Slash's Mopar Van: End of the Road

[CAMAROBOY69]

I'm going to pull the rear drums when I get a chance. My boss have me the clear to work on my car after work in the shops anytime I want so that's cool.

Having access to a shop makes life so much easier for sure. 👍

 

[Slash]

Having access to a shop makes life so much easier for sure. 👍

Indeed it does! I may be able to hook up with one of the guys that owns a shop I interned with as well. I stopped to get my ticket signed off last week and we chatted for a while. Good to see him again.

Anyways, I got some stuff done to this and crossed off my list. Grinded the rear axle and springs, sprayed 2 coats of severe rust primer on it and then laid down a coat and then a light coat of metallic over top of it. Didn't turn out too bad. It will look so much better once I get the new shocks on, the red from those will offset the silver and look a bit more performancy. I'm almost considering going over the swaybar in red too, just because.

I also noticed the exhaust was broke right at the clamp by the muffler. I have a feeling it broke when it fell off the hanger one dad and was dragging (since my friend can't weld it went on bent anyways). So I broke the resonator off and just left it at the axle for now until I can get an over axle piece and a couple 90 degree bends and a Y adaptor/hanger to put dual tips on it. My dad says to just get a resonator and kit for $134 but doing it the way I want to is going to be way cheaper, and look cooler.

Noticed the other top mount on the passengers headlight also busted (must be common) so I drilled two holes and zip tied it together.

I also noticed that in a couple spots the rust underneath is getting pretty bad. While most of the chassis is clean and stable, there are a few spots, notably on the pinch welds and lift points where constant lifting has done some damage, one one small spot back by the rear shackle (about 4 inches in front of it) that should be cut out with new metal welded in. My dad says its more trouble than it's worth, but for just a few spots and the potential to get more longevity out of it (and the fact I can likely get someone at work to weld new metal in), I think I might fix it here soon.

 

[Slash]

First thing I did was wire up the new "driving lights" last night. Turne out they are more just like vanity lights/accents so I'm going to swap those out sometime and use them inside because why not. Dad ended up splicing the light grounds with some 14 gauge and I grounded it to the battery. Someone also ran some 14 gauge inside but never hooked anything up soi ended up using that too.

Today I finally put the new shocks in. Most likely going to paint match that trailing link/sway arm to the shocks (red).

How about these nasty things I took off

 

[Slash]

Busted my headlight switch today. Ordered a used one for $30 online but it's not quite right dice it has a power mirrors button and I have manual mirrors. New ones were well over $100 an most places didn't have the right ones.

Meanwhile while waiting for that, headlights are a priority so dad and I wired in a on/off toggle switch to the pin connector temporarily until the new switch board and dash panel comes.

Old switch. The circuit board was still in the vehicle when I took this pic. The knob has a long shaft with a tail that rotates a piece of plastic with spring loaded copper pieces that touch the board and effectively turn the lights on/off depending on if the circuit is compelled or not. Same thing with the switch we wired in, just not as pretty.

 

[Slash]

Got the day off from work. Felt like crap this morning, so much I had to go home. Came home and rested for a few hours, went out and got lunch from the corner store and came back home for a little while. Decided if I was gonna be home and waste time I might as well get something done. So I spent the afternoon working on the van. Seems to be the best medicine. I went to Home Depot and bought 85ft of various color wire, terminals, connectors etc. I bought another, better set of driving lights and took the old ones out, (I have plans for the old ones down the road, interior style!) wired in the tach (almost all the way, just have to wire the green lead to the coil pack), spliced them so the lights and tach light come on with the same switch, and connected it all together and mounted the switch and tach on the dash.

I also just greased my drivers side door hinge cause it was squeaking really bad. My sliding door wheel finally popped out of place since the bottom roller got flattened from a rock stuck on it over the years. One more thing to fix. :/


The trim for the dash won't be put back until I get the new headlight switch I ordered from eBay. Also new Dodge wheel cover!

I ended up swapping on these 55w Halogens. Hopefully they will help me see at night when there is no oncoming traffic since my high beams don't project very far since my front sits a bit low and are still out of adjustment from when I replaced the housing on the drivers side.

 

[Slash]

Because race van.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

The white lettering does look good on there. Did you use a paint brush and paint, or one of those white out type pens?

