A SLO A100

Hey all. I just picked up a 68 A 100 and can't tell you how happy I was to stumble across this site.

Looks like to be great community and a wealth of knowledge and i cannot tell you what a help you all will be as I get to work on my new toy. I am sure i will have many many questions as I go and from the looks of it I will be hard pressed to stump anyone LOL.

I will post up a few pix when I get a chance so can have a before/after shot. I think I got a pretty good deal on it. It is a 1968 A100 with a 318. It came with a straight 6 and one of the previous owners had done the conversion which is cool as it saved me some work. The body is cancer free and only has a few small dings and dent on the pass rear corner and the only real bummer is it looks to have had a vent (which I want to replace) on the rear portion of the roof but as a quick fix they had just screwed a panel to cover the gapping hole. I am not sure exactly which modle it is called but it has 2 doors on the pass side that have windows and the 2 rear door have windows. There are no doors on the drivers side cept the one for me to crawl in hehe.

When we went up to look at it she ran but was pretty ruff but after grabbing some tools and returning the next day we set the dwell and played with the timing and she now runs like a raped ape  . Luckily the guy had just bought a new Harley and his wife was making him get rid of some of his toys so I was able to pick her up for $700 which at least to me seemed like a KILLER deal and to be honest I would have paid double for it being the condition the body is in and the way it ran after a little bit of love.

I am still new to these vans but have always dug them growing up (didn't we ALL watch Scooby Do? LOL) and could not be happier to have such a good start for a project.

A big thumbs up to the site it seems to be great and I am sure i will be buggin the hell out of a few of you as I go so thanks in advance hehe.

Welcome to the forum. 700 bucks for A100 V8-ride seems a very good deal. Like money in the bank.

Looking forward to the pics! Sounds like you got a smokin' deal for sure. Welcome to VV

Great deal on the van!!!

Welcome to VV!!!!

Welcome!

GREAT DEAL AMIGO! Easiest way to tell what model you have is this.

On the passenger side, between the passenger door and the side cargo doors is a rigid body panel. the "B pillar" so to speak. If its around 6 inches across you have an A100, if its closer to 18 inches across, you have the longer wheel base model, the A108 van. have a great day!

Thanks for the welcome guys  

Thanks for the info Goth, I looks as if I have a A 100. I was curious about what you call the different window configurations if on of ya could chime in. Mine has 2 windows on the pass side and rear doors and no doors on the driver side. I have already logged many hours lurking around the web and it would seem there are several configurations and was just curious what the different ones are called.

Sounds like I really scored on this thing which is cool but hell I seriously would have paid double that LOL. I was actually looking for a 30's truck to turn into a Rat Rod and just happened to see this on Flakeslist and it was something I have always thought looked so cool and it will work out better for me since I can haul surfboards, Kyak'a and is perfect for camping. My dog Rowdy loves it too cuz he thinks he is king of the mountain when he sits on top of the doghouse *sic but he only last bout 10 or 15 min till he gets on the seat cuz it gets kinda warm on "the boys" hehe.

I think I am going to leave the wheels that are on it as the chrome is in pretty good shape. I am not sure if they are the std wheels or not they are chrome plated steel and have no vent holes but do not currently have the center hub caps. It looks like the caps are bout 7in give or take by the late night tape messurement I did last night. I have seen the ones I would like to put on at a few car shows and cruise nights in Pismo Beach and the cruise nights up in Paso Robles and maybe one of you may know a good place to locate some (spent the morning stumblin round the only junk yard here but I am going this weekend to a couple that are nto to far away). The ones I thought would look nice were smooth dome type with dodge written in recessed lettering across the center. If anyone knows a good place to order up some or has a line on a set of 4 hit me up with a PM or you can post it up in this thread if you could.

I need to fire some new rubber on this thing and since I was doing that anyways I wanted to put a little rake in it and go fatter on the rear. I currently have 215/70-15 tires on it and was going to go to a lower profile on the front and step up to a taller sidewall and wider tire on the rear to get some rake and just to get a better all around look. I was wondering if anyone could tell me how wide I can go one the rear without to much modification. It looks to have plenty of room on the backside and I can give the lip on the outer side of the wheel well a little love for clearence as that looks to be the limiting factor. any input would be great and if you happen to have any pix of what yours have looked like foolin round with sizing please post them up here for me or a link so I can get a idea of how she will look. I can always change my ride height and such, we have the technology but I kinda like the ride height and the way she drives atm so was really just wanting to put soem rake into her.

