New guy! 1985 Caprice Wagon

This is true for me too.

 

I'm unsure if the fuel gauge works or not I asked him and he said it did- but its been all the way up since I got home. Hopefully the car just gets that great of gas mileage

 

These look really good man! I can do this... So you guys didn't add any type of floam? I think I might try to add in a design I'm sure a heat gun would help work it in really well.

 

After the last few blizzard prone winters we've had in here in VA, I'm not interested in buying anything that isn't either a 4WD or AWD vehicle myself.

I've heard E85 ws becoming the ticket, but it's been years since I was much into turbos.

My last turbo project was a '90 Dodge turbo Caravan minivan. I had an Eldelbrock H20/Alky injection setup for it, including a fully built Shelby 2.2 head, top end, and turbo on top of it's original 2.5 liter block. But like many projects I just didn't have the time or money to continue to put into it.







Besides, I have a old '73 Plymouth Duster under a cover sitting in the driveway that really deserves my attention anyway (my wife's grandmother bought it new).

 

Wow that van looks sweet! There's actually a lot more turbo'd dodge caravans out there than I thought originally- seems a lot of people are doing it, especially the swap with the SRT-4 motor. Those plates are hilarious lol...

That duster in good shape? I wish my in-laws left me something other than a headache Grats to you though!

Turn the sound up and check out this beast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78InPT4iqlw

 

Sounds awesome!

My Duster is going to need a full restoration. The Slant Six threw a rod bearing a few years ago. I dropped the oil pan and did a "redneck" bearing replacement after hand polishing the crank journal, so it runs well enough to start up and move it around the yard, but that's about it.

My wife wants me to put in a late model FI Hemi and sorta "resto mod" it, but I'm sorta (very) partial to the slant 6 so I'm kicking the idea of either fabbing up a mild Megasquirt injection + turbo setup for it, or just keeping it stock and saving all the turbo/hotrodding/etc. for something like my previous Subaru idea.

All this is fantasy right now, though. Two teens in the house and my 21 year old a junior in college, my time or $$$ for toys is just not there nor will be for a while.

When I was building my van, I was a regular on the Turbo Dodge forum. Here's some of my older favorites from some of the fine folks there, enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSalQ3CmMnY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yT6tPsMfjI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3Gdm_e_hxs&feature=related

 

lmao @ the k-car... that thing was no joke. Its insane how loud it was at the track- SO many people yelling! The van's do REALLY good to not just sit there and spin all the way down the track- almost amazing really. The neon's are hopeless without a really good track prep, an excellent pair of slicks and Vin Diesel @ the wheels, but those vans do it effortlessly.

Did you ever run your van in the 1/4?

 

We sold our 77 LTD wagon when I was a kid, and Dad brought home a Turbo 1989 Plymouth Voyager. P O S

 

The turbo van's are pretty easy to run. Auto trannys on the majority of them, and take the middle and back seats out puts most of the total weight over the front wheels anyway.

Unloaded, seats out, and basic race weight reduction attention puts most of them around 2800 lbs or less (about a 1,000 lbs LESS than a modern V8 Mustang GT). Do the basics to get the engine up to 300 hp or so in those things, and it's a stealthy low 14/high 13 second machine.

The white van in the last video was running low 11's last I heard, but that really does take pullling out all the stops and being willing and able to spend the $$$.

Life really got in the way before I got the van where I wanted it, so I sold the van to a fellow Turbo Dodge forum member before I ever got a chance to take it to the track. I was the second owner, I bought it off a coworkers parents who had simply left it sitting in a barn when it blew a head gasket many years earlier.

Honestly now, I'm just not much into the drag racing scene anymore, and certainly not on the street.

But I still have a soft spot for "sleepers".

So that is in a twisted way what got me into Subarus. Effortlessly playing and drifting in the snow and running up and down the mountains all winter long in my $200 beater Subie, running rings (literally, ask some of my friends) around much more expensive and much more top heavy 4X4s, well, I admit it's devilishy satisfying.

This video, this is in line with my new goal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGlefbGhZp8

And yes, I'll say it, I like my station wagon much better than a minivan.

