1997 dodge 3500

[Justanotherman]

Good day folks. I picked up this van! It was flooded so the whole interior will need to be redone and the drive train as well. Any suggestions/advice is greatly appreciated!! (My first dodge, my first van) I know I have a lot to learn but really excited about it, yet I’m not sure if I’ll keep her or keep the top and sell the rest.

[carringb]

Ooof… full new interior and drivetrain?

That leave you with a body and front suspension…. Are you sure it’s worth it? You probably can’t even get replacement wiring harnesses for that van anymore.

You might be $ and time ahead if you swap the windows and pop top to a running cargo-van, and starting your build from there.

[Justanotherman]

The new interior doesn’t bother me as I would want to change the vibe/style either way. Now the drive train I have no clue … and also I keep hearing about wire hardness issues. Again this is my first Dodge so not sure how that will go. For those of you with Dodge Van experience, what would fixing the drive train cost?

[motovan_mn]

Originally Posted by Justanotherman

The new interior doesn’t bother me as I would want to change the vibe/style either way. Now the drive train I have no clue … and also I keep hearing about wire hardness issues. Again this is my first Dodge so not sure how that will go. For those of you with Dodge Van experience, what would fixing the drive train cost?

That's a pretty vague question. What is wrong with the drive train? What specific parts are you referring to when you say "drive train?"

[Justanotherman]

I haven’t really got into checking everything, but the motor and transmission stick show water in them. I will pull sparkplugs drain the fluids and go from there. I guess the question would be, what would the cost of rebuilding the engine and transmission be? The body is in great shape! No rust and that makes me want to keep fix her but I don’t want a money pit either.

[Pntyrmvr]

Better off to find another 96-97 van and pull the drivetrain if the body is that exceptional.

Lot of work for a low value van.

And I own 6 Dodge vans.

[Justanotherman]

Originally Posted by Pntyrmvr

Better off to find another 96-97 van and pull the drivetrain if the body is that exceptional.

Lot of work for a low value van.

And I own 6 Dodge vans.

I appreciate all inputs.
I’m glad I technically bought the van for the top and anything else is just extra!!
Why are dodge vans lower in value compared to others?

[carringb]

Dodge vans aren’t worth near as much for several reasons:

-Dodge abandoned the platform, because it would have been too expensive to re-engineer it for modern crash requirements. It was also the last platform using the Magnum motors, and the newer V8s wouldn’t fit.

-Its unibody, so you can’t just swap most body panels in cases of damage of bad rust.

-It wasn’t as competitive power or capacity wise, near the end of its life, compared to the Ford and Chevy offerings.

-Parts support from Chrysler basically got axed during the various corporate ownership changes and associated cost reduction programs. If a part wasn’t also used in another of their vehicles, they stopped making it.

-There probably isn’t enough Dodge vans left for a 3rd party to get into manufacturing working harnesses. PCMs and ignition control modules for earlier years don’t exist anymore either.

Bring unibody also made 4x4 conversions a little trickier, and therefore less common, than the body-on-frame competitors. I think Salem-Kroger was the last one who offered it, prior to pivoting to all Sprinter conversions.

[Orv]

Jack up the top, and slide another van under it.

[billwilson]

Originally Posted by Orv

Jack up the top, and slide another van under it.

Ouch

prob true though