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BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER.... A's, G's & E's


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rekbender
dix
OutofSight
Brandon2
68vanman
10 posters

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    68vanman
    68vanman


    Number of posts : 124
    Location : Hayward, CA
    Registration date : 2012-09-29

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by 68vanman Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:01 pm

    Well I've finally started working on the van after a year of owning it. It hasn't run since 2005 so I'm going through the fuel system, ignition, brakes, etc. I happened to get a hold of the previous owner and he said the reason it was put aside was due to a blown upper radiator hose (which I confirmed). He also mentioned a leak behind the water pump, possibly coming from the timing chain cover. Well, it's looks like I've got some work ahead of me. Here's my parts list and plan of attack:

    New 2 Carter BBD 2bbl carb (to get it started)
    New timing chain cover (correct for 1969) & gasket kit
    New water pump, hoses, thermostat, belt
    New single groove billet aluminum crank pulley (removed 4 groove)
    New Headman Hedders (block hugger)
    New Powemaster mini starter
    New MP electronic ignition and Pertronix coil, MSD black spark plug wires
    New fuel tank hose, fuel pump and tank sending unit (tank has been cleaned and sealed.

    After I get it started and running without any leaks, I plan on installing an Edelbrock 2176 Performer manifold and 1406 carb.

    The wiring harness has more than a few bad splices, connectors and cheap fixes. I'm going to pull it out and see how much needs to be replaced. I could go wire by wire which is cheaper, but I'm also considering the Painless Wiring 21 circuit Mopar specific harness ($565) That harness matches the same coloring diagram as Mopar 1966-1973. The other universal 21 circuit harness goes for $250 but the colors won't match.

    Any I'll keep posting progress pics as it moves along

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods 69_a1015
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods 69_31810
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Timing10

    68vanman
    68vanman


    Number of posts : 124
    Location : Hayward, CA
    Registration date : 2012-09-29

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by 68vanman Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:20 pm

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Water_10
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods 69_31811
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Under_10
    Brandon2
    Brandon2


    Number of posts : 54
    Location : San Francisco, CA
    Registration date : 2016-01-18

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by Brandon2 Thu Mar 14, 2019 11:53 pm

    Your van sure looks nice on the outside. Smile

    Water pump certainly looks rusty. Probably more than you need to get it started. Let us know how it goes.
    OutofSight
    OutofSight


    Number of posts : 1558
    Location : Lake Oroville, Ca.
    Registration date : 2015-11-19

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by OutofSight Fri Mar 15, 2019 6:45 am

    Looks like fun! I’m curious about the painless system.
    dix
    dix
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    Number of posts : 8726
    Location : pittsburgh pa
    Age : 66
    Registration date : 2008-05-29

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by dix Sat Mar 16, 2019 4:09 am

    good morning, and welcome to vintage vans ,
    1st does that motor turn over? even with a large socket at the crank ? regarding the wiring
    MY MISTAKE WAS because they don't make a harness for the a100/08 they convinced me to use the street rod harness. well that is made for a gm, wiring system don't do that, find one where like you said colors match and the wires are identified every few inches. add wire where needed that would be less bullsh*t then converting a gm to mopar. you need a lot of time and patients for that one, i ended up giving that job to someone else more capable then i. a street rod harness/ or universal harness only has one connector crimped ,
    you need to run the wire cut it strip it and crimp the connector to every wire. But they tell you with their connectors you need their crimpers. at the cost of about $125.00 i don't remember exactly or rent them for $100. my guy never used them and one size would only be used on the battery cable, any ways do your homework. and remove the amp meter wile you are doing this.
    ok now the edelbrock moper never built a 318 with a 4 barrel carb. and i did use the 1460 4 barrel
    if i did it again i'd use the 500 cfm not the 600. either way will work .


    _________________
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    OutofSight
    OutofSight


    Number of posts : 1558
    Location : Lake Oroville, Ca.
    Registration date : 2015-11-19

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by OutofSight Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:10 am

    So you didn’t use the mopar version from MSD Dix?
    68vanman
    68vanman


    Number of posts : 124
    Location : Hayward, CA
    Registration date : 2012-09-29

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by 68vanman Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:47 am

    The motor turns over easily, no problem there. I don't want to chase electrical gremlins down the road so I'd rather do it all now before it hits the road.
    OutofSight
    OutofSight


    Number of posts : 1558
    Location : Lake Oroville, Ca.
    Registration date : 2015-11-19

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by OutofSight Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:49 am

