like a good plan to me
Got all the front door rubber goodies today.
The front door rubbers are from Metro and the window scrapers and felt channels are from Fairchild (never heard of them, but the quality looks good).
I'll post some pics later.
Cool Nate
Still collecting bits here and there for when the time comes to put this thing back together. My parking brake pedal was all floppy and it wouldn't return all the way when released...even with new cables.
Scored an NOS piece on Ebay for cheap!
Most vanners are putting new engines in, getting paint done, or getting new wheels. I'm excited to find this!
Still collecting bits here and there for when the time comes to put this thing back together. My parking brake pedal was all floppy and it wouldn't return all the way when released...even with new cables.
Scored an NOS piece on Ebay for cheap!
Most vanners are putting new engines in, getting paint done, or getting new wheels. I'm excited to find this!
Unless you have a stick in your van why would you bother with the e-brake Nate ?
I always set the parking brake when I park my vans..it keeps the stress off the park sprag in the transmission and it keeps the rear brakes adjusted.
It's also for safety, if for some reason your hydrolic braking system stops working you can use the emergency brake to get stopped. All vehicles are required to have 2 separate braking systems for safety.
I just fixed my e-brake to!!! I use it every time i park
Still collecting bits here and there for when the time comes to put this thing back together. My parking brake pedal was all floppy and it wouldn't return all the way when released...even with new cables.
Scored an NOS piece on Ebay for cheap!
Most vanners are putting new engines in, getting paint done, or getting new wheels. I'm excited to find this!
It's about time that Nate got a break
Still collecting bits here and there for when the time comes to put this thing back together. My parking brake pedal was all floppy and it wouldn't return all the way when released...even with new cables.
Scored an NOS piece on Ebay for cheap!
Most vanners are putting new engines in, getting paint done, or getting new wheels. I'm excited to find this!
It's about time that Nate got a break
ba-dump-dump. take my wife..please. (henny youngman)
Really...I have never used an E-brake on any automatic vehicle I have ever owned and neither any one I know till now...interesting , thanks for the info guys.
I never use the E brake on any of my automatic vans/trucks ether........
NEVER lost a parking sprag.......
......Wookee