Slash's Mopar Van: End of the Road

[Slash]

Incredibly, I love your idea of the Mopar Rallys.

Also lol man van.

It different and rather funny I think

Its not something you would typically see. 👍

 

[Slash]

Very crappy photoshop. It looks, um, interesting.

Wonder how it would look if I dropped it a half inch and the put some fat ass tires on it so they stuck out an inch or 2 lol. I want to give it an angry look. If I could figure out some way to pull it off, the "+" bars in the grill I would plasti-dip black but the way it molds into the bumper it would look a bit funny where it cuts off.

Another idea I had was to get an aftermarket replica of the scoops found on Darts and Dusters, then fabricate the end of it to fit the hood angle...that would be hilarious. Even cooler if I cut a hole in the hood to make it "functional" (except there would be no function since it's fuel injected and basicaly pointless except for letting water in).


____________


Oh my. Me want. NOW.

Never though I'd say this about a minivan, but that is genuinely badass.

Now, RWD with a Viper V10 would make me need to change my pants.

 

[Sage Ages]

That actually looks pretty good.

 

[Slash]

The grill is a bit funky and I'd rather have the stock grill, but I think it looks decent for a van.

 

[Sage Ages]

I meant the photoshop.

 

[Slash]

I meant the photoshop.

You should have specified

I don't think it's all that bad, but obviously would look much better in practice.

 

[Team THRT Drift]

A little late to the party but, can I join this 'slowest drag race'? I have a '96 Plymouth Voyager. THAT'S RIGHT!

The automatic gear box is a bit dodgy though, so we need a rolling start.

Seriously though, these cars are work horses. They will never die!

Congrats on the van!

*said no one ever*

 

[Slash]

The more the merrier!


I agree I can't freaking kill this thing.

 

[Crash]

Congrats on getting a free van. These aren't bad cars, if unreliable, and not fuel efficient. My parents have a not running anymore 3.8L AWD Grand Caravan that developed a fairly sizable oil leak before my parents parked it. I learned to drive in it, and drove that thing like a sports car, it-actually-being-a-minivan-be-damned. I was definitely known as the menace with the van in the high school parking lot.

Anyways, enjoy it. 👍

Oh, and column shifted automatic transmission. I don't even know how many gears I have. But I don't even care.

The 3.3L was only available with a 4 speed automatic transmission.

Look at that. No air conditioning.

On the bottom row of buttons, the one to the rightmost with the snowflake on it, to the left of the rotary dials, that's the button for turning on/off air conditioning.

Now whether it still works or not, is a completely different story.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

He has a boat too

A home is just a stationary roof over ones head it can't go fast or help you catch a fish (unless your brilliant and have a house boat ) This man knows what he's doing, he may live in a shoe box and eat top ramen every night but he still can say that he drives a bad ass car.

@Slash you could always do a mid engine conversion just to be ridiculous, you don't have kids nor need rear seats. I'm thinking Renault Espace F1 but we keep it Chrysler you know...

Well sort of

 

[Slash]

Congrats on getting a free van. These aren't bad cars, if unreliable, and not fuel efficient. My parents have a not running anymore 3.8L AWD Grand Caravan that developed a fairly sizable oil leak before my parents parked it. I learned to drive in it, and drove that thing like a sports car, it-actually-being-a-minivan-be-damned. I was definitely known as the menace with the van in the high school parking lot.

This one seems to be quite reliable. It hasn't left us on the side of the road yet like the past two But I intend to run this damn thing into the groundso I have an excuse to get something better. While at the same time I'll try and make it last as long as I can because I need a winter vehicle haha.

Anyways, enjoy it. 👍

Will do 👍

The 3.3L was only available with a 4 speed automatic transmission.

I thought so, but when I posted I was thiking from my head and couldn't remember at the present moment. Thanks though 👍

On the bottom row of buttons, the one to the rightmost with the snowflake on it, to the left of the rotary dials, that's the button for turning on/off air conditioning.

Now whether it still works or not, is a completely different story.

I should have clarified in the OP. Yes it came with it factory but it doesn't worth worth a crap and I'm going to rip it out when I get the chance. Once I get rid of it it will make working under the hood a tad easier.


