A108 Revival project

I'm new to this forum, so here goes - I'm going to make a timeline for my van project.
I bought a '68 A108 on 2/9/12 from Marthasville, MO. It was sitting in the same spot since '84. I bought it, and with the help of my uncle had it running and driving within 1 hour, not too safe with the 5-pump brakes, but driving!

On 2/12/12 I took some pics and made a long list of parts to buy.
I'm trying not to wash it before I get it driving!
It's a stock 318 with the 727auto. Interior is a mess. The exterior has stuff growing on it. The rockers are rotten, but that's major part of the body rot.

2/19/12. Rebuilt the brakes. Dropped the gas tank to get it cleaned. Dropped the radiator. Solid 11 hour day in the garage!

Welcome to VV!!!!!

2/26/12 - Praise the lowered. Axle flipped up front. Rear tomorrow. I had to use a spring perch from summit (720025) to cradle the axle and get the steering rod off of the leaf springs. I bought a set of 16" steelies from the junkyard with good tires, but I think I want 15" cragars. I need to find the sweet spot between tire clearance and clearance for the front disc brake conversion (coming 3/11/12).
The front got the altitude adjustment it needed. The rear will drop on 3/11.

Please post pictures of the front work you did. How does it drive now?

Don't wash it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My buddy introduced me to the term "stink bugged". With the front lowered and the back up, my van is textbook stinkbug! I'll fix it, don't worry!

Stoopid john wrote:Please post pictures of the front work you did. How does it drive now?

Don't wash it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll post pics tomorrow night. I'm waiting on my new radiator and relined gas tank, so no reports on the handling yet. Maybe tomorrow with some luck.
I was thinking of not washing it, but look at this:

Do you know how much it lowered the front?

I've got the gray twin of your van. I just did the disc swap and i want to drop it down. Just not sure how i want to do it.

Welcome!!=Nice Project too- rockers not bad to replace =if thats all the rust? Cool! Wash it Please!! What motor & tranny ? More pics when shes cleaned up- from what u washed -nice still.

Welcome to VV. your van is looking good. Yea I would wash it as well.

Welcome, Nice A-100 find. Try to keep it "barn fresh"....

agentwilliams wrote:My buddy introduced me to the term "stink bugged". With the front lowered and the back up, my van is textbook stinkbug! I'll fix it, don't worry!

Sounds like how we used to set cars up in high school, big fat 60's in the back and low profile tires in the front.

Can you post some details (part numbers's etc) and maybe some picts on the front axel flip? I'd consider doing to mine after I get it painted, mines kind of low anyway with 14" rims but it would look groovy low down in front.

eta: looking at it now I'd probably not be able to drop it without changing front tires, might still be an option.

3/11/12 - Another 12 hour day! Flipped the rear axle. Installed disc brakes with scarebird's brackets. Installed my relined gas tank.

It's very low, but very good. I need a better whole-van photo. I'm going to have to notch my frame to get some suspension travel back.



Here's the rear. It was very straightforward. The only snag was the shock needed a shorter lower bolt to avoid contact with the leaf springs.


Here's the front. The axle is sitting on a summit bracket 720025.
From the front:

From the rear showing the steering arm. Without the bracket, the steering arm hits the leaf springs:


And the pretty new disc brakes. The caliper bolts needed about .5" removed to clear the rotor.

How much shorter are the shocks going to be, or stock shocks still give enough travel?

Did you have to cut the rear floor to flip the axle? how much drop is that? Bump steer?

No road report yet. Next week gents.

The rear shocks were something I found at autozone. There is plenty of travel with the stockers if they aren't blown (mine were).

The floor doesn't appear to need to be cut. The rear has tons of tire clearance, the frame is the problem. The front may have some tire rubbage on hard turns. I am going to downsize to 15" wheels with smaller tires on front to solve it. I am currently running 16"ers.

If anyone out there has two 15x6 cragars with 3"-4" offset and 5x4.5 bolt pattern, give me a shout!

I unfortunately didn't measure before I lowered it. I estimate 5"-7"drop. Ground clearance wise, it's totally driveable. I will eventually have to notch the frame to get some more suspension travel.
It's worth it to me. It looks soooo much better.
Here are the measurements from the ground to the highest point of the wheel wells:
Front:
Rear:

Mine is 28" in the front and 26" in the rear.... WOW!

On your brakes, i think you put the brackets on the wrong sides. The welded nut needs to be on the inside, i did the same thing, i cut the bolts but mine still rubbed on the right side. If you switch sides, the bolts don't need to be cut and you'll have more room. Scarebird has two different sets of manuals, one says inward the other says outward.

I'd like to know about any bump steer.

What size are your tires now? looks good.

Can you post a picture of the axle to frame space in the rear?

Stoopid john wrote:
On your brakes, i think you put the brackets on the wrong sides. The welded nut needs to be on the inside, i did the same thing, i cut the bolts but mine still rubbed on the right side. If you switch sides, the bolts don't need to be cut and you'll have more room. Scarebird has two different sets of manuals, one says inward the other says outward.

Is "Stoopid John" like the big dude nicknamed "Tiny"?
I think you're right about the brackets. Luckily mine have clearance with the trimmed bolts.
I did install my calipers on the incorrect sides I think. The GMC1500 has a trailing caliper I think putting the bleeder on the bottom when you put them on an A100 with the scarebird kit. The bleeders need to be on top to bleed correctly. I'll swap them and report back.

My pic of the day!

I should have a road report within the next couple of weeks.

LOL! I didn't see the bleeder!

Here is a pic when i did mine and it's wrong in the picture. This is the driver's side and the bracket should have been on the pass side.



Your van looks so good down on the ground! I want to do mine so bad now.

Stoopid john wrote:LOL! I didn't see the bleeder!
Here is a pic when i did mine and it's wrong in the picture. This is the driver's side and the bracket should have been on the pass side.
Your van looks so good down on the ground! I want to do mine so bad now.

Thanks Man!

If this is incorrect, my brackets are installed correctly! I still had to cut the bolts.

3/18/12 - Brakes finished today. Washed it for the first time. Went on a long parts run to find radiator hoses - no luck until too late. One more weekend...
I am going to run 15" wheels on the front and keep the 16's on the back to level it out and buy me some clearance.

Anyone have any experience with replacement rockers and front wheel arches? Are the aftermarkets any good or should I make them?

Ok, ok it looks better clean...

What size are the tires on it now? Where is the front tire size a problem? (inside, outside, top)

You need to remove the side step before it removes it's self. lol

Ride report from the side streets - no bump steer!
Very springy, rigid ride with blown front shocks. As suspected, I need to notch the frame for a little more suspension travel.
New Monroe shocks are on the way.
More info to come!