Dajiban? '70s Style Custom??

In reply to logdog (Forum Supporter) :

The door rubs lightly against the tire, but still opens the whole way.   

However, I bought a cluster of NOS chrome and one painted B-van slider extenders to flip and sold off all but two, so I will likely save the painted one (in the open box) to use on this van if I run flares.

In reply to jfryjfry (FS) :

The guy selling them had Chevy, Ford, and Dodge.    I should have bought them all; they were good moneymakers on eBay.

You can also just lengthen the existing arm, but no one does that anymore.

 

Now we are cooking with gas!

I really shouldn't be left unsupervised in the kitchen...

Cooter said:

Now we are cooking with gas!

I really shouldn't be left unsupervised in the kitchen...

Excellent use of pizza stone.

My wife nearly had an aneurysm when she opened the dishwasher and found a pair of Skyway Tuff Wheels.

Keep the updates coming!

I haven't used the dishwasher yet.  Fortunately.

While not really a repair/upgrade from any conscious effort on my part, I'm going to take it-

When I bought the van, the rear latch for the slider was sticky.   Rather than lube it, or even push the back edge of the door next the window to latch it, they slammed the heel of their hands into the middle rear of the door, under the window, caving it in.

(This is the best photo I can find of the damage, from the auction website; the belt line was pushed in pretty bad, and area above it was concave)




Well, I lubed the rear latch, and after opening an closing it a few times, it started latching again. (go figure)

But I was still stuck with that dent.  And there wasn't very easy access to it from the back.   I stuck a pin in the idea, and figured I would noodle on it later.



Well, as I was closing the slider today (working better than ever, BTW), I noticed something.
The dent WAS HEALING ITSELF-

(Just a little bow now in the body line, and the area above it isn't pushed in at all)

Story time-

My dad and I used to run a vending business together, so we had lots of vans over the years.   One of the things that was always good for a laugh when driving together was to wait until the other person was about to close their door, and to quickly slam yours closed a fraction of a second before they did.  The van's doors were short in length, but tall, so they could be slammed quickly and they displace a lot of air.   The sudden increase of air pressure would at the least keep their door from closing all the way, and if you timed it perfectly and they weren't ready for it, would blow the door handle right out of their hand.   It was great stoopid fun.


So closing the doors is slowing pushing the dent out.   I actually saw it happen while slamming the sliding door.   
While I don't think this will push out the dent completely, it looks so much better that I am not very worried about it anymore.

Haha, my brothers and I always played that game against our parents. We always had those vans growing up.

Haven't installed them yet, but I was pleasantly surprised with how good of a value these center caps were.  It's tough to find a decent looking center cap for a 4.25" center bore wheel, and these fit the bill perfectly.   Showed up at my door in a day, as well.



Found them at Speedway Motors, of all places.  

Cooter said:

Well, as I was closing the slider today (working better than ever, BTW), I noticed something.
The dent WAS HEALING ITSELF-

Well, you're going to have to call her Christine now. Be careful. 

Most likely the best upgrade there will ever be on this van- 

More baby steps, but this one is a huge baby step.


Fuel tank has been leaking from the filler neck since I got the van.   Which is a pain, as the neck goes into the side of the tank, and anything over 3/16th of a tank causes it to leak precious hydrocarbons onto the street in front of my house.

So I timed things so I was coming home one evening on fumes, and got to work.

As I was wiggling the filler loose from the transition hose, some friends fell out of the area behind the filler door at the top of the neck.

A look inside the neck showed the rollover/anti-siphon to appears to be in good shape.

But the tank grommet was SHOT.  
 (This is looking at it from the side inside of the fuel tank)

Another view shows that it was also installed incorrectly, with at least two spots folded over against the inside of the tank.

I was prepared for this.
This grommet fits many different MoPars, from D  trucks to K Cars, from Malaise though Radwood eras. As always, YMMV, and double check the fit)

I sliced the old grommet off, and triple-checked the new one for fit.
 

Then cleaned up the neck, lip of the tank, popped the new grommet in, and buttoned everything back up.  
From there, it was a nervous 3/4 mile idle though the neighborhood to the gas station, when I finally was able to fill the tank for the first time until the nozzle clicked off.   I selected the very best 87 octane this fine establishment had to offer.


Results?

Perfect fit, and no leakage whatsoever.


Now, time for some longer trips...

Good to see you back at in with the Dajban..

I just did some of those upgrades to my '78 Voyager.

I use it for towing mostly.

Rebuilt the front suspension / engine etc. - Keeping spare Wiper bushings in glovebox... and Also Did pretty much the Same fuel filler rehab as you.. although my main grommet was fine It was the vent and over fill hoses to the filler that were trashed.. Got those straightened out now.

Have Fun with the van!

Greg

Too hot and I'm too exhausted to do any real work, so I did a little CAD on the DogeVan.

I'm going to go with the inboard position, but low, like the driver's side.



I've done this before, on a '78 Dodge Club Cab truck, 20 years ago.

At the time, my inspiration came the location of the turn signals in the huge flat bumper on my 1970 Road Runner.  (Not this exact one, but it was visually identical)


 

And then I....

Oh, wait.   Ignore that for now...

Probably shouldn't pay any attention to this, either. 

You can't put round lights in the bumper!  Nowadays you can only put a 72 inch light bar across the roof!

Took a 5 hour trip to an auction preview today. 

Got multiple chin nods from random bros. 

Also, I REALLY like this photo- 

Cooter said:

Most likely the best upgrade there will ever be on this van- 

These things still work well after you paint them satin black.  BTW, cop cars, even the unmarked ones, have an orange device.

If I painted it black, I would end up losing it.   It's in front of the mirror, completely obscured from my view when driving.

Which Rush album cover are you going to parody on the side?

In reply to buzzboy :

I can't imagine anything other than Hemispheres. 

In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :

I see what you did there.

Speaking of graphics, I have mulled this over for quite some time.   Since it is primarily used for my vintage/mid century modern resale business, "Yetti Treasures", I was gong to have a elaborate scene with a stylized Yeti on it, with a ice cave and all that.



But in the interest of simplicity (and the fact that I couldn't find anyone to create a Yeti image that I liked), I decided on something simple, yet still gives off the vintage '70s vibe I am looking for-


Cue hastily painted graphics (and raked PhotoDrop for the front coil cutting to come) on a free PhotoShop knockoff-

This will be a nod to the "StreetVan" Dodge put out in the '70s, but with colors that work with the existing white paint, blue interior and our store's colors.
 

I will likely add either black or a very deep blue as the first color in place of the brown in this clipped Dodge ad.  (I painted this light to dark, and haven't added the last color yet)

In reply to Cooter :

Well the yeti idea is no doubt way cooler, but I love the Street Van. I think it would look better if you add a 3rd contrasting color though - maybe yellow, green or orange?

The StreetVan is just a blend from brown to the base color, yellow.


Mine will be a blend from deep blue to white.

 

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Cooter :

Well the yeti idea is no doubt way cooler....

I see what you did there