A108 Rescue/Restoration

Hi, I'm new to the forum.

A friend of mine got a 68 A108 for his first vehicle when he was 13. He hand sanded and had it painted metallic purple. Throughout high school a group of us all worked on the van, partied, cruised and camped in it. Two years ago he died and the van disappeared.

Couple months ago I was leaving a junkyard and saw the van in the processing area, it was missing all the emblems, light bezels, lenses and a side window that had been etched with a dragon. I asked the manager if they'd sell me the van and told him not to process it, I'm a regular at the yard. He said I had 24 hours so I asked on Facebook if anyone could help with the rescue. One friend helped with the money and another loaned his truck and trailer.

Coincidentally a remembrance/memorial was 10 days after saving the van so a buddy and myself got it running, replaced the brakes, bearings, fluids, greased and a nice gentleman from a Facebook van page donated a driveline. The junkyard manager "let" me see who brought it to the yard for scrap, I contacted him and we got ALL the missing parts and pieces. The morning of the memorial we pulled it out of the shop to wash the green mildew off it and it quit charging, the wiring in the van is FRIED, both power wires from ignition have the coating burnt off through most of the harness along with a half dozen other wires. We said F-it, washed it up, put 3 good batteries in the back and drove it to the memorial, with NO working lights and unsure if we'd make it, my wife followed and has gotten used to this sort of thing with my own old car habits. (I own a 61 Econo pickup and 5 other vehicles) We made the trip there and back, surprisingly, without issue.

Since then the van has sat until Sunday Dec 21st when I moved it to another friend's to work on the wiring. Fun drive as is barely sustains a charge and was dark and the only lights were extremely dim high beams, a reverse light that stays on the whole time and the blinkers started working. haha. Sometimes I think I'm retarded, but we made the trip without me going to jail.

NOW... I've searched for a while trying to find a Wiring Diagram on the forum and have only seen a lot of threads concerning individual problems/solutions and not an actual diagram.
Does anyone have a diagram for a 68 A108?

Since I have to re-wire most of the van anyways and I always try to Upgrade and not just replace I will be changing the fuse block, adding relays and eliminating the voltage regulator.
Is there an alternator that is internally regulated and will go right on the slant 6?

A friend has created a GoFundMe for the costs accrued by the van, is it ok to make a post on here for that or would it be breaking rules?

Thanks for reading my post that turned into a book. haha. John

Welcome to the board, great story. Hope this helps, Good Luck!  C:\Users\JTucker\Pictures\A100 wiring1.jpg

C:\Users\JTucker\Pictures\a100 wiring2.jpg

God, you follow the directions exactly, and this is what you get! These should be the same for all Chrysler products!
http://www.mrmopar.com/1970DodgeTruck/wiring/70wire-Full.png

http://www.sweptline.com/tech/66wire.jpg

I guess these didn't work too good. I'll just pm you these files and you can view them much better in whatever application you use to view pictures at home so you can see the whole thing.

THANK YOU!

If I go to a different brand alternator I'll snag a 130A Ford 3G as I am familiar with them and retrofit them on older Fords all the time. But I do like to stay somewhat brand specific as the parts usually go together easier.

When I get a little more time to read through the picture posting how-to for the forum then I will start loading this thread up with pics. The build thread I have for my 78 Ford Crew Cab on FTE is picture intensive as it really helps other people who have similar issues or want to do similar modifications.

After getting the pictures on my computer and viewing them I decided that I hate Dodge's wiring and will be redoing/changing most of the system and how it works. I was hoping I could allow myself to just replace what was burnt and live with it but I can't, the existing wiring is smoked for a reason.

Will be changing to a Ford style Starter Relay, adding relays for lights, updating the fuse panel and breaking up the system more, changing all lighting to LED, upgrading most wire gauge sizes as I usually run 00 battery cables, using a Ford 3G 130A alternating.

Also debating on seeing if I can move the battery to an under body mount and possibly add a 2nd. This van will end up with a very demanding stereo system. It will also get a very high output ignition system, I run Jacobs boxes in everything I own and the plugs in my 78 Ford are gapped at 0.090" so that will give you some idea that I'm competent in what I'm talking about (this IS the internet).

Is there a newer electronic distributor that I can replace the points unit with? Due to failures in the past on multiple vehicles I will not run a Photosensor style "Points Eliminator" made by any brand.

Tried reading your initial post but could not figure it out what engine you have in. If it's a smallblock then there are many aftermarket options. Based on this I'm now assuming that you have a slant six there and therefore I cannot exactly answer your question except to try Pertronix. Google.

Could someone with the original photos of the diagrams (with highest quality possible) upload them on imgur.com and post the links?
Just hit upload on the top left and choose from your files.
I'd greatly appreciate it.

Van has a Slant 6 (size unknown) and 3 on the tree.

Sorry about being away so long, we moved and then found out our new place was giving the little one Lead Poisoning so we had to find another place and move again.

Good news is that the place we just moved into has a 24x36 shop so that's nice.

Saturday I went up north where the van has been parked at a buddies house, bypassed all the melted wiring and drove it the 120+ miles home. With missing a side window, heater not working and seal on the fresh air vent being non-existent it was a very cold drive. The van was only slightly charging, the battery would sit at 11.8 volts while going down the freeway, only the high beams worked for headlights and I couldn't see $#!T. But I made it.

For what it was the van drives down the freeway at 60ish quite nice.

Glad to here you have a safe house without the lead. That stuff is a killer...I know. Also happy to here you made it home with your van, where she belongs. Be sure to post some pics as you go. I am interested in the idea of LED lights.

When/if my daughter alots me the time to figure out pic posting I will be happy to.

I swapped LEDs tail lights into my 61 Econoline and was very pleased with the results, will be doing the same to the A108.

Owning both, it's ridiculous how similar they are built, it deceives you to think parts would interchange.