Dawgboy
Adventurer
Thought I would start a thread here on my camper conversion.
The Dawgvan is a 1964 Dodge A100 with a 170ci \6 and 3 on the tree. First year of Production, number 5510 of an estimated 200,000 unit Production run. It has an interesting history, the first four years being a Ma Bell van, and then being sold to the Palomar mountain Observatory in San Diego, where it was the painters van for 32 years, never leaving the mountain top compound. It 2000, the Engine and tranny were rebuilt for the first time, and then driven about 8000 miles before the the wiringharness mostly fried, and it got parked except for occasional garbage duty. I have a Binder it came with detailing all work and maintenance, with receipts, all the way back to 1969.
I worked at the Observatory for 2 years and managed to purchase the beast for $50.00. The reason it is called the Dawgvan is because, slowly, over the years, letters kept falling off the back until it said D o g. I came along and got my hands on it with just the G left, but I found the D in the trash in back.
I had earned my nick of Dawg long before as well, so it was Kismet.
The day I brought it home
So I basically sat on it for 2 years, until i decided to tackle the fried harness. I found that OEM harnesses are unavailable for this beast, and I spent 6 months trying to find someone to do a custom wrap, but nobody wanted to touch it for less than 1K$. Too rich for my blood!
I found a Ron Francis, "Classic Mopar harness, and modified it to fit. Even though this is a simple machine, It was a royal pain to wire as my 64 manual wiring plan was not like the OEM harness, or like the RF harness. I also cut off every crimped connector, and soldered and shrink-wrapped with brass terminals as I don't ever want to do it again. All things considered, it took me a month to do the harness.
Bracket and hole were the main ignition ground, note the bare hot wires that were in contact there.
Enough grease off I can see what I'm doing now.
Other things I have done over the last few months include:
New shocks, Went through the brakes, which needed nothing but adjustment.
Rodded radiator
New water pump, Thermostat, Water temp sensor, water temp gauge.
New Fuel pump and all fuel lines.
New Old stock BBS carb.
Painted the Engine Dog house covers.
Replaced rear windows with venting windows.
Added Aux. 14" Cooling fan.
Added a second 14 circuit Fuse panel for "House wiring".
More on those in a bit.
Plans:
Since the last 6 months were dedicated to making it a runner, the next 6 months are dedicated to interior and exterior upgrades and cosmetics.
I am going to build in a "Rock and Roll" Style folding bed as my next project, line all the interior walls and roof with Reflectix and panel, add a storage cabinet on the passenger side back end, setup a 136AH SLA battery bank and charge controller for my 220 solar array that will be roof mounted, Build the roof rack and new crash bumpers with a hefty front brush guard, add a receiver hitch and start knocking out the dents. I am going to paint the whole van later, but this first phase is for rust protection. I also want to throw a Lock rite in the axle
The following projects are long term, but I am motivated. Add a Pop top, and convert to 4wd. I can see the pop top happening in a year or so, and the driven front axle in the 2 + year future. I'm a little hesitant, as It gets 22MPG now, and adding another axle and Diff, is going to cut that a lot.
Enjoy!
Pic from a month ago:
The Dawgvan is a 1964 Dodge A100 with a 170ci \6 and 3 on the tree. First year of Production, number 5510 of an estimated 200,000 unit Production run. It has an interesting history, the first four years being a Ma Bell van, and then being sold to the Palomar mountain Observatory in San Diego, where it was the painters van for 32 years, never leaving the mountain top compound. It 2000, the Engine and tranny were rebuilt for the first time, and then driven about 8000 miles before the the wiringharness mostly fried, and it got parked except for occasional garbage duty. I have a Binder it came with detailing all work and maintenance, with receipts, all the way back to 1969.
I worked at the Observatory for 2 years and managed to purchase the beast for $50.00. The reason it is called the Dawgvan is because, slowly, over the years, letters kept falling off the back until it said D o g. I came along and got my hands on it with just the G left, but I found the D in the trash in back.
I had earned my nick of Dawg long before as well, so it was Kismet.
The day I brought it home
So I basically sat on it for 2 years, until i decided to tackle the fried harness. I found that OEM harnesses are unavailable for this beast, and I spent 6 months trying to find someone to do a custom wrap, but nobody wanted to touch it for less than 1K$. Too rich for my blood!
I found a Ron Francis, "Classic Mopar harness, and modified it to fit. Even though this is a simple machine, It was a royal pain to wire as my 64 manual wiring plan was not like the OEM harness, or like the RF harness. I also cut off every crimped connector, and soldered and shrink-wrapped with brass terminals as I don't ever want to do it again. All things considered, it took me a month to do the harness.
Bracket and hole were the main ignition ground, note the bare hot wires that were in contact there.
Enough grease off I can see what I'm doing now.
Other things I have done over the last few months include:
New shocks, Went through the brakes, which needed nothing but adjustment.
Rodded radiator
New water pump, Thermostat, Water temp sensor, water temp gauge.
New Fuel pump and all fuel lines.
New Old stock BBS carb.
Painted the Engine Dog house covers.
Replaced rear windows with venting windows.
Added Aux. 14" Cooling fan.
Added a second 14 circuit Fuse panel for "House wiring".
More on those in a bit.
Plans:
Since the last 6 months were dedicated to making it a runner, the next 6 months are dedicated to interior and exterior upgrades and cosmetics.
I am going to build in a "Rock and Roll" Style folding bed as my next project, line all the interior walls and roof with Reflectix and panel, add a storage cabinet on the passenger side back end, setup a 136AH SLA battery bank and charge controller for my 220 solar array that will be roof mounted, Build the roof rack and new crash bumpers with a hefty front brush guard, add a receiver hitch and start knocking out the dents. I am going to paint the whole van later, but this first phase is for rust protection. I also want to throw a Lock rite in the axle
The following projects are long term, but I am motivated. Add a Pop top, and convert to 4wd. I can see the pop top happening in a year or so, and the driven front axle in the 2 + year future. I'm a little hesitant, as It gets 22MPG now, and adding another axle and Diff, is going to cut that a lot.
Enjoy!
Pic from a month ago:
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