Gothy's new 68 High top NOW WITH PICS! :)

Gothboy,I asked about your 727 trnny on the fifth page of your thread,you ignored it..Why?

Like fuel under the doghouse boilin,don't know why...pisses me off.

Ahh fugetaboutit. Found a rebuilt kit for the old three on the tree bud,sorry for actin like an asshole.

It's all good bro. I pm'd you with my number and stuff. I thought you were ignoring it. Weird. Well I kept the complete Trans linkage and all as long as I could. But since I didn't hear back from you amigo I dumped it Wednesday. I guess my pm didn't go thru? Strange. VanGo I don't know what happened but it happened. I'm glad you found a kit to fix yours tho. I'd feel bad if you were still waitin for me when I was waitin for you lol!

Shit man I didn't realize you threw a P.M. my way.....fukn A... thanks anyway.....thanks for gettin back to me dude.

No worries amigo. I always try to help, though Im not QUITE as good as some of these ol boys on here. They SURE know their stuff!

Everyone on here has somethin to bring to the conversation pertaining to these vans,from facts to encouraging words..it all helps.

My girl and I made some curtains for the rear section last night. The two big windows and the rear doors. Got some spider webby stuff. Looks nifty. I also decided what Im going to do about bumpers. My front one is toast and my rear is some actually very nicely done custom work bumper. Diamond plate with hitch, etc. Just not for me. Anyone wants it, its free for the taking, I'll keep it around a few weeks, and I'll put a thing on the parts for sale section. When I paid $500 for the whole van, I dont feel its neccessary to sell everything. Anyway, Back to bumpers. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rampage-Products-86620-Front-Bumper-Double-Tube-/140912087431?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3AJeep&hash=item20cf03d187&vxp=mtr Been thinking about something like this. Sturdy, has enough round and hard edges to match van, and seems easy to find. Now I just gotta measure a jeep and my van to see if the width is even close.

http://janetsteward.co.uk/Waistcoat/fabrics-fancy.html
Bout halfway down you'll see some spiderweb fabric. My curtains are like that. Ill post pics soon.

Also learned that the cargo doors I picked up in SanD anbd JUST a little bit different stylewise on the inside than my 68 cargo doors. Interesting, I didnt know they made different doors! I'll look for matching ones later, for now I have doors that work.

Gothboy wrote:Back to bumpers. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rampage-Products-86620-Front-Bumper-Double-Tube-/140912087431?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3AJeep&hash=item20cf03d187&vxp=mtr

That does look like a good bumper. Have you seen the job Dan did on his front bumper?

About 1/3 down the page -
https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t31233-first-gen-crash-safety-help-please

That's pretty snazzy there Rebar! Thanks to you for bringing it to my attention! Maybe ill do both! Reinforce behind it with some box tubing AND pickup a nice off road style bumper. Sounds nearly bulletproof then! I'm looking into scarebird for the best defence though.

Also once I find a belly pan I'm thinking of cutting a air scoop into the front to pickup ram air from below the bumper. JUST to make sure I maximize breath ability. Too much minor stuff in line first though. Going to be working on more interior bits the next coming weeks. Well see what the junkyard has to offer me to see what I get done! Haha!!!

Good news and bad news. I got my rear bench installed this weekend, and changed the tranny filter, gasket and tail seal. The seat is killer. Ive been havin alot of trouble with this used 350 turbo trans. But with used parts you dont always win. Turns out (today on the drive to work) I realized the trans is done! Turned around and drove back home while it could still move itself, and took my girls civic. Good news is the van can still move itself, the bad is I need to get another trans. Ah well.

Just remember used parts is gambling kids! This time I lost, but the next one will be better! Looks like im installing another transmission for my birthday. yay?

BTDT on the "supposedly good" used tranny detail. Doing a full tear down inspection is always going to be on my list with them any more.
G' Luk

If it had to go bad, I guess im lucky in that. I got a buddy who has tons of parts like that. I got it from him. I called him up, hes gonna swap it out for free. Weve been doing business for a LOOONG time. Better than nothing right?

I call it "Using your resources". I've got friends like that also in a couple of the trades. A lot of stuff I have done would have been tough without them.