Thanks again for the warm welcome and help guys. I will post up some pix in the next few days I seem to be locked in a eternal struggle with the robot box we call computers and it takes me a day or two sorting things out so they don't turn out like a avatar pic or a landascape photo.

What you have is a Panel, other models Window van, Sportmans fancy window van, No Door (no side doors) Display Van (windows the whole pass side) these were mostly used by Sears, Ma Bell

Cool thanks G-Man. I had seen so many different set ups with windows, length and such was just tryin to sort out what the hell I had and what the other were.

Forgot they came in 90" and 108" wheelbase also

Welcome!
As said, no window on the right side rear makes it NOT a display (all right side windows).
They seemed to have made a few "door window only" vans, but there hasn't been a catchy name for them that I know of...
Check around, there have been many "how big can I go" tire threads. Some with pics too.
Sounds like it's got chrome reverse wheels but no caps.
My 8-door has those. https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t29841-rod-s-8-door
I'd imagine that smooth caps would be fairly easy to find, but a Dodge cap is going to be harder.

Thanks Rod!  Those are the exact wheels I have.

Ya I figured the caps with the Dodge stamped into them may be wishful thinking but had to ask LOL. I hunter around the local wrecking yard but i live in San Luis Obispo so pretty slim pickins. Think I may head over to Fresno and do some digging around there once I have a list of goodies I am needing I am sure there would be a lot more to look through over that way I am sure.

You wouldn't happen to have any idea far as a part number or a good place to look for a set online would ya? I just wanted to be sure to order up the correct ones if I can't find a set in one of the junk yards.

I am searching though some of the threads right now for sizing, was just gonna see if anyone with a set up like mine had gone that route and had some input. I saw a set of wheels with 235/70-15 and 185/65-15 mounted up and think that would be bout what i am looking to do but sadly they were not on a van so is difficult to get a idea how it would look. Here is a link to the ones that I think would look nice but w/o seeing them on the van it is tuff to make up my mind. https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t35580-rims-hubs-tires-4-sale?highlight=tires+sizes I was planning on giving mine the same treatment with painting the center section and leaving the chrome on the outter for a beauty ring look and then firing on some caps to finish them off.

My wish list has been growing I think I may have to invest in the HillBilly Stock Market (the Ca state Lottery) and hope I hit it big. LOL

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SMOOTHIE-BABY-MOON-CHROME-REVERSE-CENTER-CAP-CAPS-HUBCAP-HUBCAPS-NEW-ONE-ONLY-/190647172975?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item2c6374ff6f#ht_381wt_917

As the ad says, you gotta measure your wheels to find if they fit.

Thanks Rod.

I was going to post up a few pics but it looks like I have to wait a few days to make sure I am not a spammer so I will when I can.

Welcome to VV. Looking forward to your pics when you are able. Gongrats on your new ride, sounds like a great deal indeed.

So I had time to go over to the tire shop across the way this morning and after chattin with the kids there it was slow and we messed around with some tires.

I ended up putting some 235/70-15 on the rear and we looked at going with some narrower/lower profile front tires to get the rake and look I was wanting but after doing that I think I will stick with the 205/70-15 size that is currently on there as I just like the look of the fatter rubber.

I still  would like to put some rake it it and rather than lowering the front 1 or 2 inches (I like the higher overall stance and the tire/wheel well look better than it being lower overall) I can knock out some 1 or more than likely 2 inch blocks easy enuff and would have no issue rounding up the U blots/hardware.

I did some searching here but was not able to find any info (I suck at the intwerwebz so not saying it isn't here somewhere LOL) on if I would have any issues with pinion angle and such if I raised the rear 2 inches. If anyone has raised the ass end of their A100 doing this (the only thread I was able to find was a member having issues with his air ride) did you have to do any mods or were you go to go with such a minimal lift.

Thanks again

Forgot to add that one of the kids that work there is the owners son who looks to be round 16 or 17 and he tried in vain to buy the love machine from me but was happy enuff to just bullshit and mess around for a hr or so LOL. He is also ordering up a set of the center moon's I was looking for and he is getting me a set for $45 total which seemed to be a fair deal.

When you lift or lower the back, you always gotta check pinion angle. Blocks alone shouldn't mess it up too much, but if you can cut/grind a few degrees off the blocks and get it right, why not!
Glad to hear you got the caps and were able to eyeball some tires.

Use lift blocks and angle shims(Speedway) to correct angle.

Kool thanks guys. We have everything to do any mill/lathe work i will ever need I was just wondering if that was the way to go or lowering the front would be better. I personally like the look of these when they sit a little bit higher in the air with a bit of rake to them than when they have a lower overall stance. Kinda makes me think of a Gasser'esq style LOL.

