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Posted By: Death or victory 1979 Dodge B200 Shorty Build Thread - May 07th 2019 10:42 pm
Hi All,

I wanted to start a thread documenting the work that I have planned for my van. I bought this from the original owner in California back in 2017 and have put a decent amount of work into her to be a solid daily driver. It was well cared for, just needed some maintenance at her age. Only 128k miles so far. This van has a 360, 3.90 rear gears, RV cam, Doug Thorley Headers. They towed a huge horse trailer with this thing (hence the gearing). The interior was done back in late 79 and has held up ok but that is really going to be the focus of my build. The exterior is in really good shape so we are going to keep that as is for now. The only thing we've added is a front visor and are still looking for a Norcal or Odyssey wing for the rear. I have some really cool wheels but I am working on refinishing them now before they go on.

We've since moved to Portland, Oregon and I used this as my daily for almost 10 months and she never once let me down. The windsield wipers stopped working twice though! She gets horrible gas mileage, burns some oil but we love her to death. Thankfully now I replaced my daily with a newer car and I can focus on her and give her the attention she deserves and enjoy her for some upcoming camping trips.

As you can see, she's pretty "beige". PO was pretty conservative so it makes sense. All pretty functional and works great, just no style really. I'm destined to change that! I plan to do most of the interior work myself along with the help of a great upholsterer friend I've made since living here. He does great work and is a part of Rolling Death Van Club (an amazing group of dudes!)

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Started on the dash transformation! (My gf also bought this rad steering wheel last year). I have one lower piece left to do since this photo and will post a complete dash in the next few days.
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Posted By: DontComeKnocken Re: 1979 Dodge B200 Shorty Build Thread - May 07th 2019 10:46 pm
no style my ass, Looks rad ! Do you mind if I ask the wheel specs in the back? I have an 82 and was thinking about going wider in the back
Posted By: Death or victory Re: 1979 Dodge B200 Shorty Build Thread - May 07th 2019 10:54 pm
If you think this is style, just you wait. Have some big plans for this summer. There's an annual fall Van show/campout and we hope to have it finished for that.

I'm not sure if these are deep dish 8.5" rears or 10's. They are a great width and me thinks they may be 10's and the fronts are 8's. The new wheels I have for this van are 8.5's ans 10's and they both seem deeper but probably are slightly different backspacing. Once I swap, I'll be able to get a better idea. Sorry for the vague answer, I just am not totally sure!
Posted By: DontComeKnocken Re: 1979 Dodge B200 Shorty Build Thread - May 07th 2019 11:02 pm
Right on! Can't wait to see what you have in store bet it'll look killer. Thanks for the info too
Posted By: Dyno_Dave Re: 1979 Dodge B200 Shorty Build Thread - May 08th 2019 1:26 am
360, 3.90 gears, cam and headers...that ought to be pretty lively!
Posted By: Death or victory Re: 1979 Dodge B200 Shorty Build Thread - May 08th 2019 2:32 am
Hard to stay out of the gas! She’s fun and gets with it!

More dash progress[Linked Image]

Here’s the front cabin area as is. Carpet is badly faded, driver seat is toast and that big ass cabinet behind the seats needs to go. It’ll get rebuilt and moved back about 4”.
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