1964 Sears van

,,,and I was also kidding about you making me work on your van when everybody else will be partying on the Beach,,,,,,,,,as for those jackstands, I see blocks,,,,,they could fall if you start jacking up on on the center link,,,,,thats what meant,,,,,,,putting the tires back on would be safer in case something does slip......

The 2 cribbing jack stands on the front are real sturdy and the 4 x 4 that goes across is bolted into them. I will put the tires back on, I don't need another accident.

Rich, looks like your vans underside is covered in what I call CA concrete (oil ,grease, sand & dirt ,Baked on by CA heat & age) & hard as heck.

It is Tom. Going to borrow a power washer from a member, soak the grease and oil and spray it down. Hopefully it will come off but I'm sure I will have to do some scraping.

It might be easyer to scrape off as much as you can before you power wash it. be easer to clean up big globs,before it gets wet??? And PW probably do better job on whats left.

Everything under the van is crusted over with oil and sand. Had to scrape it off just so I could find the nut and bolt for the tie rod end. I then loosened the clamps, soaked them with PB blaster, waited an hour and spent another hour trying to get the center link to turn either way but it won't budge and I had to go to work. I was a little frustrated I couldn't fix it myself but would have not given up. Sunday I saw my friend who is a service writer at a Chevy dealership. He says take it off and he will have his guys straighten it for me free. So Friday I am going to take the whole front end off and work with it that way. There will be more room for me to fit under it so I scrape the bottom like Savage suggests before I power wash it. I know this may be a stupid question but I should change the tie rod ends once the center link is off, right?

Well,,,,,,maybe you need to hit the Gym more often if you cant unscrew the link,,,,,,,but really,,,,you need to get mean on it,,,,big pipe wrenches,,,,,slide the clamp over,,,use WD40,,,,try and spread the slot open to free up the threads,,,,twist a screwdriver in there,,,smack it apart with a punch,,,,and REMEMBER,,,,,you want to loosen it,,,,,the drivers side threads are left hand,,,they go backwards,,,,so work from the passenger side,,,,,,and you can just undo the tierods with an official puller or pickle fork,,,,,

I don't like to give up,,,will give it one more try.

Like Don said you got to get mean with it & soak the heck out of them .
Probably been together for 50++ years??? you can get it.,

So I put on my big boy hat and got mean with it. I think this is the best I can get it while it's still on the van. I took the engine crossmember off so I could climb in the doghouse and work on it standing instead of on the ground. Thanks for the push guys, just didn't know how mean I needed to get with it. 

BEFORE


AFTER, a little blurry because it was a tough workout.


Crossmember has a 1/4 of road grime buildup. Might need a hammer and chisel to get it off...LOL

Great job, Richie!!! It's like night and day...no need for the gym this week...Hee, hee hee! Looks like you showed it who's boss!

I played baseball into my early 20's and it was just like catching a double header,,,you didn't want to do it but it had to be done. Followed Don and Savage's good advise so I could show other members who might have a similar problem that if I can do it with my beat up body anyone can. The only gym I go to theses days is the 19th hole for a few Rolling Rocks.

Wow, flashback time! We used to have a member in our van club whom we called Rolling Rock because that's the only beer he'd drink...In any case, you got done what had to be done and it looks like much better and even nicer once you're done scraping and power washing!

,,,,,,,,there is just no end of things you learn on this site,,,,,,,

Amen to that Don, thanks again for the push.

Well,,,,,,,,,,if Push comes to shove,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

What are you offering, or is that just a push to get moving on my engine?

So have you gotten the bar to move yet,,,,,,you need to break loose both sides separately,,,,,and I dont know that the steering knuckles will let you unscrew the center link from the tie rods completely,,,,you might have to remove a tie rod to get it all apart,,,,,and thats a SHOVE for you to make yours look pretty,,,,thats what I had to do to make the engine and crossmember look nice on the SuzyVan I am working on,,,,,

I will get back to the center link drama Friday and see what I can accomplish.

A little more progress. Got me a pickle fork and it worked like a charm.
Savage called it, a lot of California concrete baked on.

Spent 3 hours scraping more CA concrete.


This stuff has been on there a long time. Might need the hammer and chisel on this side!!

Nothing like showing the van a little TLC!!! That van is lucky it met you. From the looks of it, the California concrete seems to have protected the surfaces well. It'll probably get better gas mileage once all that heavy stuff is removed! Keep up the good work...

Vanny, it sure was on there good. I'm glad now that I took the time cleaning it off. When I removed the suspension none of the leaf spring or axle bolts were tightened from the PO's attempt at lowering it. A bad accident waiting to happen. Filled my shop vac twice so it definately will shed a few pounds and I'm only half way finished with the undercarriage. Laying on my back in the low 60 degree LA weather is just not comfortable....

I'd be thrilled for 60 degrees right now! I'm on vacation next week and planning to finally do a little work on the van...they're predicting a little snow every day next week...gonna try out a little space heater in the garage. Hopefully, that will help a little.

A little progress on the Sears van, I took a chance and bought a air scrapper from HF for $25 bucks. It seems to be a little easier than using a regular paint scrapper but vibrates the crap out of your hands, arms and shoulders. With a little pressure it gets the loose stuff off easily. The crud on the bottom side of the floor around the gas tank area is like rubberized cement, almost like undercoating and 1/8 inch thick. It has been the hardest to get off. I almost gave up on it and let it be but I'm to stubborn and went at it slowly. I got all of the crud off the wheel wells and the frame. Been using a wire wheel to do the finishing touches and it works well. It takes time but a few hours a week for the next few months I might have it all clean. The rear axle is all done and ready for paint.