1989 Dodge Ram Van - As start for 4x4 conversion?

Hi guys need some quick advice, I have a chance to buy a 89 ram van cheap. I would be buying with intent to convert to 4x4. Would also like to possibly engine swap to a disel engine at some point. Anyone out there have experiance with this van, or knowledge that would help me decide before purchase would be appreciated. I have done a lot of research but its all been chevy based, so have no idea the conversion ease for the dodge.

I started a 90 conversion years ago, had Dyna Track build a Dodge Dana 60front and rears, both with ARB air lockers. Never got the front axle in before heart transplant, so had to give up on it,, dratzz. The Dodge overdrive tranny, turned out to be a pc of junk, and when it died, had A1Racing transmissions build be a 727, with all the whistles and bells to also,, include, buying the extra low planetaries 1st and 2nd gear. In order to "fool" the engine code, as it didnt have the real fuel injection, I took the relays out of the 518 and used them to tell the computer(ha,ha) it had locked up in gear. Worked perfectly. I first tried to use the divorced 205 as it was easy to find, but no matter what I did to the mid shaft, I could not get the unbalance out, as it had to be too short. S0,, dumped that and found a married 205, which was pricey, but solved all the problems.

I was building the truck to leave for Alaska, and went overboard on everything as I wanted as few as problems as I could set myself up for,,, I figured the two main expenses would be food and gas, so also, put a Gear Vendors on the back of the 205. I made all the special mounts in order to put it into the Van, and it worked really good, never got to installing the front 60.
 

IF I where to do it all over again,, I would have used the Chevy front 60, as it has larger spline front axles, and the locking hubs are easy to get. The Dodge front 60 was a full time unit, and the only front hubs I could get where the less strong Mile Marker hubs. The pumpkin is on the same side as the Dodge and both 8 lug anyways.
 

Also, I found the rear Dodge 60 not as strong as the Chevy 18 bolt, and should have used it, as I grenaded the Dodge 60 with the ARB in it, even if only every driven in 2whl drive.
 

I JUST HAPPEN TO HAVE THE TRANNY ON CRAIG'S LIST RIGHT NOW,, for asteal,,, with the G/V unit I had over $5,500 in the trannies, including the G/V. I sold the front 60 (brand new) as well as the G/V unit. I am asking $750 for both the trannies as of right now, the 205 needing only the rear snout put back on, and believe I may still have it laying around.  

I have a friend also selling a front Chevy 60, rear 18 will ask him what he wants and if he still has them if you are seriously interested???????? 

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New Lotus Elan Manual available

While cleaning out my parts I find I have a new in the package Lotus Elan owners manual. Lotus PN D100T0324J Any takers here before it goes to Ebay.

Which model (S1? S2?, etc>.) car and how much are you asking for it?

Since the part number is x100xxxxx it's for an M100 Elan. (1991 if it's a US car) Make offer for the book ??

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Lotus Press release

Following on the announcement of the new model range, Lotus has also given us a preview of a news release to go out next year in April:

News just in........

There was bad news for Lotus today as Lotus declared that only Lotus could use the Lotus name and that Lotus would be taking steps to prevent Lotus from calling itself Lotus.

'Lotus is not going to let Lotus trade off the Lotus name that Lotus has built up,' said Lotus spokesman Alan Lotus. 'Lotus had an agreement with Lotus but Lotus has not honoured the terms of the Lotus agreement,' Lotus continued. 'For that reason Lotus shall no longer be permitting Lotus to use the Lotus-registered Lotus name of Lotus.'

Lotus was quick to respond to Lotus's action, claiming that Lotus had agreed with Lotus, the division of Lotus that has rights to the Lotus name, and that Lotus could not prevent Lotus from using Lotus unless Lotus expressly said this to Lotus.

'Lotus will take every step to prevent Lotus from removing the Lotus name from Lotus,' said Christopher Lotus, spokesman for Lotus-appointed solicitors, Lotus, Lotus & Lotus. 'Let me assure you that Lotus is not going to simply refrain from calling itself Lotus just because Lotus says so. That would be Lotus… sorry, I mean, ridiculous.'

(not my work, forwarded with permission)

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FIAT Linea Dynamic Petrol 1.4

I have been a recent entrant to the group – joined in mid-September, thanks to Bhushan Bhai, when I sold my Palio 1.2EL, after 7 and a half years. Though I have commented on a few posts, I have been more of an observer. In fact I got one of my colleagues at Tata Sky, Mukund Sharma, to join the group – he is the guy with the 1.9D Palio which had a starting problem due electrical issue just a few days back. However, the reason for this post is because I thought of sharing with you my experience in purchasing my current toy, the Linea Dynamic Petrol 1.4 (Foxtrot Azure).

