After about two days work ive got the ge 6000 btu unit in and it works well, it was crazy work as ductwork inside ductwork was needed. Thanks for the hvac dudes I see alot I had all the tin, tape and mud to do it right. The hot air goes back 3.5 inches and turns down and exists under the van. The ductwork was hidden in the wall and only a 4x16 inch area needed to be removed... Now it works great I just need to trim and finish it.....way too much work. Im glad its done. I posted a pick but have all the step by step pics if one wants to see the crazyness.
But im now getting to replace both the front and rear shockes that have been on since 1977. I got some decent ones with overload springs that claim to do a good bit but I will be happy with a bit of inprovement. I posted a pick of them and should get the firestone airbags next week and thats about all I can do for the suspension. Im not happy with the stroked big block but can get a stroker kit for my org 360 to make it a 408 cubic inch small block...who knows. Well its a day later and the shocks are on the org, were useless as could be so the ride is so much better and I sit about a inch higher in the front and a inch and a half in the rear. The fronts were simple the rears were the worst ever cause the coil overs are so stiff.
While ive not been happy with my stroked big block, I had this thought the other day....Im not happy with the stroked big block but can get a stroker kit for my org 360 to make it a 408 cubic inch small block...who knows. Well I went and took off the six pack set up off my challenger t/a and ordered the stroker kit as well as some edelbrock al. heads, fluid dampner, ect......I just got the six pack carbs back and put them back on today, the went to colorado to a well known six pack doctor. Got some good pics for now and many more to come......
Im catching so much hell from folks about wanting to trash my big block 472 in favor of the 360 six pack more or less drag motor ive been collecting parts for so heres what im gonna do...... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26satitle%3D300021205925%2B%2B%26fvi%3D1&item=300021205925 Im gonna use the six pack motor im building in this ride I just got off ebay today, it should really rock with the al heads, six pack, h beam rods,scat crank, insky 505/292 cam ect,ect....too crazy for my van but I figure with this toy I can pull a car trailer and have some street fun while I travel, me a 77 rt`s go along way back.
That is one SWEET ride. I can't believe it is so vintage. Did you do all the interior? It must have been pretty hard to find a vintage van like that in such good shape outside. Wow. One thing I saw in the pics though. Read the cabling requirements on that Xantrax inverter. I see you have *extremely* thin cables running to those house batts. If you run the refer or any power tools or anything off that inverter through those cables, you'd in for a nasty fire that could ruin your van. Beef up those cables. On my boat, I use AWG 1/0 welding cables. They're a lot cheaper than the over-priced battery cables. You need them to pull any power out of those house batts. Sweet ride though. Best I've seen in a long time.
Thanks, but as far as the inverter goes I used twice the size wire than needed as per the install instructions and have had no issues with it.
Listen... spare the attitude. The van is beautiful. I've never seen one I liked more and I used to own a Roadtrek. I am voicing this issue out of concern for that beautiful van of yours. Unless you are using jumper cables to hook that Xantrax directly into the house bank, you WILL have a large risk of fire with that wire. What gauge is it? Have you done the math? How many amps will your max load be at 12VDC? Don't forget your max load might be the refer, some lights, a power tool, etc... I can't question your experience with building the van. It's the best I've ever seen. I CAN be concerned for your safety. Tell you what... if you don't believe me, hook up the Xantrax 1KW inverter through those little wires, turn on your refer, a light, and run a powertool. Then touch the wires. if they have any insulation left on them, it might just stick to your hand as it melts. Your electrical systems is not safe. Period. I could have just stood by and watched as you posted a thread about how your batt wires (should be cables but aren't) melted and you almost burned the van. Thought I'd save you the trouble, but with that attitude, forget it. Burn the thing down.