@LMSCorvetteGT2

Thanks dude! If I ever decide to be a douche for the hell of it and go balls deep with this thing, I'm putting a 440 Max Wedge in the back. That will turn some heads haha.

 

[lvl1dnIghT7un3R]

You should get an Ebay turbo kit, get a big wing (to plant down the front wheels since they'll be spinning all through 1st and 2nd with the turbo), paint the hood black (for that lightweight carbon fiber effect), paint the calipers pink (-10 feet braking distance), buy an air intake (I recommend the Weapon R Secret Weapon Intake), and last but not least cut the springs (lower center of gravity for improved handling)**. I recommend buying your aftermarket performance parts from kalecoauto.com.

**Or you can get kalecoauto's $20 lowering kit.
Also, try out their radiator insulator.

Lol, don't do any of that.

But you gotta take it to a track sometime so we could see what it runs and then you can compare before/after if you do any mods.

 

[Slash]

You should get an Ebay turbo kit, get a big wing (to plant down the front wheels since they'll be spinning all through 1st and 2nd with the turbo), paint the hood black (for that lightweight carbon fiber effect), paint the calipers pink (-10 feet braking distance), buy an air intake (I recommend the Weapon R Secret Weapon Intake), and last but not least cut the springs (lower center of gravity for improved handling)**. I recommend buying your aftermarket performance parts from kalecoauto.com.

**Or you can get kalecoauto's $20 lowering kit.

Lol, don't do any of that.

But you gotta take it to a track sometime so we could see what it runs and then you can compare before/after if you do any mods.

Yeah I'm going to run it stock for a while. I'd like to freshen it up so it's somewhat close back to the factory rated power output but for now it's just going to have to make do.

 

[lvl1dnIghT7un3R]

Yeah I'm going to run it stock for a while. I'd like to freshen it up so it's somewhat close back to the factory rated power output but for now it's just going to have to make do.

Was the strut tower brace all you needed to fix, or did I miss something? Is it back on the rode?

 

[Slash]

Was the strut tower brace all you needed to fix, or did I miss something? Is it back on the rode?

That's the only thing it needs to be safe on the rode. I should replace the front struts since it sits a bit low in the front but otherwise it's fine. I've given it plenty of "once overs" since I've had it. I've replaced damn near the entire braking system on it so I know it's pretty much all good having been under it. I've run my own scan tool through it and it's not throwing any codes, check engine light is off so it's all set to be inspected, I just have to get it inspected and re-register it.

Once I do that and get plates for it, it'll be road legal again.


Right now I'm just taking things slow until my dad wants to put that cap on. Hopefully I'll have my full time license by then.

 

[Slash]

Nothing really new to report on, but I want to get the exhaust pipe up a little higher. It's stitting pretty low at the moment, but is entirely stiff and stable. I had to makeshift it get it on because it was pretty beat up passed the muffler a little over a year ago when I had it in the shop and did the full brake job on it but otherwise it's just me nit picking at little stuff. I should post pictures from back then when it was on the lift. I posted them somewhere, I'll have to relink them.

It really needs to get driven. The brakes squeal like a mofo because the rotors are a little rusty from sitting. Anytime you put it in gear and move it, you sure know it.

Oh and it needs a battery. This one went flat from sitting so I have to use my dads jump box every time I want to start the damn thing and move it around to make room for other cars when working on them.

Just add one more thing on the list why don't we.

 

[Slash]

Put the strut cap on. After realizing we didn't have a pop rivet gun big enough for the ones we needed, we just drilled holes in the tower and stuck a bolt through and tightened it down with a lock but. This picture was before we drilled the holes. About half way there.

 

[Sage Ages]

So you're fixing it pretty much?

 

[Slash]

Its road worthy now. It just needs a battery since that went out a while ago.

Other than that, its fine. There's little things I could nit-pick at but otherwise the shock tower was the last big issue that needed addressing.