Having test driven the Verna Transform, Aveo, Fiesta (Limited Edition), Linea, Dezire and SX4, I decided on the Linea on a cost to features ratio – though looks and feel of both the interior and exterior also played a vital role. Having decided on the Linea I played two different dealers one against the other and extracted a very good deal from Galaxy Motors, Mulund, Mumbai. I booked the car on Sept 10 and requested delivery on Sunday Oct 10 – though the delivery period was 20 days, I added a few more to address superstitious believes. In this 1 month period the sales team was put through a severe tormenting time due to my fastidious nature. I kept fighting with them for discounts on audio system, reverse sensors and leather seat covers – not to mention the FOC material I needed them to provide. They addressed each and every query and argument with a smile and took extra pains to ensure all my queries were addressed.

They even requested me to visit their showroom a day earlier just to spend time with their support staff just to understand all the controls available in the car. I actually did take them up on their offer and visited their showroom on Oct 8 for the demo. And then D-day arrived and as promised with all documentation completed, the keys were handed over to me on 10/10/10 @ 10:10am – just as I had requested. Things couldn't have happened better.

This experience of mine, I am sure, will give confidence to one and all. It certainly was a very sweet experience. I doubt the Tata-Fiat marriage is on the rocks – on the contrary, I feel it is a winning one. And I can quite confidently say it is dealerships like these that will take the story forward – and I have dealt with the likes of Fortune, Powai (before they shifted this July), Anuroop, Malad in Mumbai and Mohan Motors, in Calcutta before they lost the dealership, and have never really felt comfortable.

Did you get your registration number also 1010 ? :) 

Good to see positive (more than that actually) reviews on the Fiat-Tata JV

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I want upgrade better tires

have not got hold yet of alloys still in a puzzle of size and what gain i will get after upgrading the to 175 R14/65 in performance. I had been to Madhu's enterprises (Shantinagar, Bangalore) yesterday as me too planning on tyre upgrade. 98PCD Alloys were available at 14" from SSW, but only one design (black and silver) which actually looked nice. It was quoted at 4k per alloy.

Michellin xm1+ 14" 175/60 (or 65 forgot exactly) were 4000 per piece and 185/65 were 4150 per piece. Is ssw a good brand. Have heard abt it, but is it as good as say a Lenso? Any thoughts please?

in case you want to go for a 15" alloys, pls go in for a low profile tyre. this will ensure that there is no scraping. i have driven a Palio GTX with 15" alloys for a month and generally did not find a problem. Handling and ride were good. however, when you hit a pot hole(Which is very common), at a decent speed, there is a chance that the tyre will touch the wheel arch and damage the tyre itself as well as damage teh wheel arch. i had seen several tyre cuts. i have Seen Raveendra's car with 15" alloys and low profile tyres. Looks super sexy. ensure that the overall wheel dimensions dont change with a higher profile tyres on a 15".

it will be expensive to roll back, as it involves Tyres and rims, in case you have to roll back to 14", you have to write off the investment, since getting a buyer for 15" 98 PCD's is remote for a used alloy and tyres.

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How to put tranny top on ??

Can anyone give a short dissertation on how to install a top on a tranny ? Can't seem to figure out where the gears need to be and where the forks need to be to make it all work ?

I dunno what the proper sequence is, but I put every thing in neutral. Slid the gears to center of their travel with the shifter in center (neutral or 'nothin' fir southerners) I don't know what to say about the shifter if you've never driven standard shift. LOL

Spin the rear wheels to insure you've found "nothin'. Rear wheels both turn forward at the same time. I installed one bolt to hold the box top and went through the gears. If you can find neutral and the rear wheels spin your lookin' good. 

I also said an 'Our Father'. It worked for me, but HE said the bolt should have been coarse thread..................p

It would help me if anyone who has a Service Manual could look at the cutaway view of the tranny and tell me if the trans is in Neutral ... or ? I think it's in neutral but can't be sure.

It really doesn't matter where the forks are, just so the front fork goes into the front gear slot, and the rear fork goes into the rear gear slot. As you are putting on the cover shine a flashlite into the one side of the trans as you bend down and watch to see that the forks go into the gears. The stick a bolt into the cover and test the shift.

Well, that makes sense. Thanks Barry. I have 3 trannies, 2 of which someone has popped the top to check them out or ?? Both look in good repair. The 3rd is from a drill press and I think it's the best of the 3 but has no speedo hole cut in it. It has not been opened but has a "short" shifter so even if I use it I have to pop the top to change tops. Hopefully one of the other two will serve me well.

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A/C GET ON WITHIOUT SWITCHING IT

What a coincidence!!

My AC Fan has also started to play up for the past few days. When the ignition is turned on the fan starts off at full speed sometimes. Otherwise, it remains silent, but starts off now and then.

This problem has spread to the audio system.It starts off by itself. It also changes tracks by itself.

So I keep the control panel removed. Now, suddenly a humming sound started off in the car porch. I traced it to the car. I now disconnect the battery every time I park the car. I called up Concorde, they say I will have to leave the car there for a couple of days.