You want to come in here like the fucking fire marshall and dog me over somthing thats worked for almost a year now as well as all summer running an air con. unit off the inverter as I drive back and forth to atlanta for work. So just for you oh great fire god I went and checked my wire sizes and the manual and wow I fall into the 36 inch or less length range and have the correct guage wire. Now since im just a simple construction worker with very little debt in my world ( cause im so fucking stupid ) I keep focused on what I can do and do it withiin the means of which I live, so while your floating around ny trying to figure out how to save your ass and the 65 k you still need to come up with for your boat just remember my van which is sure to burn to the ground is paid for and I thinnk ahead so im not 65k in debt asking a bunch of fucking hippies what to do. My advice to you is sell, sink, burn your mainstream boat and start over. You did come to the right place to find help though, many good folks here that would school you. So have a great day and stay above the water.
hey a future thought or a day late dollar short advice. It seems "Drifterz" started his help off with the best of intensions. And "the6peace8keeper" replied back in a very civil matter. Now at that point seems there was no need to continue but "drifterz" I guess thought maybe he really needed to drive home the seriousness of his concerns so A little pompus maybe with his last sentence but he felt he was right I guess. Even at this point the whole thing could have been stopped with at most a reply of "Noted" or "Thanks for your concern" or "I will double check" or something along those lines. Why did I do all this, well it keeps me from wanting to go out and stare at my car all smooshed in.
Ive been searching ebay all day for a remote type fire alarm system that will not only save my van but at the same time alert me that ive been hexed by the great fire gods. But I did just pull a 2 wd f350 diesel dually from the ditch, hes from florida and says theres no clay where hes from and I watched and laughed as his brothers trial blazer just sit and spun its itty bitty tires, I had just filled with gas and its behind my rear axle all 36 gallons(shhhhh that might be a huge fire hazzard so keep this part secret) so I didnt even spin a tire and he came right out, even over a 6 inch high stump. No big deal it just needed a heavy vehicle to pull it, but I was a bit stoned and it was fun. What go chrushed? yanker?
my impala, I think it might be ok to fix it, the roof is caved in and the doors frames and all the glass is wasted.
Since ive got my new toy and had to buy a trailer for it and my bobcat I seen at wally world the othr day this wireless kid-rv back up wireless cam. So it was supposed to fit on your plate bracket but I put it up a bit higher in a semi unseen spot and guess what, it works great. Inside ive a small 2 inch lcd screen that works better than id ever expect.
I wish id never took off the org worn out shocks and this is the second time on my life ive trusted coil-over shocks, it wont happen again. Since im going to be pulling a trailer and such im looking into the firestone air bag set up. Im trying to stay away from the heavy count leaf springs that give a stiff ride all the time. Gottta run.
just finished a few years living in mine www.allports.4t.com as you can see it was big and roomy but even still... Here's my suggestions from experience (I also spent many years living on a sailboat but... Get big solar panels, like at least 45 watts unless you are driving it everyday to charge the batteries (optima batteries are good) Try to look discrete so you can park anywhere, or the police will harass you. Don't cook inside, you'll heat your place up and stink it up and make a mess. Canned foods, packaged stuff works great once you get the hang of it. Having a fridge/cooler etc it a waste, except maybe to keep some brewskies cold for awhile. Little 2" tvs are power conservers and you can get them on ebay cheap. Winter : S.Cali has lots of places out in the desert to stay w' hot springs Summer : N. Mich has places around Traverse City that's like San Fransisco. I don't know what to do about the summer. You really need to be somewhere you can open it all up or you'll roast. Here's where the electricity comes in handy : a little car fan will save you but it takes like an amp an hour so...and winter a catalytic heater's ok. Watch out, because it doesn't take much to die heating a van! Happens all the time. BEWARE!!! Oh, and bug spray. I put a cot in mine. I never want to do that again, but it served it's purpose. I'd suggest just finding some affordable housing somewhere
Very nice ford extended van, not sure if you looked at the pics of mine but ive alot of the things you brought up. Now I also hope to spend next spring pulling a car trailer hitting the shows and strips out west. I lived in mine for about ten months before gutting it and doing what im doing now, id do it again more than ever now.
What, like a fridge and stove? Do you go down around S.Cali? Ever stay down by the Salton Sea? Watch out for that sand but you probably have a winch for that trailer you could rig to pull yourself out.