MORΩN ΛABIA
BMW CCA Member
There's an old step van in Auburn that I'm interested in. I'm in Montana. The seller sounds of an age where crawling underneath to check and photograph rust is too much trouble. If anyone here is local and has a minute, could I get you to take some half-decent photos of the undercarriage, especially any problem areas? I'll buy you drinks if I come to pick it up, or Paypal you a few bucks if I don't. I'm mostly interested in any structural rust, but if you can pretend to be a mechanic, we can discuss a more detailed inspection.
Member
Can't help to put eyes on it but am very curious about what you're up to with this.
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
Member
Im in Tacoma
MORΩN ΛABIA
BMW CCA Member
Thanks, but it happened on Friday the 13th. Thar she blows...
banjo_84us@yahoo.com
HAHA that's what I was thinking of when you said "step van", but I wasn't even aware they could rust (mostly aluminum) and most people only want those for the engine and wouldn't care if it did rust. I've actually wondered if there's any way to make a useful fuel efficient highway vehicle out of those. Chop the top like 2ft, add overdrive and some kind of streamlined nose? I'm sure you have something interesting in mind. Is it the 4bt engine?
Praise the lowered
It would take a pretty twisted person to do a chop top on a grumman.
549811114ad838aee00f7e9c11fbf626.jpg
With a section and a Winfield fade paint job it might be pretty cool, though.
MORΩN ΛABIA
BMW CCA Member
Chop top would utterly defeat the purpose. The body's aluminum but the frame is steel, and surface rusty but intact. It has a Ford 300 gasser, gets 7.5mpg doing 60, 10.3 doing 50.
Member
Is this for utility or some neat project?Originally Posted by moroza
Funny about the mileage, I guess punching that big a hole in the atmosphere requires some energy. I have some experience with E150s having the 300 six, friggin' bullet proof motor. The throttle was merely an on off switch with them, needed pretty much full bore to get moving with any sort of load in them. These things took a beating and then some.
The only time one actually "broke" was when a heavy, poorly secured load broke loose on emergency braking and crashed through the dog house taking a big chunk of the cylinder head with it.
Last edited by ross1; 05-31-2016 at 02:56 PM.
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
MORΩN ΛABIA
BMW CCA Member
It's for a doomsday device. Alibaba couldn't supply flux capacitors small enough, so I need at least 6'8" interior room for this nefarious purpose.
I think the gearing is 4.56 with a 1:1 top gear. The throttle linkage developed a jam halfway through the drive and wouldn't go past about 40%, but it seemed to move just fine. Actually, not much other than more noise seemed to happen between 40% and 100%...
That must've been quite a load to take a chunk of cast iron cylinder head!
Straight-six, iron head, iron block, timing gears, hydraulic lifters, starts faster than most modern engines, diesel-like torque (peak is 1600, redline is 3000), parts availability ubiquitous... I really like everything about this engine except how much gas it sucks, though as pointed out, punching that brick through the air with early 70's truck technology is no trivial matter. I'm sure a comparable V8 wouldn't even do 10mpg at any speed. It reminds me a bit of the M30 in my first BMW. I miss having a six...
Last edited by moroza; 06-04-2016 at 05:44 PM.
Member
It's for a doomsday device. Alibaba couldn't supply flux capacitors small enough, so I need at least 6'8" interior room for this nefarious purpose.
I think the gearing is 4.56 with a 1:1 top gear. The throttle linkage developed a jam halfway through the drive and wouldn't go past about 40%, but it seemed to move just fine. Actually, not much other than more noise seemed to happen between 40% and 100%...
That must've been quite a load to take a chunk of cast iron cylinder head!
Straight-six, iron head, iron block, timing gears, hydraulic lifters, starts faster than most modern engines, diesel-like torque (peak is 1600, redline is 3000), parts availability ubiquitous... I really like everything about this engine except how much gas it sucks, though as pointed out, punching that brick through the air with early 70's truck technology is no trivial matter. I'm sure a comparable V8 wouldn't even do 10mpg at any speed. It reminds me a bit of the M30 in my first BMW. I miss having a six...
It was a shaft for a power plant turbine to be hard chromed, maybe a 15" or so in diameter and nearly as long as the van. It was waay more weight than that van should have carried. The van's floor was covered in plywood and some 2x blocks were nailed down to "hold" the load. Driver's right foot nearly got it too.
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
MORΩN ΛABIA
BMW CCA Member
An ~18'-long 15"-wide shaft? That sounds like more weight than the van itself. More interestingly, how the hell did anyone get it in?
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