What Did You Do for Your Van Today?

My camper mod is temporary... it's a large kitchen box that slides in back (took out rear bench). Yesterday I made an expanding slat bed/table that attaches to the top of it (out of 1x2 furring strips). Today I'm making an easily removable ceiling rack/storage area from them.
 
Finished up my camping modifications. No permanent modifications to the van required and everything can be removed/installed in a few minutes.

This is the camping box (older pic).
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This is the new bed in collapsed state.
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This is with the single bed section extended and the other side extended as a "solid surface" table.
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Closer view of the removable ceiling rack.
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Krazykraut said:
Finally got a side exhaust installed - 2.5” with a Magnaflow muffler. Nice sounding and one less thing to rattle. $350 all said and done. Engine seems to breathe easier but i haven’t noticed much of a power gain.
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I don't think a sub 100hp 3000rpm 4cyl is really going to benefit from a larger exhaust... especially since the manifold/down pipe diameter is still going to be the limiting factor in flow volume.

A larger (less restrictive) exhaust has more volume but at a lower velocity (basic fluid dynamics). This provides a potential performance gain for high rpm/high volume situations, but at the expense of performance in low volume/low rpm situations (where scavenging/velocity is more important than volume). I.e. top end performance gains come at the expense of low end performance... everything is a compromise.
 
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sk66 said:
I don't think a 3000rpm 4cyl is really going to benefit from a larger exhaust... especially since the manifold/down pipe diameter is still going to be the limiting factor in flow volume.

A larger (less restrictive) exhaust has more volume but at a lower velocity (basic fluid dynamics). This provides a potential performance gain for high rpm/high volume situations, but at the expense of performance in low volume/low rpm situations (where scavenging/velocity is more important than volume). I.e. top end performance gains come at the expense of low end performance... everything is a compromise.
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On delica.ca - a user actually did dyno testing before and after. I’ll try dig it up and link it.
 
feetforbrains said:
Okay, so I'll come clean, I didn't do much of any of this "today." However, Enji helped me identify a pile of problems that I'm dealing with as parts and time allow. So, here's the laundry list.

1) Blow-by (Pri 1): I've been using Liqui-Moly's finest oils in the van since the first oil change. The result apparently is that it's increased, even after I deleted the EGR, the amount of carbonization (we're guessing) on the rings and created a situation in which the thicker oil gets pushed into the intake manifold. So, Enji has us going on a diet. Cheap, thin Liqui-moly every 1k-ish miles and a couple of purges and intake cleanings to boot. Today I was supposed to do the first change, but I find myself over the water on the mainland with honey-dos aplenty to keep me busy. The oil will wait until tomorrow, I guess.

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2) U-joints: Shits tight, and that's not good. All I had until last night was a straight nosed grease gun, but our new overlords at Amazon have helped me remedy that problem. I'm going to get into all the zerks along the shafts and grease them but good with something that doesn't mind high temperatures and has a crap ton of zink in it. Just over the not too distant horizon, I'll be ordering replacement spider joint too. They're going to be more expensive than I'd thought so I'll push this out a tad.

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3) Belts are Original: Yeah, and after my trip through the desert Southwest in the summer they're now dryer than Martian dust. Add to this my fuel lines from the filter to the IP are old and cracking (and were leaking ... eeeekkkk). Enji was skeptical about using NA equivalents because they're not cut quite right, so I ordered a box from Amayana.

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4) FIberFixed: Yesterday, I got out several rolls of FiberFix and rolled most of my exhaust from the muffler to almost the tailpipe. Considering the amount I've been dumping into the van lately I couldn't justify spending what I'd need to replace the system with the 2.5" custom, side exit system. Given this, I needed to make some more permanent repairs to the fruit can solution I MattGyvered while on safari in Idaho. I may just wrap the whole darn thing for now and push this out a couple of months into the future.

5) Delica Suspension is Donked: And Old Man Emu does not seem interested in talking to me about a solution I'm sure they'd have off the shelf (they do Montero's do they not?). In any case, I'm moving on.
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I'm need to replace my fuel lines on the next fuel filter changed. I realized this when I did the diesel purge. Some of the clamps are bad too. What are the four lines and why is one so much more expensive? I can see the line from tank to filter. Filter to IP. IP back to tank. Which one am I missing?
 
