its a 1970!

The Van is coming along Real Nice that steering Wheel came out Great the Van looks much better all cleaned up..!!!.. a little Elbow Grease and some Mothers will make those rims look like Chrome....Those bearings dont need to be that tight I just run the nut on hand tight and take a pliers and go to the next hole and put the cotter key in just snug them if the drum is hard to turn the nut it to tight you will burn out a wheel bearing ....Keep up the Good Work....  

Looking good. Keep the photos coming.

Still having trouble with the wheel bearing

how does the drum spin with then tire on it ? did you take it out for a spin ?? you should be able to dack off the bearing 1 more notch and try it again,

Okay so I have to tighten the nut enough to put the cotter pin in the spindle. Then I back it off as much as I can with the cotter pin. However it won't soon freely. It takes some muscle to turn it. So I can't make loosen it anymore because I wouldn't be able to get the cotter pin in

Find someone in your area that does "Brake Work Professionally" and have them take a look at it... Your brake shoes may be adjusted a little to tight.. its hard to guess at the problem with out putting your hands on it..it is pretty straight forward... You have something else going on there.. if it is too tight you will burn up the wheel bearing and it will seize up on the Spindle and then you will be looking for a "New Spindle" it may be worth paying someone to do it right then you wont have to worry about having a problem down the road... 

I just looked at the bearing race and it might not be tapped in completely. That's the only thing I can think of that's wrong. But other than that. I don't know where to find somone who would be willing the come look at it

One suggestion is to go into your profile and change location to Riverside, Ca instead of United States. US is a big place but I'm sure there are some other vanners in the Riverside area that might be willing to come take a look.

Thought I had done that already, thAnks for the tip!

Well if you weren't about 3000 miles away a couple of Cold Beers and I would fix the Problem..  ...Since it is Not on the road yet Here in Florida we have "Mobil Mechanics" that will come to you and repair your Truck/Car at your house... Look in the phone book under Automobile..."Keep us Posted".....

Haha I hear ya on that! I'll take a short video of what I'm doing when putting the front drums back on and post it if that will help

What would it mean if it spins backwards freely but it's hard to turn forwards

Okay so I removed the shoes. Got some different ones, slapped the on, and the drum spins like a charm. Glad I got this out of the way. Now I get to bleed the brakes. I know how to do it. But are there any specific tips? I know go from right rear to left, right front to left front. Any tips will be appreciated! Thanks guys!

Well.... The van never fails to keep me busy. The rear brakes bled fine. When I moved to the front I couldn't get the fluid to come out. Didn't see any leaks. I looked a little closer and saw a very small spew of fluid when the pedal is pressed. It's the line that goes from the MC to a little block thing. So I don't think it will be that hard to replace it

Got the new brake line in. Trying to bleed the brakes, there's not good pressure. I took the drum off and only one shoe is being moved by the cylinder. So I check the rest of the brakes. Only one shoe is working. Except for the front left wheel. Both shoes move l. I'm confused lol. Anybody in the so cal area who can come out and help?

The wheel cylinders have a piston that pushes out on each side. If only one shoe is moving then the one that isn't has a seized piston. I would suggest buying new wheel cylinders. Now I have cleaned some before, but they will start to leak after a while and that's not a good thing. They get moisture in them and start to rust inside causing them to seize up if they haven't been used in a while.

i have brand new cylinders in the rear

okay guys alot has changed since my last post. long story short. i hate brakes lol. nah i finally figured the brake situation after replcing two more cylinders. brakes.... done. so the engine finally came together. few leaks, fixed em. new waterpump, new thermstat, new housing, alot of new parts. cleaned up the engine. got new plugs in etc. few little problems but the motor is officially running good!  cleaned up the floors, carpeted the dog house. got the old man to help me out on getting some wood paneling up. it was an awesome feeling to get the van off its work station and driving. well, enough talk heres some pics taken in the last few weeks.

Congrats on getting the van running. That's a GREAT feeling. Is that skateboard wheels on the window handles? Nice touch! And you got to spend quality time with Dad too...Bonus! Keep up the good work. I love seeing the younger generation taking a liking to these Vintage Vans!!!  

Yup the skateboard wheels are the perfect size! Makes it very easy to roll the windows. I opened a new thread about this but will it hurt the engine if I run without a thermostat during the summer?

I'm not a mechanic but from what I've read, it's probably a better idea to run with a thermostat. I would make sure the radiator is flushed out really well, make sure the thermostat is installed correctly and not overtightened and then give it another go.

You have to run some kind of restriction to slow the flow down so the water gets a chance to cool in the radiator run a 180 if not take the guts out of one and just run the round washer part with the hole in it..  ..Van Looks Good...

went to o'Reilly to get a couple parts. this pulled up right next to me!


heres a pic of my friends german police bug. bagged and not even aired out. lol hes low.

unfortunately i ran into a problem where my van randomly just shuts itself off when im driving. its not hot it shuts off at around 180. takes a minute to start back up but it drives perfectly fine till it shuts off. its not even noticeable if im not on the gas. any ideas?

Fuel filters perhaps? You have a screen type in the tank and should be one in-line somewhere. If it had sat for awhile before you got it may finally have loosened up enough rust to clog the tank screen off and on. But check your distributor for any loose wiring or components like the condenser first.

took it to a local automotive place and they found a bunch of little things wrong with it. not surprising cause its been sitting for a while. heres everything that's being replace. timing chain, timing case, fuel pump, oil pan gasket, and other gaskets and little stuff like that. let you guys know how it goes