    I want to do the electrical system as well. I will be watching this very close.
    dix
    dix
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    Location : pittsburgh pa
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    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by dix Sun Mar 17, 2019 4:43 am

    out of sight no i did not use the msd, kind of old school
    i enjoy the muscle cars and the vintage vehicles , my view is if i stay with the brand name ( mopar /gm/ford ) then i always know what i have , mopar makes a conversion ignition system and i know i can find parts any where. My disc brake system is all dodge Dakota ( Ok back to the wiring )
    when i bought mine the company did not say i had to buy a different distributor and a different gm alternator and a different alternator belt and brackets and 10 years later (72) i'm going to remember all that ?? yeah right,everything i have is period correct.
    From what i found is all car wiring harness is short ,a100 wiring comes out of the fuse box thru the floor and up from under the engine,and that is where the problem is all the wiring from the fuse box to the engine is to short, that is why i tried the streetrod version , It would have been easier AND cheaper for ME to add wiring to all the wires in the engine bay, the next problem is all old mopars used a amp gauge opposed to a volt gauge THIS IS A MAJOR ISSUE.dodge took the hot wire from the battery to the amp gauge then the alternator and the starter. and this amp gauge burned down a lot of a100's ....
    the wiring going from the dash to the dome lights and the rear running lights, brakes. turn singels
    has a plug on the left side of the dash going up the windshield pillar. all that wiring should be good
    and you can reuse that wiring running inside the roof rails instead of replacing all those hope this all helps...Dix


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    dix
    dix
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    Number of posts : 8726
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    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by dix Sun Mar 17, 2019 5:25 am

    correction i used american auto wiring 15 , not painless wiring
    the universal painless kit did not come with wiring just a fuse block and connectors
    universal wiring is marker every 6 inches starter, or brakes, headlights and so on.


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    rekbender
    rekbender


    Number of posts : 49
    Location : MILFORD, OH
    Age : 76
    Registration date : 2018-01-07

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by rekbender Sun Mar 17, 2019 10:23 am

    As dix mentioned, the poor ammeter design was the reason my A108 was sidelined a few years ago. Luckily there wasn't a fire.

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Dsc08610

    I replaced my melted ammeter with an earlier NOS ammeter (Chrysler Parts Ammeter Kit P.N. 2234 251) of better design.


    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Dsc08912

    This kit has ceramic sleeves to insulate the ammeter lugs instead of the plastic factory insulation that melts if the resistance is too great. It's a direct replacement and has worked great for eight months.

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Dsc08913

    I plan to swap back to the original face plate shortly so everything matches again,
    69
    69


    Number of posts : 433
    Location : Germany, Nds
    Registration date : 2016-10-18

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by 69 Tue Mar 19, 2019 6:41 am

    I know that the Ammeter can be a pain in the a**, but I just love the look of it as it was original at that time. And my A100 DID HAVE a connection-resistance-melting-problem in the past (remains still there Smile ). But I re-installed a good ammeter from a D100 dash.

    Just recently, I had a depleted battery and ran 1h to a meet with a constant charging current of 40A! I use a newer/stronger generator, pushing up to 60 amps. I replaced the wires from generator to ammeter and back to battery with 10mm² (approx. 7 AWG) - did not get hot, not even warm, really. They are with only one connect-post at the rear of the engine, other than that the wires are without connections to avoid connection-resistane problems. It worked like a charm and the return trip was another hour with 40 amps to fully recharge the battery.

    But to be honest, I have a combined Voltmeter/Ammeter (shunt desing, shunt mounted directly at the battery) to be sure to not getting into trouble.
    68vanman
    68vanman


    Number of posts : 124
    Location : Hayward, CA
    Registration date : 2012-09-29

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by 68vanman Tue Mar 19, 2019 3:25 pm

    To Dix and the others, thank you for your input regarding wiring/ammeters, etc. I'm no expert but what I've done to make it easier for me is: I made copies of the wiring diagram from the factory manual and then colored the wires on the paper with the appropriate colored marker, used a label maker and marked each wire and it's intended location, labeled the back of the dash panel, not to mention a ton of pictures before anything was removed.


    Dix made a good point about the length of the van compared to cars. I'm going to call Painless and ask how long their harness is. For my 38 Dodge pickup project, I'm having the harness built from scratch, much cheaper.



    68vanman
    68vanman


    Number of posts : 124
    Location : Hayward, CA
    Registration date : 2012-09-29

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    Post by 68vanman Tue Mar 19, 2019 3:38 pm

    Just a quick update: I removed the old timing cover. For those who haven't done this before, the bolt for the harmonic balancer is RH thread. I did a lot of degreasing, wire brushing, and scraping. I'm going with non traditional Mopar paint color of gold metal flake (60's custom style)


    I picked up a 2 bbl BBD carb off of Ebay and it arrived yesterday. I'm happy to say it looks exactly like the one I took off. Some advice for those that don't know: There are 3-4 different groups that sell carbs on Ebay, some are located in China, some say the location is in California or Kentucky. The prices range from $72-80. These sellers have sketchy feedback ratings, a lot of negative feedback and sell many more parts than just carburetors. The seller I found had good feedback and the location was a large warehouse in Southern California. I guess the most important thing is: Is it going to work correctly and not leak! We'll see in about a week or so when I fire it up.

