Thanks, but the cuda is without drivetrain right now, sitting in the rafters.
Not sure about sidepipes yet. Considering the center exhaust manifolds dump right about at the back of the front tire, it would be fairly easy to do....
Headers would require a couple of 180s, but a buddy has mentioned some header flanges. Just straight down, then out to a side pipe or zoomies?

pulled the wipers, seat brackets, bagged and tagged a bunch of stuff and installed the wheel washers finally!
Anyone know about door locks, handles and gaskets? I think they interchange with D100s, will check on those.

Door lock cylinders I think interchange with something like 64 A body...

LOOKS LIKE A MYSTERY MACHINE TO ME. SCOOBY DO WHERE ARE YOU?????????//

Well, I didn't work on the van, but I did get stuff done. Spent ALL yesterday going to CA and getting a parts A-100 pickup. Spent today stripping off parts and looking stuff over.
Here's a pic from the ad. The guy sold the rear to someone, so he torched it out and dropped the rest on my trailer. I got a good deal and many parts I needed!

So now it's decision time.
Do I use the 66 dash and doors (no panels, no armrests, arm type door handle)
or do I swap the 68 dash and doors (panels and arm rests, pull door handle)?
If I keep the 66 dash, I have to cut out and weld in the area for the shifter or mount it somewhere else.
If I swap dashes, I will have to cut out both dashes and weld the 68 into the 66 van.
There are other minor differences like 4-way flashers, ignition switch next to door, lighter in base (68) or ignition switch more in center and lighter in shifter area.

66 dash


68 dash

66 or 68 doors/dash single choice
66 basic and austere	32%, 8 Votes
68 fancy (for a van)	68%, 17 Votes
Total Votes: 25 Voting on this poll ends: 07/03/10 06:44 PM

By the way, here's the "fancy" door panels...

I think replacing the dash is too much work.
Doors, not such a problem.
Do you need the doors to match the dash?
I'm pretty sure that cutting the 66 dash and adding the bracket for the shifter is easier than cutting out the entire dash (spot welded), then welding in the 68.
Adding the 4 way flasher is easy, just one hole to drill (I added that in my 66).

Ran

COOOOOL project!!!!!!

I've been ultra busy lately but still can't believe I missed this thread!

I love those old vans! Nice project, keep the posts coming!

Thanks CMG!
I've been stripping the parts truck down. I have almost all the little stuff I was missing from the van. Only some cargo door parts and the pins for the seats (can be found in boat supply places, I'm told). Oh, and a nice rear bumper. I found a NAPA number for door locks and ignition switch, so I'll check that out now that I have an almost complete set...
The wiring on the PU is tired and hacked too, so there will be some work there. I don't think I'll have to resort to a full harness replacement.
There was no weight in the back (I'm still not sure the PUs had it), and the gas tank is attached different. 2 straps front to back, rather than the van single strap side-to-side.
Still waiting on the manual I ordered, hoping it can guide removing the front doghouse on both. The wiring and some controls go through this, so I'll have to strip it down more first. Practice on the PU, do the van later before paint, since this will render it a push only situation.
The parts PU has the u bolts, front door lock cylinders, nice pie pans, a front bumper with guards that is only slightly tweaked, good front lenses, a very nice steering wheel and unhacked column and TS switch, nice seats, a great battery box with cables, very nice inside mirror with screws, and a different design heater control, although the assembly looks the same. See the interior pictures for the differences.
I will probably clean, rebuild and paint stuff like the front axle assembly, steering column, cluster, transmission and other stuff from this one and keep the van running for now. Swap out the finished parts after paint. The doghouse will be mostly from the van, with the front section from the PU. I'll probably pull the PU springs and remove leaves to drop it a bit more too when installed in the van.
The PU has the auto trans and all the related items, plus an added trans cooler. I will have to get a stall converter and I might go with a weighted flexplate so the converter can be neutral.
The 66 cluster has a mechanical Oil pressure gauge, the 68 is electric. I'll use the electric to avoid the 7 foot line!
I'm amazed by the condition of the PU parts. It must have sat in a carport or garage a lot. No rust or bad sunbaking, even the crash pad and seats are decent! I may haul the carcass to MATS or Spring Fling in case anyone wants nice sheetmetal. Let me know if any of you need floor sections, a nose or other stuff (Ran needs a door ) and I'll try to firm up plans on anyone needing sheetmetal. Aside from the hacking for the van conversion, the engine being open too long and the rear axle removal, the rest of the stuff is in good shape. I also have 3 15" wheels with the hubcap bumps on the outside.
It's going to be interesting to pull the engine and trans up on the trailer without a rear axle, but I think I have a plan.
I'll also probably fab up a pair of wheeled dollys to bolt in in place of the springs since you can't really support the van on the frame rails. That way I can swap out the front and rear axles and prep/paint the underside of the van.
Nicksgarage is keeping an eye out for me on some other parts I didn't get with this pair, and a big thanks goes out to him for his help.

