intro/build thread and our poorboy attempt at a campervan. - Page 2

my3kids · 11-28-2012, 10:36 AM

Yes. Email them with the VIN from your van. The Quigley folks are quite helpful in this regard. As originally converted they will match the front gears to what the rear gears are. After that and before arriving to you, who knows.

On my 06 Quigley the tank has been cut (to be smaller to make room for the transfer case). You may or may not have an aftermarket (usually larger) tank.

Hope this helps™,
Ray

shenrie · 11-28-2012, 11:06 AM

definitly a help, and email sent! thanks for the heads up. hopefully not too much has changed since thier work, but at least ill have a pretty good idea of what i have (or had at one point, lol).

jage · 11-30-2012, 09:11 PM

Have you considered a bettyford type salvage top?

Gnarvan · 12-01-2012, 04:04 AM

You should be able to get the gearing info by pulling the numbers off the rear diff. There is a lot of info available online on how to read the numbers to find out what the gear ratio is.

Since your van spent it's early life as a commercial vehicle I doubt if they went through the expense of changing the gears.

shenrie · 12-01-2012, 06:04 AM

jage, whats a betty ford type top? did a search and all that comes up is your post. tried a google search and a smb thread comes up, but doesnt mention anything about a betty ford anything.

gnarvan, ya, ive been lazy. ground has been wet and i havent had the van on a lift yet. i was gonna see if i could grab numbers when i had it aligned today, but something else came up and i cant make my appointment. wifes dad got laid off with the hostess fiasco and weve been clearing out one of the local stores and taking everything to recycle. netted over 800 bucks so far and have a few more loads. gotta grab that jing while we can.

and i agree that being a work truck it didnt see many changes once they got it out in the field.

havent heard one thing back from quigley

was wrenching on van a few daze ago changing out this little guy.

dunno why my camera is close up impared, but changing this out sucked for how easy it looked in the package. i really hope i dont have to spend much time in this bay in the future, lol.

while i was in there, I removed the bafflebox and capped off the tube. found this plastic cap that fit super snug. siliconed it up real good and tightened the clamp just to make sure it wont come loose.

something i havent searched on here yet is intakes. seems like it would be a good improvement, but doesnt look to be shit for room. all i could find outside this site was drop in filters other than some kind of bullydog deal that looked very similar to the stock setup.

also, anyone know for a fact what this deal is? Ive been told its just a high idle for warmup. others have said its pto related, like for a snowplow etc.

again, sorry for the crappy pic. first button says power, second says charge protect, and third says rpm control. its mounted on the floor right next to drivers seat.

it engages automatically when parking brake is set and just bumps up the idle. if you just touch the brake pedal, it disengages it, but re-engages if you dont do anything within 10-15 seconds. if the van is cold, it will shoot the idle up pretty good. it scared me first time cause it shot up pretty fast, and these things dont really rev all that high compared to the 10k redlines i usually play with (really wish it had a tach). i thought maybe it had something to do with the winch that was on this thing at one point.

**daveb** · 12-01-2012, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shenrie

jage, whats a betty ford type top? did a search and all that comes up is your post. tried a google search and a smb thread comes up, but doesnt mention anything about a betty ford anything.

That's Ron in Jackson Hole. I'd like to do a photoshop pic of him with that remark, but he'd kill me

Go to the members list for "bettyford" or take a look here:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10108

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=5027

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6159

There are a few more about an earlier build.

shenrie · 12-03-2012, 07:51 AM

oh ya, duh. ive read every page of that betty ford thread. great setup, but we are wanting more head room if possible. heart is pretty set on a ccv top. time will tell if thats a reality or not. ive got a racecar im putting up for sale here twords the first of the year. it should yeild me enough to at least buy the top. then i just have to figure out when and how to get it installed, lol. appreciate the links regardless

i didnt see any info from the last link, but that meet looked like it was to have a great turnout. was there ever pix posted? id love to check them out.

TomsBeast · 12-03-2012, 09:26 AM

I've had all sorts of campers and tow rigs over the last 30 years, from splitwindow Westfalia VW buses, a dually mini-truck with cabover camper, an F350 gashog w/11ft Lance cabover camper, even scaled way back and camped and raced out of a Toyota Sienna mini-van the last couple years. Now we have a SMB E350 w/7.3 and 4x4, probably the best all-round package I've ever owned!

You'll be happy with being able to camp wo/tent, mountain bike, tow to the track (and be comfortable at the track), even boodock off the beaten path on your way to or from from an away race with a van, saving on a motel. If you later want to step up to a fully enclosed trailer, you'll have the rig to pull it, with no problem.

shenrie · 12-03-2012, 10:49 AM

^^^ ya, all that!! thats a lot of what I was hoping for. plus the wife and i put on a hillclimb locally and it can double as a timing trailer. it will take some time to get it where we want it, but i know once its closer to done we will be super happy with it. It will also allow me to get to the rest of the hillclimbs ive never been able to do cause we cant haul race gear and camping gear in a racecar. that and having to worry about a breakdown or an accident and not having a way home. plus a good portion of the hillclimbs are pretty remote and lodging is usually a long ways away from the startline. being able to camp within walking distance of the startline will save us tons of cash.

its also going to allow us to camp in the winter months and start using our splitboards a lot more. we are both out of shape due to injuries and super terrible snow seasons. being able to stay overnight and get a couple days of splitboarding without the 2+ hour drive back and fourth will be sooo nice.

if you cant tell, we are super excited to get this thing up to par with some of the other builds on here and start using it!

TomsBeast · 12-04-2012, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shenrie

...that and having to worry about a breakdown or an accident and not having a way home. plus a good portion of the hillclimbs are pretty remote and lodging is usually a long ways away...

You will be amazed at how much easier it is to build and maintain a racecar that doesn't ALSO have to be a street car. You'll also be amazed at how much better your focus becomes, how your driver skills move up a couple levels, now that you are able to 'push the envelope' a little more, not having to worry about getting home

Stuff happens, I've pushed my racecar onto the trailer more than once. Fortunately it never effected me getting back home, or getting to my job on Monday morning, which keeps it fun.