Messing With the Throttle Linkage.

Okay yesterday I didn’t get much done. I spent most of the time messing with the throttle linkage in the van trying to figure out how to set it up for the new system. After a while I decided that I couldn’t do much with the throttle until I get the rest of the kit installed. The kit still hasn’t arrived so I will just have to be patient.

Today, I Decided to take a ride to the cabin to see how things were faring up there and check out the slide on Peachland road.

I’ll have pictures for you tomorrow.

Installed the New Manifold.

 

Costco.

It was almost lunch time; I needed to get a couple studs for the exhaust pipe connection and Patti wanted to go to Costco to get some stuff.
The perfect solution was to go to Costco for lunch and shopping. Then stop at a auto parts store on the way home to get the studs.

Studs.

We stopped at the Napa store on Santa Rosa Avenue. I went in and asked the guy behind the counter for two 3/8” x 3” studs for the exhaust pipe connection.

He wanted to know what year and make of car I told him and he couldn’t find it in his computer. It went like that for a while and eventually I said that he probably didn’t have the parts I needed and left.

We went on home and Patti went to Walmart to do some more shopping.

I went to the True Value Hardware and found the studs that I needed.

Installing the Manifold.

Once I got home, I installed the studs on the exhaust manifold. I cleaned up the mating surfaces on the manifold and engine block.
I figured out which way the gasket goes on and after a couple of minor adjustments I got the new manifold installed.

Now I just have to wait for the TBI kit to arrive.

Okay that’s it for Sunday.

TBI Project.

Clean the Engine.

The first thing I had to do was to take the van to a self service car wash and clean some of the grease of the engine.

Pulling the Manifold.

The next thing to do was to pull the exhaust/intake manifold of the engine.

Here is the engine with everything still on it.

I removed the air cleaner. You can see the manifold and carburetor.

Next I had to disconnect the exhaust pipe and remove the Manifold.

This is the new manifold that I will install today.

Oxygen Sensor Hole.

Bob gave me the old exhaust system from his old engine as it has the hole in the pipe for the oxygen sensor. Unfortunately the threads in the hole were pretty badly buggered. I had to buy a thread chaser that was the right size and thread pitch for the o2 sensor.

This is the hole with the thread chaser in it.

Here are the threads after using the thread chaser. The threads still look a little ragged but they should work.

That is as far as I got on the project yesterday.
Today I will install the Manifold.

Finding Parts for the 1968 Chevy Van

 

Research.

I am still looking for parts to fix the roll up windows in the van. I have been all over the internet searching for window regulators for a 1968 Chevy van. All the ones I can find are for newer vans.

Found One!

I remember many years ago I helped part out a friends van because he had rolled it. I remember having a window regulator in my stuff somewhere.
I spent a lot of the day looking in all the places that I put stuff and finally I saw the end of what looked like a window regulator sticking out of the top of a bucket  back in a corner behind the drill press and some steel bars. I moved the steel and cleared an area large enough to pull the bucket out. Sure enough it was the old regulator that I thought I had and it is pristine.

This one is for the passenger side which is the most important one since it is the one on Patti’s side.
Now if I can find some window run channel and the beaded fuzzy strips I’ll be able to fix the windows.

We went to the Super Buffett for supper last evening. They have a very large selection of food. We pigged out on sea food and chicken.

Okay, that’s it for Friday.

RV in Storage and a Visit With Bob.

 

RV in Storage.

By Wednesday afternoon we had the RV unpacked.
The place where we store it is closed on Wednesday so yesterday (Thursday)  morning around 9:30 I drove the RV to where we have it stored and put it away for the summer.

TBI for the Van.

I have decided to put a Throttle Body fuel Injection system on the engine in my 1968 Chevy van.
This will solve some issues with the van and modernize the system.

A Visit With Bob.

My friend Bob (who also has an old Chevy van) has already put a TBI system on his vans original 6 cylinder engine. He has since replaced the 6 with a 350 V8.
When he did so he swapped the TBI from the 6 to the V8.

Here is the TBI on the V8.

 
Bob has had some experience with this system so I needed to pick his brain and see what he has done.
He also had a bunch of parts from his old 6 cylinder that I can use on mine.

Bob also had some questions about how the charging system was working on his van and wanted to compare the two. Therefore, I drove my van to his place and we spent the day looking at and talking about Charging systems (As it turned out both systems are working the same) and the fine points of converting from a carburetor system to a TBI on the vans.
I took some notes and a couple of pictures. I think I have a better idea of what to do than I did before.

I better have, because I ordered the TBI kit this morning.

Unloading the RV and a visit from Harvey.

 

Unloading.

We will be spending the next couple of days getting stuff out of the RV. We got most of the important stuff like the refrigerator, all our meds, all the storage compartments and all the clothes. Now we are down to a few stragglers and clean up.

Harvey’s Visit.

About noon our grandson, Harvey, came by for a visit.
He was having a problem with his car. A brake light was not working.
He and his friends tried to figure it out with no luck.
I took a look at it and found that one of the bulbs was burned out.

We took Harvey to Panda Express for lunch. On the way home we stopped at Auto Zone and bought a bulb for his car.

After Harvey left we continued taking things out of the RV.

Okay, that was our day. 

Back Home Again

Leaving Bakersfield.

We got up at 6:00 am. so we could get on the road by 7:00.
Before we left Patti got a picture of the sunrise over the Kern River.

We have stopped at the River Run RV Park several times over the years and this is the first time we have seen water in the river. That is a testament to all the rain California has gotten this winter.

On the Road.

We left the RV park at 7:05 and headed west on Hwy. 58 until we got to I-5 at Buttonwillow. Here we filled the gas tank on the RV.
I know we are in California now as the tank took around 55 gallons and it cost us about $175.00. Over $1.00 per gallon more here than in Arizona.

After gassing up we headed north on I-5.
Lots of mustard blooming in the fields…

and on the hills.

Mustard, Sheep and Politics.

The ride up I-5 was windy so it was mostly a white knuckle event. Lots of trucks passing and being passed.

Highway 12.

Eventually we made it to Lodi where Highway 12 goes west.
We got on 12 and the wind was still blowing as we made our way to Rio Vista.

Draw Bridge Up.

As we approached the Rio Vista Bridge, the traffic had come to a stop. The draw bridge was going up. Rio Vista Bridge crosses the Sacramento River. The river is higher than we have ever seen it here.

As we waited in line, a large cargo ship went under the bridge heading up river.

The whole operation took about 20 minutes and then we were off again.

We drove through the rolling hills between Rio Vista and Fairfield.

Almost Home.

Eventually we came to I-80 where we turned south for about 4 miles where we got back on Highway 12 continuing west through beautiful Napa and Sonoma Counties.

The vineyards are just beginning to get their leaves.

The Oak tunnels along the highway are just beginning to leaf out.

I think someones rooster got loose.

Home at Last.

We got home at around 2:00.
I turned on the water, Electricity and Gas. Lit the pilot for the water heater and got it going.
We unpacked the essentials; meds, toiletries, etc.

Joanne, Dave and Darlene.

Joanne, Dave and Darlene came by an hour or so after we got home. We sat around and visited for a while, then we went to Mary’s Pizza Shack for supper.
Always good! They make a great Minestrone Soup.

After supper we went back to our place and visited a little more.
They went home about 8:00 and I crashed in my chair until around 9:30 when Patti said that I should wake up and go to bed. Which I did.

It was a long day but I’m glad to be home.