by AzDon Thu May 26, 2022 1:12 pm
The cool thing about this spot for the spare (one of the cool things) is that it is a space that is really not in use when the doors are shut, yet there is plenty of room to walk past to get from the rear to the front side door....
The tire is easily accessed from the curb side of the van when needed and is swung out of the way to enjoy the interior with the doors open....
The face of the rim is mounted inward, but the valve stem is accessible with the door open because I offset the mounting so about a third of the backside is exposed....
The Doghouse could easily be it's own thread.... The engine is set rearward 18 inches (for starters) and this doghouse has two removable sides and a rear cone section that also comes out easily.... The front 2/3 of the original box is still spotwelded in, but has a removable flat top at the level of the flare tops and that cover also has a short upright piece that is the front wall of the actual engine box.....All of it was constructed so it locks together naturally and every seam has either one or two rows of seals.....The side pieces are wedge shaped so they drop in easily and use the original box at the front to hold the rear cone section down and back where it clips under the floor... The side pieces are held down by hood pins, as is the front of the lid, which holds down the radiator cover..... The seat bases set into "box frames" and are pinned at the front and 1/3 0f each seat sets atop the rad cover
So far I have not found any air leaks
If you want to see my extensive collection of pictures of the box, you can find them in the "Member's Showcase" area in the "AzDon's 108" thread...The box pics are interspersed throughout the thread all the way to the end...
You will see in the pics just how much floor was sacrificed to the engine setback... The hole in a second gen is almost full frame width, so it was not widened...
The frames for each section are welded mostly in 2x2x1/8" angle and 1x1/060 square tubing and then they have 1/8 aluminum inner skin... The inner walls of the removable 3 sections are smooth and extend an inch below the floor... the sections themselves set atop a rubber seal.... I haven't insulated yet on the outside of the sections.... The rear, 2 side pieces, and lid each currently weigh 40 pounds ..., so in all, the deal probably weighs less than 200 pounds....
I had a first-gen van in the seventies that i made a tilt-able box (sides, rear, and lid) but it was too heavy and awkward to remove from the van for servicing convenience because it had to be lifted OVER the 396, and that was a major undertaking...I decided on removable sections this time...
