VanSquatch Build Thread!

[GorillaJoe]

You need some micro donuts to drive it in on. You do the 4x4 conversion in the garage, and that bad boy ain't coming out.

Those were my thoughts too. Gotta find some 8 lugs with tiny donuts and the right hub diameter. I'll change them right there in the garage and be done with it.

Here in a few minutes I'm going to be heading back out to remove all the rear seats. I already have one of the rear seats out and have been using it as a garage couch for a bit.

I wonder if the Sienna seats will fit in this old Ford without too much new fab?

 

[bugwhacker]

Those were my thoughts too. Gotta find some 8 lugs with tiny donuts and the right hub diameter. I'll change them right there in the garage and be done with it.

Here in a few minutes I'm going to be heading back out to remove all the rear seats. I already have one of the rear seats out and have been using it as a garage couch for a bit.

I wonder if the Sienna seats will fit in this old Ford without too much new fab?

Just put rims with no tires on them and some split hose liquid-nailed to the rims for traction - anti floor marking. Thats how you sneak tall vans into cargo containers anyway.

 

[GorillaJoe]

Don't have a lot of room in front of the van unfortunately. But I don't need to access anything under the hood immediately anyways.

Still surprised I fit it in there.

I found another power leech that has been plaguing me. The sliding door sensor was shorting. So I removed it. Round hole. Will be replacing this soon with a proper working switch.

The back doors open all the way now. At first the drivers door wouldn't open. Had to fix the lever on the inside.

Lights work now too.

I'm ancitipating finding more electrical demons after the over-voltage incident, so I hooked up a little solar panel to the battery to keep it tended.

Ghetto south-facing angle!

 

[GorillaJoe]

I didn't like the doghouse that was in the van, so the van I got the new rims from also supplied the new doghouse with better cupholders. Even got the new visors for the van this way too.

I'm pretty sure my gauges are a little bjorked.

Oil reads hot all the time. Gas gauges don't work. Voltage is fine and coolant temp is fine too. Those read correctly. All the lights are out.

Found this in the clearance bin for $5.00. Not bad. My AC doesn't work anyways. Just clicks and clicks. No pressure from the r12 recovery port.

So converting it to R134a is gonna be a small future project. I believe it holds 4lbs of refrigerant with the front and rear AC units.

Speaking of which, the AC vents in the back are missing and broken. Going to see if I can salvage some from the junk yard next week.

 

[GorillaJoe]

Bought the rest of the vacuum hose they had at the auto parts store. 32 feet! This is a big van so to replace all of them I'm going to need a lot.

I figured since most everything on this van is dry rotted, I'm replacing everything.

New vacuum shift modulator installed:

And my transmission is soaked. Might've blown a seal. But it doesn't drip on the ground. Hrm... will investigate more later.

Birds like to sit on and crap on my mirrors. :-/

Did a little investigating tonight on what exactly they did to my fuel system. I can't find any wiring to the rear fuel pumps at all. However I found the fuel lines stuffed and hidden under the frame.

Then I started looking for where the rest of the lines went... nothing. I figured this is where the tank-switching mechanism comes in with the T-tubes and whatnot... But where the hell did they put it?

Then I found the spot where it would've been mounted on the frame.

Those guys didn't even try putting one back on there. So they have my parts to my van still. It's been almost a year so I probably won't bug them. Still doesn't make me less livid.

 

[dcguillory]

Great read! Thank you for sharing.

 

[Den.]

I am quite enjoying this. Keep up the good work and maybe an update?