Hello. I've been looking for a second van. I own a 98 Chevy Express conversion van but can't haul much in it due to the seats. So I was looking for a cheap cargo van.

I think I found one that meets my expectations. Crazy as it sounds but this van looks too good for what I was going to use it for but the price is right.

https://tricities.craigslist.org/cto/d/midway-2001-dodge-ram-1500-van-custom/7009550745.html

Im going to go look at it Friday. The guy told me the engine blew a headgasket and ever since then it makes this rattling sound. He says it's externally . It doesn't do it under load just when he lets off the gas at a certain rpm.

My guess is either the mechanic bent a heat shield or something when trying to remove the heads or the cat converter has "Chernobyled" when the antifreeze went into the exhaust. He said oil entered the cooling system but not the oil. And blew out externally. Something about a piece on the radiator broke and he lost coolant and the engine overheated before he realized it.

He also noted that when the van sits for awhile it runs a bit rough until it warms up. But runs OK if driven daily. I read the map sensors on these vans can cause this. He thinks it's because the van sat for seven months waiting to be repaired and the E10 gas has attracted water in the meantime.

He said he put a new muffler on it but that didn't fix the rattle.

I figure if the motor blows up a year from now I'm not out any big money and $1500 is worth taking a chance on .

Any ideas on this?

BTW. I'd like to put a 5 speed in it from a 3.9 Dakota since this is going to be my personal vehicle. Is this even possible? The transmission would be straight forward as long as the crankshaft would accept a pilot bearing (Dodge didn't use a transmission specific crankshaft?). The pedal assembly is what concerns me. Would a pedal assembly from a Dodge Dakota or full size pickup bolt up the the firewall?

Gotta take into account the computer. I've heard when swapping transmissions this can confuse the ECU if it gets no feedback from the transmission.

 

For the price, I think it looks really good. I agree with you on the rattle.

As for the manual trans swap...... Did the vans ever actually come with a manual trans??

 

Wikipedia is saying this van could have come a 5 speed but not sure when they stopped. NADA says this van in 2001 could have come with either a 3 speed or 4 speed automatic and doesn't give a 5 speed as being an option. Edmunds says the 2000 could have come with a 5 speed. I'd think somewhere around that time was when they dropped the 5 speed "option".

Here's an 83 model with a stick shift:

https://barnfinds.com/stick-shift-sh...dodge-ram-van/

Rather than source down parts from an actual B-series van, I figured it would be easier to find what I needed from a truck.

I would imagine since the Dakota and this van used the same Magnum 3.9 liter engine, a 5 speed from a Dakota pickup should bolt right up. The driveshaft may need to be shortened or lengthened but there is a shop in town called Fleet Pride that specializes in driveshafts. I had them repair the driveshaft on my 68 Ford Fairlane. They specialize in heavy duty trucks but will work on a driveshaft from anything. I'd need the Dakota driveshaft since the front section from the automatic transmission would probably not mate up. I could also have two driveshafts mated together if necessary.

The shifter might require some bending so it wouldn't conflict with the doghouse.

Transmission mount. I might just have to fabricate my own. No big deal on that.

I've been trying to figure out what parts from this van will interchange with a Dodge truck.

From what I've read the B-series van and the full size D-series truck shared the same chassis. But when Chrysler redesigned their trucks in 1994, did they redesign the chassis and all or just the body?
If the new trucks was an entirely new vehicle, then my guess would be I'd need to look for a pedal assembly from a pre-1994 D-series pickup truck instead of an actual 2001 full size truck or Dakota.

 

I wouldn't expect much to interchange between the van, and the trucks, but, I haven't looked in to it either. However, if the 2000 van was actually offered with a manual trans, I would bet good money that those parts would bolt right in, and work right. Check out car-part.com, and do a search for any manual trans part from a van, then call the place, and tell 'em what you want. What manual trans did dodge put in the vans in 2000?? I wouldn't expect the NV3500 (for instance) to last long in a van....... Just too much weight to sling around. But, they DID come in half ton trucks as well, so, ya never know.

 

Another look at Wikipedia says the 2nd gen could come in a 5 speed but not the 3rd gen. So it appears 1993 was the last year a 5 speed was available. Same year Chrysler replaced the D-series pickup with the new RAM truck.

If I could find a good photo of a manual pedal assembly from a D-series pickup I could probably tell just by looking at it if it would bolt up to the van.

I'm going to look at this van today, hopefully. I hope it meets my expectations.

