Back to......VANagains NEWest 65 Chevy SportVan Deluxe

Well...You both are doing a FINE job at it...from what I see!
Kudo's to you both!
B.W.

"Yeah. 220... 221, whatever it takes." - Mr. Mom

Permits? We don't need no stinkin' permits!

Donivan, I'm sure VANagain will get'r done right and proper, just make sure the service is grounded. lol

Yup, I finally got the 220V wiring hooked up in the garage and we tried out the plasma cutter. And the garage is still standing!! Man, those plasma cutters are nice! The main issue is just keeping a steady hand. There is no friction, you just move it along like you're tracing with a pencil. Tomorrow I'll take some close up photos of the tranny mount as it progresses. Got to grind it clean, drill four holes to mount it to the tail shaft, and then see about heating it to bend it to line up with the crossmemeber. Then I'll weld some side pieces onto it for strength. Fun stuff!



It was nice to have Don and Drew over too. We put a rebuilt lower hinge on Drew's drivers door and he is just thrilled at how nice it closes now!!

Nice work Rich. It cool how you guys help each other out to keep the Early on the road out there. Looks like a mini Sportvan convention(well maybe a window van convention)

Wow with the tranny hanger!! I now wish I had kept the 700R4 I was going to place in my Van!! I gave it to another Vanner for his ride, as I did not want to deal with the fabrication of a new type of hanger, but now see you have that under control!! Great work guys!
B.W.

Don...Thanks for that pic!! I wish I hadn't given away the 700R4 I had after seeing everyone modifying the hangers to fit our styled vans now!! lol
B.W.

Hey VANagain, I like how it's coming along. Seeing the Chevy orange motor reminds me of mine from so long ago. This just makes my itch to get another 65 that much stronger. Good luck and God bless.

Crossmember from a 77 chevy van

Cool! Nice setup!!
B.W.

Wow, that looks nice. Nice setup...

DTVM

When I swapped my original 6 banger out (that was 1975) and went with a V8/350 THD...I didn't know of the "NOS Hanger"? I fabricated a cross member out of 1/2" reinforced with angle iron on the bottom, hung it from the side rails. A fellow at worked adviced me on this method, as he claimed that was what they had used on stock cars? I hated the way it looked under my Van, as it seemed to hang low and was visible from a distance. In 1990 at a car show in Newton Falls, Ohio...a good friend and I were talking about the hanger. He showed me his "Original 350THD Hanger" and I was in "Awe!" How simple and clean. He said it took him 12 yrs to locate it!! In two weeks...I located one in Puyallup, Washington at a JY for $20.00!!!! At the next Van show....I parked next to him and asked him to look under my Van. Before I had installed it, I had painted it "Fluorescent Hot Pink" to get his attention! lol It was a big hit, needless to say!! lol
I truly do believe you have a very "Marketable" product there, should the 700R4 Hanger works as designed I for one would purchase one off of you and then set out to find another 700R4 tranny! lol
B.W.

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is the day I officially started working on this van again! (I've been welding floor panels in my blue van long enough!) This long weekend I might actually get my rebuilt engine running!

But first, I've been dying to finish my 700R4 hanger. A while back I cut the basic shape out of 0.3" (0 guage?) steel. Today I fired up the torch to put a couple bends in it. Even with a red hot line across it, it was still very difficult to bend. These two angles were eyeballed based on my cardboard template. The final, third bend will be important, because it will set how low the tranny hangs. The final bend will be the part that gets welded to the steel tube with the bolt through it.



I removed this tailshaft from a spare 700R4 to use for fitting while working at the bench. The bracket won't actually fit in place under the van until that third bend is made. I can use this tailshaft to drill the four holes perfectly. When I get all the bends just right I'll weld a big gusset on both sides to keep it real strong.

And BvrWally, even though I'll be proud of this if it works, I don't think I'll paint mine hot pink!

That looks good Vanagain. Have you seen the one that Gotavan cast from aluminum? Haven't heard anymore about his lately.

wideload

Lookin' really nice!!! Maybe by springtime I can get back to mine.

Thanks for the inspiration,
Rip

Vanagain! .....Not pink? lol I did it as a joke on a friend of mine. Nobody see's it anyways. You are doing a nice job on your's by-the-way!
B.W.

Hmm, maybe after all the work I put into this hanger, I will paint it some neon color! It does have the same bolt pattern as the TH350 hanger. In fact, Don lent me his as an example (he painted his gold!).

Today he came over to help me noodle out what to do next. This first picture shows our nice steel tube with rubber bushings bolted in:



Next you see my bracket with the two bends in place on the tranny. Not bad for just eyeballing the angles!! There's a spray can top in there that is the same diameter as the steel tube. We decided it would be too tricky to get that third bend just right to meet up flush under the tube, and have the tranny at the right height. The new plan is to cut a semicircular "saddle" in the top of the bracket that meets up with the tube. I can get it close and then grind it until the tranny is at the perfect height. Then I'll tack weld it on both sides and it will all be at the perfect angle (that I'd never be able to determine on the bench). Then I can remove the bolt through the crossmember, lower the tranny, and remove bracket so I can do all the final welds, including the gussets on the sides.

Now I want to work on getting the engine running. The tranny has been supported by a jack for the last month or more. Don had the great idea to simply drill a 1/2" hole in the bracket and put the bolt thru it for now! It gives me a way to test out that height before I cut the semicircle out, and the tranny will finally be supporting itself.



So I drilled two of the four mounting holes (hold off on the other two in case I need to make adjustments) and the 1/2" hole at the top, sprayed the thing with primer so it doesn't rust under there, and bolted it in. It is SO nice and simple, compared to the bulky bracket I had made a while back!!

Now I can put the radiator in and see if I can move the engine crossmember forward a bit. My shortened driveshaft is still a little long, so I'd like to give it more wiggle room. Plus I can run the engine now with no fear of the tranny falling to the ground!

That really looks good Vanagain. Are you about ready to go into mass production? Don could be your distributor through out the midwest when he makes his trip to Chicago each year. If you can find one to compare it to, do you think that type of bracket would work with a 2004R trans? I've one of those waiting in the corner of the garage to put in my 65.

wideload

I have a hunch that the TH350 hanger would work as-is on a 200R4... I know the overall length of the trannies are the same.

The 200r4 measures 28 1/2" from the front to the end of the tail shaft(had to go back and measure like you did instead of the way it looks in my pic's) . I don't know if their all alike but this one doesn't have the removable tail shaft like Vanagain's 700r4. The rear mounts are on the bottom of the 200 so a bracket like Vanagain's won't work with it.







wideload