New member - Adelaide

[blueskyvan]

Hi,

I have got a 1985 Van, it needs work to get it up to derivable condition again.

It was given to me, the previous owner just had enough use of it, had I not taken the offer it would have been sold for scrap.

Current work;

Head, removed, had blown gasket,

Fitting all new valves, crack test and face head etc etc.

Has LPG, but the system will be removed and will run on petrol after the current full tank of LPG is used up.

Reasons: the economics no longer stack up to run on LPG and I don't want to add more expense to have correct valves to suit.

The LPG tank takes up space in van compartment behind the front seats.

I don't understand why the price of LPG has to be so high.

The main item/repair job also is the steering rod shaft that slides onto the steering box. That small u-joint is so worn it was a matter of time it may have literally broken off.

It's getting fixed before anything else or before it's lowered from jack stands.

The van generally has been neglected as far as the body is concerned, hope to find some back yarder in Adelaide to give it a one time mat-black or blue undercoat spray just to remove the eye-saw, nothing fancy is required.

Has 4 brand new tires, the alloy head is in new condition, meaning the previous owner did the right thing and used coolant through out the 15 years he owned it.

Not a spot of corrosion.

Has 5 Speed column.

Aluminium bull bar, but he was once hit from behind, hit the car in front and has some minor dents.

I have since removed the bull bar so I can get to the linkages to remove the steering column.

When I took the head off, the condition of the bore was very good, meaning there was no ridge.

But I am now not sure if I ought to do the rings and bearings while the head is off.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I need tail light lens, left and right, hard to find at wreckers lately.

The van will be used for getting around doing odd jobs. I don't intend making it into a camper van, far too much work, but I would like to insulate the inside of the van and hope to install a kik-azz stereo system, although it's not a priority.

I have worked on cars since the late 60's, so I do know the difference between a left and right handed screwdriver, <grin>

Thanks for being here, I might have questions or I may not, but I really want to get this thing safely back on the road and cruize between Victor Harbor in the South and around Clare in the North.

Cheers