 

Dogbone said...
"So that is in a twisted way what got me into Subarus. Effortlessly playing and drifting in the snow and running up and down the mountains all winter long in my $200 beater Subie, running rings (literally, ask some of my friends) around much more expensive and much more top heavy 4X4s, well, I admit it's devilishy satisfying. "

No one ever believes me when I tell them that I pulled 4X4 pick up trucks out of the ditch with my 82 Suby Hatch with 4X4, dual range tranny. In our Wisconsin winters during heavy snowfalls I went places that the big 4X4's couldn't even think about going. I am right now looking for another 80's Suby hatch like the one I had.

 

Those dual range Subarus were incredible.

It's sort of sad the newer generations Subes conform so much to "regular" cars, the older one's definitely went their own way as far as design, engineering, and ability.

I love to share Sube experiences, like last winter how many countless times did some youngster in a big 4X4 truck try to keep up with me crossing route 33 over the Swift Run gap when it was covered in snow and ice, and how I could drift through the hairpin corners, way faster than I should have been, corners where they practically had to come to a stop and "white knuckle" it the whole way. And my little Subie has what, 90 horsepower on a good day!

It's hard to convince folks who haven't experienced it themselves, maybe if someone grew up playing with Tonka toys a child, then they can begin to understand the attraction to those old Subies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCnUx9gE_v8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k34UBlL0xFA

I keep an eye out for an older hatch over at the Sube forum.

 

Well today I had a few errands to run- most of them went unaccomplished due to various reasons. But I did end up purchasing a K&N drop in along with some cleaners, plugs, wires, wipers, and tree air fresheners. On the way home the headliner came off and it started snowing.

I also ended up calling an A/C specialist to get a quote on how much it'd be to diagnose/repair/refill the R12 in the wagon.

87- Diagnose
250- Refill
400-700 Repair (Minor)
700-1500 Repair (Major)

Needless to say... it's going to be hot for a while in my car

If I do get the entire system fixed, and refilled- how long would you say it would last me?

 

I'm not a fan of K&N filters...let way too much through. Put some dye in that AC system and find the leak. Then...if you can't fix it yourself, find someone else to look at it. Get a couple of quotes to fix what's wrong.

 

Don't do it!

If you can turn a wrench, you can fix your A/C yourself.

Here's what to do:

1. Convert to R134a. This involves evacuating system and DRAINING ALL THE EXISTING OIL, replacing hose o-rings with the new "green ones", replacing gaskets on inlet and outlet of compressor, replacing dryer, putting it all back together, screw on the fancy 134a valve adapters on existing R12 Schrader valves, adding PAG oil or filling with 134a refrigerant/oil combo, and charging system to roughly somewhere between 28-40 psi on the low side WHEN THE COMPRESSOR IS RUNNING. Enjoy the cool air. Total cost $100-150 bucks.

The key to R12 to 134a conversion is the oil. Out with the old, in with the new. R12 oil will NOT mix with 134a refrigerant, and of course if the compressor doesn't get properly lubricated, it will fail. Do this step right, every other step is more forgiving.

Or...

2. Try to recharge your existing R12 system. Look for R12 on ebay, or use over the counter HC based mixes like "Freeze 12", or similar refrigerant that will work (cough cough propane cough cough). Just be aware of local laws using HC based refirigerants, and if you do use HC based refrigerants, have the courtesy to avoid letting an A/C shop reclaim your "HC enhanced R12" and contaminate their pure R12 supply.

Total cost for option number 2, about 10 to 20 dollars, depends if you already have an A/C gauge.

 

Dang I wish you lived near me- I can turn a wrench easy, but get a bit nervous around systems I don't know too much about. If someone were to show me I'd pick it up in a heat beat.

Someone should write up a how to for us older cars I would if I knew what I was doing. I'd like to keep it R12, I've heard some good things about it. Like it blows air down to 40 degrees I don't even know how to drain the system- and honestly I didn't think there was oil even in it!

Question- why would I try to recharge the R12 system without fixing any of the leaks like how you described in the first post?
It took me about 2-3 weeks (a couple hours a day) to remove and pull the engine from my car the first time. The 2nd time a few weeks ago it took about 4 hours.