Reading Dan's "Dart Progress" post has inspired me to post an update about my 1986 Dodge van.

For those not familiar, last December I purchased a rather clean but poorly running 1986 Dodge shorty van with a 225/904 combination. Over the next few months I diagnosed most of the problems with the engine as follows: seized clutch van, blown vacuum pod on the lean burn/spark control computer, worn out 6145 carb.

After messing about for awile with different one barrel cabrs, I eventually settled on a BBD mounted via an adapter to an Offy intake and I bypassed the spark control computer with an HEI ignition swap.

All was well, but I was only getting about 8 miles per gallon, not nearly what I had hoped for. As the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, fix it!"

I got the bright idea in my head to attempt to improve y gas mileage by hooking the computer back up and swapping back to a one barrel carb. This is where the trouble began.

I fashioned a nice adapter to allow me to mount the 6145 Holley one barrel on the Offy intake and proceeded to begin installation. As I was removing the BBD a washer fell down into the intake and rolled away. I fished about for awhile with a magnet and wasn't able to retrieve it. I know what you are thinking. At this point logic would dictate that the sensible thing to do would be to pull the intake and remove the washer. Did I do that? Noooooooo. I had one of those moments where are logical thought escaped me and I figured, "Well, I will just try running it with the one barrel to see if it works, and then worry about the washer later."

Sure enough, I bolted the one barrel on and started the engine only to hear a rattling noise coming from the #4 cylinder. I guess I found where the washer went.

I ended up pulling the manifolds in the vain hope I could fish the washer out of an open valve. No luck. I then pulled the #4 spark plug to again attempt fishing the washer out with a magnet. Still no luck.

I admitted defeat and metally kicked myself 100 times, then made the second mistake of the month: I had a cylinder head gasket I had installed in my spare motor about a year ago and had never run it. "Aha!" I though to my cheap self, "Why pay for a new gsaket when I have a slightly used gasket on hand?" So i pulled the head on my spare motor and got the gasket.

I then commenced pulling the head on my van. For those of you who have pulled a slant six cylinder head in a truck or car, you know it is heavy and awkward. Just imagine trying to do it in the close confines of a van.

I managed to get the head off, but in the process of seating the head back onto those two little pegs I also managed to mangle the head gasket severely. "Well," I though to my cheap self, "the head is heavy, and when i torque it down the machined surfaces of the block and the head should smash it flat enough to work." So I pushed onward and got the engine mostly reassembled.

That was Sunday night. I had to go to work on Monday and the van fell to the wayside due to the unexpected heart attack of the attorney for a defendant in an appeal of three cases consolidated before the Washington Supreme Court. Our cases had been scheduled to be argued before the Washington Supreme Court on Thursday and this attorney had agreed to argu all three cases. The attorney had his heart attack on Tuesday so I spent the rest of my week madly preparing for argument on Thursday.

I didn't get back to the van until Friday. I got it all put back together and started it up. It ran like crap. It obviously wasn't running on all cylinders and there was a terrible oil leak coming from between the head and the block. There was also a coolant leak coming form the front of the engine. I admitted defeat and resolve to actually replace the head gasket with a new one.

This feat was accomplished by the end of Saturday and the van seemed to be running okay. The lean burn and spark control computer seemed to be functioning well and the engine ran pretty decent. I decided that it was roadworthy enough to make a trip to the local Pull-A-Part in order for me to get a few parts for my brother's 83 Dodge shorty van (also a slant six).

As I tooled along down I-5 towards the yard, my temp guage started to climb. THe van began steaming at stop lights and i notice I was constantly blowing blue smoke out the tailpipe. I always had had a small blue cloud on startup, but this was pretty steady. I limped into the boneyard and filled the radiator up with the bottle of 50/50 pre-mixed antifreeze I had brought with me, just in case.

I got my parts and started back home. This time I got a huge cloud of blue and black smoke on startup and didn't even make it three block before the temp guage started to rise. I limped along until the temp guage was pegged and the van was pinging badly. I managed to get off I-5 and coast into a Chevron just as the engine stalled.

I popped the hood and loosened the radiator cap to allow the steam to escape, finally just removing the cap and letting loose a glorious cloud of billowing white smoke. When the smoke had cleared I looked into the engine bay and noticed that steam and wter was still shooting out of a hole in the radiator. My guess is that the radiator was already leaking (I had noticed coolant lss before the head gasket debacle) and had finally died. I let the van cool down then got it started and limped to the water hose. I removed the cap and got a face full of hot and rusty radiator fluid when i removed the radiator cap. After swearing profusely and locating the cap I paid my $.50 to get the water pump working (remember when air and water were free at gas stations?) filled up the radiator with cold water as the engine idled. I then crossed my fingers and headed home.

The engine began to stall out when i stopped so I had to drive two footed all the way. I made it home without overheating again but the van is no longer a daily driver.


What a bummer! I think the motor is just totally worn out. It burns oil badly and overheats, although that may be due to the radiator leak. On the up side I do think the lean burn computer is working okay.

To top it all off I didn't notice a difference in gas mileage during the time I drove the van!


Arrrrgh. I am now stuck with a big gold driveway ornament that needs at the least a new radiator if not a new motor. All because of my own cheapness and stupidity. Let this be a lesson to you all!