Recycling a 65 sportvan custom.

Sometimes you need to take a little breather. You're doing a fine job on this van and we thank you for letting us follow along with your progress! You've made some significant progress already in a short amount of time. It's all Goooood!

We made some progress this afternoon.

The 250 ready to go in with all the parts from the 230

So Sunday it gets a new clutch, the HEI distributor, and if we have time rear wheel bearings.

Excellent progress! Can't wait to see it back in the Doghouse.

very cool...

Me too vanny! Lol all the parts were sooo dirty. It takes forever to clean and paint. I just couldn't put dirty parts back in the van. I think ill insulate the doghouse before I put the engine back. One thing is for sure, it will be back together today!

While the space was empty


Fork lift to pallet lift


She's in boys!


Top view

So we ran into some funny stuff. First thing we noticed was the u joints were whooped. So we changed them out. That's when we noticed the yoke had been welded from falling out. Lol so ill have to get a new driveline... Next we pulled the clutch and it was smoked! Rivets cut into the pressure plate. Well since I couldn't get one in that short notice we put it back in... Last but not least, as we were putting on accessories we found a hairline crack in a water fitting in the head. Of coarse it leaks. Ill silver solder a reducer to it so I can still use it for a temp gauge. All in all it was 30 hours of two guys cleaning and painting and installing parts till the van cam to life.

Oh, how's it run? Fantastic it slips the clutch in 2nd and 3rd so it's hard feel how well it pulls. The HEI install was simple and fast. Still need to degree the balancer to see the max advance

Give it hell Dirtstar! That things going to be NEW before you know it. LOL    

Vanny, I sure hope so. Lol it is running my savings low. Funny thing, the only part that isn't wore out is the transmission, and I'm voluntarily changing that out.

Since the new engine runs so good, I noticed the carb doesn't run so good. After some reading about the carter yf, it looks like I need some new parts in the carb. That's why my fuel mileage dropped so much all at once. I can see raw gas in the air behind the van.

Anyone an expert on the carter yf carb?

Not sure you've seen Donivan's latest post on his Tow Bar Thread but he talks about a couple of common issues with YF carbs below:
Hope this helps, if not, Don's your guy for questions on these carbs.

donivan65 wrote:Here are a couple of the common Carter YF problems,,,,,

Thanks vanny, can you get me a link?

Argh! I went to the DMV to get a vin verification and they said I need a back seat or it will be registered commercial. Anyone got a loaner?

I also posted here
https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t35241-dmv-says-i-need-a-bench-seat-to-be-a-passenger-van-anyone-got-one#160167

put a bean bag in there with seat belts. that will get them in a up roar.

That sounds way better than a seat! Lol

I've got one from a 70's ford in the back of mine right now...I'm planning on camping this weekend and will have it taken out for the time being if you wanna borrow it. I barely ever use it so you can take it as long as you want.

Do you think it needs to be bolted in? You could probably just throw it back there and they wouldn't even check.

She did say bolted in but I'm sure I could make a clever braket to make it stay put for a day. Thanks Scotty. What are you doing tonight?

Tonight's no good, but I should be free the rest of the week in the evening. Or, I could always meet you somewhere during the day. Where are you located?

Ok, I try to only goto the DMV on tues, Wednesday, and thurs. if I get the seat from you this week I can make mounts and try again on tues.

I can meet you anytime after 4pm the shop is fine if its cool with you.

Ryan 951-378-7087 text is best.

Picked up Scotty's seat. Ill make some brackets Tommorow and try this DMV stuff again next week.

my guess it it's round tube steel , You can buy steel conduit straps cheap , Run a few bolts up from underneath and bolt it down with wing nuts , http://www.butlersupply.com/fasteners/conduit-straps

It's already got straps attached that came on it. I had it just bolted straight into my floor like you described, but Ryan's gonna fab up some brackets to use the existing seat brackets that are already on the floor of the Chevy Sportvans. Will make for easy removal.

Should be like stock. That way it could face forward or backwards or use front or rear positions

This weekend is busy so I stayed late at work and got some cool stuff done. The first thing I did was rebuild the carb. My carb was junk! It was warped all over and most of the bolts were stripped. So I sanded all the surfaces flat and tapped out a bunch of holes to literally the next closest size machine screw. Check it out.


This is the farmers mastermix of screws holding my carb together.


This is the improved carb with a fresh rebuild kit and new screws.




Last but not least I pulled my axle bearings and installed the repair axle kit. I opted for the kit with 2 seals. These things are sketchy at best but they will buy me some time to either find a set of axles or maybe a pic a part complete 10 bolt from something newer.