Delica JB500 Camper
- Thread starter Nulla
- Start date
Intrepidor
Active Member
Welcome to the club, @chilewillie! Unfortunately I haven’t spent nearly as much time driving and camping in ours, I have done a lot of upgrades so happy to answer any questions as well. We’ve got a JB500 but there are a lot of similarities between the two. Post some pics when you get the rig!
The Woj
New Member
Hey Nulla, I just bought a JB470 a few weeks ago and I am trying to get a lift put together for it. I contacted RS and priced out all the parts from him, but still need to source the leafs.
I talked to Atlas and they said they don't have the details for your springs and I would instead need to drop off my rig for ~1 month to get the springs custom fabbed and installed. Do you think that they could expedite this process if they just copied what was on your JB? I'm up in the Santa Barbara area, so the less I have to drive to La Puente the better.
I am also worried about the registration process for CA, my truck is coming with a WA title (paperwork is still in process)--did you have any issues registering in CA?
Nulla
Active Member
I made an appointment and they change my lift spring in a day. make sure you bring new bushing because they will hesitate to take it apart in case the bushing are not usable. I also changed my shocks to bilstein they did not have my size in stock so i had to come back for that. I would think they don’t want your rig park there for a month. When i was there, another L300 pulled up and they also replaced his lift spring so they can do it. There are many different vehicles there. The owner is an off reader.
Regarding registration, mine was also registered in Washington state when i got it. look it up in the DMV website if your vehicle is diesel 1997 and older you don’t need smog check. Bring that to the dmv and show them If they give you a hard time. I have 3 diesel vehicle all imports all 1997 and older all registered in California. Because of Covid i went to one of those DMV “outlet“ to do the JB500. The other 2 i did it myself.
The Woj
New Member
Thanks for the quick reply! Steve Lee priced out an upgrade package for me with longer travel Bilsteins, 12 new bushings, longer rear brake lines, and the custom shackles--I have not pulled the trigger yet though.
Perhaps I led Atlas to believe the process would be more difficult than you have described. I thought that new custom springs were manufactured, but it sounds like they just re-arched your main spring and added a few new leaf's that they already had on-hand? I come from the sports-car-independent-suspension-world and am fairly new to solid axles and suspension lifting, I only have a cursory knowledge of how the system works so please forgive my ignorance.
I am glad to hear that the DMV process went smoothly for you, in cruising Delica forums before purchase I saw both horror stories and people describing how easy the process was. Hopefully my local DMV is one of the cool ones.
Nulla
Active Member
Steve Lee is the one who helped me out. I think he is telling you all of that cause he does not see what your rig really need. They did not need to extend my brake lines, i had to source my own bushing and shackles. Yes they added i think 3 lift springs and re arch them.
My experience with the DMV is that most times the person in the front desk and even the supervisor don’t really know and they will make things up especially with diesel and imports, that’s the reason I print out the stuff i need and show it to them if needed. Good luck!
Nulla
Active Member
Just got back from a 3 month trip in Baja California. We travelled on the less travelled road including 7 hours on the “Northern Road”. The JB 500 performed great! Also learned a lot about my rig and what I need to improve for my next travel which might be mainland Mexico. Here are the list of improvements I would like to make;
1. Aluminum radiator with an electric fan attach to the front of the radiator that can be manually turned on.
2. Intercooler
3. A second fuel tank or one big one.
4. Front bush bumper and move my spare tire to the front to make room for the second fuel tank.
I will be starting a thread for each of these so it is not too confusing.
I you want to see out travel in Baja California check out our You Tube channel https://youtube.com/channel/UCLgbTqxrVUzxCwXNI0wKg0A or our website Nullacruisingoverland.com
Gracias
1. Aluminum radiator with an electric fan attach to the front of the radiator that can be manually turned on.
2. Intercooler
3. A second fuel tank or one big one.
4. Front bush bumper and move my spare tire to the front to make room for the second fuel tank.
I will be starting a thread for each of these so it is not too confusing.
