I’m trying to figure out what the front clip is out of. It’s GM, has disc brakes. I figured the steering wheel would be a good indicator. Any ideas?
Damn! You’re right, that’s a G20 steering wheel. I doubt that front clip is g20 though. I guess I need to dig more and get more details.
Chevy van front ends actually unbolt fron the body(/ frame ) I can’t remember the width, some could be installed easier than a mustang 2 . Get some pics . It was common to use a camaro , nova , etc front subframe and weld the old frame to the subframe.
Grabbed one of the pics. Here's a link talking about them with a year range and pics. https://www.chevydiy.com/how-to-lower-a-73-87-chevy-squarebody-truck/
What a cool project! I love the idea of restoring an old car—it’s such a rewarding journey. We’re actually having a vacation next month with virginexperiencedays, which I’m really excited about, but as soon as I’m back, I’ll be starting my search for an old car like that too. I’ve always wanted to take on a restoration project, and this seems like the perfect time to dive in. I’m not sure exactly what model I want yet, but I’ve got a few in mind that I’ve always dreamed of owning.
`That's funny thinking the steering wheel ID's the sub. My cpe has a Nova sub, Buick FWD column and a Lacarra wheel
Yeah, I just figured it looks like this car hasn't really been touched since it was pieced together, but I know what you mean which is why I included pictures of the actual clip. The steering column is definitely squarebody which is good to know since I'll need to rebuild it. The plan is to get it roadworthy on close to nothing which it's pretty close. The PO said it was a camaro clip, but I'm not sure, he also got it in on a trade. Any ideas on how I can ID this clip?
Does this little guy look familiar to anyone? Looks Jeep-ish, but all the diagrams I find for Jeep have the Hazard relay on the left and turn on right. I'm thinking about keeping it, the wiring itself doesn't look hacked up and it's still flexible. I haven't had a moment to actually go through it yet though. From the looks of it, there's a parasitic loss somewhere so the PO must've removed all the fuses. Luckily, I find electrical work fun.
All the pink wires remind me of GM more than Jeep. I'd look at the Chevy PUs in the era mentioned and see if a wreck was picked clean. Would be easier than pulling a harness at the yard.
Hijacking most of the parts from a single donor car or truck would have been one of the least expensive ways to build your ride. The more parts the could be salvaged from the donor meant less parts you had to buy. From the crossmember forward, most GM cars and light trucks looked a lot a like, the differences were more apparent from the crossmember towards the rear, but how (and where) the clip was attached to the original frame could have eliminated most ways of knowing for sure, short of matching up specific parts. The Camaro/ Nova front subframe tends to go straight back from the sides of the crossmember and flatten out, they were bolted to the car's floor pan near the transmission crossmember. The pickup frame rails also tend to go straight back from the sides of the crossmember, but those remained basically square tubes and would have been cut to splice. The GM metric frames, and the large car frames of the era were perimeter frames and tend to kick outward towards the outer body behind the crossmember and front tires. Most clips were cut behind the crossmember at the point they best matched up with what ever frame configuration the original car had.
This is why I figured looking at the column itself might give me a good idea of what I'm working with. My guess is that everything came out of the mystery donor car although I've had no luck of identifying that fuse box.
Going on the hunch it's a Chevy PU http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=35587.0 "Compact, modular blade fuses replaced glass tube fuses beginning in 1979 through the 1987 (91) model years" I looked at a few different fuse blocks for those years and they all seem to have the flashers at top left and bottom right. EXAMPLE This shows a Jeep one with both at the top, but sure doesn't match. Not sure if it's stock or the replacement they are discussing. https://www.fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18428 You can go cross-eyed looking at the different results of "Fuse Block 198X" because they are from a ton of different things not in your request.
Turns out it's an old Painless wiring harness! It's still flexible and doesn't look awful so I may try salvaging it.
Deuglification/rewiring/rust repair has begun! I need to buy a new welder as my old Miller got mice a while back and they chewed it up pretty good. Picked up this air filter, now I’ll need some valve covers to match! In time I reckon. Let’s get that dash cleaned up and the car rewired.
I bet it’s a van subframe. The steering wheel isn’t exactly square body chevy that I’m aware of, but it’s close. The blinker cruise control stalk is more or less identical to a 1985 Buick park avenue (my mom had one). Best guess mid 80’s van I have a square body if you’d like pictures of stuff.
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