89 Turbo Voyager

[Vigo]

So my friend Yan (burnt_toast) bought another TM a month or two ago. 89 turbo voyager. Wasn't running so i was storing it at my place until his schedule loosened up enough to work on it, but he called me up and said it just wasn't gonna happen and I ended up with it.

BUT i already have a turbo van (also not running/not finished) and a BUNCH of other projects so i was looking for a new owner. I offered it to a couple people here on the boards but didnt get any serious bites, until oddly enough my friend Mason (Strax22) decided he would like to have a van so he could buy old arcade consoles and bring them home from wherever.

So with that decided i towed the van down to my parent's place so we could work on it.


Now i have to find something else to keep my grass from growing.




Sun just coming up? Yeh i get up at 6 am to tow cars for my friends.




I knew this thing had some weird electrical issues, but we actually figured em out pretty quick. In the end, we had to rewire the starter, add some grounds, and remove 2 gallons of gasoline from the crankcase to get it fired up.

We heard a bit of knocking noise when it was running and it had pushed out the oil pan gasket when we cranked it over full of gasoline, so we pulled the pan, cut the balance shaft chain, blocked the oil feed hole and put some rod bearings in it and back together with a slightly used but good oil pan gasket No rattling noises and runs smooth!

We had to bleed out all the brakes because it didnt have any fluid in it. Probly has a leaking wheel cylinder but we havent checked yet. Needs a wheel bearing somewhere too. Also needs front windows repaired and has some cracked lights on the front but i have replacements for all that sitting around.



Took it for a drive on wastegate boost and all seems well!

Put it away with great satisfaction..

We'll be working on it again tonight. Turbo Utility Vehicle will be road-legal and cruising south texas in no time.

[Daytona22]

Nice! Good to see another one back on the road.

[raccoon]

looks solid

[rare_ram]

I only have 2 things to do to get mine road worthy center the engine and get the shifter adjusted.

[2.216VTurbo]

You just always need a project dont you Something about wrenching till late in the night with a deadline looming makes it all that much more entertaining

[Vigo]

Last night we took apart the rear brakes looking for brake fluid leaks and wheel bearing noise. Luckily the brakes themselves looked excellent with almost-new shoes and good looking hardware. The wheel cylinders were leaking so we replaced them. We also replaced the wheel bearings because we dont like plastic cages and bearings that feel like sand when you turn them.

So now that we have new brakes and bearings and grease and seals in the back, it should never have to be messed with again because rear drum brakes will probably last longer than the rest of the van... He'll get bored of it before they wear out again.

We also did some silly little stuff like replace a bent prop rod (had one) and put on temporary tags, checked all the lights, added oil, put the t1 intake box back on.

Then he drove it home! Still a bit of wheel bearing noise along the way so a front wheel bearing may be next. Unfortunately i only have 2 good replacements for each side so if he blows through all those he'll have to buy a press in bearing for $22 or something. GASP!

[Captain Chaos]

Gotta love good used parts. When I did the timing chain on my Dakota I didn't want to use my new W/P that I bought for the 5.9 so I put the good used one from the 5.9 on it. Hey it was in better shape with less miles than what I took off, lol.

[2.216VTurbo]

"Unfortunately i only have 2 good replacements for each side so if he blows through all those he'll have to buy a press in bearing for $22 or something." GASP! Like you'll ever run out of stashed parts

[Vigo]

Like you'll ever run out of stashed parts

Not faster than i can find parts cars for near free

scrap's about $6/100lb and cat converters on these cars are worth 27-42$ so if i can buy a parts car under $200 and take off a bunch of stuff i need, i usually come out even when i recycle the shell... its a fun, inexpensive hobby And dont worry its almost always tbi cars

[StraX22]

It's amazing how the wheel noise went away when I tightened the lugs on one of the rear wheels!

Just fixed the power windows, door locks, and mirrors. It was only 5 broken wires in the driver's side door jamb. looks like they just got brittle and snapped.

Right now it's very pleasant to drive and getting better every day. I'll post pics soon.

[Captain Chaos]

It's amazing how the wheel noise went away when I tightened the lugs on one of the rear wheels!

Just fixed the power windows, door locks, and mirrors. It was only 5 broken wires in the driver's side door jamb. looks like they just got brittle and snapped.

Right now it's very pleasant to drive and getting better every day. I'll post pics soon.

Gotta love when the repairs are cheap.

[Vigo]

It's amazing how the wheel noise went away when I tightened the lugs on one of the rear wheels!

I should have driven it.. i know EXACTLY what loose lug nuts sounds like.. dont ask me how.

[WickedShelby88]

Man every thing down there is so rust free though or close to it. A TBI car down there is worth more than a rusty turbo car up here any day if you ask me

[Vigo]

Well if you're looking for something in particular let me know, ive already worked 2 cross-country deals for whole cars and body parts and i generally know whats for sale around here at any given time

Mason is working on the van more tonight.. Apparently the wheel bearing noise i thought i heard is now fixed/gone (between replacing the wheel bearings and getting the lug nights actually tight).

Its just a knock sensor and a coolant temp sensor away from being a "fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station"
.

[Vigo]

am i the only dork on t-m who thinks admiral ackbar is a funny guy?

[Captain Chaos]

Yes...

[StraX22]

am i the only dork on t-m who thinks admiral ackbar is a funny guy?

It's a trap!!

Soo.... after sorting out a wide array of cooling system problems (Thanks Vigo for finding me a radiator in New Braunfels) I made the three and a half hour trek to Houston for the yearly arcade expo! And also to drop off a 568 @ FWD.

Now for the real motive for me buying a van besides the implied making it ridiculously fast for a van.





Yessir, that is two pinball machines and a ----tail Galaga. and it handled it like a champ!

[Vigo]

after sorting out a wide array of cooling system problems (Thanks Vigo for finding me a radiator in New Braunfels)

$70 for a new radiator aint bad at all...

I can see you had all the tools you needed to swap radiators and hoses right there in the bottom of the second pic

[Vigo]

Today Mason came over in the van to help me tear down the parts Shadow i bought, and do a bit of work on the van too.


After working on the shadow a bit we inevitably wandered over to the van (way more interesting) and started to brainstorm. We ended up backflushing the heater core and purging the air from the cooling system so the heater would work (it does now). Then we decided to put on the ol' CenturionII's from Mason's 87 CSX which has better wheels now anyway..

Hello improvement! And how often do you see Centurions on a van? Yes, the tires are too short.. will be rectified soon im sure.

We went back to work on the shadow, took damn near everything off it.

Still need to grab the shifter cables and the clutch pedal..

Mason also picked up a cummins intercooler from me to make work for the van and a Harbor Freight license plate frame. Oh and 2 extra 782 heads to practice porting. I tried to give him some taller tires too but he's pimping the 205/50s for now.

And you know you want those awesome seats for the van! You can't deny they would rock Stop refusing freebies!


Anyway at the end of the day the van was cooler

It even got its first smokey 1st gear tire burn leaving the 'shop' today

----tail Galaga

[Vigo]

Somebody came across a good deal and got 16" pumpers with CS caps and new tires for the minivan


And somebody else is starting to think he should get some work done on his OWN turbo minivan