Polar Bear 1

[Ford_6L_E350]

I have to agree with Jage. The mount doesn't look like it sits level on the body puck or the frame. You may not have to get one from a junkyard, just cut yours off , grind the weld off it and bolt it properly in place.

Mike

[Zaskoda]

Time to spend some money. My van is sitting in a professional shop this weekend.



First up is the brake issue. They just weren't working so great. I noticed this mostly on ice. I was about to lay down cash for oversized vented rotors when I made a discovery. If I put the van in neutral, it stopped easily. Turns out, my rear brakes weren't fully engaging so I was getting a bit of push from the rear wheels. After an inspection, one brake was out of adjustment. Additionally, the van has some system that limits rear braking power based on load. We disabled this and I now have full braking power all of the time. Whew...



So the brakes aren't what's costing me. I'm having the transfer case rebuilt, front drive shaft rebuilt, and the transmission replaced. The transmission was in great shape, but it had a very aggressive shift kit installed. Given the extensive damage on the drivetrain, I suspect the shift kit is, at least partially, to blame. Good Bye shift kit:



Turns out my transfer case was actually in pretty good shape and mostly just needed new seals.



I'm also having some work done on the steering. A component that links the steering column to the steering box was worn. This is being replaced with a new component. I also had issues with the blinker control and gear shifter. I pulled an entire steering column from the junk yard and am having them swapped out while they're replacing the other piece.

Finally, I'm having the A/C checked out. The coolant was very low. They didn't find any obvious leaks but have put in some die hoping to see where it might be leaking. After only hitting the mid 60's on a sunny day here in Colorado, I'm thinking I'll appreciate some air conditioning.

I can't wait until they finish up so I can get my hands back on her.

[Zaskoda]

My new radio came in today:



But I can't install it until I get my van back from the shop. The transfer case rebuild has been held up this entire time by one little part that cost less than a buck. I called and checked up today, they finally sourced all the parts and have everything in route. They should be able to begin work on the rebuild by Friday. Hopefully I'll have my van back by next week...

Meanwhile...

[bettyford]

I love a big radio that way the squeaks do drive me nuts.


Ron

[Zaskoda]

Still waiting on Polar Bear to come out of the shop.... eagerly waiting. Last I heard, they should be able to start the rebuild in the morning. Meanwhile, I found some gray Astro Van seats on Craig's List. Tonight I got about halfway through attaching them to the rotating seat base I picked up at the junk yard the other day.

[WVvan]

Hey Zaskoda,
How did you attach the seat to the stand. I can see from the pictures you fab'ed something.
I have the same issue. Except I got my seat from here instead of craigslist:

I got the one without the dead critter on it.

[Zaskoda]

The square tubing you see attached to the seat came from the hardware store. It was the heaviest weight they had. Here's the basic shape:

||       ||
|=========|
||       ||
||       ||
||       ||
||       ||
|=========|
||       ||

I haven't finished yet, but the plan is:
- Attach to runners to the bottom of the seat running front to back.
- Attach to runners on the sliding partion of the seat base running side to side.
- Attach the bars together with a grade 8 bolt where they intersect.

In the pic, you can see where I cut the ends at an angle so I could reach the bolts to attach the bars to the seat itself. I'm doing it a lot like this guy did:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/s ... 228&page=9

Where he is using wood, I decided to use metal. Where he used a piece of flat metal, I'm using more metal tubing. I only want the passenger seat to be on a swivel. With two pieces of metal tubing, it brings the seat to the right height to match the driver's seat platform.

One concern is that I might end up with some "play" where the metal bars meet and criss cross. My plan here is to:
- Paint the metal bars with plastic coat. I want to paint them anyway, and I figured the plastic coat would create more friction and keep everything a touch more solid.
- If there's any play at all, I can take a piece of metal tubing exactly as long as twice the width of the pipe. I can bolt this into one or more corners creating a reinforced joint.
- If all else fails, get access to a welder - which I wanna do anyway - and tack the two pieces of tubing together.

By the way, what was that? Racoon?

[Ed in Montana]

Dang, you are doing a lot of good work!

Makes me tired just reading this.....

[WVvan]

By the way, what was that? Racoon?

I'm curious myself but have no idea.

[Zaskoda]

Originally Posted by WVvan

I'm curious myself but have no idea.

Some good stain remover and some elbow grease and that seat will clean up nicely...

Tonight I did all I could do until I get the van back. I didn't drill the holes to connect the final bolts because I want to see if the seat will feel better shifted left or right in the van.



So far it's more solid than I expected and I haven't tightened any of the bolts down as I want to put a coat of paint on it before doing the final installation. I did make one measuring mistake and drilled a set of holes I didn't need. I was off by one inch. I felt pretty sloppy about it, but it was easy enough to fix.