Dodge Ram

10\15\03                

this is the latest shop van. not much to look at when I bought it but, about a month ago I drew a pic of what I thought this van could look like. then I started to look for one. it took a while to track one down that wasn't all ready beat up and for sale ,but here it is. a 1999 short wheel base full size.  price was $3500.

 this page will go through the build up just like the econo page but this van won't be x-treme. this will be a shop driver. outside will look awesome, but the inside will be a worker. so here we go.

the 1st thing we did was roll out a set of 20s and mock up a 3 inch drop.  wheels and stance are what bring out the personality to the ride. it the foundation that you build on. the wheels cost me 3 and a half stacks. right now the ride is very bouncy, because its basically riding on the bump stops. no one makes any lowering  parts for this van. so as usual I'll have to make or modify  parts from the local junk yards.

11\21\03

 been workin on the other van alot. so this one hasn't got any more attention yet, but i have been workin on the graphics for it late nites at home. as i said this one is a work van, and at some point in the future it will be replaced. that is why the graphic will be done in vinyl stickers  rather than paint, just like the aerostar was.  that way  when it is time to sell, i just peel the stickers off and buff it. but like the aerostar's graphics i take it one step farther and paint on the vinyl. that's what makes it look like a paint job instead of stickers.  and since i have all the tools and equipment to make custom designed and painted stickers!!!

this is the design  the computer will be cutting. all the gray vinyl will be getting a concrete texture air-brushed  on to it. the black won't.  i've worked on the designs for  3  sides of the van now for a couple of weeks a few hours each nite. let me   tell  you and any pinstripper out there. the computer does not do the artwork for you!!!  some times is takes twice as much time to do a custom design on a computer than it does to just paint it on what ever. it's not easier or better, it's just another tool. anyway, sorry about the little rant there. i just got the designs done. will be cutting and painting them soon. will post some pics of that part when i get em.

3\7\04

if a new window pops up on your screen,  i'm doing some testing ,of  new web tools. oop!not a window just a rotating series of pics, but don't click on it, or you'll go back to the dash page! humm???? let me try something else.

have i done anything to this van lately? other than trying to put the vinyl graphics on by myself, on a very cold nite, in a very cold garage . (got a few wrinkles) ......... no......... , i have not done anything .  will get some pics as soon as its a nice day and the van is clean. been workin on the  other van!!!!

2\14\05

   neglected this van for too long and shes letting me know it. i kept putting off the suspension  and putting it off. hell as long as i can drive it i will. you know till something breaks? don't gimme that look! we all do it! its the beater! thats what you do with it!  break it then fix it-----only better :).    so let me tell you what happen and the fix. and hopefully you'll learn the lesson i have.      as i said , the suspension was a mock up. it was a real bouncy ride but the biggest problem was the drive shaft. i should have taken it out and had it shortened by an inch or better. you could feel a slight vibration  right after lowering it, it got worse as time went by. why? you ask? because when lowered .the distance from the trans to the axel is a shorter distance than at stock height. putting everything in a bind. as a result, the rear axel is now making a healthy clunk when its put into gear, and the tranny is slipping some when shifting from 1st to 2nd.  so i parked it for a few weeks til i could scrounge up some parts to fix everything .  we looked in all the salvage yards and all we could find were the bigger v-8 vans.  no v-6 trannys. we did notice that the dodge van chassis and main body has not change at all since the mid 70s.  something to make you go hummmm????   then we remembered a hotrod friend had a 77 dodge van that he sunk a butt load of money into the drive line , only to have the body and frame rust  out from under him a year later. he ended up parking it behind his garage and storing old bicycles in it.  the rust heap cost me $1200.  it was stripped over the weekend . this is what i got              340 c.u., alum intake, 650 4 barrel with jet kit ,mild cam. headers, duel exhaust ,3 speed auto with a shift kit, 3:73 limited slip axel.  engine cross over and all the suspension parts,also a class 4 reese hitch. oh yea and a set of seat pedestals that swivel. we let him keep the bikes. so kids whats the moral of the story?   when you half ass something and ya break it? just tell her "don't worry hon---- i'll fix it"     ;)

 3\17\05

   heres a pic of the motor and tranny. a fresh set of gaskets , water pump ,thermostat ,wires cap and so on.  the old oil looked  good , and everything looked clean. when we broke it down. biggest problem ; everything was lite blue with red pulleys.  soooo we had to paint it too.  nothin fancy basic black and orange.  tranny gota filter, gasket and seals.  the front and rear suspension ,clean up and modification. are next.

