New beast on the block! - '69 GMC 90" window

Now that's a typical van owner, knee deep in mud, grease and rust and you still can't wipe that grin off their faces!! You gotta love it!

And another update!
So today's update includes me futzing around with the break system.
The old master is needless to say old. The rubber over the piston is torn out, and the cylinders inside is black as night.

On goes the cylinder from the '68!
The actual break pin was surprisingly in better condition than the one on the '68! The exposed ends were still rusted, however the core itself had less wear and surface rust.
The end result was using the old break arm - less dirt to clean off - and the newer pin.

Also, scrolling up, there is a lot less dirt next to the pedal as I took a good hour to clean the area out. Of course, break cleaner will have to be used for the most obnoxious stuff... Looks a lot better though. No more 1/2" mud.



As the master is old - and probably craptastic - I replaced that and the block. I know that it works, so that's what goes in there.
Had to use the vice grips to loosen the bolts, however once they were loose they only needed a wrench.
Did a lot of cleaning of the threads, greasing said threads so that hopefully they don't stick this bad next time around, and such that.
I did clean the front/rear pipes, just so that there's a bit of sheen in there in that sea of rust.



Considering all, it was a rather short work day, still none the less productive as a lot of cleaning, and thoughtful reassembly has taken place.

Oh, and the mud, and the rust that fell off...

Looks much better, looking good! You've got momentum, brother!

Today's task ended up focusing on the steering column, as that is sorta the next thing that has to go back. Of course, it had to all come apart as the felt bushing leaked and the signal cluster got all oiled up. Apart it comes!

First thing's first, mending something! Or at least swapping it out. The turn signal switch was cracked at the thread, and one of the return springs was broken, so I said screw it, time to get a new one. Ended up being 10 bucks too!



All assembled, fit's pretty damn well too!



Ah this piece. This is the contact side for the horn I believe, and this is the finished installation, as I had to use a copious amount of glue to reattach it. I had to take it apart to remove the last of the oil, and sadly...



... All but one of the ears broke off.



I also did some cleaning and polishing on the steering box, and she is looking much better now.



Of course, as helpful as the fellow was at O'Reillys, I noticed at the end of the day that the signal switch while a good fit, isn't perfect. There is another one that is 2 digits off for a P/N, and it's the correct angle. Oh well, I'll take it apart and return it calmly.

Once you get the correct part, if you could note the correct part number for future reference, that would be greatly appreciated by all. Thanks and keep up the great work!

Great job!! Advancing like an army on the van!! Best advice i could give -loose the VW buddies & remind them if they had wound up where you did in the old van -they never would have walked away!! Happy to see you getting involved again!!

We give him shit because we care .. it's a good-natured shit-giving, nothing serious.

Steering column went in last night. Anyone ever re-work the detent plate for the automatic shifter on the Powerglide column to work correctly for a 700R4/200-4R swap?

For now, if we can get it set up so P-R-N-D work more-or-less correctly (with D as [D] obviously) that'll be good enough for the immediate, but it should ultimately be done correctly with the detents in the right places and an indicator lens appropriate for the incoming 200-4R. There's a campout next weekend with a 200 mile round-trip from Portland, we're thrashing to get the van together in time...

Good luck and have a good time on the campout! 200 mile round trip should be a good test to see what might need adjustments. Take pics if you get a chance!

Old engine out, 3-speed is out, "new" engine from the wrecked '68 is in, 200-4R is in, driveshaft is in. Left it with a jackstand under the tranny because it was 9:30 at that point and I didn't want to piss off his neighbors with a bunch of cutting-and-grinding noise.

Plus it was getting dark.

Good Work!1 So =Where is this "Campout"" at near portland?? get it Advertized here too!!

We're aiming for the 8th Annual Deschutes River RendesVW over in Maupin south of The Dalles on 197 -- it's a VW and VW-enthusiast shindig put on by the Oasis Resort.

Xelmon's been going for years without owning a VW, and his showing up with the Chevy last year was a definite improvement over earlier years when he brought a Civic and a tent.



I show up because I've got a '75 VW poptop .. with an engine swap and a hidden radiator, but they let me in anyway.

Good to see I'm not the only VW guy to set up a residence here. I know I'm a bit late but wouldn't you want to keep the manual transmission? You would have better control over your speed on those rocky down hills(but here's me crossing my fingers that never happnens to you again). Then again I have a bias against automatics, and I just plain love to push in the clutch and shift the gears myself.

Oh wow, missed a response!

@ Rustybug13:
I looooove the manuals too, really do! However, having driven around with a 1:1 top I realized that I definitely needed the OD.
Of course, getting an OD on either a 3 or 4 speed is somewhere north of $800, plus when I really started playing with the column, I found that there is virtually no neutral... So that means that servicing would've been a headache.

Of course, it helps too that Tris nabbed a 200R4 with 0 miles and we got a remfg torque converter for $220. Plus, I have the column, so why not?

Now, ONTO THE UPDATE!

Verbal:
First, the biggest thing that was open to be tackled is not a problem. The rear differential is in extremely good condition, with virtually no wear on the R&P, and minimal surface wear on the sleeve bearings for the two transfer gears.

The axles are also in very good condition, and have been fortunate to have the 15 roller bearings which are known to be much better for wear. Never the less, new bearings and seals have been installed.

