1965 A100 no door Sarge's GRUVIN Project

Newbie here,but I have owned and restored many A100's. Let me introduce you to my newest purchase, GRUVIN.



In 1965 she started as a 6 cyl 225 with 3 speed syn. She is now a 8 cyl 360 with automatic trans shift on the floor. Total cost $2436.81 in 1965, value today oh my. Fourth owner.

Here are some additional pics.







Remember the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover", well GRUVIN has some problems beneath her fluff. Here are the pics:






Yes the wiring is a mess. 1965 harness and 1980 electronics. Speaker wire for the dome lite. Half of the fuse block is burnt. She has a bad parasitic voltage loss. No NSS hookup. (I laid rubber at the gas station. The attendant looked at me very annoyed, as if to say "some old man trying to be being smart".) OOps I started it in gear.
This site has helped me make the decision to completely rewire GRUVIN. I will be starting Oct 5. Each step will be documented with pictures and video and shared here. I have decided to use the Painless product. Got a $100 rebate and I have used them before on classic Mustangs. I chose this site because of the cooperative spirit I have seen here.

Now, on with the horse and pony show. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.  

Sarge Out

Welcome to VV Sarge. That's a great looking van you have there.

Nice Dodge that 360 gotta be nice... Good luck with it.

I wondered where that van went..... You have a nice van there. I remember seeing it for sale before the body work and paint. The interior has changed last I saw it was wood inside. Indian theme. I'm glad your doin' her right and fixing the wire harness. I believe it's a 904 auto in your van. Wiring the nuteral safety is easy. You will need a stater solinoid for an automatic. Ill be following as I have a 65 window, 66 panel, and 68 pickup. (yah its a van thing!) But they mostly have all original wiring. Welcome aboard Sarge!

Welcome to the site, we can help with your van just ask. where in Ohio are you ??
there is a person with parts in the Cadis area I'm out of pittsburgh

Welcome aboard Sarge! Can't wait to see more pics and watch your progress. If you don't want the pictures to get cut off, change the default picture size from 800 to 640 pixels. Cool paint job!!!

Nice! but dont you mean gruVAN

picking up a service book for the right year is well worth the money

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Service-Manual-1968-Dodge-A-100-A-100-A-108-A108-Compact-/161657335467?hash=item25a3872eab&vxp=mtr

Was that van in Ny?looks like Ny registation and inspection stickers

Welcome to the Forum!

Figure out what changes you want to make before getting started.
As mentioned, the starter solenoid is used in conjunction with the NSS.
Take a look at MAD Electrical's site to find out about the AMP gauge. Better to go with a voltmeter.
http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml
They have other good info too.
http://www.madelectrical.com/electrical-tech.shtml
Get a good set of strippers, crimpers and bunch of shrink tubing.
I've found that Rock auto is a good resource for finding parts, including electrical.
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1328936
It's probably a good idea to replace many of the switches and other parts while doing the job.
Make sure you attach the fuse panel in an accessible location.
There are a bunch of ideas online for rewiring, read a bunch of them so you have the experience and knowledge of others who have gone through this before.  
With all the modern devices, I'd run at least a couple accessory plugs (cigarette lighters) in the back for computer, phone, etc.

Thanks everyone. Just a quick update and answer some posted questions. GRUVIN (GruVan was taken per Ohio DMV) was, First purchased 1965 in CT, then on to NY, and finally found her way to NW Ohio. I saw her posted here about 5 years ago. Yes, I have been lurking a long time. I got her this past spring. Since then I have been planning the rewire. Here is a
re-post of the picture from Wokee May 7 2010.  Sarge Out.

Day 1 done. Rough wiring completed and I mean rough.



Fuse block was toast. Many bare and brittle wires. PO drilled into the wires going from the A pillar to the rear. Installed the door lock wiring, aux battery with isolator and aux fuse block. I am following the original harness path. Started with the dimmer switch and sure enough it was bad. But, as you can see from the additional pics, I did not have far to go. Well tomorrow all the connections have to be made. Got to get some sleep.













Videos will be posted to Youtube at end of install.

Sarge Out

Just a quick update on the rewire. This week I spent routing the wiring harness to the rear of the van. I expected to find some problems. However, I found three screws had penetrated the rear harness and one wire was burnt approximately 2 inches. Also, I found the original dome light wire behind the paneling protected by some non-electrical tape. The shorts were in the dome and brake light circuits.


Well my plans have changed. I started to completely remove all of the previous owners hard work. I must remove all of the old wiring in the rear section of the van.

Just a few pictures. More to follow next week.

Sarge out.

Sorry Sarge, my neck was killing me so I rotated your pics...





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Sorry, about your neck Vanny. Went back and re-read the picture posting instructions and found nothing on picture orientation. On my computer the pictures are as you posted them. These pictures were taken with a different camera. Well, I guess its back to the cell phone.

Sarge Out