New A-100 member

Hello, all. I've been lurking for a few days and decided to join.
I recently picked up a 66 shorty cargo van and a 68 parts PU.
I'll be stripping and painting the van and installing a 360 I've had sitting plus an auto from the PU.
I'm also over on the Yahoo group, Moparts and HAMB. I'm currently in AZ, but lived all my life up until 2 years ago in CA. I also own a '40 Plymouth coupe (rod project), a '47 Chrysler Windsor (stock), a '71 cuda race car (down for now) an '04 PT and a '94 Ram 2500 4X4 diesel along with other Mopars.
Hope to share in the fun here and learn. Maybe even share some knowledge, although I'm not an expert on these lil boxes!

Welcome to the site!!!! Looks like you found a nice van. Look forward to seeing it come along.

Hey Rod,
Welcome to the site. Nice lookin ride you have there!!

The wonderful thing about all of our members is we all know a lot about our vans and it's all different stuff so "we all" learn from each other, that's why we're here. If you have questions just do a search right here in the Forums.. And if you can't find it, just ask and you will get lots of answers!

Again, Welcome!
Dan

Welcome!
B.W.

Welcome! Your van looks like it has a lot of potential. Keep us updated on your progress...

Thanks, guys! I've already read almost all the A posts and a good portion of the General too. Lots of good stuff, and sounds like some great people!
I used to turn wrenches and have a service manual, so I will try not to ask the real basic stuff or stuff that has already been covered.
The main questions I'll have are related to parts and suppliers. I know a few Mopar-specific good and bad, but the A-100 stuff is even more narrow-focused.
I'll need all the weatherstripping and seals for after paint, and I'm still looking for a good chrome rear bumper. BTW, the doors will be the ' 68s, so I need the vent window rubber for those. Any input on this stuff and who to deal with or to avoid would be appreciated.

Don't worry about asking questions already covered, thats what everyones here for to help each other. I can't help you with locating parts, but there are members here that can help you. I can tell you this there are some items with all our vans that you have to find used.

You can get new vent wing rubber here:

KARR Rubber Manufacturing
133 Lomita St.
El Segundo, CA 90245
Phone: (310) 322-1993 or 1-800-955-5277

I ordered a set for Skooby last year... I think it was $210 with shipping. Ouch.

welcome looks like a good van to work with.

Another question; I have the original mirror stands but not the mirror heads. Some others have been adapted poorly, but at least the stands aren't drilled out. I've looked around and asked but have not found any rectangular mirror heads that have a thin enough and long enough mounting stud to work. I don't want to drill them out either, so if someone knows of a replacement I'd like to know.
These are NOT the Jr. West coast mirrors with mounts above and below the window, just a single mount with 3 screws.
As you can see, someone just bolted a flat plate of metal to the stand, then bolted the mirror to that. The front of the stand has a countersink, so it probably had a screw in the front.

just found a picture of another member's (wylee) mirror
Hope it's okay to use as reference...

Rod ,I can't wait to see the pics of your van as it progresses. Bill

Skooby has a replacement mirror on one side that the PO picked up new somewhere. The next time I'm down at the garage, I'll look it over for identifying marks to see if I can figure out where he got it. It's not perfectly identical to the original, but it's very very close.

grote makes a 3 1/2 by 41/2 ( rough measurements ) thats almost a perfect match BUT and theres always a but the mount stud is way to short. so you cut it off flush with the raised flange of the mirror and drill and tap it to 1/4 and use a bolt to fasten it on. at least thats what i did.

Welcome always glad to see another A100 saved...

