My '65 A100

I have been on here for a few months and have decided to make a project log so people can see my progress and get suggestions. My name is Patrick. I have a 1965 Dodge A100 that was original my grandfathers that he bought from the Roanoke City fire department in 1966. He used it as a work truck for his electrical contracting business. In '72 he bought a new B-series van, to replace it as his work truck. My dad bought the '65 from him in the mid 80's before I was born. This van is the one constant in the driveway and I hope to keep it that way once I have my own house. Right now I am in my last few years of college majoring in Motorsports Engineering Technology.

For now I am in the process of doing sheet metal work on the van to eliminate all the rust. The van is in excellent mechanical condition due to my dad. He bought a '67 for its 273 and had it rebuilt to replace the tired factory 273. A new Carter BBD was installed along with a electric fuel pump and a Crane Cams electronic ignition. The A745 transmission was also rebuilt and the ball and trunnion driveshaft was replaced with a custom made one.

These pictures were taken late in ’08 I just haven’t taken any pictures recently as I have not got any noticeable sheet metal replaced yet.

Right now the front bumper and grill are being stored in the garage and majority of the rot in the lower panels has been cut out. As you can see the roof is in the worst shape in the back. That was due to a light bar the fire department had on it. When they filled the holes for the bar up front they just used bondo. Over time it leaked and allow water to get in the perimeter channel and rust the roof edge from the inside out. The holes responsible got welded up in March. Right now the van sits with a blue tarp on it till I buy a sheet metal break to make the repair panels. The trailer hitch has also been removed and the rear sway bar brackets have been installed.

Lookin good...time to fire up that mig and let the wire fly.

Like at all weddings = GET HER DONE!!!= Nice van - keep it as was ur dads -Happy Vanning!

Hoping to pickup a sheet metal break before work tomorrow, if they are in stock.

Here are some pics from this March of the lower panels after I removed the rot.



These are pics from a couple weeks ago when I removed the front of the dog house to fix the rust under it. I replaced the motor mounts two days prior.



Here are the pics of my rear sway bar. I installed the frame brackets weeks ago, but never put the whole thing in. I just have to measure and make sure it is centered on the axle before final tightening. The last picture shows how close the bar is to the axle vent. It comes close to one of the upper studs for the hog's head, but not as close as to the vent.

Forgot to add that I got my sheet metal brake from Harbor Freight yesterday. I hope to start making repair pieces for the roof edges this up coming week.

White Lightning, nothing like a labor of love and a family treasure to have around. When you get it fixed back up to its original glory it will be great. Keep us posted!

WL, She's looking good! You've got some rot but very minor compared to most. That van's going to clean-up real nice!!!!

Dan

Worked on the floor pan on the passenger side today. I repaired the front edge of the wheel well and made the panel to cover the rest. I just need to paint the area to be welded with some weld threw primer, but I need to get more foam brushes on my way to work tomorrow.

Got more done on the floor pan section this past week. I also got my MSD 5 box and coil installed. Had to get in my new wires for the coil wire as the old one would not stay clipped in. Also found a new pcv valve a swapped it in. Painted my four barrel intake manifold and thermostat housing yesterday.

Nice work and nice upgrades !!!

Thanks!

My front shackle bushings are in transit and should arrive tomorrow. Once those are replaced I will feel safe drive it on the road after getting my brakes bleed real good. After the parts I changed on the engine the slight hesitation it had seems to be nonexistent. The old coil wire may have been my problem. The only thing now is to figure out why the tach stopped working. Hoping it is a bad connection as I don't want to buy the MSD tach adapter unless necessary.

Got some more floor pan replaced today and last week. Looks like I am done with the passenger side with the exception of a section of bead roll to replaced the bead roll that rotted out. I have a section of floor pan from a later model van with the bead rolls and graphed two sections in today to replace the rotted out pieces. My dad didn't even notice that they were replace till I point them out.

I removed the heater core over the week end to have more room to work, so I swapped out the valves that allow the coolant to flow through the core. Turns out the valve had been stuck open since my dad bought it from my grandfather in 1986. Oiled the hvac cables and my throttle cable as well. Also purchased the last part I needed to 4bbl the van, the air cleaner. To late this year to do the swap as college starts up in two weeks and I want to drive it around with the 2bbl some to sort out any issues before hand. Also I want to see how much of a difference the 4bbl makes over the 2bbl as I have only driven it a few miles since I have had my drivers license.

That floor is lookin good. taken shape and cleaning up nicely.

Nice work!!! A little at a time and your list will get shorter

Nice work. That will be a great van when you are finished

Did some more work last weekend and this week. If the weather stays nice maybe more will get done this weekend.
First off my 4bbl setup, I think I need a shorter air filter.

Finished the ps floor with a section of bead roll, now the floor flex is gone.

And the start of the ds reconstruction. I wish I had not forgot to take a before picture.

Thumbs up on the bead-rolling! Nice all around!

Keep up the good work!!! Looking good

lookin good

Did some work yesterday, finished welding in the big hole panel and cut out some rott I discovered when I removed the gas pedal. Also pulled the clutch pedal off and cleaned the pivot off real well as it had about 40+ years of grease and grim on it. Discovered the drag link has lots of play in it. But on the bright side I won a set of Mickey Thomson valve covers off of ebay. Should look good after a good cleaning and new black wrinkle paint to match the MP air cleaner lid.

Looking good.

Got the Mickey Thompsons in and cleaned. I need to finish stripping the original flacking paint next. On one the flange on the upper side has a crack where someone pryed up on the flange, it has a slight bend there as well. The bright side is it won't cause it not to seal properly and can be repaired easily. I just need to figure out the pcv routing now.

Got my Mickey Thompsons finished here are the pics of the stripped bare and then wrinkle coated.


Here are the pics of the crack after the tig repair and milling.


I haven't decided whether or not I will sand the fins and lettering back down to bare aluminum yet. I also picked up a twist in breather cap that has a grommetted hole for the pcv valve, but I haven't decided on the breather cap. I am stuck between the plain stock twist in ones part stores sell or a Mopar Performance chrome twist in that has the Mopar logo on top. I also plan on ordering a set of ARP valve cover studs and a set of the cork Felpro performance gaskets.

And the return spring/throttle relocation bracket on the intake manifold.

Also cleaned up my clutch pedal and painted it with Duplicolor's Bed Armor to day. I looks good and should hold up well. Np pic yet of that I'll probably take one once it is reinstalled.
With the cold starting to set in I probably won't work on the van till spring, but I will be saving money and stocking up on parts all winter.