Dodge B150 Shorty build

[frankieC55]

Hello Van Dwelling Community,

I am about to embark on my first van dwelling expedition this summer. I picked up a 1985 Dodge B150 shorty on craigslist in October. I am a new automotive technician student, and am just learning the ropes by trial and error with my new van. My girlfriend and I are going to drive it south from Chicago to New Orleans and then head to the West Coast through the south this summer. I then want to head up the coast, potentially to Alaska, and back East through Canada. I am a big railfan, and am planning to visit lots of museums and shortlines along the way. I am a very slow and fuel economy conscious driver and am planning to take it very easy along secondary highways.

My van is equipped with the infamously indestructable Chrysler 225 Slant Six coupled to a 4 speed Manual A833 Transmission. It has 142xxx miles on the recently broken Odometer, and at first I was somewhat apprehensive about driving long distances in a $900 30 year old van. I am feeling much more confident about her abilities now after bringing her to the class for a tune up. It turns out the old Slant Six has perfect compression in all six cylinders. After getting some fresh spark plugs, a new air filter, and a good carb’ cleaning she drove home better than ever. I have a Honda Civic that I daily drive and I usually bike to class; so the van will for the most part remain in the garage until I have her in tip top shape and am ready to head south for the Summer. I was pleasantly surprised at how light this van is. I put it on the scale when I used it to haul some scrap to the junkyard, and it only weighs in at around 3700 pounds.

I think I got a good deal on her. She came with fresh brakes, tires, and runs pretty good. I did have a problem with the shifter fork on the 3-4 linkage disconnecting as I was merging onto the highway a month or so ago. I had to limp her home in third gear, and likely burned the clutch quite a bit. Luckily it has a 3.90 axle ratio so I was able to get her home and into my parent’s garage all in third gear. It was an easy fix, I reattached the two  hanging linkage rods and tied a bicycle inner-tube around them to prevent them from disconnecting again. Once I repair the parking brake, speedometer cable, and turn signal switch; I have quite a few modifications planned.

I have about 8x5.5 feet to work with in the rear. The distance between the rear windows is just over 6 feet. I am thinking of putting my full sized mattress just below window level at the very rear of the van. I will need to relocate the spare tire to the outer rear door, as it is currently mounted inside behind the rear passenger side wheel well. I want to build a large pull out drawer underneath the bed. I am intalling a step bumper hitch on the front bumper of the van for my bike rack and a rear receiver for potential towing and a cargo rack. I also want to get a hitch mounted winch in case I am really feeling adventureous . Once the speedometer is functional again I also plan to add an aftermarket cruise control unit.

The bed will take up the rear four feet of the van. I plan to install a roof mounted ventilation fan above the bed. I want a small cooking area with a sink behind the driver’s seat.  We will probably cook with a hot plate. I will also build some kind of shelving or cabinets around there as well. I am thinking of using solar power on a small scale. I have not researched it much, but am pretty good with wiring. I would like to camp for extended periods in remote places and we plan to tent camp sometimes too. I was toying with the idea of flat towing my 5 speed civic behind us, but even with a 3.90 axle ratio, my van isn’t great at maintaining higher speeds when loaded down. So we will just bring road bikes instead. I would also like to maintain the maneuverability of my short wheelbase van and make use of the overdrive gear as much as possible.
 
That is about as far as I have gotten thought wise so far. Any thoughts and/or recommended reading would be greatly appreciated. I will keep you all posted as my project progresses.

 

[Almost There]

Congratulations on the van, it looks like it's in great shape.

Looks like you've got a great start on the mechanical end and once you're done with all the fixes, it's not really a 30 year old van anymore except on the registration...

A couple of suggestions for the interior are:

 Don't put the roof vent directly over the bed unless you're also installing a max air cover for it. Inevitably, sooner or later, it starts to rain when you're not around and you've left the vent open cause it was 'such a nice day'...end result...wet bedding! It will also work better for ventilating any cooking done in the 'kitchen' area if it's further forward.

 Instead of putting one very large drawer under the bed consider putting a drawer or two in the front half of the bed frame accessible from inside the van and leave the back half open from the rear. You'll find having clothing/bedding/supply storage in the drawers and open storage for all the random gear/water jugs/barbecue etc. etc works better than 1 super large drawer.

In regards to the cooking on a hotplate, if you're planning on a lot of dry camping outside of organized campgrounds with full hookups, you'd be better off planning on cooking on gas of some kind. The hotplate is going to take a whole lot more power than you're wanting to put in.

 

[Bdog1]

Cool van with stick and all.

Great advise so far. Agree with all. Use totes, easier and more flexible than fixed draws. Keep it light and nimble, that slant six will do you right.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

In 1999 I bought a 1989 Dodge B150 with the slant 6 from Cornell University for $825.  It was low mileage, but did have a little rust.  I couldn't get more than 14 mpg, but I lived in it for a few months.  With gas this cheap, and getting cheaper, mileage shouldn't be a big deal.  If I was you, I'd drive it some before taking a big trip, just to find out if it has problems that need attention.  Bob, the forum owner, can tell you all about Alaska.

 

[frankieC55]

Ah Right on,

That does makes sense. I do have an old camp stove that runs on coleman propane. Only one burner works, but yeah that would do nicely. Same with the vent, over the cooking area. On the note of driving it, so far I have driven it to SW Michigan a few times and it did fine. It was loaded to the gills both times too. It has a handful of other minor kinks that need ironing out. The power steering belt squeals alot at low speed, I topped the fluid off but still. It has some electrical gremlins, when i turn on the headlights, i can not control whether or not the hi-beams are on. Sometimes they are on, sometimes they are not, and sometimes only one side works while both bulbs on the other side work. But it starts right up even when the temps drop down close to 0.

 

[rvwandering]

 Welcome to the forums Frankie!

 You have a great trip planned but since you're going to be moving slowly on secondary roads you might have to skip going all the way to Alaska this time. It's a gorgeous state, well worth the drive, but it's so far away and you need at least a month in Alaska just to see the highlights. Wherever you do go have a wonderful time and keep us updated!

 Please check out the forum Tips and Tricks page.

 

[LeeRevell]

That shift linkage problem is a known issue with that vintage Dodge van. In my Navy days, we had two different Dodge vans with 225 slant six that did that. One did it when you went to reverse to back up, it would pop out. Then we'd lift the hood and pop it back in so we could go forwards. Irritating. The Fords we had later never did that.
That crosswise bed may get shorter, as you'll eventually want to add insulation, especially if headed north. I speak as a 6'4" guy though. I can't use a crosswise bed.
The van looks pretty good for it's age.

 

[SoulRaven]

I bought this same truck with just glass in the rear doors for $3750 brand new in 1980. It had manual steering and was a bear to drive and shift at the same time. The first day I had it the coil took a crap and needed to be towed back to the dealer and that was the only issue I had for 7 years when I traded it for a new Dodge long bed D-50 pickup.

It hauled a 1983 Suzuki GS1100E for many years to Bike Week in Fla and around the Northeast to drag strips were I was 1983 National #2 ProET in Dragbike!USA.

You will be lucky to get 16 mpg with a tail wind with the 1V carb engine.

 

[Vic.]

Nice find! I've got a fondness for the shortys.

Good luck with the trip.

 

[masterplumber]

Nice, I'd keep it as light as possible. Instead of a drawer under the bed, I'd just use Sterilite type containers that fill the space. much more efficient and lets you move things around as needed. Take a look at my trailer build I just posted in conversions. I think my chuck box with an ice chest under it would work well for a kitchen like you described. Have fun with it.