Thanks, I'm working on it!
Another is dying to bring this one back. I grabbed a 68 PU parts truck and will be using the seats, dash, steering column, automatic and brake parts.
I have it mostly stripped, and have started cleaning all the removed parts from both. Still have to get going on the bodywork; welding up holes, fixing dents and such before blasting it and priming. No rust though!
The 360 engine I've got for it needs stripping and painting, the trans is being built, and I need to get a few more parts before the driveline is set.
I'm planning on White underneath and inside. It may go White outside, or I may go with another solid color. Thinking about an industrial Yellow, a modern version of EB5 Blue, or a Purple. Metalflake is going to be too much money and labor, plus the door gaps won't like thick paint! No side stripes, I LIKE it looking short and boxy!

wow nice starter van the door seals on e-bay are what i used,

Well, I did a trial run on the 68 front passenger door, and boy does it NOT fit!
Does anyone have input on getting the doors/hinges adjusted side to side?
The door needs to move forward (toward the hinges) about a 1/4 inch or more. Up/down and in/out can be done by the bolts, but this looks like you have to bend the hinges!
I may just go with the original door if this is going to be a major undertaking.
I'd also like to get the rear doors shifted more together (open the body gap, tighten the center gap). I know the gaps back then weren't as tight and uniform as modern cars, but would like to make them fit a bit better.
I also welded up a lot more holes; only a couple more in the roof then tackle the ones in the sides and the 5 that need patches. There are a couple small spots of rust that need patches too.

try moving hinges around. top on the bottom and so on. remember the pin stays on top. there was no adjustment for closing the front gap and opening the rear other than adding washers to one side of the hinge to move it forward. i still believe all the hinges are the same but its been 8 years sine i did mine and the passenger side door still isn't 100%.

Thanks for the input. I got the rear doors much better, and decided that the passenger door was going to be too much effort so I hung the original door back on. It needs some work, but the replacement did too.
I'll just keep the old style bare metal doors rather than the later model with the plastic covers.
I've read that the vent windows changed too, but aside from the inner handle, they sure looked the same. Same pivot point, etc.
Still figuring the dash out. Do I swap the complete dash or cut out the shifter area and drill the holes for the crash pad and the warning lights....

Hey Rod. I have done the opposite and aquired a 69A PU to redo and picked up a 66van for parts. I was wondering if your PU was a 3 or single window cab? and what your plans are for it? I am going to need a section of roof and door frame and the van roof has some added ribbing that might be tough to work around easily.

This project is all of a year away, but doesnt hurt to check on stuff. At heart Im a Dodge guy to, been running dodge trucks for years, my "hads" included a 68 Superbee and a 69 Roadrunner.

Wing window base is the same the top hinge is the one that varries, As for the dash its pretty much stamped and spotwelded in place. My 68 pickup started life as a 3 on the tree and was swiched over somewhere along the way in its life. There was three diffrent automatic shifters used, 1964, 65-66, and 67-70. Ill have to look at my dash to see if it was just cut or cut and mated to part of another dash. I'll let you know. Do you really want the crash pad? I think they look better without them.

Digz, I've had a couple people interested in the roof, but the shipping is worrisome. I see you are in MI, so it's the same problem. It was a 3 window, but it was hacked early on for a camper.

benwah, my 66 van is a 3 on the tree, I'm swapping to auto.
The 68 parts PU has a good dash, so it's either cut out both dashes and swap, or cut out the area for the shifter and weld just that in, then bodywork!!!
I've seen the 3 different cutouts and backing areas for the shifter, but since this is all one donor, I'm just keeping it all together.
Since the 68 has the ignition moved and the 4 way flashers, the wiring will be different, and it's in a lot better shape. That's why I'm kind of leaning toward swapping dashes.
More pictures and story here

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=Projects&Number=5608645&page=1&fpart=all

The way to adjust the gap between doors is with shims,just like the factory did. Front,side, or rear doors its basically the same procedure.

the shifter bezel mounts through the dash metal into a stamped bracket that is spot welded into place. a whole lot easier to drill 4 spot welds and use nuts and bolts for reattaching than swapping a complete dash or part of it. same with the dash wing, 4 holes and done. then drill and relocate key cylinder and hazard light.