 

[Slash]

The white lettering does look good on there. Did you use a paint brush and paint, or one of those white out type pens?

I bought one of those paint markers you see sitting on the counter at your parts store. We'll see how long they last. I bought two just so I can touch them up if it needs it. The front ones had larger letters but less lettering overall with a ridge that made them go quick. The back two took a couple hours. They aren't perfect, but you wouldn't really notice unless you were up close staring at them.

I also put some blind spot mirrors on it. Wow, do they help. A LOT. Really can't wait until I get the exhaust done now. It'll look great. Still a few more small things left to do.

 

[Hayden]

The white lettering actually looks really good! I've gotta hand it to you @Slash, what you manage to do to this van on a shoe string budget is impressive. Just keep chipping away on this and putting aside whatever you can for that Mustang. If you could manage $50 a week, that's $2500 over 12 months. I'm not from the U.S. but my understanding is that you can get into a pretty decent 'Stang for that kinda money.

I'm just looking forward to seeing what you come up with once you've got a car that you really like and plan on keeping. You have the knowledge and initiative to put together something really awesome 👍

 

[Slash]

The white lettering actually looks really good! I've gotta hand it to you @Slash, what you manage to do to this van on a shoe string budget is impressive. Just keep chipping away on this and putting aside whatever you can for that Mustang. If you could manage $50 a week, that's $2500 over 12 months. I'm not from the U.S. but my understanding is that you can get into a pretty decent 'Stang for that kinda money.

I'm just looking forward to seeing what you come up with once you've got a car that you really like and plan on keeping. You have the knowledge and initiative to put together something really awesome 👍

Thanks! I try to do the best I can with what I have, and since the beginning I said I'd have some fun with it. It's definitely the most recognizable van around in my area now, that's for sure. Just last night I was talking to my buddies neighbor and he actually had to look twice to see if that was actually a tach on the dash and I explained to him the whole purpose of the thing and he was like that's so badass lol (he has a turbo Cobalt SS that does 0-60 in 4 seconds). I also want to prove to some of you younger guys that you can make anything pretty cool on a tight budget even if its a minivan with a little know how and some patience. I think I've been achieving that so far.

I've been saving for the Stang slowly. It'll happen eventually but man I cannot wait for it!

 

[Slash]

Today's work:

Paint matched the wiper blades, painted the Chrysler emblems on the side trim white to offset the black on the bottom (just enough to work too!), and also ripped off some rust on the bottom/side rocker panel and doors, sanded it down and primed with rust primer then dipped back over. Not perfect but will do for now. Thinking about undercoating the entire thing to stop rust before it gets worse. I'd say its about 85% clean with about 12% somewhat worrysome and the rest just surface rust.

Next things to do are get her washed (desperately needs it), finish painting, top the fluids off, rotate the tires and do an oil change.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I don't get the point of the aftermarket tach...

 

[Slash]

I don't get the point of the aftermarket tach...

I put it in there for a few reasons.

One was to troll people. This seems to work pretty good and it turns more heads than I ever anticipated while sitting in traffic. The looks I get are absolutely hilarious.

Another was the fact I simply wanted one because I like how they look.

I believe every vehicle should have one.

This particular one didn't come with one even though you could get factory ones.

The last thing was to read my RPMs as I can't hear the damn thing when I'm driving to keep them down in hopes of improving MPGs ever so slightly. May or may not work.


It was cheap and I had a discount coupon so I barely paid anything for it. lol:censored:it.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I put it in there for a few reasons.

One was to troll people. This seems to work pretty good and it turns more heads than I ever anticipated while sitting in traffic. The looks I get are absolutely hilarious.

Another was the fact I simply wanted one because I like how they look.

This particular one didn't come with one even though you could get factory ones.

The last thing was to read my RPMs as I can't hear the damn thing when I'm driving to keep them down in hopes of improving MPGs ever so slightly. May or may not work.


It was cheap and I had a discount coupon so I barely paid anything for it. lol:censored:it.

So it didn't have a factory tach basically is why from my perspective. Cool stuff.

 

[Slash]

So it didn't have a factory tach basically is why from my perspective. Cool stuff.

In short, yeah pretty much. Most of them did, this one didn't. Whoever ordered it never checked off that option.

