AzDon's 108

I first dragged my 108 home in 2014...…. What I'm in the middle of is a re-engineering project....This van will be getting a TBI 454 and 4L80 trans out of a 95 Suburban which will be placed 18 inches back from stock..... the front of the existing doghouse will be cut down so the driver seat can be moved inboard so it's in line with the steering column....It has already received a front axle flip..... Here are some pics from 2014 when I first got it...

You still got the pickup? I'd like to see some pictures of that.

This pickup?

Or maybe you caught a glimpse of the front of the burb(?)


With the pickup in the background in the second pic...

More 69 van pics:



After the axle flip with some cool wheels/tires




and an interior shot before the cutting started...






And I'm into it now!

Your going to have a Sweet van with all your improvements.
My 65 with the BB is set back about 18 in. PO did all the fab work.

18 inch setback in a 90wb van?? Does it have a driveshaft? Or is it some kind of close-coupled deal?....

I'm using a 4L80 and a posi out of a 91 wagon that has a longer pinion snout and expect my driveshaft to be 14" cup-to-cup...…

I have several reasons for wanting to do the 18" setback:

1) Better engine accessibility thru the side doors for service and display
2)Full factory serp belt system can be used because it'll be behind the seats
3) seats can be moved inboard so driver seat is aligned with the steering wheel
4)More spacious front bay for coolers, fans, a stabilizer bar, and air bags (should that become necessary)
5)better overall airflow design of the inside of the  engine/cooler box with better dispersement of radiator heat from a bit rearward and lower of the stock placement for driver/passenger comfort...
6)The challenge of engineering and executing something a bit different

Don, its has a (about) 12 inch drive shaft & a rear end out of (what I Think) 57 Chevy car

So my last couple of pics featured the axle flip and the engine crossmember mocked in....The slots in the floor are where I dropped in 2 ft pieces of 2x2x1/4" square tube with the vertical holes for the engine crossmember drilled for 2 half inch bolts per side... Currently using the crossmember as a step to get in and out of the hole to work;)     Also the rad crossmember laying loose as I was trying to develop a plan for a new one incorporating a stabilizer bar mount, which also now includes an underpan/scoop setup and relocated master cylinder..... So let's look at some more pics!....



This is a picture of the right frame mount and rail designed to mount all the previously mentioned stuff.... The mount bolts into the original holes for the rad crossmember, the stabilizer bar bolts fasten the rail to the bottom of the mount and the rail also incorporates a plate that is drilled to bolt to the front of the spring perch...



Here is the right side setup mounted with the stabilizer bar.... Note the welded spring perch setup bolted in....





Here's two pics showing the right side mount.....Mirror images of these parts were simultaneously made for the left side and installed..... Most of the holes were tapped with threads....



Here is the half-finished bellcrank box for the relocation of the master cylinder...





These 2 pics show where the master cylinder had been...If you look back several pics you can see the master cylinder in the original location... In these pics, you can see the left side of the hump in the Jeep Cherokee stabilizer bar that would hit the master in it's original location....It had to move!....







So here's 3 more pics showing the new bellcrank and master cylinder mount... The last pic it's mounted on a crossmember that bolts to the top of those bar-mount rails right behind the grille in the basic vicinity of the throttle arm....







So while I was mounting the master, I realized that those two rails were perfect to build and hang an underpan/scoop from..... Because the axle flip has put the front end VERY low, the lowest tier of the scoop could go no further forward than the spring perches, which would have left a big open gap above. The upper tier of the scoop is on the bottom of the rails, two inches below the valance, and the valance has an underpan that also screws into the master cylinder crossmember.... The setup is designed to act the opposite of louvred windows... That each tier has air being forced underneath by the next lower tier, so that none of the velocity leaks out the bottom.... The bottom tier ends where the bottom of the radiator will be...Note also that the top tier is screwed to the inside of the rails, while the bottom tier slips over the outside of the rails and bolts inward so that the bolts will be accessible to remove the bottom pan for serviceability above it.... Also note how the side rails of the bottom pan are trimmed to fit the stabilizer bushings....Also note the new master cylinder location in the second pic... The hole to the left with light coming thru near the left side of the stabilizer bar hump is where the master was originally bolted. The brake pedal originally pushed the rod rearward into the master. Now it pulls the bellcrank arm rearward...

