Boomer the Quadravan 4x4 Camper

[spencyg]

Damn you old winch!!

I got myself an impact driver this afternoon and proceeded to destroy it with just a few good thwacks. Typical Me.

So out came the flame torch and Blamo Instant Smiley Face.



I got to work fixing the broken electrical lead into the field coils





And threw the motor back together for a test.

FAIL.

I'm shorting out somewhere. There is a slight possibility that the bolts which hold the whole thing together are coming too close to the field coil "wires" and are shorting. I'm more suspect of the coils themselves. I need to get a resistance on them, but for now lets say the motor is toast. I quite nearly started a fire when I tried to light the motor up....there was enough current flowing into the motor to very quickly turn my #2 wiring into a very nice hand warmer / ice dam melting array. The motor did very slowly turn while consuming many hundred amps of current, so I'm not quite sure what that all means. I'll do a little more scientific analysis of the field coils, but I'm very quickly coming to terms with the possibility that I'll need to spend a little money on a new motor.

A true DIY spirit isn't tempered by such setbacks....now look at the neat Armature I can turn into some ART

SG

 

[guidolyons]

Can you tell me what they are and where you got them? Sorry if I missed it. My 95's horns are sooooooo weak. I want to make them a little more manly, but not sure if I want to do air horns or not.

.

Not sure what horns Spence has, but I added a Wolo Bad Boy on a truck I had a few years ago. Super easy to wire into existing horn circuit.
http://www.amazon.com/Wolo-419-Bad-Boy-Horn/dp/B000F5DQWY

Super loud horns used in offroad racing: http://www.trailworthyfab.com/Loud-Horns/ I have a set of the Roots Vibrosonic Loud Horn super loud horns on my Scout.

 

[guidolyons]

Damn you old winch!!

I got myself an impact driver this afternoon and proceeded to destroy it with just a few good thwacks. Typical Me.
SG

yeah I never had good luck with the whack-it-with-a-hammer impact drivers either. They do come with larger bits that work nicely with my 1/2" drive Nitro AirCat or 19.2v Craftsman 1/2" drive cordless.

I recently had good luck with some stubborn hinge screws. The 1/2" drive impact just snapped 5/16"bolt off, but my little 1/4" impact driver worked like a champ.

You could alway polish up the armature and turn it into a lamp...

 

[spencyg]

Not sure what horns Spence has, but I added a Wolo Bad Boy on a truck I had a few years ago. Super easy to wire into existing horn circuit.
http://www.amazon.com/Wolo-419-Bad-Boy-Horn/dp/B000F5DQWY

Super loud horns used in offroad racing: http://www.trailworthyfab.com/Loud-Horns/ I have a set of the Roots Vibrosonic Loud Horn super loud horns on my Scout.

Sorry....missed the question farther up.

The horns I installed were Hella Supertones. They are VERY loud and adequate for the task. I did need to run a secondary relay due to their increased power consumption. On a newer van it may not have been necessary, but I didn't want to take the chance.

SG

 

[philos]

The horns I installed were Hella Supertones. They are VERY loud and adequate for the task. I did need to run a secondary relay due to their increased power consumption. On a newer van it may not have been necessary, but I didn't want to take the chance.

SG

+1 on the supertones. 118dB of fury. I left one of the two stock horns in place for a total of three horns. I ran a relay on my '03 as well.

 

[tgreening]

+1 on the supertones. 118dB of fury. I left one of the two stock horns in place for a total of three horns. I ran a relay on my '03 as well.

My uncle used to work for the railroad and hooked me up with a locomotive horn. Had that mounted on my CJ fed by a 3 gallon tank filled by an engine driven compressor. I could seriously get peoples attention with that thing.

 

[philos]

My uncle used to work for the railroad and hooked me up with a locomotive horn. Had that mounted on my CJ fed by a 3 gallon tank filled by an engine driven compressor. I could seriously get peoples attention with that things.

Met a kid with one of those once at my buddy's muffler shop way back... I could feel the sound waves in my chest it was so loud. Like scary, ears-are-bleeding loud.

 

[Hanes]

Holy. Mother. Of. GOD!! :Wow1:

What a journey! I understood everything perfectly, right up to the part where you took Boomer home and began transplanting all his vital organs! Wow.

The wife made an interesting observation: 20-odd pages off working on poor Boomer, exposing and replacing seemingly every nook and cranny of the old fella, and not a single shot of his interior!

Oh well. In for a penny, in for a pound! Subscribed!

 

[spencyg]

Thanks! I guess the big reason the interior hasn't ever had much photographic attention is because I've pretty much left it alone. This will be changing in the near future as the interior is in need of some attention and upgrades. I don't suspect it will be happening this coming year, but it is making its way up "the list" pretty quickly.

SG

 

[Stickman0629]

I wanted to take a moment to tell you how much I enjoyed reading this thread. I loved how in depth you thought things out and how much detail you put into your posts. Thanks much for bringing us along on your van journey. I am sure that it has inspired others, be sure that it has entertained and inspired me.

Eric

 

[VANMAN]

Thanks for the idea about the RACOR filter and the manual valve for changing tanks....I'm of the same mindset...get rid of electronics and all manual when possible....may start the process to put the manual ZF 5 speed in....which will get rid of the E4OD and hence no TCM...already have donor clutch pedal and brake...

PS...interesting about fuel filter drain valve under seat....mine doesn't have that!

1990 E350 7.3 IDI

 

[350outrage]

I wanted to take a moment to tell you how much I enjoyed reading this thread. I loved how in depth you thought things out and how much detail you put into your posts. Thanks much for bringing us along on your van journey. I am sure that it has inspired others, be sure that it has entertained and inspired me.

Eric

+1 on that! Spency G your thread is incredible, and always inspires me . Even when you have a "fail", you seem to find a way to make it educational. Don't know which is better, your skills or your attitude! I like that Boomer is an old van, too, so its not just about "how much cash can we dump here?" Keep it up buddy, we're watching and learning! Btw, what kind of welder do you typically use. . .like on that above the spare luggage rack you built? Your welds look really pro.

 

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Great looking build

 

[spencyg]

its not just about "how much cash can we dump here?" Keep it up buddy, we're watching and learning! Btw, what kind of welder do you typically use. . .like on that above the spare luggage rack you built? Your welds look really pro.

Thanks guys.

I have very little use for anything "bought" unless it means I can more easily get spare parts on the road. For all the stuff that won't involve buying an extra in the event of failure, I build it because A) I know it was built to my expected quality and B) because I then know everything about how to fix it in the event of failure.

I'm a Lincoln guy, so the MIG is a SP175 and my tig is an old TIG250 AC/DC unit with a couple different torch setups. Both do their job without a single complaint which is more than I can say about other tools in the shop. My welds are a result of doing it wrong for a long time. I am also picky, so if a weld doesn't look good I'll grind it out and do it again.

SG

 

[tgreening]

OT but, are you a welder by trade or hobby? And I just saw you're up there in the Great White North. I lived in Belgrade Lakes, Rockland, and Brunswick, in that order. Worked for 7 years at BIW back in the day but had finally had enough of all the dang flat-landers so had to move back home to Ohio. Wait?

Beautiful state, fun if too long winters, awesome seafood, and home of one of the most foul head exploding beverages known to man, but you know what they say. All the girls will think you're foxy if you can chug-a-lug your Moxie, and show no pain.