The kingpins are in generally better condition than the previous white van, however they are still worn and wobbly. Oh well.

The drag link and dampeners however are deader than a door nail. All have to - or have been - replaced so that the ride would be a fair bit safer.

Pictured:



The "new" carb has been rebuilt, however I managed to bust a bolt, so I have not fully reassembled it. I will definitely use one of the gaskets though to install it on the "old" intake!



This has been one of Tris's pet projects, new front seats. They are both adjusting, and they have this nifty feature of folding flat. They came out of a Chevy Venture mini-van, center row seats.



The automatic column is back in, and it's even more buttoned up than in the picture! Of course, the steering wheel is still not back on, as I want to center it.



This is the bellhousing from the - now removed - 3 speed manual. I'll take pictures tomorrow, as the clutch was dead. However, whatever punk band drove it around knew their stuff, as the flywheel is easily turnable, and reusable!





The 3 speed... I have yet to clean it off and figure out what I'm missing out on / happily avoiding.




Dad, he's been helping out a lot from grabbing parts like no tomorrow, to replacing all 4 corners, breaks and everything... Makes me feel like a total putz.



Out with the old, in with the new!



Tristessa in the flesh, he has helped far more than I could ever thank him for.



As it was late, these are pictures from the next day... Isn't she pretty?
Also déja vu, I know I have taken a picture in a very similar angle before!



And also dad's handy work. As he knows how to work the polisher, he has been doing small bits.

The owner of the salvage yard said that "When you get it running, bring it by, I want to see it!". I have a feeling that he's either going to be amazed or pissed, as he didn't get around to work on it for nigh on 10 years. =D

I think he'll be amazed and pissed but he'll also be happy that someone actually got the job done. Who knows, maybe it will inspire him to do something on a different project he may have been putting off. It's all Good! Keep up the great work and make sure you give your coworkers lots of praise for all the help they're giving you! Man, that motor looks Awesome!

Next on the list for Xelmon: Radiator, fan, fuel pump, distributor, manifolds & carb, belt, hoses, fuel line, put the drag link back in, install the gas tank & doghouse lid, start dicking with the shifter and throttle linkage. Bypass the heater core until we have a chance to test it for leaks.

Next on the list for me: Building the transmission crossmember and replacing the rusted-out exhaust and muffler. We've got a good stretch of pipe that came with the three-bolt exhaust manifold, but both mufflers on hand are shot. If time & money were no object I'd put a split manifold on it with a pair of 26" Smithy's mufflers, but .. time is definitely an object so it'll probably be whatever universal they've got on the shelf at the FLAPS and a single pipe...

Looking Good

Wow!


'From the ashes of disaster
Grow the roses of success!'

Name the movie that quote is from....

Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang!

That's a great looking motor, guys. I hope you make it to the VW run in Deschutes.

Radiator, fan, fuel pump, hoses, distributor, intake/exhaust manifolds & carb are in. Picked up a Thrush Turbo muffler, 2" in/out for the to-be-built exhaust. Gas tank needs to go in, tranny crossmember is still a thorn in my side, shifter linkage needs to be done. TV cable hookup for the 200-4R looks like it'll be a piece of caek.

No idea if any of the electrical works...

Hopefully making it, still a hint iffy, although today/tomorrow should be going much better... If it isn't, I'll be a very sad panda.



Tris said that there's two holes that had to be expanded, so I took the time to go to the machine shop and drill them out. Much easier on a full size mill instead of a hand drill.



And of course, The Engine.



She came out pretty nicely, although I wish I had Stovebolt dualies on them. Oh well, eventually.



Ah, and one of the van's new stockings... It's rather out of place considering how white and red it is.

Transmission crossmember is built, exhaust is "good enough for now, muffler shop later" -- the manifold must've been from a 292, pipe was 2.25" or 2.5" and the muffler I'd bought was 2" so we had to run and get a reducer, and right now it's just got a turn-down aimed at the ground on the other end.

Xelmon was getting the timing rough-set when I left last night, his dad was power-bleeding the brakes.  Need to double-check and possibly readjust the TV cable, need to install the transmission dipstick.  Not worrying about the torque converter lockup right now, but we're going to double-check that we've got the right pressure switch installed this morning while the pan's off so it's internally ready to go.  

Need to get the shifter hooked up. 

Sounds like the 3 Musketeers are hard at work doing a bang up job on this van! One for all and all for one! Keep up the fantastic work guys!

Xelmon and the GMC didn't make it to the campout, there was just too much to do and too little time left to do it in.  We gave it a good ass-kicking effort but I finally had to hit the highway around noon-ish Friday.  Had to order in the Lokar transmission arm at the local store, plus Xelmon built a piece to connect the Lokar arm to the stock Powerglide shift rod/pivot.  Nice looking bit of work, I told him he needs to take pics and post them here. 

The van starts & runs right now, heard it on the way home from work this afternoon when I swung by to see where things were at. .. oh yeah, had to jet back to Portland from the campout early this morning 'cuz I had to work at 10.  My little hotrodded VW Bus cooked right along I-84 to The Dalles and back at 70-75 (and a stretch at 80) no sweat, 65-70 on 197 down to Maupin except for a couple grades at 60MPH .. earned just shy of 21MPG for the trip. 

There's more but I'll let Xelmon fill in.