AM General FJ-8A

I will post pics of mine soon. Trying to learn how to send pics from cell phone to web. I have a old 1984 Chevy pickup truck (Old military M1008) which I am selling now to get the FJ8C up and running for business that I wanted to rebuild. Sometimes you have to give something up to make money and start a business. Like to see more on your rebuild!!!
People want my M1008 and for what reason I dont know. I just hope that who ever I sell it to will take care of it and rebuild her like I planed on doing. Just want to get the business started and hopefully make money in this bad economy.

 

It'll definately be for sale this fall; I built it to sell. Hopefully I'll get some time back on it this weekend and make some serious moves forward. I hope to get the radiator mounted and test fire the engine. Most of what I'm doing on it lately had been wiring, trans cooler, and other small stuff so I havent posted any pics of it.

 

I took a day off and kicked some butt on this thing yesterday; I hope to test fire the motor today if I can finish a few more things. I got the front end back on and mounted the radiator after building some brackets. I'm going to try a flex fan and see if that will keep it cool. It's a fairly stock engine other than a few bolt ons so I'm hoping it will. Plug wires and hoses are all on, new aluminum 3/8" fuel line run to the back and I've got the tank painted and ready to go back in, trans cooler mounted back in the frame, inside and engine wiring done other than hooking up a few small things and cleaning it all up, all the rear light cans painted and back in, headlights in; it was a pretty productive day over all.
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Try one of the composite/nylon flex fans instead of the aluminum ones (if they still make those...). The "plastic" fan works good and is a lot lighter -- easier on the water pump. They are good up to around 8000 rpm.

 

Cool ride ... very cool ride ... but it begs the question - Why?

 

CUS he can.

 

Hey Fclconvan,
Check this out!

http://www.fordmuscle.com/forums/ga...can-3-14159-chase-truck-renovation-caper.html

I've been the caretaker of Lorrie Van Haul, a 1967 Dodge P200 Mail Van since 1974, and am in the middle of a complete refurbishment. It's not a restoration, but rather a "fixing-it-up" project that started last November.

You might also like to check these out:

http://msamericanpi.bravehost.com/dodge.htm
http://msamericanpi.bravehost.com/galaxie.htm

Will be checking on YOUR progress.

Hope this finds YOU doing well.

JC Allison

 

Thats a cool mail truck, JC. We might be starting a trend here. Why would I build this? I dont know if I have a good answer to that; I was looking for parts for my 48 Plymouth when I found this and a little voice said, "Buy it and put a V8 in it." Who am I to argue with the little voice?
I finally did get it to a point where I could test fire; finished the fuel tank with a new sending unit, got it in and wrapped up some other small stuff. The battery was dead so I took advantage of the moment and cleaned the shop for three hours while it charged. Still a long way to go but I'm not falling over eveything now. i've got fuel coming up out of the rear air horn on the carb and it'll try to fire but wont. Sound like a float adjustment? Time to quit for today; lots of holiday honey do's to attend to. You guys have a great memorial day!

 

Hey Falconvan,
It's not as "cute" as the one on which YOU are working.

But Lorrie is a SERIOUS and HEAVY-DUTY old girl.

I own the "AllisonWonderland Concert Lightshow", and back when I was younger, I was on the Rock Concert Tour Circuit, and Lorrie was my Equipment Truck. We went EVERYWHERE together.

It takes a special kind of weirdness to do this! It's NOT for everyone.

It's unique, out of the mainstream, unusual, and like I said: "cute". What more reason is needed?

What YOU are building is going to be a bit of a MONSTER, what with the Oldsmobile engine.

There will be LOTS of times when Iscream will be talked about like: "I was out in my (put a name of a rice-grinder here), and there was this little panel truck that just ate me alive!" You do know that it will be difficult to drive, don't you? I remember seeing 600 hp Bronco at the drags one time, and it would change lanes coming off the line and at every shift point. So you need to take it easy to start with till you get used to it.

Lorrie doesn't have THAT kind of problem. She is NOT a performance vehicle. Top speed of almost 60 (due to the VERY low differential gear ratio, and HUGE frontal area), but she'll run all day and all night and all day, over and over again. Slant-Sixes are LIKE that.

I was going South of of Oregon one day in 1976, and Lorrie began sputtering, and spitting, and I said: "Lorrie, just get me back to Houston, and I'll rebuild you one day.", and she instantly quit sputtering and spitting, and took right off.

