I just got a 1977 Dodge Tradesman 200 Van with a 400 V8 Big Block and Van Man Custom Interior. I am going to restore it and I am looking for any kind of info I can get including owners manual, brochures, etc...if you can help, or have some info on the van or the 400 engine, please email me at: 77vanman@verizon.net</P>


I would also like to hear from other 70's Classic Van Owners!</P>


You can check the van out at my cardomain page: http://www.cardomain.com/id/77vanman</P>

 

Ah the old dodge vans. My dad has a 74 B200 sportsman with a 360, I have to 77's both B200's one a shortwheel base with a 318, and the other is a long wheelbase non maxi with a 400 also. Mine are both tradesman vans. Nice van ya got there. As for manuals try http://www.moparmanuals.com/mopar/main/home.asp This is were we got our 70 Challenger manual.</P>


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WOW!! That is the cleanest Van I've ever seen!! BEAUTIFUL!!

~Amanda

 

thats a pretty wicked van, very clean

 

I just spotted this site as well. 77vanman did you get a manual?If not I may be able to scan mine and e-mail it to you.
S.P.
My 77 can be seen at http://members.cardomain.com/shningy

 

Hey S.P. Glad you found this site...not much classic van action here though! All the van action is at www.vannin.com

I am cool on my manual...I bought one from ebay a while back.

See ya at vannin.com

77vanman

 

Very interesting.........We have a 78 Tradesman-200 w/a 318 it's all original except for the wheels & tires..........this van was purchased by us, used from Bolles Dodge in Ellington Ct. , we picked it up in 1995 w/69,000 original miles.........after owning it for a while, i found the build sheet,hidden under 26 yrs. worth of road grease on the underside of the hood & upon reading it i was amazed to see that EVERYTHING on & In the van came from the factory that way.........it has a custom "button tuck" & carpeted interior, 3 sunroof's ,factory tach, etc............the build sheet says "custom deluxe Vinyl interior".......& it even list's the corny tape stripes as " White Accent Stripes"............we really enjoy our "Luv Machine",_______5TOEZ_______here's a few pic's..........P.S. If ANYBODY out here has any info on this van, i'd really appreaciate it, cause the people whom we bought it from knew jack **** about it...........in fact they couldn't WAIT till we got it off thier lot.

[IMG]local://upfiles/2523/4191E3E3974F451D97C2787E68A2E6E8.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/2523/AA7C0BF90F5A46E697C1275E37E99201.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/2523/8E9ECC4C18D54D109F4C2A9E522B1073.jpg[/IMG]

 

That's a beauty. I'm not exactly sure about yours but i believe mine is also a factory custom as far as the bucket seats anyways. Mine also has a fully carpeted interior. with a "U" shaped seat & table that drops down to make the bed in the back. Yours looks very good with those rims and tires though, nice choice.

 

Hi, cool site and cool vans. I myself am a very proud owner of a 77 tradesman300 one ton camper van. Im the second owner and bought it from a estate of a pro swimmer who sported it when it was new.

Its a 360-2 727 dana 4:10 harvest yellow and is as close to unrestored mint as ive seen or found. It has 107k miles which 95k were put on it before 82.

I bought the van and it still had the org water pump which also meant to org tim-gear set but drove it the 2500 miles to my home.

The motor seemed strong but did smoke a bit and at one point I heard a little rod bearing rattle on a warm startup. So I decided to pull it apart and god, as we all know about the great penstar alu-plastic upper time-set gear I almost sh-t. I could of got it to jump a tooth with my fingers.

So upon inspection it has turned out its in great shape but simply the wearable parts need replaced.

I go to the machine shop this afternoon to pick up my block crank and heads and hell yes im told the crank only needed a light polish and the block just needed honed. So im very pleased to have all standard sizes however I sprung for new std size slugs just for kicks.

Between ebay for parts.....oem cam 5 bucks, rings 17 bucks, felprogasket kit 35 bucks....ect my est cost when done will be under 7 bills for a totally fresh 360.

This old swimmer owner who bought the van new also at the same time bought a mopar dealer maunal and kept a record and a history from day one including a burnt valve replaced under warrenty.

As with the stored old muscle mopars this still has all the paint markings and marks from the assembly line underneath for those who might really be restoring one Id take all the pics needed.

All ive done so far other than the motor work that is in progress on the 360 is sand blast the matching 77 date coded 16.5 rims for a repaint and also the rear bumper.

Im looking for ways to get more than the 10 mpg it seems to want to get, it had its second set of bias ply tires when I bought it and replaced them with rads for the trip back but still 10 mpg with the 4:10 gears.

I love this van, its almost too sweet to drive but im a traveler in alot of ways so I must.

The current pics I have are like 888 kb and no site seems to want to let me post them.......due to size.

Id really like to network with other tradesmen owners and get help and try to help others...so feel free to contact me or email me at yellowsub1977@yahoo.com....thnaks and I will try some how to get some pics up or email some.....peace....Matt.

 

I'd like to see your van, it sounds nice, the first one my dad and I customized was a 78 maxi. Your van must rev high on the highway with the 4:11's if you travel a lot you may want to go to a higher set 3:55 or 3:23's. Also the 360's are a notorious gas guzzler. I replaced my 2bbl with a rochester quadrajet on my 318 and my highway milage improved, as long as I don't dip into the secondaries to much. The primaries on the 4bbl are smaller than the 2bbl.