Maybe u got to wait and see till your car completely transforms itself into Megatron or Optimus Prime. Been watching the TRANSFORMERS the other day on TV :-) The symptoms u described look like straight out of the movie. Maybe that's why we feel that our Palios are Tank-like!!

The majority of the Puggers refer to their cars as 'my beauty', 'my darling' etc. So hopefully it should transform into something really sexy. At least the ac fan is giving me 'blow jobs' right now to music from the self controlled stereo.

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Cooper Tyres put to test--Baptism by fire

For more clarity, simple language and ease of understanding, I am repeating my earlier post on putting to test the new Cooper tyres.

Start: "Earlier post, I had mentioned about fitting Cooper tyres. Y'day, the tyres were put to the worst possible torture session, starting at 4 am and ending at 6 pm. And the test was passed with flying colours!!

Had planned on a day trip to the jungles around Hosur/ Krishnagiri area. Started at 4 am and within a few minutes it started pouring. Being on the highway, could check the handling abilities at high speed and braking in wet conditions. Felt great control. As we progressed into the jungles, and thanks to a red bus, one side wheels had to go off the road and soft, wet mud made it lose traction. A bit of forward and reverse movement and keeping the handle straight brought the car back on the road and things went smooth. Drove through the jungles to Hoggenakal falls, saw the crowd there and decided to return back. Took a different jungle route, enjoyed some breathtaking virgin forests, untouched by man and had to cross a stream with upto one foot water four times. Had an exhilarating experience and the tyres did amazingly well. There was no noise, the steering was soft, it took on the rough and off road very well and was effortless.

In my earlier post titled "New Tyres", had mentioned the reason for buying Cooper over other brands. Anyway, repeating again, because of the fair amount of off road and jungle travel I do, I was more concerned with the strength of the sidewalls than noise, high speed control, etc. On advice from Raveendra bhai, had narrowed down to Pirelli but was on the verge of finalizing Bridgestone Potenza when I got a chance to physically compare Michelin, Pirelli (used tyre), Bridgestone and Yokos along with Cooper at the tyre shop. The sidewall strength of Cooper seemed to be the best and the thread pattern was also good. So, decided on Cooper. Also, there was a 3 year unconditional replacement guarantee on pro-rota basis.

I upsized to 185/70/R13 on the stock metal rims from 165/80/R13. Got more rubber with perhaps a tad bit drop in height.

How much did you pay per tyre so we all can know. 3 year unconditional replacement guarantee on pro-rota basis - this looks too good. Can you eloborate this I can understand manufacturing defect etc but what do you mean pro-rata basis?

Happy to know you are the first amongst us to go for Cooper Tyres. I suggest keep updating this thread after you clock some 2000 / 5000 kms to know how the thread wear happens.Are these hard / soft compound tyres?

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Identifying all my crankcases?

I recently acquired Dale Tholen's "Thundermug" H modified racecar and a boatload of spares. I have 8 crankcases, 7 blocks and three cranks, one of which I know is a "good" steel one - it rings like a bell. Problem - how do I tell if any of my crankcases are the good "strapped/military" versions? I have two sets of main bearing caps (not installed onto any of the crancases, however) that either have been machined flat to match the steel caps or are factory-produced flat versions - I don't know which. Three of the crankcases have the "extra" rear oil seal boss molded into the end and one of them has a very thick front crank seal area. Three of them have huge oil passage holes for the main bearings, all of which appear to be factory. All the webs look to be the same thicknesses. Some of the oil galleries have either been drilled or are factory-drilled. Are there any specific characteristics that I can look for that will identify the "good" crankcases?

I am delighted to hear that the Thunder Mug is in good hands. I will not attempt to identify the crankcases but will leave that to an expert such as Barry Seele. I will add from personal experience that you MUST get the crankcase line bored with the main caps in the places that they will actually be installed. My experience has been that Crosley crankcases are often quite out of whack which causes all manner of problems. Another thing to check is the bottom flange of the lock. A light cut on a milling machine will ensure that it is really flat. You might also check to see if the block has been milled previously as this can affect the compression especially if you are going to use special pistons which is a very good idea. Look carefully for cracks between the intake and exhaust valve seats.

If the main caps are not on, then the cases are all but junk. I have not found anybody that has a line boring machine that goes small enough for the Crosley. I have plenty of military cases, and a few heavy Fageol cases.

There is a guy near Redding CA that line bores Crosley cases on a regular basis. I will get his address and post it as soon as I can. You quoted me $2850 using my crank and crankcase. How much would using one of your crankcases add to the price? I have a camshaft that's got pretty tall and sharp lobes, it might be able to be used. What about using the Aerojet block? Is the Fageol better and bigger? What HP will the Fageol be

making if you build it for power AND longevity?

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