Well, I rebuilt the 225 Slant-Six in 1985, and did the Roof and Bumpers and a paint job, but that wasn't a rebuild.

Then I got deathly ill in 1998, was supposed to have died in five months, but didn't. Then I started getting better, and so last November, I decided to keep my promise to Lorrie, and really do an in-depth refurbishment. I'm about 75% finished, and figure about another two to three months, and Lorrie will be road-worthy once again.

That was the "Spirit". I'm not one to "doubt the Spirit" either!

What a coinkidink. Lorrie's battery got a trickle charge three days ago while I cleaned her out completely.

Well, you're fortunate to be working in a garage.

Lorrie is sitting on the West side of the house in the shade, but outdoors. She has been sitting there since 1996. So all the work that has been getting done is at the mercy of the weather. It's too cold in the Winter, too hot in the Summer, just right in the Spring and Fall, but Spring and Fall have gotten to be just a week or so between Winter and Summer, and Summer and Winter. Still, I work on her early in the morning during the Summer, and do stuff that can be removed and done indoors during the Winter.

Is the Rear Air Horn the Secondaries? Does it happen when you pump the Accelerator? Might be Float Adjustment, or maybe a stuck-open Needle Valve.

That's right... It IS the Memorial Day Weekend, isn't it?

You tool.

When I finally decided to go ahead and fix Lorrie up, I got to looking for others who had similar vehicles. I found one site (but I haven't been able to find it again), that said; "1967 Dodge P200 Mail Vans are thought to be extinct."

I don't know if you looked at Ms. American 3.14159's Webpage, but if you Google: "1964 Ford Galaxie 500, Four-Door, Hard-Top, Fast-Back, Police Interceptor", Ms. American is the only one Google finds on the whole WWW. I've had a number of very knowledgeable Ford people tell me that as far as they know, she may be the only one ever built.

If THAT is, in fact, true, and if, in fact, the 1967 Dodge P200 Mail Vans ARE extinct (except for Lorrie), then I may, totally by serendipitous happenstance, be in possession of, on one hand, the only one of its kind ever built, and on the other hand, the only one of its kind still in existence.

And I have been told that while they may be rare, that neither one is terribly valuable. Which means nothing anyway, as neither are for sale. It'd be like selling a family member!

Anyway, keep up the good work. I'll be checking in on your progress regularly now that I've found YOU and the Iscream. Also, there are a number of things that we can discuss, like I've already started the work necessary to put a Hurculiner Bed Liner Floor in Lorrie.

I may just go ahead and start a parallel thread to YOURS on H.A.M.B. to keep YOU abreast of Lorrie's progress. After all if we're going to keep this "trend" going we should do it seriously.

Hope this finds YOU doing well.

JC

 

Sounds like a cool project, JC. The Herculiner is a good idea. I did my floor with POR-15 and I'm buying bulk rubber sheet from Rubbercal to make a full floor matt. Start that thread and get some pics going so we all can take a look. Sounds like you've been through a lot together; it's cool you held onto it all these years.
I had a few set backs this weekend; the intake had a small antifreeze leak so i pulled it back off, plus I still need to address the carb issue. Hopefully I'll get back on it one night this week.

 

Hey Mr. FV,
I'm starting on the Electrical System Re-Install today.

I've got the perimeter of the floor already done. I wanted to get it coated BEFORE putting in the Insulation and Paneling.

That ought to be REALLY nice.

I'll get to that later today.

She has been a WONDERFUL companion. And you know, I haven't made a monthly car payment since 1970!

She has been like a family member. How could I ever sell her? It would be like selling a grandmother, or aunt.

What Carburetor are you running. It looked like it MIGHT be a QuadraJet.

See? You have another life to which you must attend. I don't have THAT situation. I spend about a day a week taking care of everything necessary to keep the situation here under control. The rest of the time is spent working on Lorrie, and resting!

Anyway, hope you had a GREAT weekend, and are doing well.

Hang in there.

JC

 

I got it fired up for the first time tonight. The motor sounds great and all the vitals look good; i forgot just how sweet an open headered big block sounds! I had the distributor 180 degrees out; reset the timing, the rear float and she fired right up![cl[cl

 

Hey Mr. FV,
GREAT! Congratulations!

Shades of NASCAR!

Well, you see? There you go!

I'm right in the middle of refurbishing the Wiring in Lorrie Van Haul. It's involved with cleaning terminals, rerouting, and getting ride of the extra length in the Wires, plus the installation of a Starter Relay.

