I want this early FARGO I found in town...

Got brave with the spiders, took some more pics. You know what? This van looks like the floor, frame, motor mounts and spring mounts are really good!

Bottom of hubs tranny and oilpan look cruddy, but it's clean otherwise!

Found the dizzy, so all I have to get is a starter and a bettery so I can start tinkering!

Missing the glove box... that's it!


Close up of the Inst panel... oil light glass is cracked.

Sasktrini, that's looking pretty nice man! Seriously, it doesn't look that rusty at all!

The oil light glass is one piece right across the whole instrument cluster, no big deal...just a big piece of glass.

I'm betting that A100 is in better shape than your Ford eh? So which one is gonna get the attention first now?

Swamp Thing doesn't look bad at all under there. My parts van is far worse.

What's a Dizzy?

What is that box hanging on the heater unit? An electric heater maybe?

The one piece instrument panel glass is a very easy fix. A little double face tape may be helpful. The gauge faces may smear if you try to wipe them. The glove box is a cheap cardboard type thing.

There's the factory brake light switch. Do you now what the dangling wire by the master cylinder is for?

Damn, you got yourself a real factory swaybar!

Do you now what the dangling wire by the master cylinder is for?


This goes to the switch on the distribution block for the brake warning light on the dash. Should be a blue wire with a white tracer.

Front swaybar means HD 11" front brakes

Nice, I think I woudl consider dropping the trans pan and changing the fluid before I started it up. It would be much easier to get any condensed water out now before you pump it all around the transmission.

enbro wrote:I'm betting that A100 is in better shape than your Ford eh? So which one is gonna get the attention first now?

I think it is in better shape than the Ford, except the Ford "almost runs"! I think they'll both get my attention, but winter will be slow.

itruns wrote:Swamp Thing doesn't look bad at all under there. My parts van is far worse.

What's a Dizzy?

What is that box hanging on the heater unit? An electric heater maybe?

The one piece instrument panel glass is a very easy fix. A little double face tape may be helpful. The gauge faces may smear if you try to wipe them. The glove box is a cheap cardboard type thing.

There's the factory brake light switch. Do you now what the dangling wire by the master cylinder is for?

Damn, you got yourself a real factory swaybar!

I think the rust will pretty much dust off... the brackets look great IMHO. Cleaning and rust protection under there should be easy!

I heard someone call a distributor a dizzy... am I just stupid, and the only one who does that? So much easier than typing (or saying) distributor!

In the Great White North, we plug the AC Interior Warmer in when we plug our block heaters in... the Windy City must also have some of these!

I wondered about that wire... thought it was for a sensor, but I wasn't thinking brake sensor... Nate is such an A100 guru... careful, or I'll have to add you to my speed dial!

G-Man wrote:My bet is the van was in a low area and it wasn't alway wet there. To look that nice under there that area must have been some what dry once in a while other wise it would look must worst.

The concrete business would allow water to drain back there, but they would periodically pump it out, which thankfully they did a few days before I had the van towed out of there. I'm very encouraged by the condition of things under there (except the spiders!).

kma4444 wrote:Nice, I think I woudl consider dropping the trans pan and changing the fluid before I started it up. It would be much easier to get any condensed water out now before you pump it all around the transmission.

Definitely want to clean everything up before trying to do the "first fire"! I hope I can find a garage again, and get a cherry picker so I can clean everything up real easy! Want to replace gaskets, fluid lines, fluids, detail the engine, clean up the undercarriage... before dropping the heart back in! Want to make sure nothing's seized up, too.

Thanks all!

If need to talk, call me at 410-789-2956 after 4pm ET.

So you're pulling the motor out to clean it up?

enbro wrote:So you're pulling the motor out to clean it up?

I'd like to... but I don't have a garage, cherry picker or engine stand YET...

I like fresh painted motors, no grease... so much nicer to service a clean engine!

Well, curiosity is getting the better of me. I picked up a starter at the salvage yard today, so now it's all together mechanically. I borrowed the battery from my Chev, thinking "I wonder if it will start..."

Well, I didn't get that far... there's an electrical short somewhere... battery was throwing sparks as I clamped the cable down, and within moments the cab was filling with smoke and fumes while the positive lead was getting warm! So I guess I'll have to pull some fuses to isolate the bad circuit(s) before trying to fire it up.

Bigger job than I thought it would be...

Corey:

I feel your pain of having the just sitting there and you're dying to work on it.

If it was pulling that much juice I would think that a fuse or fusible link would have popped already if the defect is after the fuse. You might want to start pulling some off wires and checking for continuity to ground. Someone (musician?) may have hardwired something like an aux heater in.

Hopefully it's something simple like the starter relay or a worn thru cable.

remove the battery wire from the alternator and tape it up first and try your cable on again. a tiny spark is ok not welding the cable to the battery.

You definitely have a dead short somewhere. Good ol' 40 year-old wiring. Unfortunately A's don't have fusible links, but you can add them.

I pulled the whole harness out... the 10ga red and black to the ammeter were fried crispy and bare almost along the entire length back to the starter relay and alternator respectively. Thankfully, the other wires seem pretty flexible, except the pink leads that go to the ballast resistor, so... I hope this is the "engine trouble" the previous owner warned me about... I hope the engine will start after fixing the harness. I should expect a problem with the alternator too though, as something caused the wires to overheat to begin with.

I was going to ask about fusible links, as I found none. Where would I put them? I guess one on the red wire close to the Starter Relay (it connects on the same post as the + battery cable), and then on on the black lead close to the alternator?

Yes..definitely add those fusible links. You can also "do away" with the ammeter (long a Mopar troublespot) and replace it with a voltmeter.

can you say old mechanical voltage regulator. remove it and drop a 20 lb hammer on it. then add an electronic version. more than likely your problem right from the start.

Excellent guys! Where would I source a factory-look voltmeter that I could fudge into the factory IP? What year might they have started using VMs? One thing about my instrument cluster is that (except for the glass replacement it requires) it's in perfect condition... no fading except the red needles! It's in better shape than the '85s I've ever owned! So I'd like to hack in a stock VM if I could find one to fit (oil press gauge too).

look in a dodge truck about 61 - 70 for the oil pressure gauge. anything from a 1/2 ton to a 3 ton.although the gauge face is slightly different the cluster under is basicly the same and the gauges are transferable. if you find one GET THE SHORT FLEXABLE BRAIDED HOSE WITH IT. the ammeter is gonna be a different story. the biggest problem i found with them is caused by loose connections that caused heating of the wires or the $^%&^*&* regulator sticking.

So lets talk about converting the mechanical regulator system to an electronic one off a newer vehicle. Seems to me the mechanical regulars send a Positive signal to regulate the field brush on the Alternator, while the electronic regulator sends a Negative signal to the Alternator. So the Alternators are not interchangeable. And you have to run a wire from the ignition switch to the other field brush on the alternator. Do they make an electronic version that is a direct fit for the mechanical unit without changing the wiring? Or you can
do it right,,,,,,,put a 1 wire GM on it

i'll get the setup for you tuesday evening local time. one wire gm........that would screw it up more than a-c plugs. i think i can hear the dodge brothers rolling over in their graves getting ready to strike you down. where do you find that small font size???????????????