After this it's back to bodywork 101. I'm not comfortable beating out dents, but it needs to be done and I'm learning. Maybe by the time I'm done, I can be good enough to tackle the 40!

P.S. Ran, do you have any pictures of yours? Motivation is strong at this point, but I may need some soon!

Haha...I don't think the pictures of my van will give you ANY motivation.
I started with the drivetrain swap, front suspension, fuel tank/line, completely new wiring, and some brake work that I really didn't want to do. So the van still looks bad, really bad.
I can take pictures of boxes of parts that need to go on it, will that give you motivation?

I'm stuck at a point where I need to save money for a potential house buy, and my buddy with the shop doesn't have room/time.
I'm enjoying reading about your progress, glad you are getting somewhere.

Ran

Well, I got the manual last night and read through it some. Seems that the radiator comes out through the bottom. Still can't figure out how the front doghouse comes off, but will wait until I get the rad out before I go there. Have the engine/trans just about ready to pull from the parts truck, and will continue stripping it down. Since you can't lift these except at the axles, I will have to get creative about pulling stuff off the bottom of b oth of these. I'll probably build a dolly that fits into the spring perches at each end.

About the doghouse:
Pretty staright forward:
Besides the bolts on the flange that bolt to the floor, there are a few horizontal bolts holding it to the a couple of vertical sheet metal parts. I pulled mine out with the radiator still attached to it.

About lifting:
I use a 4 arm lift with vertical extenders between the pads and the arms. You need to get the pads out, locate the arms beneath the strong parts of the unibody "chassis" rail, close to the spring perches, then put the extenders and the pads. This way, the arms don't touch the rocker panels. A very big hassle, but it can be done.

Ran

Thanks, got the doghouse front out. Pulled the radiator out first, then the shroud, then the front. The shifter cable goes thru it, and I'll have the pry it out of the bracket to feed it thru. Got the wiring that also goes thru fed out, along with the accel linkage.
The manual warns against lifting any of the 90 inchers by the frame. The 108s are okay, though.
I did an engine in an early chevy van once and ended up using 2 big bumper jacks to get it 3 feet in the air.

The motor is ready to pull, everything is off and all the mount bolts are just finger tight. A friend is coming over Sat. morning to help get the engine/trans out with me. I still have the dash to strip, and stuff underneath, but the will wait until I have it in a better position to get to the stuff. I cleaned and treated the seats, they look so good! The steering wheel should be good too.

Oh MAN that looks cool!

Joe

BTW, I don't think I mentioned it, but the PU has an auto I'm going to use (I did mention the shifter). This has the solid U-bolt flange on the back of the trans. I seem to remember reading that a 4X4 front driveshaft can be made to work in this (the PU didn't have one). I do have a local connection for doing the trans, but will have to get a driveshaft modified/made for this.
The body guy said that changing out the dash is going to be a lot of work. Better to just section in the shifter area and drill the holes for the crash pad.

Well, got the engine/trans out and pressure washed.
Also got some more stuff stripped out of the PU.
nicksgarage called while we were working and he is going to get more parts for me!

Also tried out a strange idea. I have a 70 Barracuda dash with a glue on pad in my parts. We measured then pulled off the dash pad cap and propped it up in the van. It would take some work and fabrication, but the width is right. I'd have to section some of the depth out to clear the wheel and tilt it so the gauges were visible, but a 'cuda dash in a van would sure turn heads! The steering column doesn't fall in the right place, and a new support would need building too.
Just a goofy idea, but maybe someone else would want to try it!

That's some crazy idea, but it is unique, could be pretty cool.
I'm ok with the stock dash. My plan is to change the instrument panel and put in an insert with Classic Chrome Auto Meter gauges (all others just look too modern to me).
About the lifting - I asked about it on the A100 group in the past, because I have read the same thing in my manual, and got several replies that it's fine to lift the way I described.
I did that to two vans and all seemed OK, but I understand you want to be safe. Better be safe and not have a bent van.

Ran