 

Just saw a 3.9 van with a manual transmission in the local pick a part about 3 weeks ago. !

shifter is realy long comes up and goes forward towards driver so you are shifting sort of up and down which transfers to forward and backward at trans

i was looking for interior parts and noticed the extra pedal under the dash!!

something you don’t see every day

 

Bummer. I live in East Tennessee. To far for me to drive. I'd snag the parts off it.

The pedal assembly would probably be the golden egg of this project. I can find a 5 speed transmission from a 3.9 Dakota easily. Fleet pride could shorten or lengthen the driveshaft and fabricating a transmission mount shouldn't be an issue.

I'm not sure if the pedal assembly from a pre 93 Ram truck or Dakota would interchange. All the Dodge pedal assemblies I've seen on Ebay look nothing like the one on my van. Best I can tell the brake pedal is mounted in a small square box with four bolts holding to a the firewall. All the Dodge pedal assemblies I've seen one Ebay (using for reference) have these upper sections.



The one pictured above is from a Dakota. Below is a drawing of what the brake pedal bracket is supposed to look like on my van.




I could just use a Dodge clutch and brake pedal from a truck and a longer bolt.

What would be nice is to see photos of how this system is actually mounted.

Another idea is to use one of these Wilwood floor mounted clutch pedals but I'd think the clutch pedal operation would be more awkward than the shifter!




https://www.wilwood.com/pedals/Pedal...20Pedal%20Kits

 

Well that’s the fun with custom vehicles. Finding and getting stuff to work.

just check out my project vehicle, some pics are on this site but most are on its own Facebook page. Terminal defiance

 

I checked it out. Sweet! There was a Chevrolet G-series school bus for sale in my town I considered buying and turning into a camper but my wife doesn't like to camp. She's more of a hotel type of person.

Before I was married, I built a few turbo systems. The first one was for my Fiat 124 Spider. The first system used a large (one size fits all) Rayjay turbo. I later built another one using a smaller Garrett T3 from a Volvo then my "crowning achievement" was to build a sleeper. I started out with a $200 Yugo, dropped a 1500 Fiat X 1/9 engine in it which bolts right in. Just a larger displacement but requires mix and matching allot of parts (like the oil pan and pump for instant) since the engine sits at a 22 degree angle in the Yugo and level in the X 1/9. The largest engine Yugo used was a 1300 and that was only for the US and German markets. Then used a T25 from a Saab 9000. I've never dynoed the car but just from doing the math the HP increased from 55 from the stock 1100 engine to 110 to 115 with the turbocharged 1500 engine. That may not sound all that impressive but the car weighs about 1800 lbs.

The main problem I ran into is traction. It doesn't have limited slip and I was running skinny tires so when I drop it into second and stomp the gas the tire just spins. Also the power feels like it's trying to twist the front end and the engine would rock violently between shifts. I built a strut tower brace and ordered these "skis" which helps strengthen the front end from a guy in Croatia and paid dealerly on the shipping.

My Yugo has made it onto the page of Jalopnik and Hagerty used it in their photos of top 10 worst cars of all time.

Last time I drove the car was about 4 years ago. As of last time, it needs front wheel bearings, tie rod ends and CV joint boots. I have just put it on the back burner. Too many projects going on at the moment.

I've never done a transmission swap (other than actually removing one to put in a new clutch). Last clutch I did was on a 2001 Neon this summer. Then the timing belt broke about 200 miles later and bent the valves. It's sitting behind my garage. I'm not sure what to do with the car because the body is roached out. But has no rust on it.

Word has it, you can use the transmission and bits to convert a circa 2000 Dodge Minivan to a stick. This may be a future project.

Here's some pics of my Yugo project:

https://s222.photobucket.com/user/tu...ry/Yugo?page=1

BTW, I think I found a "flame theme" for my Dodge using this old English Ford Transit as a guide.

 

isn't the biggest real issue with a manual swap in these vans getting a pcm/ecm for it? No one does programming / reflashing for these that I can find and you would be hard pressed to find a correct year pcm/ecm for a manual - especially if there wasn't one offered in the year your van was built...

I have a 1999 that I did a 4wd conversion on, and was ideally going to look for nv4500 to put in it, BUT the big open question was the ecm/pcm...

if you run across anyone that will do custom programming on these, let me know... The truck tuners are significantly different and no one I've contacted supports the vans...

lastly, as indicated above, pretty much nothing is interchangable between the trucks and vans...