Next up will be the radiator mounts....

Mad skills Don! Looking forward to seeing what comes next...Does Skechers Sneakers now make van parts also???

More Pics!
So now I gotta mount the new aluminum radiator....










These three pics show the radiator fully mocked up and bolted into it's new mounts....the top mount pieces still need to be smoothed and painted and the top and bottom mounts will have rubber sandwiching the radiator when installed permanently......I took extra time to design thread mounts so they can be pre-fastened to the rad and the whole assembly can be slipped up in from underneath and "hooked" in place before coming topside and 'finishe securing with two bolts and two hook-bolts...… The 28 inch wide radiators can't be pulled out through the top- hafta go in from the bottom, so I wanted to make future serviceability from underneath easy...So lets look:







First pic shows (top to bottom) the top radiator "hat" bracket, The cross-bar that bolts into the van that the bottom mount hangs on, and the bottom mount that has the hooks on the front made out of square tubing..... also note the eye bolts installed on the bar and their caps.... the eyebolts are now hook bolts for easier installation....

Second picture show the hooks over the bar with the eyebolts up the center...

Third pic shows bottom and top connected by four pieces of 3/8 allthread and shows the right bar hook...…



So here is the bar bolted into the back end of the right stabilizer bar and rail mount left side is mirror image.....



This is a full pic of the front side of the radiator with top and bottom mounts fastened with four pieces of allthread… note caps for eyebolts...





This pic shows the left hook over the bar with the eyebolt inside.... after this test fit, it was decided that the eyebolts would become hook bolts....    The final phase was adding brackets up top in the front of the engine box to secure the top of the radiator in place (third overall pic in thread)….. Now it all comes back apart for paint and to provide me access to build shift and throttle linkages and to paint and insulate everything.....

Next logical step here is to build a fan shroud to mount an electric fan.... I'm undecided whether to use a stock 16 inch fan from an 82-85 z28 camaro or whether to take a chance on aftermarket (flex-I-lite)……..

Taking a break from that, I built a throttle assembly that will pull a 33c marine cable under the floor below the pedal from a bellcrank arm above the pedal..... it will all make sense once I post pics!.....I wanted the range of the pedal to start in a position that isn't as upright as the factory placement and I will be able to rest my heel on the hump that the stock throttle shaft was under.....

While I wasn't busy, I also have created a shifter assembly that will allow use of the factory reverse-first gate to shift an automatic transmission while setting the crossover gate with the lower arm to the "park" position so that the shifter will "drop in" to the neutral gate when the shifter is pushed to about 1.5 inches from the dash...….The assembly I built positions a 43c marine cable.....
I discovered an easy adjustment that can be made to the factory shifter that locks out the R1 gate completely if somebody wanted to simply use the 2-3 gate to shift their automatic, but that would just use the detents in the trans only (including park)

I've gotta get busy with my camera and get some pics up....

Wellllll…...I'm changing the shifter from what I described above to instead bolting the two gates together solid and using the transmission detents only.....Still going to use a 43c cable.....

Also still working on the throttle to get the geometry as I want it to be......this entails raising the hinge up under the arch of my foot and lengthening it to eleven inches to include a heel so that I can rest my foot on the pedal and rock my foot to operate it.... similar to a flatbottom boat throttle....I also added a return slide so that standing on the heel will pull the throttle back.....I'm creating a lot of scrap metal! (and a few usable parts too)

So, I promised more pictures of what I've been working on....






So, the shroud face is cut from 1/4" aluminum plate, which I threaded for the electric fan's bolts....it bolts to a surround made from 1" square tubing that bolts to the top and bottom radiator saddles and has a couple of side flaps behind the allthread verticals......None of this setup actually touches the radiator, yet there are no gaps...









A couple of pics of the setup bolted in the van...




I usually paint this stuff before photos.....This is the piece that holds the 43c cable for the shifter... The flat piece bolts sandwiched between the gate assy "pillowblock" and the steering box... the other piece shown is the part that goes on the top shift arm that the cable heim end bolts to...

Now on to the throttle....