Started a thread here called "Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge P200 Mail Van". have had a few hits but no responses. Starting a "trend" may be harder than it looks!

Hope this finds YOU and "Iscream" doing well.

HC

 

Hey Falconvan,
I just got notice that the thread that I started: "Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge Mail Van" has been deleted, but no reason was given. I have sent a PM to Ryan (an administrator/moderator) to see why. Will let you know what I find, if anything.

Anyway, I'll continue to monitor YOUR progress with "Iscream".

I "THINK" that Lorrie's Ignition System is finished!

There are some "odds and ends" details that need doing, like hooking up the Tachometer, and reinstalling the Speedometer which I had to remove to get the Mud Dauber Wasp Nests off of it, and I'm going to have to make a new Retainer Bridge in order to do THAT, as the old Retainer Bridge was not very well done. AND there are some Tie Wraps that need installing, and some Nylon Strap/Brackets to put in to make sure that everything stays where it is supposed to be. BUT, all-in-all, I think that if Lorrie's Holley 1920 Carburetor was on the vehicle, and the Radiator hooked up properly, that Lorrie's MIGHTY 225 Slant Six Engine would start properly and actually run.

I've made a Wiring Diagram, but have just the Ignition System finished. I'm going to go ahead and finish it with ALL the Wiring (Head Lights, Tail Lights, Brake Lights, Turn Signals, Running Lights, Horn, Windshield Wipers, Gas Gauge, License Plate Light, etc.) done.

Before I stopped working on Lorrie this afternoon, I made a complete list of all the Ignition System connections (where a wire originates, and where it terminates), and I checked it against the Wiring Diagram in the Dodge Van Manual and by golly, I think it's all in place.

I'm going to call it a day, have some fruit salad, with ginger snaps and milk, and just luxuriate in the feeling of being "almost sure" that everything is as it should be.

BTW, we are just weeks away now from getting Lorrie "Up&Running".

Hope that this finds YOU and "Iscream" doing well.

JC

 

Hey Falconvan,
Got a reply from Ryan about why Lorrie's thread was deleted. It's because only PRE 1965 Vehicles are allowed in the Jalopy Journal.

So much for starting our "trend".

Anyway, I'll watch YOUR progress, and keep you updated on mine.

Hope you are well.

JC

 

Check your messages, JC.

 

Hey Mr. FV,
You do the same.

JC

 

Here's a short video of a test run on the engine. I dropped the driveshaft off this morning to get shortened and am working on building some stands for the seats, exhaust, and getting the brakes hooked up. I've got a friend doing some body work on the hood for me; it had a few too many wrinkles for me to tackle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsw3Mbte7NE

 

Hey Mr. FV,
I'd LOVE to see the video, but I'm waaaay out in the boondocks, and all that is here is 56K Dial Up connection to the Internet. It takes hours to load a video.

Real progress.

I LIKE the big wide open Hood area.

Looking at what YOU have has given me the idea that I'd like to cut out all the sheet metal between the Deck Plate Fenders and everything below the plane of the windshields down to the Bumper, and make that ONE BIG, removable piece. Sure would make working on the front of the 225 Slant Six a LOT easier than having to remove the Front Bumper, the Grille, the Radiator, and still have it too cramped to really do anything.

I've got an Angle Grinder that could be used with a Cut Off wheel, and cutting that area out would be NO big deal. Then it would be just a matter of having some Sheet Metal bent properly and fitted then fastening it back on with Dzuz Fasteners, or maybe Hold Down Pins.

Your Iscream has given me some food for thought.

Anyway, I've got Lorrie's Ignition System just about finished.

YOUR project is looking GOOD.

Hope you are well.

JC

 

Sounds like a plan JC! I got word from the drive shaft shop and it'll be ready tomorrow, so that was pretty quick! I decided to start building some seat stands; I needed to know the orientation of the seat so I knew where to put the shifter. I dug through my scrap pile and found some steel plate and some 2 1/2" x 1/2" bar stock left from when I had some old elevators updated, two old pump stands for some hot water circulating pumps from an old boiler I had replaced, and some misc angle iron. Here's what I came up with. Sorry about the pics, a couple came out blurry for some reason.

 

Hey Mr. FV,
Well, the weather has been inclement here for the past week, but it has cleared out for the next one. Ended yesterday with getting the Speedometer back into Lorrie, and will do the wiring of the Gauge Lights today. Then it will be the arranging of the wires, and getting them "tie-wrapped" and nylon clipped into place.