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods 318_in10
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Timing11
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Van_fl10
    68vanman
    68vanman


    Number of posts : 124
    Location : Hayward, CA
    Registration date : 2012-09-29

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    Post by 68vanman Tue Mar 19, 2019 3:48 pm

    Carb pics

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Old_ne11
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Old_ne10
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Old_ne12
    OutofSight
    OutofSight


    Number of posts : 1558
    Location : Lake Oroville, Ca.
    Registration date : 2015-11-19

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    Post by OutofSight Tue Mar 19, 2019 8:13 pm

    Pretty!
    68vanman
    68vanman


    Number of posts : 124
    Location : Hayward, CA
    Registration date : 2012-09-29

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    Post by 68vanman Fri Mar 22, 2019 10:52 am

    Pulled the gas tank the other night, took all of 10 minutes, just a few spider nests a small black widow fell down. Surprising how fast I can still move at my age! Thankfully the tank was empty and not full of old gas. It has some light rust inside so I sent it out to have it boiled and sealed.

    All of my new parts have arrived so I'll be painting and detailing the block and other parts this weekend.
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Rust_i10
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Unders10
    68vanman
    68vanman


    Number of posts : 124
    Location : Hayward, CA
    Registration date : 2012-09-29

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    Post by 68vanman Thu Mar 28, 2019 8:49 am

    Well the shop called and after cleaning the tank we found rust holes at the top, not good. I ordered up a new tank from Vans Auto LLC and it should be here by next week. If anyone local wants the old tank let me know.

    I noticed a lot of slop in the timing chain so I ordered a new Cloyes double (true) roller timing set. Weather is supposed to be in the 70's this weekend so I should get a lot done.

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Gas_ta11
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Gas_ta10
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Gas_ta11
    dix
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    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by dix Sun Mar 31, 2019 4:27 am

    keep the hobby going .
    looks like your doing great...


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    RodStRace
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    Number of posts : 3046
    Location : Chino Valley
    Registration date : 2010-01-21

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by RodStRace Tue Apr 02, 2019 7:44 pm

    a couple of suggestions...

    Swap that carb tag over to the new one so it's available for reference and CHANGE the FILTER!

    If you are painting the engine in place with the exhaust manifolds on, use aluminum foil to mask them. It will stay in place, keep the paint off and is easily removed after the paint is dry. Tape doesn't stick well to rusty cast iron. The factory just painted the manifolds too (overspray, not directly) and let it burn off. This also works for engine mounts and other stuff that is oddly shaped and hard to paper/tape mask.

    Once the engine is painted, mark the timing tag and balancer clearly so it's easy to read.

    Prep and paint all the (Black) brackets and pulleys before the engine. Gets you further along, good prepping/painting practice and prevents rushing to finish/assemble.
    sweetvan
    sweetvan


    Number of posts : 242
    Location : Ventura, CA, 93003
    Registration date : 2013-12-16

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Empty Re: 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods

    Post by sweetvan Thu Apr 04, 2019 9:44 am

    68vanman,
    Thanks for the pictures of the rusted out tank top. That would surely have killed good mileage and could have been a fire hazard.
    Are you going to put some rubber inner tube or something between the tank top and floor above it and between the tank bottom and the mounting straps? That might keep it from moving around and prevent future abrasion.
    Sweetvan
    68vanman
    68vanman


    Number of posts : 124
    Location : Hayward, CA
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    Post by 68vanman Wed Jul 24, 2019 11:42 am

    It's been a few months and wanted to share some updates. The new fuel tank, sending unit, hoses, filter and pump have been installed. I finished cleaning the block, cleaning and painting brackets and linkage, bolts, etc. Installed a new timing chain cover, water pump and Cloyes double roller timing chain and gears. Installed new Monroe shocks up front, the new rear shocks are arriving tomorrow.


    Wiring: I ordered the Painless Mopar customizable wiring harness #10127 which should arrive next week. I've gone thru the stock harness which is really dried, cracked and has many splices with different colored wires. I used the factory wiring diagram to help me label every wire and connection. I printed out the Painless manual for this Mopar specific harness and compared it to the factory wiring. For example, wire colors like purple and gray are not shown or used on the factory harness. Some later model Mopar wiring harnesses do, so that's what Painless has used. The key thing to remember is that their wiring has every wire labeled so you know where it's supposed to connect. Additionally, I'm going to use a gauge pod for Oil, Temp, Volts, and fuel, so I won't be connecting to the back of the dash. I'm also using and oil pressure sending unit unlike the original hard line/tubing from the block to the dash. Most likely I will start a separate thread for this wiring harness install to address any and all questions.
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Harnes10
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods 318_pa10
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Sw_gau10
    vanny
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    Post by vanny Wed Jul 24, 2019 5:05 pm

    Wow, what an engine make over...Looks clean enough to eat off of !!! Great work! I like the direction you're going with this...Thanks for the pics! 1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Awesom10


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    dix
    dix
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    Post by dix Wed Jul 24, 2019 5:25 pm

    OutofSight wrote:So you didn’t use the mopar version from MSD Dix?
    to be perfectly honest i'm not aware of the msd version i used the mopar performance version


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    68vanman
    68vanman


    Number of posts : 124
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    Post by 68vanman Thu Jul 25, 2019 4:36 pm

    Just a couple of examples of what I'm dealing with regarding the wiring.

    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Wire_s11
    1969 A108 318 clean up and mods Dash_w11

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