I just did a Diesel purge and made a huge mess... but I think there was some improvement in acceleration. Highway speeds are still terrible on even a hint of an incline. I think my next project is going to be the side exhaust. Any recommendations on places in Seattle that aren't afraid to work with the Delica?
I'm also thinking of selling the Yokohama's I got and going back to a smaller all terrain tires The larger tires are making it harder to maintain highway speeds.
 
DrMorris said:
I'm need to replace my fuel lines on the next fuel filter changed. I realized this when I did the diesel purge. Some of the clamps are bad too. What are the four lines and why is one so much more expensive? I can see the line from tank to filter. Filter to IP. IP back to tank. Which one am I missing?
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I ordered replacement lines from Amayama but what they sent was basically fuel line cut to length. There's nothing special about any of it, you could go to your local parts store and buy diesel rated line in the appropriate inside diameter and a handful of c-clamps and you'd be good to go.
 
DrMorris said:
I just did a Diesel purge and made a huge mess... but I think there was some improvement in acceleration. Highway speeds are still terrible on even a hint of an incline. I think my next project is going to be the side exhaust. Any recommendations on places in Seattle that aren't afraid to work with the Delica?
I'm also thinking of selling the Yokohama's I got and going back to a smaller all terrain tires The larger tires are making it harder to maintain highway speeds.
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I think it's important to know that for vehicles like these vans there is always going to be a sweet spot for speed. For this van, regardless of your tire size, that spot is between 10 and 20 MPH below the approved max on most interstates. Drive across Idaho where the speed limit on I-84 is 80 MPH and you're going to be going slower than everything else.

Keep in mind that unless you've got 2.5l WRX Subaru conversion taking up the tail end of your lowered Westy you're sweet spot (and subsequent top end) is significantly slower than anything MMC fed the late 80's/early 90's market. Honestly, when I'm pushing wind on the highway I'm watching my temperature gauge a lot more closely than my speedo. Long drives like this are an opportunity to exercise my choice in van lifestyle -- making "good time" with the emphasis on good.
 
Added BullBar extensions I bought from natematos. Cleaned them up with a pencil eraser to remove the surface rust. Patience and a little elbow grease and they look brand new. Happy with the results.

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It's just shy of a week since I picked up my van in CA. Even with only 99K km I wanted to give it a good baseline once over.
The Van sat for 6 years but run and sounds great. Still though I'm doing a grip of work.

This weekend: fuel, oil and air filters, oil change, front and rear differentials, transfer case, brake flush, fresh wipers and a little cleaning.

Today I drained the ATF and pulled the pan to replace the filter which turned out to look very very new. In fact all the fluids were super clean. I think this must have been done shortly before the van was parked. I contemplated changing any of it after I drained the rear diff and saw the color of the ATF from the dipstick however contrary to popular belief, some people believe that gear oil last forever and when it separates to just shake it. Shell and Mobil say 5 yrs is the shelf life. So better safe than sorry, especially on such an old van.

Next thing on the list are new accessory belts and power steering flush. Timing belt, water pump, thermostat and coolant when time permits. Then possibly tires and definitely an alignment. And a stereo is definitely on the short list. In fact probably the very first non maintenance upgrade.
 
Nenw said:
Then possibly tires and definitely an alignment. And a stereo is definitely on the short list. In fact probably the very first non maintenance upgrade.
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Oh it can be an maintenance issue. Mine had a karaoke machine in it. The rats nest of wiring that came with it was causing rust in the floor boards. Crack that puppy open!
 
feetforbrains said:
Oh it can be an maintenance issue. Mine had a karaoke machine in it. The rats nest of wiring that came with it was causing rust in the floor boards. Crack that puppy open!
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Oh i hope you didnt remove the karakoe machine. For sure your van would be the center of the meetups!
 
Nenw said:
Oh i hope you didnt remove the karakoe machine. For sure your van would be the center of the meetups!
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It only works with Japanese FM broadcasts that have a split signal. There's a decoder in the mix that cuts the signal and decodes the text. Old tech, that doesn't work at all in NA.
 
With access to a vinyl cutter, and too much time on my hands, I made a replacement for the long lost StarWagon decal. Maybe not exactly the correct size and subtly different from the original, but it looks pretty stock.
I haven't seen a single Delica in all Grace Silver Metallic so I had to guess it should be black.
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If anyone else is interested, I can either share the Silhouette file or cut some more decals.
 
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