Engine Donor

Finally, this weekI picked up my engine donor. It's a 1980 Chevy P30 step van that I bought from http://www.dovebid.com/ . This van has the Cummins 4bt 3.9L turbo diesel engine I plan to use. I got the whole van for $1269, all taxes and fees included. Not bad conscidering the engine alone would get $2000 on e-bay alone!

I drove the van 2.5 hours back to my house from Charlotte, NC. The engine ran terrifically the whole way, although the top speed of 60MPH was a little slow. I actually got passed by a wide load, that's never happened before... Due to the sidewinds I encountered, I don't think I'd have wanted to go faster anyways. I started with a 1/2 tank of diesel and only burned about 1/8 tank on the 2.5 hour drive at near redline. I wonder how big the tank is???

The engine is very clean and doesn't appear to have much mileage on it. The van was shipped from the factory with a 350 gas motor, and only has 80k miles on it between both motors!!
I'll probbably begin removing the Cummins from the van soon, and will get some motor shots then.

That's all for now!

Steering Box and Front Bumper

I've made a little progress in the steering gear department the last few weeks. First, I welded in a scab plate on the passenger side to help stiffen up the front frame for the new saginaw power steering. This plate is 3/16" steel and should help stiffen things up.
Next, I set about mounting the power steering box to the frame on the drivers side. I made a 1/4" plate to mount the box to and welded it to the frame. Then I used stacks of washers to mount the box ears to the plate. I drilled through the frame and the plate with a 1/2" drill and then bolted it on with the washers in place. With the box in place, I welded the washers together. This may not be the prettiest way to do it, but it will be very strong. I also cut a recess into the front crossmember to recess the steering box into the frame. Here it is with the box mounted up. The steering box is a remanufactured box for a 1968 Chevy Impala. This box is a 4 bolt box with 4.5 turns from lock to lock, and is the most often used saginaw box for power steering conversions.

Finally, I welded on my new front bumper. It's about 42" of C5 channel. I decided to weld it on to help stiffen up the front end since I had to cut the front crossmember for the steering box. I'll clean and paint when I clean and paint the frame. Here's a pic from behind of the bumper.

That's all for this segment, stay tuned for the engine donor....

Rear Axle Complete

All of the fabrication is now done on the rear axle. I rotated the pinion up 4 degrees along with my spring over conversion. Also, I added welded up the rear disk mounts. I mounted the calipers such that they would be as high as possible and also have the bleeders at the top of the caliper. Next, I re-assembled and painted the rear axle. I prepared each axle by wire wheeling to bare metal, then applied a phosphoric acid etch, then painted on the Zero-rust. We'll see how it holds up. Here's the axle painted and mocked up under the frame with the tires installed.

Next, I'll have to get the saginaw steering box installed on the frame, and then I can finish and paint the frame.