1966 A100 Sportsman

Before:










It’s a start:










Bondo over rust:






Many more to follow...

You have been busy

thanks for the pics.

Lookin good! I like your bucket seats, cool design!

Your van is coming along very nicely I can't wait to see the pics as it progresses. Bill

110 volt inupt


110 + 12 volt spaghetti



Taped together splices


Why was there a hole in the roof? Antenna?




Rust in the seams






More Bondo


Floor patch

The wheel arches are not a problem American Muscle Car Parts on ebay has them. Hope the dude had a fire extinguisher in there for the taped up 110v. The door steps and floor are the problem, I haven't seen any of them in since I got my truck (aug 08). carlos67v65pu had some panels made by a sheet metal guy in Canada.

My goal at the this time is to get the exterior looking presentable without having to tare into again, so the wheel well/step I'll address at a later time.

Here's where I'll be getting any of limited availability replacement panels if they're needed. I'm really hoping it won't come to that.

http://www.rustrepair.com/BODY_PANELS/onlinecat.htm?r=rr&p=SM-DODGE.VANS-DODGE.VAN.64

Nope, no fire extinguisher No way I would have put an extension cord in that plug. The van had been a camper and the PO had stripped the interior down to a few bits of insulation and the 110 volt crap. The 12 volt looks worse though. Twist 'n Tape splices everywhere. My father taught me that that was a BIG NO-NO.

Ten years ago when I was doing body work on my '79 E-250 beater glass truck, I made some weird body patches using the HVAC neighbors 4' sheet metal brake. Everyone that walked in the sheet metal shop asked if I wanted a job!

When I went to get primed van painted, the body shop owner had to tell his guys to stop laughing. I assured him that once the rack was on the side and the lettering was put on, the van would look just fine from the curb. I was right. I want the '66 to be much better than that, I was just hoping that there wouldn't be as many issues.

That guy is about $10 more a panel than american. You'd have to measure, but the long panel might work for the rear with some modification.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370228156107&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260444832861&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370002683860&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370011095089&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

Thanks Duane. How difficult would it be to replace a panel? (I told you guys I'd have a lot of questions ) I'm sure the side panel has the same arch as the rear since the corner panels fit either side. I thought I would have to bend my own metal.

I was going to bend my own with my brother that is a body man, but when I found these he was happy and said the metal gauge was good. He told me to get an air saw to cut the panels out and he would help me spot them in with a mig. I haven't done mine yet, I'm still stripping to bare metal. I'll update my '67 pickup post tomorrow.

Well the van is finally at the body shop. I'm just going to let the pros do the body work. It's going to cost a couple grand more, but I'm sure it will look better and last longer. I'd hate to put a lot of time and a money into it and have it come out sub-par. Worse yet, have to re-do it again in a few years.

I told them to get going on the body work and I'll decide on the paint colors later. I'm thinking an metallic Aqua close to the seat color with an off-white in the factory location (the torpedo curves) as well as the roof. What are your thoughts

Wa-La! The camera didn't pick up the green enough in with the fluorescent lights, but it does look a lot more green.

Wow!!!! That looks GREAT!!!!

So much better!! Very nice.

Oh WOW,, that's nice !

AWESOME cant wait to see it with that new chrome grille of yours!

benwah wrote: AWESOME cant wait to see it with that new chrome grille of yours!

Me either! Hopefully I can get to the Nats in July and all our earlies can sniff each other's tail-pipes

that funny itruns I remember being where you are with my 69, every piece you put back on makes you more pumped than the piece before.

Hey on your photobucket album I noticed there were holes in the left rear door. Do you know what used to be there? Also the hole in the roof might have been a CB antenna, I've seen some at the junkyard that were like that.

Here are Photobucket pics:

https://s961.photobucket.com/albums/ae91/AlwaysSober/1966%20Dodge%20A100/

The holes in the door are from the trailer hitch.

Confused?

The bumper hitch totally blocks the license plate and the plate can get damaged when you hit it with the trailer tongue by accident. So they screwed the plate to the middle of the rear door. Then they mounted a light fixture above it. The fixture sticks out too far and hits the quarter panel when the door is opened all the way. So yeah, it was one of the first things to come off after I took off the stupid side mirrors and Magnum V8 badges.

geez.....the things people did to these poor things.....also I know the Magnum V8 emblems aren't supposed to be there so my next question is if there is even a V8 in it or did someone just stick those on?

Yep, it definietly has a V8

I like that , did you ever overcome the clearance issue?

Not yet, I have the pieces cut to do the zig-zag and offset, but have yet to put it all together and see if it works. They're kicking around somewhere. I'm thinking of just doing cardboard and duct tape to get a templet first, but the glazier in me likes the challenge of getting it right the first time.