New dude with some questions

beer, I like beer. aren’t you in the 78704? I’m down that way often. I’m near, just west of mopac/zilker. I’ve seen sebadoh once, around 15 years ago at the TLA in philadelphia.

This business, "Pegasus," makes custom throttle cables. Most expensive is $59.49. Seem to be universal, don't see anything Dodge specific.
https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection3.asp?utm_expid=10520551-7&Product=1270

sorry, i've been mia recently. lots of work and life stuff going on. got a healthy insurance check for the back corner, so i've got some serious projects in the works

Get the bumper straightened it is a DODGE not a Chevvy!

this place has replacement panels . http://www.rustrepair.com/

ok, i'm back. it's been a while since i've been on. so, my van was in the shop for almost a month, and cost me a whopping $3500, but the good news is it runs way worse now than before it went in. It actually almost doesn't run. They re-cored the radiator, did a tune-up w/ new plugs and wires, installed an electric choke, chased down some electrical gremlins, installed the gauges, and a few other things. it will crank and run fine for a minute, but then it slows down to a pop-pop-pop putter and the engine shakes pretty hard and sometimes just dies. it takes up to 45 minutes of idling just to get it warmed up to drive and it stalls out quite a few times before it will actually go anywhere. when it does drive, it runs pretty rough and i imagine eats lots of gas (gauge doesn't work properly). does this sound like something to anyone? maybe the timing just needs to be readjusted? can i just hit something with a hammer and say some curse words to fix it?

For a quick check. make sure the screw holding the condenser down in the distributor isn't loose or stripped out, that is if it is still a points set up.

Sounds like you MAY have some timing issues, but I would also (easy check) vaccuum leaks and for the length of time to warm up you may not have a thermostat installed.

It's possible that it's a fuel supply problem. Often, if it runs fine for a minute and then dies, it's because debris is getting sucked up into the fuel filter and starving the engine. If you haven't already, try running a line into a gas can from the pump and see if the issue resolves.

I don't know what kind of shop this is, but if you still trust them, they should back the work and make it right.
We can all guess what's wrong, but they should fix it!

I WOULD FIND A BETTER SHOP, THEY SHOULD HAVE CHECKED TO SEE WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS AND IF THEY CANT FIND IT THERE NOT A VERY GOOD MECHANICS, I'DE GO SOMEWERE ELSE, OR TRY FINDING IT YOUR SELF THERES ENOUGH GUYS ON HERE TO HELP YOU THROUGH IT,, AND MUCH CHEAPER,,,

alright, so i've had the van a little over a year.  it sat in my driveway for a while and i had no interest in it.  it's been a labor of love, to say the least.  it's also been a great learning experience in so many different disciplines of auto work!  here's a photo heavy update since the last time

crusty engine

crusty fan and shroud



a lil bit of paint and elbow grease


installed a flowkooler water pump around this time.  also, peel n sealed the inside of the front and back of the doghouse

stripped and did a little bondo work.  i had never messed with it before.  turned out good


white paint


taping off lines


taking a stab at painting.  all rattle can.  FEEEESH SCAAAAALES!
there's a few blemishes, but i'm going to strip it down and refinish it with a real spray set up (which i've never used).


took the mouth guard off the van to replace the bolts holding it on.  


peel n seal on the floors


painted the fan something close to the old Hemi Orange


electric fan w/ thermostatic switch (that thing sucks.  i just control it with a dash switch)


painted shroud, new hoses, fan spacer, etc.  things are coming together


i'm gonna split this post up.  more coming in the next few minutes

stripped and clearcoated some of the metal floor plates for a patina'd hot rod thing.  you can't tell, but they're silver, not black


reinstalled my console, now wrapped in vinyl with the amp grillcloth face


pulled out the old, sagging chipboard headliner


cut a thin plywood headliner made from a tracing of the original


i couldn't figure out how to bend the ends to get it into the van for a dryfitting, so i ended up cutting a 2 inch strip out of each side at the curve and using masking tape to make a sort of hinge.  ghetto, but functional and hardly noticeable.  covered that thing in a black microsuede from the fabric shop that was on sale




made a couple of wood panels for the doors.  used some scrap peel n seal for some of the bigger sections of floor without ribs.  