4\13\05

just finished gutting the van of it's drive train and suspension on sunday.  its a shell sitting on jack stands. got the new rear axel in today since all my appointments bailed on me. the last couple of months have been real busy around the shop and right now its a one man operation----me!! its starting to calm down abit now though. hopefully i'll be able to work on this thing more now.  have to replace a brake line first thing while i have everything out. will do that tomorrow. then its on to the front suspension

4\16\05

front cross member and most of the suspension is bolted  in and so is the motor and tranny. the motor fell right in place on its mounts and the transmission hanger from the donor van only neaded a small modification .so everything is hung in place. the muscle work is done. now its on to the brain work. figuring out how to make linkages  wiring and everything work. for me this is the fun part. i like the stupid tedious part. don't get me wrong. i like the fast slam it together. brute force mock ups too. but getting down to making something really work reliably everytime is what really tickles my brain . i'll start having fun with it  tomorrow.

5\29\05

its nearly finished, but it was'nt easy. had to make a new wiring harness for the engine and wire it straight to the key switch. the header on the drivers side exited alittle more than an inch from the fuel tank. so the header had to be modified and a new smaller fuel tank had to be found at the salvage yard and modified to fit and work with the stock fuel gage. also took care of the original problem and had a drive shaft made . also fixed the suspension problems with new front springs and air springs for the back. and lastly the chrome wheels have been re-finished. the original chrome finish never really did it for me. too hard to keep clean and they were too flashy. so alittle sand-blasting, some dark silver paint and a heavly textured clearcoat , sand and polish the edge and now they look like a badass set of racing wheels. the only things left are the mufflers and exhuast pipes and mount the tires and wheels. should be driving it sometime this week . gonna do a big smoky burn out first time it hits the street . i'll try and get some pictures of that and post them.

8\30\05

 that was then this is now  still have gas tank issues .the modified tank idea did'nt pan out.still looking for a good fix. right now i'm running a fuel cell. it takes $20 bucks to fill it at today's prices. every 3 days.  seems to me that the gas milage i was getting with the 6 cyl verses the 8 is'nt that much different if i keep my foot out of the 4 barrel. when i got it up and running i had a transmission problem. seams the torque converter was shot . go figure.  also went thru the wiring harness and got rid of everything that didn't need to be there any more  and got everything that was suppose to work, working again.(wipers, turn signals, radio,and the damn dome lights what the hell is up with the dome lights, kind of moments) also went thru the engine vacum to van system. the heat and vent controls work off of engine vacum some thing new for me. also had to modify the interior engine cover.  the distributor needed a little room.  --------     i'm sick of the graphics. i'm totally worn out on tribal now.  i'm thinkin alittle retro now, late 60s early 70s   hummmmmm????

11\27\05

 have some friends in Louisiana. i called them just after the 1st hurricane hit to see if everything was all right and to offer my help if needed. they took me up on the offer and i was there 2 days after the 2nd hurricane. i pack all the tools i could think i'd need and all the camping gear and went. i was there for 2 and a half weeks .the van did great. i drove straight thru on the way down. most of the time i hovered around 75mph  but there were a few 80 to 90 mph stretches and she gave me no complaints. on the way back i made a little detour over to ashville NC. the drive down I-40 thru the mountains was awesome!  the trees were ablaze with fall colors the sun was shining, it was warm enough to have the windows down and i was drivin fast on a curvy mountain road. the trip was all good. i did good deeds for people in need which felt great  and the feeling that i did a good job putting together a  strong reliable van . for the most part by myself. it did the trip with flyin colors. yup  feelin good about it all