I you want to see out travel in Baja California check out our You Tube channel https://youtube.com/channel/UCLgbTqxrVUzxCwXNI0wKg0A or our website Nullacruisingoverland.com
Gracias
Nulla
Active Member
IC project is on hold waiting for parts. Been reading up on the @Growlerbearnz thread. Thank you. Meanwhile, I have started on the bull bar project to relocate spare tire to the front to make room for the aux fuel tank. Purchase the bull bar from http://www.rs-import.ca/index.php. The accessories will be removed to make room for the spare tire. Thx
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Nulla
Active Member
The bumper is installed. Next is the spare tire mount, I also plan to install the air compressor in this area. I am also looking for two side steps to install, they don’t have to be in good shape since I am gonna cut them up to make them fit. Thx
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Nulla
Active Member
@Arnothill finally got a chance to do some digging about why my refrigerator is not working on 12v. This electric block on the picture below is not getting any power when my ignition key is on, however when i powered them directly using my house battery the refrigerator and my AC fan worked. Do you know where the red and black wire are connected to the ignition? As you know the refrigerator is suppose to be powered by the starting battery when the vehicle is moving. Other JB500 owner can also chime in @chilewillie @Macleod @J0ta @Apple1449 thanks
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The Woj
New Member
I am replacing most of my rear electrical w/ Bluetti AC200P and solar, but after removing most of the stock electrical in the electronics cabinet I found that there was a hot ~12ga wire going straight to the car battery. There were 2 ancient modules in the back of the cabinet on mine, an old power inverter and what I believe was the charger for shore power and maybe alternator power. This is on a '96 JB470.
Nulla
Active Member
“I found that there was a hot ~12ga wire going straight to the car battery” i found this wire also. I am sure it is what powers the refrigerator and the AC fan. There is continuity between this wire and the electric block i mention above when the ignition is on, which makes sense because the starting battery is suppose to power the refrigerator when vehicle is moving. However, when i connected it to the starting battery i am not getting the 12v i need to power the Refrigerator, which is not making any sense to me. The other issue is there are two fuses connected to the same wire. Why? What is the purpose of having two fuses connected to the same wire? Do you have an idea of how many amp i should put on each of the fuse. See attach picture. I will be looking at this more closely today. Thx
I am am not trying to re do the stock wiring, i am trying to make it work. So far everything else work except the 12v coming from the ignition. Thx
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Intrepidor
Active Member
I also have a hot wire going to the back of the camper that led to an always-on CO2 alarm (which I removed). Mine looked like a small round red puck near the floor just to the right of the fridge - maybe that’s it?
Intrepidor
Active Member
@Nulla this is looking great - really like this solution as it hides the compressor yet it’s still easy to access.
Nulla
Active Member
Working on install the 3 flow radiator with a fan made by https://the-fan-man.com/ It will turn on and off with a sensor. I am also installing a manual switch to turn it on an off.
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B-Line Performance
Active Member
Love that you are putting the time into fixing her up. Great build!
connorwhite.online
Active Member
Sick build so far. I don’t know what wheels/tires you have on it but cutting down on rotational weight (especially tires) will probably give you more acceleration gains than the majority of engine mods. Not to mention cut your stopping distance in half.
If you haven’t yet, don’t modify the intake. The snorkel kit that most sell is really just a scuba, not a ram intake. Cool if you’re crossing rivers, but otherwise it’s a charm bracelet. The stock piping draws from cold oncoming air before the radiator. The resonator (running thru right side wheel well) lowers air pressure in the ducting and allows a better draw than a ram intake. It’s quieter and a longer intake yields more power in low RPMs.
Curious to see your temps with an alternatively located air-to-air intercooler.
If you haven’t yet, don’t modify the intake. The snorkel kit that most sell is really just a scuba, not a ram intake. Cool if you’re crossing rivers, but otherwise it’s a charm bracelet. The stock piping draws from cold oncoming air before the radiator. The resonator (running thru right side wheel well) lowers air pressure in the ducting and allows a better draw than a ram intake. It’s quieter and a longer intake yields more power in low RPMs.
Curious to see your temps with an alternatively located air-to-air intercooler.