around this time, my battery died due to sitting and i got it replaced under warranty. i wanted to get my alternator checked, so i removed it to get it tested and it pretty much crumbled in my hands, so i bought a new one and installed it. you pick your battles

installed a liquid temp gauge, since my electric one reads from 5 to 25 degrees higher than what it's actually at.  also built a kick plate to hide wiring and wrapped it in the same black vinyl as the console


and here's the big one:
went to lowes and they had some laminate flooring marked down from $45 a box, to $5.  it was serendipitous as i was damn near broke and in a shitty mood when i ran across.  i checked to make sure it wasn't some kind of error and bought the only two matching boxes, which turned out to be a great color.  i used some scrap plywood to level out the metal floor in the back of my van to be the same height as the ribs, then installed it in an evening.  i made the trim from old 2x4's using a table saw and a belt sander.  they'll be stained and cleared at some point




i ordered some 4" convex peeps and slapped those on the other day. they work and look way better than those cheap black plastic things ever did



next step is i'm making a couple of wood/bondo plates to mount on the doors to cover those screw holes from the many mirrors that have been installed.  i'm gonna paint them blue and try to find some sort of sticker/waterslide decal, then clearcoat over it.  it will be a temporary fix until i can actually get body work done and get this beast painted.  


well, i hope you guys have enjoyed my update.  i've started a few threads looking for advice on different things, and i appreciate everyone who has corresponded with me. any input/feedback/ideas/curse words are welcome.  thanks for looking!

im planning on takin

That was a lot of effort and it looks Terrific! Love the DH, console and dash. ^5's

Great work and thanks for the pics and update.

GREAT JOB, LOVE THE CONSOLE AND FLOORING, KEEP THE PICTURES COMMING,,

Vantastic! I'm really digging the DogHouse Cover and that's the best $10 floor I've ever seen! Motor and surroundings looks soooooo much better with the TLC treatment you gave it. I'd love to hear how tough it was to build the console and install that shifter. I am looking ahead to trying to do something like that in mine since it has an automatic and still uses the three on the tree shifter on the column (very clunky).

Seems you also have a second means of transportation should you break down...Skateboard!  
All kidding aside, you've done a GREAT job and should be proud of your accomplishments!!

Looks awesome.  Love the hardwood floor. very nice looking doghouse. Your van is coming along nicely.

LOOKS GREAT.!!!!!.      Nice job on the doghouse and floors !!!. that center council came out really nice it gave me some ideas also. I need to get some of that peel and seal stuff... SHARP looking van you have there keep up the good work. ...

Everythings looking great!!!

Looks great! What is that you stuck on the cab floor? Dynamat?

It's peel n seal. It's like dynamat, in that it's sticky, it blocks sound and heat, and it's silver. People will have all sorts of arguments about butyl vs asphalt based adhesives and the smell and effectiveness of the products, but for what it's worth, this stuff works great and costs a fraction of the price of dynamat or fatmat or raammat or any of the others.

i'm not impressed with dynamat at all, i'm going to use fiberglass mat over top of it in the dog house, i think the dynamat is more for sound than heat,

ok, back to the questions. i've been messing with the carb, trying to guess at adjusting it, and the van usually runs great after it warms up, but before it gets too hot. there's a window where this thing is awesome. when i start it up, it has a hard lopping idle unless i hold the butterfly in the carb open. it also bogs down when i'm driving it, unless i hold the butterfly open. so, i guess what i'd like to know is what am i supposed to do? it has an automatic choke, which is supposed to keep the butterfly closed until it warms up, and open up when it gets up to temp, but it would be better if i could just keep it open all the time. any thoughts?

also, i found some meguiars polishing compound that i had used for a guitar refin project. i started polishing up the front f the van last night, and it's turning out great. it still has the scratches and dents, but it's getting lots of shine back in the paint

can you rig up a manual choke cable? sounds like the electric choke our friendly hotrod mechanic installed might be part of your problem. I don’t think I’ll go back to that guy. I had a similar experience, I went there and asked for him to do a few things. he did what I asked, but he never gave me a price, it ended up costing $2k! I was not happy, my wife was not happy, and I didn’t like the smirk on his face when he said “oh, it’s gonna be interesting to drive that thing home!” like I needed more excitement in my life, he should’ve warned me to have it towed.

I owe an apology to the driver I ran off the road (on 360) when I tapped the brakes and made an unintentional sharp left turn… I parked the van for a year. I’ll doing the brakes early 2014.