I mentioned the free van in another of my threads. Alternator and engine ****ped out at same time. Luckily not only are both under warranty they were both bought under my business account meaning not only will the parts get replaced for free O'Reilly will actually pay me to replace them. In any event I know this van will haul engines with ease as when I parted ways with the shop not only did we use it to haul my tool boxes but also the complete 350 for my 54. I would just sell it but body is a bit battered and odometer shows 380k. So I'd be lucky to get $4k regardless of all new mechanicals. So it a glorified truck now lol. And like I said I'm pretty sure a 27 t body will fit in the back lol. Ftr it's a 2016 grand caravan lol
I figure I'll use it to teach the creature bodywork and paint basics. Probably have her help me swap the engine too
I wonder if @The Creature has the same opinion as just about every female under 40 has about vans. I guess their mamas warned them or something, but they all seem to consider them gross or icky.
Finally got around to changing the alternator (a pain on a 3.6l dodge) and took it on a test run. Seemed to do well. I'll tag it Wednesday
I don't have experience with the later 3.6, but the older 2.2 starter was a PITA. Friend did 3 under warranty on his mom's van. Bolt it in, junk, repeat. He was not a happy camper.
Oh man, all my guy friends my age want vans and our wives won’t let us! I was so close to having a Toyota sienna daily driver a few years ago but the wife insisted on a suv. Apparently you can put full sheets of plywood in it and close the gate! I can’t even do that with my Tundra!
My buddy uses Chrysler minivans for his construction business. He says you can put 10 full sheets of 4' x 8' x 1/2" plywood in them and close the hatch (he has not tried to load anymore then 10 sheets). Says they have more capacity then his 1 ton pickup, are easier to load and unload, keeps everything dry, and still gets 20 + mpg running around town. He also says they are good for 300,000 miles if you take care of them.
Very Australian humor Jokes like that got us kicked out of the UK and sent down here about 200 years ago. Cheers, Harv
So should I get custom made magnets to alternate according to which era the crowd I'm around hotrods....one set saying "free 10 mm sockets" and the other saying "free 9/16" sockets"?
Well since I finally got temporary tags I took it on its first out of town trip yesterday since before I got it. Bout 140 miles to, from, and around KC. Did lose a tiny amount of coolant because I managed to lose the overflow tank when I replaced the alternator and I caught the very beginning of KC rush hour traffic. But all in all It did fine. Did mean to hit picknpull for another overflow tank before I left but I forgot lol
Also same day I got temp tags I actually took it to the car wash for the first time in literally years. Looks a lot more presentable now
Sometimes, giving the old transportation device a wash job turns them into something that doesn't look nearly as bad as they looked with years of ac***ulated crud attached to them. The 300K my buddy was referring to was with untouched mechanical stuff, other then things a normal non-mechanic might do to keep a car running. He is a pretty good carpenter, but a not so good mechanic, changing the oil and replacing the brake pads is the limit of his mechanical ability.
Maybe we should have seen the before the wash job pic? I used to live on what we called a gravel road (the road was built with crushed rock), my gravel driveway was 3/4 of a mile up the road from the blacktop surface road. Every time we drove down that road, when it was not raining or snowing, the car kicked up a yellow tinted dust cloud (the color of the dust depended on what color the crushed rock was) that followed you home, even if you were not even going 5 mph. If you cruised on that gravel road @30 mph, the yellow tinted cloud that followed you would be 20' high, and 30' long, blowing in the wind, if it was really dry, the cloud was so thick you couldn't see through it. A weeks worth of the gravel road driving turned the back end of any color vehicle in to the dusty road color. The back end of the van has one of those very slow, single p*** on that gravel road looks. Or maybe that was the only picture he had of the "art work" on the back window...
The Jalopy Journal