I was looking around and going to clean up the wiring some (some brittle wires and ghetto routing and such) so think I am just going to yank it out and we can replace all the bad stuff and at the same time clean it up. we come from a racing background, me driving and building sprint cars and my uncle and cousin's have been in drag racing for years and actually my uncles son drives the NAPA funny car and his other son Jon runs a limited schedule in a fuel funny car as well. So needless to say that rats nest is driving me nuts even though it is funtional and nobody can see it LOL.

Thinking bout doing away with the points and going electronic and at the same time swapping out the 2 bbl/oil bath crap that is currently on her. Would do some headers ( I saw in thread and found a part number for a set fro Jegs that are ceramic coated which would be very nice but right now i just have FAR to many goodies on the wish list. From what I was reading I can go to like a 600 cfm (edelbrock #1406 carb and #2176 intake) and rather than grabbing those headers which if i recall were hovering round a 500 $ bill and just grab a 360 cast ex manifold from a 5.2 or newer and that should work for now and not choke it down to much on the ex side of things. If my HillBilly stocks come in I will grab those headers but think this should work for now. We have some buddies that have a junkyard down by Arroyo grande up on the Mesa so I am sure I can round up some ex manifolds with out to much hassle. Think there was a 750 cfm floating around but i just think that is far more than I need and just to much for this set up but if you guys think it would work i could always fire that on there instead I just do not think that would be the best way to go.

Thanks again for all the help, you guys kick ass

Going to have to talk with my uncle when he gets back in town but I did find a ignition kit
dodge part # p3690426 (I am sure there are a ton of diff kit from like Summit/Jegs could go to as well) but I am going to do some digging and we can prob put smething togetehr for less. the ones i had seen were round $250 which really is not bad IMO but hell if I can save a few bucks that will help me check something else off my goodie list LOL. I would imagine we could round everything up for under a 100 dollar bill.

A couple things;
The stock EI will be fine if you don't get crazy with the engine. You can scavenge all the stuff out of a yard. If you are going to go over 10 to 1, 550 RPM, or add boosters, get MSD.

Stock EI really likes an electronic regulator. That requires a different alt, wiring and regulator.
If you plan on more accessories, go with a bigger alt.

The harness is biggest at the fuse block. Gotta pull it out from the doghouse, up thru the floor and over to the cluster. Subharness goes up and over the driver door and back.
No one makes a replacement harness. You can look thru old posts about this and kits.


The glamour stuff is great, but wiring, brakes and suspension are the big important things to get right. After that, have fun with the engine, trans, tires and wheels, and paint, chrome and interior.

Thanks Rod. You rock man.

My plans right now are to give the brakes a good once over this week, she stops fine but it takes a little OOMPH to whoa her up but that is to be expected with drums/power assit, I just will feel better after going through everything better.

Between me and my uncle we have built a few looms so thanks much for the tips on the easiest way getting all that crap out. was planning on just rippin the whole thing out and cut out anything that is questionable to replace then heat shrink it back up for a tidy look. I won't say it is butchered up , it just is not as clean or routed the way I would so just want to sort that out and like you said popin it out is the easiest/best way.

Funny you mentioned the alt I had planned on swappin that out as I had planned on adding a few things (not a lot, just a couple lights and fans along with good tunes at some point) and was worried bout it keeping up down the road when I eventually get everything i wanted done.

I was thinking the same thing bout grabbing everything to switch out the ignition from the JY. I am not going to do anything big with the engine I was just going to go that route for ease of maintenance. Really the only engine pep ups I plan on doing is going to a 4bbl/intake, probably a 360 ex man rather than droppin a mint on some headers and possibly a very mild cam down the road. There is just so much good serviceable stuff out there a guy can grab a piece here and there rather than buying a bunch of new stuff.

Right now I am kinda focused on getting the ignition, wiring and brakes in good shape for safety/reliability and gather the engine stuff as I find deals on them then make her Purdy when get all of that where I want them.  Hopefully before I retire LOL

Man.... you guys suck. Stop posting posting up all the pics of your rides.

I feel like a 16yr old that just discovered internet porn with all the cool pics and great threads on what you have done to your rides I haven't been getting much sleep lurking around the  VV forums.

LOL

You all have gave me so many great ideas and answered soooo many questions just reading about all the great work you have done.

Your close...this is "VAN PORN"!!...lol.  . At least that's what my wife calls it. 

Vintage Porn sounds even worse!

"I saw yer momma last night, doin' things that made my pants tight!"