 

[Slash]

Noticed a few fresh rust spots, nothing a bit of sanding and a rattle can can't handle though, thankfully. I'm not sure how long this thing will last though. Not really worth putting a load of money into IMO. I say this because I think the pinch welds are starting to go bad on the underside of the chassis. It doesn't like to be lifted. I put it up on the drivers side when we put that cap on for the first time in a year or so and was welcomed with a nice loud "crunch".

I think I'll put struts on this thing and then beat the piss out of it and put it into the ground and get something else. Its not worth the hassle, time or money and quite frankly the whole damn thing is a nightmare to work on, at least under the hood.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Noticed a few fresh rust spots, nothing a bit of sanding and a rattle can can't handle though, thankfully. I'm not sure how long this thing will last though. Not really worth putting a load of money into IMO. I say this because I think the pinch welds are starting to go bad on the underside of the chassis. It doesn't like to be lifted. I put it up on the drivers side when we put that cap on for the first time in a year or so and was welcomed with a nice loud "crunch".

I think I'll put struts on this thing and then beat the piss out of it and put it into the ground and get something else. Its not worth the hassle, time or money and quite frankly the whole damn thing is a nightmare to work on, at least under the hood.

Sounds like a solid plan. It can get you by for now but it sounds like rust has got the better of this thing. That's Michigan for you. Rust is one of those battles that sometimes its just not worth putting in the time or effort to replace.

 

[Kitten]

Sounds like a solid plan. It can get you by for now but it sounds like rust has got the better of this thing. That's Michigan for you. Rust is one of those battles that sometimes its just not worth putting in the time or effort to replace.

Man New York State. Is more like Rust State. I dont know what they put in the damn salt this year. .-.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Man New York State. Is more like Rust State. I dont know what they put in the damn salt this year. .-.

Any northern state that throws out salt in the winter creates rust. Salt = rust. If you don't constantly wash your vehicle in the winter, it will rust. The underbody spray is THE most important. We had an excessive amount of salt this year because it was a world record brutal winter. Worst winter on record since what the 70s?

Even worst than the rust / salt this year is the roads. Holy crapy the roads are just destroyed this year from all the plowing and the extreme cold.

 

[Kitten]

Any northern state that throws out salt in the winter creates rust. Salt = rust. If you don't constantly wash your vehicle in the winter, it will rust. The underbody spray is THE most important. We had an excessive amount of salt this year because it was a world record brutal winter. Worst winter on record since what the 70s?

Well my winter wasn't brutal. Well kinda was Snow lasted way to long.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Well my winter wasn't brutal. Well kinda was Snow lasted way to long.

You must have been lucky enough to stay indoors. Because this winter was brutal for EVERYONE in the northern states. Worst on record in many years.

 

[Kitten]

You must have been lucky enough to stay indoors. Because this winter was brutal for EVERYONE in the northern states. Worst on record in many years.

It was brutally cold. And we had decent amount of snow. But gah it was cold.

 

[Slash]

Sounds like a solid plan. It can get you by for now but it sounds like rust has got the better of this thing. That's Michigan for you. Rust is one of those battles that sometimes its just not worth putting in the time or effort to replace.

It's pretty clean underneath, but those pinch welds have me pretty worried. I'm just going to use it to get by for now (which was basically the plan to begin with). A van like this isn't worth the work on the unibody like something old might be. I just have a feeling it's going to be a money pit and that's the last thing I need right now, especially since I want to start saving for a Mustang.

Now I did have an idea...I might pull the trim off the sides and plasti-dip from the body line down but man that's going to be a lot of rattle cans. Might be worth it but the whole thing is really a pile other than the interior. It runs great, shifts fine etc but it's that damn rust that gets ya.

Speaking of which, I was just in Michigan this past week. I went up to Irons, but I was all around the state, from Luddington to Cadillac, Flint and what not.

 

[Ibonibo]

Dat plastidip

Seems it reached GTP

Go get the full kit. The gun with compressor is around 100 bucks. And you will need some product for such a big car, even if only partial. If you need some, it's cheaper to go big. Cans only get you so far...

 

[Slash]

I wasn't serious. I was just thinking out loud. But I don't have that kind of money laying around right now :/

 

[ProjectWHaT]

You should make it mid-engined