There is MORE to a Drive Shaft than just welding a couple of U-Joints to a Pipe!

Isn't it going to be STRANGE shifting with one's WIDDERSHIN (good word, look it up!) hand?

Lorrie has an Automatic Transmission with the Shifter on the starboard end of the Dash Panel. I get to shift with my DEASIL (another good word!) hand.

It came out looking GOOD.

Lorrie's Seat Stand is a 4" "I" Beam, on which sits a Suburu Reclining Seat. The Seat that you have on Iscream looks MUCH the same as Lorrie's.

There is one of those "Sheep Skin" Seat Covers on Lorrie's Suburu Seat, and there have been MANY times when I've pulled off to the side of the road, or off onto a side road, or a rest area, and just put the Seat into it's reclining position and gone to sleep!

BTW, what are you doing for Instrumentation.

Lorrie has the OLD style Stewart Warner Gauges (round, black faces, etc.), and Military Specification Switches of which I found a whole bag at an electronics Salvage Store. They are mounted on an Aluminum Panel.

Anyway, Iscream is looking SUPER GOOD!

I was thinking, we could RACE! But, I don't mean like out on the road. This would be a race to the Finish-BUILDING Line! Still, getting everything done REALLY well isn't something that can be rushed.

Keep the updates coming. I'll do the same.

Hope this finds YOU doing well.

JC

 

Man I've been trying to find people who work and know what this kinda of truck is... I recently bought one and I'm trying to get it working again .. thanks for the inspiration!!

 

Hey Mr. FV,
Got Lorrie Van Haul's Electrical System Finished today! Now if it will all work as "advertised"! (If you know what I mean).

Won't know THAT till the Engine is properly connected to the Cooling and Fuel Systems.

Those are the next in line for finishing.

Once it is up and running, the REST of the stuff can be done: Paneling, Painting, Graphics, and etc. I calculate that it'll be another month or two.

Anyway, I see that that ANOTHER "AM General F3-8A" has shown up. You really ARE starting a TREND!

Anyway, I'm over-heated. Going to go put me on the couch.

Hope YOU and Iscream are well.

JC

 

Wish I didnt hear that little voice in my head when it said marry this girl before I retired from the Marine Corps. Being in Ramadi, Iraq back in 2005/2006 was hell of alot saver then being with her, lol!!!!

 

Rayson, what you have is a FJ8A that has had the sheet metal cut out to add a window and the top cut off and looks like someone added a foot of head space to the roof. Looks like someone didnt like to bend over and used this truck as a concession truck.

 

Hey Falcon, the iscream truck would make for a killer tailgating truck at any game. Its a tailgater on wheels and all it needs is a bbq grill, a cooler and a widescreen tv mounted on the inside to watch the game.

 

Rayson, that's cool! Glad to see there's another one out there.
I like your tailgater idea, Sarge. I've also halfway thought about keeping it and doing some car show concessions, but we'll have to see. The sale of this has to finance my 48 Plymouth that's been sitting neglected. Of course I'm going to have to have some fun with it first.
I made a trip to the boneyard Saturday and picked up some seat sliders from a GMC van and a pair of Jaguar seatbelts. You wouldnt believe how hard it is to find cars with black interior anymore. Everything is gray, maroon, or tan. I think the Euoropean car section had the only few cars with black in the whole 50 acre yard. I got my driveshaft back; looks like they did a good job. The original one was so small in diameter that I had to have them make a new one from scratch. I also spent a few hours yesterday finishing up my seat stands and getting one seat mounted. Also, my decals came in and they look really cool; can't wait to get them on!
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Well, if you make it a concession truck for car shows maybe THAT will fund the Plymouth! A little slower, but steady!! Use it a bit to figure how much you make then sell it as an "investment opportunity".

 

Frank, the closer it gets to being finished the less i want to sell it right away. I might at least have to wait until next spring when people start getting those tax refund checks and need something frivilous to spend it on. Gotta make sure all the bugs are worked out, you know.

 

I don't blame you! Selling a few sodas and snacks out the back while at a show with a for sale sign in the window would be great advertising AND pay a bit back though! The doors aren't complicated on that thing. I think that instead of cutting a window in the side I might make a new set of doors (even plywood would work) with a window and bar ledge. Maybe a bar/window "wall" that would be easy to remove in the back that the original doors will close over. Are the doors made so that they will open all the way flat against the sides (or nearly flat) with a latch to hold them there?