Hi,

First time here and wanted to say Hi and see if I can get a few questions answered.

Based in New Zealand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealandand just bought a 1989 B250 360ci Day Camper as a project. The original conversion was done by Competition Vans out of Gardena CA.





No idea what my master plan is yet but want to start with a good tidy up. Some of the first questions are...
1. Where is the best place to source parts online for it? I have a long shopping list.
2. Wanting to update to full electronic ignition. Anyone have advice?
3. Do these have LSD installed from the factory?
4. Is there anywhere to go and find more of its history before it left the USA?
5. Any idea where I can get Owners Manuals and Parts lists from?
6. Does anyone know what happened to Competition vans and if there is an owners group for these or in general I can join?

Thanks for your time and if I need to spilt these up I am happy to do so.

Thanks
Aaron

 

Hello.

I once spent 9 months touring your country in a 1982 Nissan c-20 van.

A 1989 dodge, if still stock, has throttle body fuel injection, and the spark timing is controlled by the engine computer, so if you van is stock, the best thing you can do for the ignition is a new brass cap and rotor, new wires and the correct spark plugs. The Stock coil is plenty.

Rockauto.com is one of our bigger online suppliers and I know they will ship internationally.

The owners manual is not really very helpful, especially when another company has done the conversion. A 1989 factory service manual is a great book to have and are available on Ebay motors, but I am not sure about international shipping. The haynes and chilton manuals are OK but they spread a lot of years and there is lots of information not relevant to your year, and this can confuse.

The VIN number plate on the dashboard can tell you a lot about what came originally on the Van. LSD's were an option, but I dont think they were an oft chosen option. Jack up both rear wheels. Spin one of them. If the other wheel spins opposite direction, it is not an LSD axle.

You likely have the 8 3/8 chrysler axle, but it is possible to have the 9.25 whose coverplate is more a hexagonal shape with 12 bolt holes.

I also have an '89 and am extremely familiar with all of the stock systems from chrysler, but the rear conversions all vary slightly, and all these Van conversion companies dissolved long ago.

This forum is more repair oriented, the Van enthusiast forum to visit and join is:

http://www.vanning.com/threads/ubbth...tivetopics/7/1
Lots of Dodge owners there, but they prefer to be called vanners rather than van owners.l

 

You are correct, rockauto.com does ship internationally. It's not cheap to do so, but if you need the part, you need the part.

 

Welcome aboard! Thats a neat looking van.

 

Hope you enjoyed your time here and we were welcoming.

Thanks for all the advice. I have ordered a shiny new Chrysler service manual of eBay and sourced some parts from there also. Will contact Rock Auto about a couple of things I cannot find.

Also I meant to clarify I am after doing EFI not just electronic ignition. Something along the lines of the Edelbrock solution and wondered if anyone has had the chance to try this (or something similar) out.

Where would I go to check out the details hidden in the VIN? I have tried the one in the forums here (how I found you guys) but no depth of detail in there.

Will check out the Vanning forum also.

Cheers again.

 

Use this link.

http://www.dodge.com/webselfservice/...ull&category=U

In the description put "build sheet". They usually respond within 24 hours.

 

Awesome thanks will try that.

 

NZ was very friendly to me, however I think you all drive like lunatics, and have become immune the the immense natural beauty of your land, to which I almost did too, after 9 months driving around both islands.

Has your Van been stripped of all its sensors and a carb installed in place of the stock throttle body fuel injection?

The LA318 is no powerhouse, and few people over here bother trying to get more power out of them, instead going for the 360 option and building upon those instead.

If your van still has the original TBI fuel injection, then upgrading to electronic ignition and edelbrock fuel injection will drain your wallet for no increase in power or economy. With the general lack of flat straight roads in NZ, and the weight of these Vans, your fuel economy will always be poor.

Some say the TBI system is problem prone. In 14 years of ownership I've had one injector fail, but there have been issues with the fuel injector driver circuit due to failed connectors and solder connections on the engine computer circuit board, and I think this is where the bad reputation lies, which is the fault of the dang 14 way connectors design.

Anyway, RockAuto has some very cheap/ poorly made parts listed, which might not be worth the price of shipping them to NZ. Seems that most Aftermarket parts are designed to last 1 day past the warranty. I just replaced my 5th master cylinder yesterday. My failed unit was a new MC, not remanufactured, from a well known brake manufacturer with a respectable name, but they moved production to Asia, like everyone else and quality has taken a huge dump as they all seem to be riding on their formerly good reputations in the name of maximum profit now.

Baby needs a new diamond....