 

[Slash]

Shifter linkage/cable went out. Absolutely no one stocks it and those that do would be special order and ungodly expensive. Ended up getting on through the local Mopar dealership. $105.52 later and it's back on the road after being decommissioned for a few days. Had I needed to take this to a shop, the bill would have easily been over $250. Good savings right there. Needless to say it shifts so beautifully now you have to be extra careful not to knock it out of gear

 

[Slash]

Now that it's running great with no issues, for the hell of it I decided to do a test on the 1/8th strip just to get some numbers. Took it there and everyone loved it for some reason, especially since it's now sticker bombed with Jegs/Holley/MSD etc stickers all over it I got lots of nice compliments and comments on it. Couple snide remarks but totally jokingly lol

As I was in line the official came over and was like sir you're going to need a helmet. He was dead serious. He must have thought it was a sleeper I explained and he laughed and said well sometimes we get AWD sleeper vans, I had to ask I ran my buds Grand Prix GT and walloped him off the line until about 330ft and he started to pull me after a shift. He won.

Anyways, with all seats, spare tire, 3/4 tank of gas, half tread front tires, me and a bunch of extra crap inside (garbage, coats, clothes, paint, car parts etc), here's my numbers.

Reaction: .69
60ft: 2.6
330ft: 7.4
594ft: 10.7
1/8th ET: 11.4
MPH: 61


Not bad for the amount of crap I got in there. I figure with a few things done I should be able to break 10s. That would be the fastest van I've ever seen at this place

 

[Harry6784]

I ran my buds Grand Prix GT and walloped him off the line until about 330ft and he started to pull me after a shift. He won.

Just imaging everyone's reaction when you got the tree...

You should totally build that thing. Go do some fishing with Farmtruck

 

[Slash]

It definitely has some grunt and I know there's more in it so we'll see lol. Not bad numbers given the circumstances

 

[Slash]

Best pass yet:

Reaction: .67
60ft: 2.5
330ft: 7.3
594ft: 10.6
1/8th ET: 11.35
1/8th MPH: 62


Video of said pass (sorry for the quality my bud recorded it on his phone)



As always lots of compliments etc. Took my buds Mustang down the track too

 

[Fastcarguy]

The video says its private for me

 

[Slash]

The video says its private for me

Should be good now.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Well at least you know precisely what your 0-100km/h (62mph) time is.

 

[Slash]

Well at least you know precisely what your 0-100km/h (62mph) time is.

I was just more curious as to what kind of numbers I could get out of it Its slow as hell. Starting to consider a 4 banger for a daily though. We'll see.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I was just more curious as to what kind of numbers I could get out of it Its slow as hell. Starting to consider a 4 banger for a daily though. We'll see.

My 2 has 100hp and its 2 seconds faster to 60.

 

[Slash]

My 2 has 100hp and its 2 seconds faster to 60.

Yeah but it probably doesn't weight 4,000+ lbs with you in it either my moms Focus is 2 seconds quicker. But hey, it gets me to work. All I care about right now.

 

[Bopop4]

Why is your van only 3mph slower than my car in the 1/8th.

I'm still confused by their timing system though, I timed those lights almost perfectly and it said the reaction was 1.05.

 

[Slash]

Why is your van only 3mph slower than my car in the 1/8th.

I'm still confused by their timing system though, I timed those lights almost perfectly and it said the reaction was 1.05.

You're supposed to go well before you even see the green light, the goal is to be moving exactly as it comes on, but that is still funny

 

[Bopop4]

You're supposed to go well before you even see the green light, the goal is to be moving exactly as it comes on, but that is still funny

I went right as the last yellow was about to turn, I actually thought I had jumped it. Absolutely no way it was over a second delay.

If you took out the back seats you'd beat the Fit in a straight line.

 

[Slash]

I went right as the last yellow was about to turn, I actually thought I had jumped it. Absolutely no way it was over a second delay.

If you took out the back seats you'd beat the Fit in a straight line.

Not sure, I was pretty consisitant with my reactions the 3 times I've run it. All of them were in the .67-.69 range. I know I an do better and still not jump it. Could also have been the fact they were having problems with the timing system all last season as well.

I did take the back seats out, the 11.3 time was after I took them out. Doing all that I listed only took .15-almost .2 off.