Project BigB... a 1977 Dodge Van 6x4!

[Keyblazer]

Although Paint is a long way down the road, here is what I had in mind...

Satin Silver metalic... and the Exoskeleton tubing satin black...

[alosix]

Found one such 'combo' shower pan:

http://www.pellandent.com/Motorhome_...?ProductID=276

Still searching for more for my 725 project.

Cool van.. will def be checking in this one.

Jason

[wanderer-rrorc]

vans are durable enough I wouldnt worry about an exo...(and the added weight/sway it will add...go 4point around the driver/pass if yer worried..but these things are STRONG!!)

[Lynn]

Good score!

Am I the only one reminded of the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle?



I think you should paint to match.

[Keyblazer]

Yeah, the Exo sounded fun... and the idea came from the idea to put a looooong rack on the front roof as an "Observation deck"/storage area.

This is another shower pan that I was considering, as it is cheap, and the step area could be be drilled to accept a toilet.
http://www.dyersonline.com/Products/...ub__24156.aspx

[xped]

This is the same Pathfinder set up as my Transvan, let me know if you have any questions. I would order the front axle bushing kit from Pathfinder before the stop making them. The front axle is a Dana 44 and the brakes are Dodge 3/4 ton 4x4 pickup brakes. Mine also had alot of rust on the roof so I just replaced the roof with one from the junk yard, although mine was a cab chassis so the roof is only 3 feet long. If you are going to take the windshield out try to save the rubber, I have not been able to find new rubber for it. As stated in a previous post do not drive it with the front drive shaft disconnected as it will wreck the transfer case, also the part time kit available will ruin it as it does not allow the oil to circulate.
If you want head room I bet you could piece two fiberglass tops together pretty easily if you could find two matching ones. Mines also has only 5' of headroom and it gets old ducking all the time. Good luck with your project, I saw this when it was first posted for sale and was tempted to buy it. I think I would break it in half on some of the camp spots I go to though.

[Keyblazer]

Thanks for the insight and info!
Your van being a 78 should be very similar.. does it have a 360 and was it originally a California Van?
Lots of plans, Ideas and learning curves to go thru yet...
More update after the weekend!

[xped]

It has the 360, 727 trans, and 203 tcase. It looks like yours has the Thermoquad carb, mine has the 2bbl. I think it's a California van it has a smog pump and egr and that's about it. I did a alternator upgrade to a 120 amp. as the stock 60amp is useless in a RV. If your has the ammeter in the dash you should do away with it and put in a volt gauge. They would run all the power thru the gauge and they are known to burn up. The connections also go bad where they pass thru the firewall. I also suggest putting a heavy duty trans cooler on it.
I am interested in the 6x6 conversion, its probably not worth the work but people are coming up with some great ideas. I saw somewhere and I don't know what kind of axle it was but you take another input side and bolt it to the cover side of the diff. The ring gear would run the pinion and just connect the two axles together with a driveshaft. Maybe someone who knows more about diffs could tell us if that is even possible.

[Keyblazer]

OK, so a few hours on "Googlesketchup 7" has me a pretty good scale version of my planned interior.
I first laid out a box 187" x 68", and then overlaid a side and rear picture over that box...
That way I could project the windows and from that the rail heights and window tops.

I am pretty impressed how it worked out...
Three views..
From open rear doors...


From Drivers end....


From side...


What do you all think?

[Expedition Key]

That thing is freakin awesome!!! Sketch Up looks good, but you're going to have all the weight on one side, I would definitely lay it out with the weight distributed evenly side to side.

Kye