My new project!
 

Hey all,
I know everyone loves pictures. (I'll happily admit.... I LOVE to see pictures of other people's projects) So, here is my new project! It's the family vehicle now, but I want to turn it into our adventure van! There's a lot of projects that need done on it, and I will probably ask you all a billion questions... But, here's the start of the project! It's the 7.5 liter big girl! She still has plenty of get up and go left in her. The speedometer says 50K but it doesn't have that 6th digit, so it may be a lot more.

The things I need/want to do (in no particular order) are:
-Front king pins are worn out <----- important project, high priority.
-Front tie rod ends are about to crap out <----- important project, high priority.
-The A/C system is leaking at 4 of the hose clamps (the only 4 hose clamps in the system). <----- important project, high priority.
-I just got all new tires on it, since the old ones were all sun rotted out.
-The spare tire is a 16.5 inch rim and the other four are 16 inch rims... I need to get a 16 for the spare.
-The driver side window suddenly stopped rolling up or down <---- Kind of important priority.
-The passenger side door has no bolts in the hinge so the door makes a loud >POP< when we open it. I need to bolt that back in. <---- Kind of important priority.
-I want to mount a small flat screen TV in the spot where the TV used to be (wasn't there when we got it.) That will take some fabrication and some creativity.
-New sound system (only two speakers currently *kind of* work) including deck, speakers, etc.
-I want to pull out all the old curtains and rope lights.
-I want to dark tint all the windows
-I want to fix the driver seat arm that fell off.
-I want to convert it to Diesel
-I want to make it a 4X4
-Custom bumpers (front and back)
-I want to fix/replace the CB radio, maybe even switch it for, or add on a Ham radio.
-And finally, a nice paint job.

Anyway... hope you enjoy the pictures.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...29fe0fe5c6.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...92ba28dd82.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...7566b81b4a.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...0025cf9d11.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...d13e9f9e12.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...236b551054.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...4ab34a959a.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...7366b3a218.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...1959bbb3a7.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...b6bb736148.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...8bda675f7f.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...85a532107f.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...30d84c8b50.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...885273002a.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...da307a54c6.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...58e6fdc958.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...d66a7c8d53.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...a2278f2b7f.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...dbd37bbd96.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...987f03af3e.jpg

Nice, Nice vehicle !
I don;t know how old you might be, but with a list like that , I don;t know !

If you are planning to do the work yourself , the kingpins on them can be a real stinker and you might need a special press to get them out. You cannot use heat !
Side note, if you have kingpins you can't have ball joints. Depending on what kind of service it saw ,you might check out the radius rod bushings. If not caught in time the threaded shaft on the rear of the rod will enlarge the mounting hole in the bracket and ,,,,,,just make sure to check and replace the rubber bushings if necessary.

As far as changing to diesel, with unlimited $$$$ you can do just about anything, but I'm sure there are folks on the forum that can better comment on that.
Thanks for the pix , they are great. Please keep us updated on your progress , you have your work cut out for you ! Thanks.

Hanky,

Thanks for the reply. The guy at the shop kept calling them ball joints, but you're absolutely right. They aren't ball joints. I climbed underneath and looked around. He was talking about my Tie Rod ends. :eek: I wonder how me mixed those up. It is quite a list, and most of it falls under "Some day when I'm rich...." But it's nice to have goals, right? :D Thanks again for the reply.

nice looking van & not a bad list

Nice vehicle to start with but the only time I have a list that long is at the buffet. Good luck and keep us posted.