Area Van - the B350 highroof ex-wheelchair Dodgect

Vrooom! Not in the Young Frankenstein "It's alive!" way but more in the Monty Python and the Holy Grail "I'm not dead yet" way.



Not all that impressive, really, but it is back together and it does run. Doesn't want to idle but I'll give it a good going over tomorrow; check the compression to see what my repair did, try to adjust the idle, do a few more tweaks. But the important thing is that it can move under its own power again so I can concentrate on some other things without the urgency of this chore looming over me. It is leaf season, after all.

It would not start at first unless on starting fluid and there was lots of smoke initially, mostly sealants and cleaners and lubes burning off. By the time I'd done several starts all that had burned away. Once I'm pretty sure the van won't blow up or burn up or lock up I'll go ahead and plan for licensing and inspection. And I might just drive around the neighborhood in order to see how it does without the accompanying cloud of smoke and steam and the sense of impending doom.

I did make one significant goof on reassembly; I neglected to reinstall the dipstick tube and now can't find the port in the block for it and the Haynes manual is not very informative in that respect.

Well, Google delivered but I'm not sure I really wanted to know that badly.

Holy Grail, not Life of Brian.

Sheesh, ya philistine!





*edit*, but aside from that, well done!!

Hey, I've been busy, dude.

Previous post corrected per @KirkN.

That's awesome Stephen, I'm glad you got it running!
The 95 Chevy van I found abandoned and purchased smoked like crazy for about 4-5 minutes when I first started it then cleared up and never smoked again during the 50,000 miles I put on it. It had been run pretty hot before it was parked.
The 67 Dodge van didn't smoke one bit at startup or the entire time I had it running. It also hadn't been run hot before being parked.
I didn't do anything to either engine before startup.

Thanks! During assembly I dunked each re-ringed (re-rang? re-rung?) piston in a bowl of oil to ensure adequate lube in the cylinder during startup and before starting I cranked it over several times with the coil wire unplugged to get the oil pump turning and to coat the cylinder walls. Smoke from the tailpipe was probably from the dunks while the stuff I saw burning off the block and manifolds came from all the Permatex products and solvent residue. The engine hasn't run for five total minutes yet in its multiple starts but that's coming once I get a few more things done. Can't wait to try it with the doghouse in place to see if that makes things more civilized.

It's weird to think that after having this big lump taking up space for two years I might soon be able to jump and drive it if I need to--DMV, Tire Rack and my state inspector willing, of course.

Well, I drove it and then I started taking it apart again.

Had chores to do first thing this morning and I picked up an air filter while I was out. The old one was caked with filth and my test starts had the air cleaner installed but no filter element in it and the engine would not idle. Popped it in when I got home and fired it up and...it idled perfectly! Wow! Maybe no filter makes a lean condition or simulates a vacuum leak. It sounded really good. I have a video but cannot upload it directly so may have to open an account with YouTube. Anyway, I could not resist so threw in the doghouse and got ready. Noticed immediately that there was no power steering so as I wrestled my way out the driveway I also noticed the temp gauge near the H. Uh oh, is it working and telling the truth or not working and the temp is actually okay? Made a quick turn at the cul-de-sac and pulled back in and shut down.

Turns out the serpentine belt had broken. Feeling around under the hood I also discovered the alternator locked up. Could NOT spin it so that must have been the culprit. Odd that it would go out overnight but it obviously needs to be fixed or replaced so I set about removing it and felt justified and at ease because that same work needs to be done to insert the dipstick tube anyway. That's the front of the passenger side valve cover in the upper left, the tensioner below it and the water pump to the right. The tube and the stick are now back in position and checking the oil reveals no noticeable contamination from residual coolant in the system. I'll have to check a few more times but will be changing oil soon anyway to be sure.


The bride did say she looked out and saw me pulling out of the driveway, "lumbering" was the word she used and with no power steering that was probably accurate. That's sure how it felt.

We'll try again after spending some more money on parts.

You're almost there!

Everything so far has been to get this van to the point where we can actually begin making it into a Camping Toy suitable for this forum, so we're really only starting out. I'll caution that we're in no real hurry to build it and that there's still that other list of prioritized house projects in the queue as winter begins. I expect that once we're licensed and inspected the activity reported in this thread will become more sporadic but it will be more camping toy related.

If I haven't said it before I'll say it now: Nothing is ever simple. Have one bad alternator and one broken serpentine belt. Lots of local auto parts stores so there should be no problem, right? Advance Auto had the alternator for a reasonable price but it had a 5-rib pulley on it instead of the 6-rib on the old one so I went home to remove it to be able to transfer to the new one while mine was going for core exchange. Back at Advance the clerk went off the find the belt while I fiddled with the shiny new part, spinning the armature while lost in thought when it suddenly stopped dead. Hmmmm. Fiddled some more and it would spin again but had a rattle inside that seemed to come from a small piece of black plastic loose on the inside. I could hear it but never got it near the edge again. Told the clerk I did not want it and suggested he fool with it for a while before considering selling it to someone else.

Tried Auto Zone next and they did not have one but said a second store in the area did, a 90 amp. Well, shoot, the Advance one was 120A that matched the specs of the old one. Figured that would be a last resort and went to O'Reilly's where they had a costly-ish 120A unit and the belt so bought them both and set to installing. Almost done (again) but would have been finished if I had not had to do all that running around.