[url=https://servimg.com/view/16741936/70]


I wanted a setup that put my foot at a more natural angle for the seating position, so I built a setup with the pedal hinge raised up into the arch of my foot and also incorporated a heel  so that I can rest my foot on the pedal and decelerate with the heel …. I also wanted to pull the 33c cable, so I built a bellcrank right into the assembly...

Some really nice Work done there!
Keep up these nice things!

Today I took an hour break from hanging the new 3.5" chrome sidepipes on my 91 g20 and modified my old gnarled chrome front bumper on my 69 into a "Foosed" split bumper.....I was thinking a nice set of lights belong in that center gap, but I had forgotten what nice "rolled pan" bodywork hides behind the center of the bumper.... I might just leave that gap empty now...

Front Bumper(s).....

Nice job Don !!!

I learned through a bit of research that the 22 gallon gas tanks made for 78-95 g-vans not only fit the space in our second gen vans, but look like they were made to fit!.....My new Spectra Premium copy was made in Canada and I got it from Amazon in the $110 range shipped......I already posted a thread about this including some pics, so here's the link.....     https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t60244-fuel-tanks

Here is a couple of pictures of the basic skeleton of the box that will contain my 454....

The front section sits on 2/3 of the original box and will have a flat lid attached to a front wall for the tall section...
The tall section is constructed in three pieces.... the left and right are wedge shaped vertically so that they can be slipped down into place and hold the front of the rear cone section down and back...... The rear cone section is pushed rearward and hooks under the floor.... The whole  box sits on door rubber from the doors of a 95 suburban and a 91 olds wagon. The four wedge areas are double sealed with the same kind of rubber as will the main lid and front lid....

All the sections are made to fit together and lock into place and seal with the only fasteners being a hood pin in the middle of each side section and two hood pins at the front of the main lid....

I'm considering putting a piece of tempered glass from an oven door in the right side panel so that the 454 can be seen at a glance when the side doors are open...



The lid will have take-apart hinges, so basically all sections of this box can be removed from around the engine inside of 15 minutes and put back just as fast.... So far, the sections shown are about 30# each...

The pics are a bit out of chronological order......




The box frame is completely painted and inner skins permanently calked and installed with all the soft rubbers in place



Earlier picture of the box with the skins fitted and the  first fit of the front lid and bulkhead section, which is also a lift-out piece



Here, I had removed the structural platform and transition pieces for painting... The outsides are all painted with rustoleum gloss white and the inside of the box was first painted with gloss black and then three heavy coats of elastomeric roof coating where laid down for a flexible textured surface followed by rustoleum silver....

This 3/4" board screws to the bottom of the front lid to index it's placement  hold the surround rubber in place, add structure, and cut noise... It's painted with textured elasto followed by silver



Here is the front  and left platforms being painted...



Here is the completed front lid, which will eventually have inboard seat mounts and likely a console/armrest/air tunnel...

So here's the stuff!.... 5 gallons of white Elastomeric roof coating from Lowes for $65!.... Enough to paint every inch of the whole van with three textured coats if I want....I'll paint the floors with it, un dersides and wheel wells too!... Even though it's flexible, it's hard enough on it's surface to effectively paint over it.... It cuts heat, deadens sound, can be tinted other colors, and is nearly impossible to gouge!...It rolls down pancake batter thick and the rollers and brushes clean up with water, SO... You must pre-paint metal or you will get rust stains in the elastomeric....

Here is the rear platform/ trasition piece painted and installed... The slot in the floor is where the structure that supports the engine crossmember resides...



[url=https://servimg.com/view/16741936/103]

We are looking at the master cylinder bell crank box and on this side of the brake pedal arm , we can see where the throttle cable hooks to the throttle  assembly..... This throttle pulls the cable...the hole for the original pedal can be seen above the bell-crank box...

Here you can see all the platform/transition pieces painted and re-installed, the left wall of the box in, and the front lid/bulkhead tipped up to reveal the inner front box seal and the silver board that keeps that rubber in place on the inner lip of the box...



These are the first and second design of the p-brake cable end puller with the final design bolted to the clutch lever...... My van will have a 4L80e automatic, so I'm going to repurpose the clutch pedal for use as a parking brake... The cable end inserts through the hole that the heim end bolts into...




Here you can see how low the van sets without a drivetrain in it with an 8x8x16 cinder block for reference...