1965 Dodge A108

[DozerII]

Wow that looks like a ton of work. [cl[cl[P[P

 

[falconvan]

These went pretty fast; the back will be time consuming; lots to fix. I started to question my sanity in saving this thing until I started watching some videos on the volume of rust repair the VW guys go through to save VW vans. There’s no such thing as “too rusty to save” when it comes to those things.

 

[falconvan]

This is really ugly; might as well get the worst over with. Heading to Florida to see my grandkids for a few days so no more car work until next week.

 

[serrata]

You're doing a great job so far. Eat that elephant one bite at a time. It's getting there...

 

[smallfoot]

This is really ugly; might as well get the worst over with. Heading to Florida to see my grandkids for a few days so no more car work until next week.

It'll buff right out...

 

[falconvan]

Back from Florida today and started the surgery, looks like the heavier structural parts are in decent shape so it shouldn’t be too terrible to heal.

 

[earthman]

............[P

 

[Old Iron]

[P[P[P

 

[falconvan]

The piece that supported the back of the leaf spring was pretty thin on this side. Luckily the frame rail is solid. So I needed some heavy sheet metal to rebuild this piece and I had just had some VFDs for some 75hp chilled water pumps changed at work. The old VFD cabinets are really heavy gauge steel so I saved one from the dumpster and am using pieces of it to rebuild the spring support. Can’t beat the price and it’s twice as thick as the original bracket.

 

[joedoh]

I like the slammed picture but I can only imagine where that tire is on the driver

nice repair work!

 

[falconvan]

I like the slammed picture but I can only imagine where that tire is on the driver

nice repair work!

I do, too. I'd like to build something with bags one of these days but this one is pretty much going to stay a stocker.

 

[falconvan]

Closing in on finishing this corner, just need to rebuild the structure for the lower door hinge. I cut this corner out of another van; it’ll need a little massaging but it’s workable.

 

[falconvan]

I got the support post rebuilt today with some 2” x 3” tubing and got the corner tacked on. Now to do a little repair work on the corner, patch the rear floor on this side, then do the other corner. This side was the worst; happy to reach this point.

 

[jfg455]

Dang it Pat! I take a slight hiatus from the RRR and you are already cranking through another build!

Van is looking good! makes me want to find a Grumman bread van and lower it [P

 

[falconvan]

Dang it Pat! I take a slight hiatus from the RRR and you are already cranking through another build!

Van is looking good! makes me want to find a Grumman bread van and lower it [P

Hey John, glad to see you’re still around. Those old stepvans are really cool; I looked around for one before I settled on this. Couldn’t find anything close to me in my price range. The guy on Full Custom Garage did a Metro a few years back and dropped it on an 88 Chevy truck chassis; came out pretty nice.

 

[falconvan]

I got the corner fixed up along with patching the floor, fixing the panel that goes over the fuel filler tube, and sealing the surface rust on the backside with some POR-15. Next step is replace the drivers side rocker panel and do some repairs the the front of the leaf spring mount. Then all the metal work on this side is done.

 

[bob w]

Lotsa rust repair even on the good ones. You are doing a great job.

 

[falconvan]

Thanks, Bob. This thing has definitely been a challenge. I cut the rocker out today and drilled out the spot welds on the spring support so I could build another one. I can’t believe this was holding the spring up; there’s nothing left of it. Luckily the frame and the inner rocker was solid so I built a new support from 1/4” plate. Maybe a little overkill but I had plenty of 1/4” so I used it. Found this stamp on the frame when I cut the old bracket off; pretty cool.

 

[Bamamav]

Weirton Steel Co, Weirton WV. I've hauled steel coils out of there before!

 

[falconvan]

Weirton Steel Co, Weirton WV. I've hauled steel coils out of there before!

Cool; glad they are still in business! I guess they sold unibody frame rail stamping to Mopar in 65.