So I finally found my front end clunk. It's some leafspring bushing bolts... The ones I was asking about the other day in the other thread? Turns out it was NOT them. They were bad too, but not my clunk.

Soooooo Now I need to find what bushings go in the FRONT of the FRONT leaf springs. thats the culprit I think! I hope! And Im betting on, lol. Anyone know what part I need for that? if it finally ever stops raining I can really get some work done on it!

Goth, they are the leaf spring bushings.
I haven't done any yet, but the guys here all have good things to say about ESPO Springs 'N Things.
I'd do both ends of the front springs while you are under there. The rears are probably about the same age/condition too.
Also, they have to be pretty bad to clunk. Check the kingpins too. Lay under the van and have someone turn the front wheels side to side while you carefully lay your hand on the kingpin area. Watch for pinching! If the clunk is in there, you are going to need the kingpins redone.

Check your shocks to if ya haven't. Potholes around here kick my pass side loose once in a while. Clunky sound.

Yea I checked the shocks. The shocks are bad but the bushings good lol. Ill change the shocks soon but I'm more worried about the clunk first. I did the rear of the front leaf spring bushings already because they were bad and I was sure that was the clunk. Turns out its also the front too it seems. Ill check the kingpins this week. I haven't looked into that yet but I'm sure they need it. It's a 40 some odd year old van. Probably needs tons of minor stuff. Ill get her done soon! Come oooooooooonnnnnnnn income tax refund!!!!

I did the stupidest on in a million shot bullseye of bullshi* thing yesterday....

I took off my front bumper to see how bad the smashy behind it was. The bumper was trash. On the last bolt the nut cocked in the socket and got stuck. I removed the bumper, and put the bumper bolt back thru the bracket because I couldn't get the socket off the nut any of the normal ways. I screwed the nut back I. The bolt and whacked the socket with a wrench. The socket bounced under the van (since I do t have a belly pan yet :/ ) and whacked the radiator. I immediately saw a light spray of water like a funky old shower head on the ground by my feet

What are the odds?

I JUST paid to have the radiator fixed at a shop two months abouts. Man that was some stupid luck. Forget taking it out again for a while, ill use some ghetto patch for now. I'm so retarded.

Man that sux! Sh*t happens sometimes & when it does all you can say is..........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuveQ4NQAD8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Belly pan solution,not osb board but plywood...cut to size with fine tooth saw blade..treat the ply w/thompsons water seal or paint an primer,drill your holes to match and install,take your time,do it right.

^^^. That's a pretty darn spiffy good idea amigo! Thank you for that! It's much better than nuthin. On top of that if I don't like it, I can cut it again and make something else out of it!

Also an update!

Bought a smitty off road bumper from an 88 Toyota pickup last weekend. Modified and widened it today and installed it on my van. Yay! Lookin pretty good compared to the original smashy bumper!

I'm Savin pics for a day when I can BAM lots of them on ya all!

Shit howdy,get bammin bud.

I didnt get much anything done TO the van this weekend per se'. I DID however take apart the Louvered windows (crank windows) that Beachvan gave me (thanks again Beachvan!!!) to repair and get them all working good again. Looks like I can easily save 2 of the three. DUDE THEYRE TONS OF WORK to pull apart!!! sheesh! Anyway, It took almost an hour per window to take apart carefully, clean, remove glass, and free up. Seem to be in good working order now! Im gonna get some new glass made up for them, and put one in the van to see if I like them. Im sure I will, so far I preferr them over the pop-out style. If they work like I think they will, I'll get rid of my pop-out windows (3 in good shape, rubber in fair shape, it only had 3 when I got the van) and get more Crank open louver style windows.

Soooo yeah. If you have louvered crank open style windows OR want pop-out windows... keep your eyes open! I'll have a decision in a week or so!

On another note, I started planning the new cabinets too. Trying to decide what equipment plumbing, etc I'll need to run for the room i have.

Damn, that sucks about the radiator. I bet they can repair it again and maybe they will feel bad and help you out. At least it's only four bolts and two hose clamps!? Otherwise sounds like your making some good headway.