Recycling a 65 sportvan custom.

10-4 Rick. Ill go over a few mods I did and do a walk around.

Hello all, it's been awhile since I've had a chance to work on the van. I've been buried in work for the last few months. Saturday is the first time I put a wrench on it in a long while.

So here is what we got done in the last few days. Saturday we raised the Sportvan up on the rack and my friend Eric tore into the trans to change the clutch. When we switched out the engine we knew that clutch was done but couldn't get one that day. Now that work has slowed down we decided its time to get back to the fun stuff. The new clutch works fantastic. No more slipping. Moving to the rear, we finally got our home made gas tank completed. I finished the sender unit. Plumbed the tank, refitted the filler neck and and filled it with gas. The final tally was 21 gallons. I was hoping for more. I might have an air pocket that is slow filling. I didn't try to top it off.

Next we moved onto an alternator and regulator problem that surfaced a few weeks ago.

After that I finally got to put in the new heater core. That mutha F'n heater box was glued on so well! It's really nice to have a defroster on the window, not to mention my girlfriend likes the warmth on her feet.

I'm running out of new parts that have been kicking around in the van for a long time. As a matter of fact I think all that is left are new dome lights. Oh, and I have to reinstall the heater valve. I was afraid it might leak. I'll give it a go anyways.


This is the sender wired up. The red and white wire are for fuel pump later.



Here is the sender installed. I made a bulk head fitting for the wires to pass through. The 2 fuel lines are for a return if I choose to do fuel injection later.



This is the filler and vent aligned with the frame.

The fuel hose and sender wires pass through the original location.


The first time since I've owned the van to put fuel in this location.





The old heater core was leaking.



New heater core fits like a glove!

Congrats on the progress and welcome back!

Dirtstar1 wrote:.

After that I finally got to put in the new heater core. That mutha F'n heater box was glued on so well! It's really nice to have a defroster on the window, not to mention my girlfriend likes the warmth on her feet

       I just did mine also my finger tips were still hurting a week later..  ..

Thanks vanny, it feels good to get some things done .

joe, I swore there was still one bolt left in the thing when I was prying on the box with 2 big screw drivers! Lol glad I'm not the only one.

Anyone have a pic of what was on the bottom of the floor vent? I have 4 screws aiming at the floor holding bits of plastic to heater control box. I imagine it was a deverter?

Pretty as a Picture! Looks Brand Spankin New!

Nice job on the restore! Really does look brand new!

Thanks to the junk yard page I finally got some e brake cables for my van. I tried to keep the area under the van clean. I noticed someone really did a nice neat job getting parts out from under the old panel. I removed the brake shoes to get the cables out then put the brake hardware inside the right rear corner of the van. After that I reinstalled the brake drums to keep any weather out.




The old yellow panel had no straight sections left.



The left side brake hardware was new!



This is my broken stretched out e brake line from the forklift hitting it.


Success, two fully functional e brake cables.


The only other thing I wanted and it looked like someone beat me to it was the door sill trim. I need one for the side door if anyone has a spare.



Off to the solvent tank for the new used cables.

Went for a great drive today. Here is vid https://youtu.be/rVS-OK4AtgU

More pics to come.

Congrats on the successful trip to Egypt and back! LOL What did the sign say???   

Superstition mountain. I used nearly a full tank of gas. The poor thing needs an overdrive. Lol I stayed around 62mph but the the little 6 sounded wound tight.

Looks like a fun trip! Makes me wanna get out to the desert soon!

That looks like fun.. not only cruzin but the warm sun,the desert. I want to come out to Cali so bad, i hate Michigan winters!!

Scotty, it was a good day to be out. Did you get your little honda going?
Vannin ken, It was 70 degrees. I actually got a sun burn days before X mas. Lol

Hey Dirtstar1, just a hint, when you post a pic if you select the 640 px for websites in the scroll down menu the site won't chop the pic's off.

That is awesome ! I was wondering about that. I'm gonna try that

Yep, I got the CT70 back together with some shiny new parts...Seems to be running great, although I haven't ridden it beyond my neighborhood yet.

Put a temp gun on the cylinder head. I'd like to Know how hot it gets.

Nice camera work, Dirtstar. I used to make videos with my old van in the 80s and 90s, around San Diego county and in Baja. But I was lugging a big old VHS camcorder on my shoulder! Maybe I'll digitize a couple and post them for a laugh!

I'm glad you closed up that rear end in the junkyard after you took the brake parts. I still might go back for it but they want $400. My van's does have an overdrive tranny and it still sounds like it needs one because of the 3.73:1 gears in my rear end. But mine is a 12-bolt, which I'd rather stick with. Anyone know if I can buy 3.36:1 gears for it?

Haha, VANagain, I'd love to see VHS van vids from the 80's! The iPhone sure makes it easy to film forward and backward, edit clip and upload all on one device! Not to mention I might even make a phone call. Lol

As for the gears. 10 and 12 bolts have a bunch of selections. I'd check( Randy's ring and pinion). He not only has many selections, he have many different price points.

Hello all, as much as this saddens me, I'm in a situation where I need to get a new work truck. I'm thinking I need to sell the van... I will entertain all serious offers and I will help with shipping for the east coast guys. Pm me if you are interested. I'll give it a week before I put it on craigslist. Feel free to comment

Ryan

and the thread has been so good !

Well hopefully someone from this site will buy it and keep the build alive.