Seems like ALL my projects are like that, one way or another! Ugh!

Three steps forward, two steps back and one step sideways - not a lot of forward progress, but a lotta steppin’!

Sigh.

I learned decades ago...if you want the right part, take the old part with you. It never fails that you'll get the wrong part if you don't. Something else I learned about ten years ago...open any oil containers to make sure it hasn't been tampered with.
I bought oil for my old Dodge Ram years ago, got it home, drained the old oil out, went to put the new oil in and found that one of the three gallons had old oil in it.
Some asshole had changed their oil and carefully put their old oil in...then returned it for a refund. Of course the salesperson didn't check and the store just put it right back on the shelf. They gave me another gallon but it wasted over an hour of my time. From then on, I always check every container.

I took the alternator; that's how I knew the pulley was wrong and could prove it to the counter guy.

Got it all back together again today and fired it up and drove it up and down the street a couple of times. Idles smoothly but it's a bigass, clumsy thing to drive and it barely makes the curve in the driveway when trying to negotiate the loop. I let it idle for about a half-hour and the temp stayed steady at the halfway mark. Smokes a little from the tailpipe so maybe my hone job did not go so well. Did a compression check and was a little disappointed; #4 and #6 were a little low but no zeroes this time. You can see the original readings above the line for each cylinder and the post-rebuild readings below. I was trying to pay attention for odd noises and things but the neighbor across the street had a hired army of leaf blowers at work (four backpacks and one push-type) so I couldn't hear for shit.

Dumped my five gallons of generator gas in it. Gas gauge does not work so must address that. Oil pressure gauge does not work but when you turn the key to On before starting the light does light. I let it run long enough that if it had no oil pressure it definitely would have let me know. I'm going to change the trans fluid and filter and will also do the differential.

Started making my punchlist for state inspection. There are a couple of lights that do not work and there are no license plate lights in the bumper so need to add them. We'll need tires, wiper blades, etc.

Did more stupid. I had disconnected the hood release cable for underhood access during the reassembly and in my hurry to go for a ride I closed the hood with no way to open it again. I'll figure that out.

Starts right up, moves around and doesn't sound like it's trying to kill itself so I guess the operation was a success. The van sounds good but feels a little sluggish and that's probably to be expected from a 9000# GVWR vehicle. I'll weigh it empty first chance I get.

Different chores tomorrow and rain on the way so no van fun for a couple of days.

My last Chevy vans hood release cable was broken when I picked it up. I could get a screwdriver in through the grill to the screw that held the cable onto the Latch and slid the latch open with a screwdriver to open the hood latch.
Hopefully yours will be similar.

Frustrating to see a cool vehicle go to rust for no reason. There are a couple near me but the headcases just won't let go of them.

Just made an appointment at DMV to transfer the title and get my tags. I expected a wait of weeks but they gave me one early Saturday morning. Damn!


And I found a pic of my old Dasher. Wagons and vans, man.

I drove a '73 B200 extended van for several years. Loved that thing. My only contribution is advice to get a steering wheel spinner (aka suicide knob). They make driving, especially backing up, a treat.

Also, pick up an extra ignition condenser and leave it in the glove box. That can leave you stranded.

This one has electronic ignition so the condenser probably won't help. I plan to hold off on mods until the need presents itself in the case of each (suicide knob, etc.). I'm thinking a front/rear camera is probably a good idea. I don't mind driving with the mirrors but everything is waaay back behind me in this thing.

Still trying to get the hood open. I can see part of the latch through the slot between hood and body but not enough to be able to tell what to pry, and latch illustrations online are not detailed enough. Guess I need to go to the junkyard and examine a corpse or two.

Spent some rain time inside the van today cleaning and then reinstalling the driver and passenger seats and seatbelts. I took some 409 to the plastic, the door panels and window surrounds to get rid of accumulated gunk and mildew. Making a list of bulbs, wiper blades and stuff to get for inspection. Two little lights flanking the rear license plate that'll fit in the existing holes in the bumper. Gotta find tires.

Once it's legal I'll probably strip out the interior panels and scrub the walls and floor, then soundproof and insulate and add a new plywood floor. The PO did a patchwork thin ply floor over the original ribbed rubber so I want to rip all that out and see what's beneath it.

I now have a hood release plan. Went by the local Pick 'n' Pull and found their one big Dodge with an intact latch mechanism. See that pivoting arm that's riveted to the bottom plate? The cable pulls it toward the driver's side where it moves the upright piece, thereby releasing the latch. Piece o' cake, except for access down that low once you get a blade in there. The Mopar guys saw fit to bolt a cheap little index card sized plate on an angle so it blocks access, so I guess I'll have to custom bend an old screwdriver to reach the base of the upright.

Well, my brilliance is a bit tarnished but I got the damn thing open. Turns out the pre-'94 vans have a sliiiightly different latch from the redesigned later model like mine and the trick I was trying didn't work. Once I gave up and looked for a workaround I discovered that difference. My approach was to remove the index card sized metal plate by unscrewing the two attaching screws from beneath. Then I could get a screwdriver blade into the vertical crack between the two pieces of the latch and release it. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?


Then I moved on to some delayed underhood stuff, like headlight bulbs, etc.

DMV bright and early tomorrow!