Step one. Bought the van.
Hello Everybody, First post. I camp a lot in tents but after spending three days straight in a tent in the rain at Dolly Sods I swore I'd make a change. Here it is. Bought it Wednesday. Dro...
Forum Discussion
I interrupt this project for a little mechanical update. So I'm driving to Lowe's to get a sheet of Formica for the next project when the van starts running rough. The ScanGauge shows error codes P0303 and P0304 which means misfiring on cylinders #3 and #4. In checking the engine I find the spark plug wire for cylinder #4 is just hanging.
The part of the plug wire that grips the spark plug had broken off.
Nothing a new set of plug wires couldn't fix.
The #3 misfire code was probably caused by the #4. The engine is a 4.2L 6 cylinder and I was surprised how well it ran on only 5 cylinders. The last time I lost a cylinder like that was on my first car, a 6 cylinder AMC (green colored) Hornet. No fuel injection back then and it ran a heck of a lot rougher on only 5. At the time I didn't think I could get it back home.
Windshield Cover continued -
With the window cover in place there is still a gap on each side. Need to fix that.
This is the plastic trim cover for the "A" pillar passenger side. Use epoxy to glue three rare earth magnets to the back side of the cover. The magnets came from old computer hard drives.
It was easy to hold the magnets in place while the epoxy set up by putting washers on the opposite side of the plastic trim.
Do the same to the driver's side trim piece.
See where the washer lines up to on the cover.
Hand stitch the washer to the front of the cover.
As I'm sitting in the van sewing on the washers I was under supervision.
After sewing on the three washers the magnets now hold the window cover tight enough to the trim piece to block out light.
Use the sewing machine to hem this edge of the window cover.
Do the same to the passenger side edge of the window cover.
OK, that's the finish of the windshield cover. It came out pretty sweet. Goes up real easy and comes down with just a tug.
When not being used the window cover can easily be folded up small enough to fit in a plastic shopping bag.
When doing all this work on the inside of the windshield I began rethinking the shelf I'd bought from JC Whitney. Here's a picture from their web site.
The idea was to increase storage space in the front of the van. It works OK but it does restrict your upper vision through the front window. Having used it for a couple years I've come up with a better storage solution. A zippered tool bag from Harbor Freight. It has more storage space, is a lot cheaper and will fit just fine under the drivers seat.
Something else to add to the parts pile.
The part of the plug wire that grips the spark plug had broken off.
Nothing a new set of plug wires couldn't fix.
The #3 misfire code was probably caused by the #4. The engine is a 4.2L 6 cylinder and I was surprised how well it ran on only 5 cylinders. The last time I lost a cylinder like that was on my first car, a 6 cylinder AMC (green colored) Hornet. No fuel injection back then and it ran a heck of a lot rougher on only 5. At the time I didn't think I could get it back home.
Windshield Cover continued -
With the window cover in place there is still a gap on each side. Need to fix that.
This is the plastic trim cover for the "A" pillar passenger side. Use epoxy to glue three rare earth magnets to the back side of the cover. The magnets came from old computer hard drives.
It was easy to hold the magnets in place while the epoxy set up by putting washers on the opposite side of the plastic trim.
Do the same to the driver's side trim piece.
See where the washer lines up to on the cover.
Hand stitch the washer to the front of the cover.
As I'm sitting in the van sewing on the washers I was under supervision.
After sewing on the three washers the magnets now hold the window cover tight enough to the trim piece to block out light.
Use the sewing machine to hem this edge of the window cover.
Do the same to the passenger side edge of the window cover.
OK, that's the finish of the windshield cover. It came out pretty sweet. Goes up real easy and comes down with just a tug.
When not being used the window cover can easily be folded up small enough to fit in a plastic shopping bag.
When doing all this work on the inside of the windshield I began rethinking the shelf I'd bought from JC Whitney. Here's a picture from their web site.
The idea was to increase storage space in the front of the van. It works OK but it does restrict your upper vision through the front window. Having used it for a couple years I've come up with a better storage solution. A zippered tool bag from Harbor Freight. It has more storage space, is a lot cheaper and will fit just fine under the drivers seat.
Something else to add to the parts pile.
