1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own

[ehjorten]

Final Emissions Test for the old girl!  PASS!!

[zieg85]

That must feel good.  Only a couple of counties in Indiana require testing and I am in one of them.  Luckily once every 2 years and no cost...

[ehjorten]

I now do not own any vehicles that require emissions testing!  My wife has the new-fangled car!

[srozell]

 Nice. They just recently did away with emissions testing in BC. I guess our trees were starved for carbon or something.

[ehjorten]

They sort of did away with emissions testing in WA state, but you think they could make it more convoluted?

If you live in these counties, your vehicle may need testing every 2 years:
•Clark County
•King County
•Pierce County
•Snohomish County
•Spokane County

What vehicles are exempt?
 
These vehicle types don’t need emission testing:
•Hybrid vehicles: Honda Insight and Toyota Prius.
•2009 or newer model year vehicles.
•Vehicles more than 25 years old.
•Dealer sales - vehicles sold or offered for sale by a Washington dealer.
•Vehicles powered exclusively by electricity, propane, compressed natural gas, or liquid petroleum gas
•Motorcycles, see RCW 46.04.330 and motor-driven cycles, see RCW 46.04.332
•Farm vehicles, see RCW 46.04.181
•Street rod vehicles, see RCW 46.04.572 and custom vehicles, see RCW 46.04.161
•Diesel vehicles that are:
     ◦Older than 2007, and weigh 6,000 pounds or less.
     or
     ◦2007 and newer, with no weight limit.
•Collectible vehicles. To claim the exemption:
1.Submit a Collectible Vehicle Certification for Emission Test Exemption form.
2.Your vehicle must meet these requirements:
     ◦Is of a unique or rare design, of limited production, and an object of curiosity.
     ◦Is maintained primarily for use in car club activities, exhibitions, parades, or other functions of public interest or for a private collection, and is used only infrequently for other purposes.
     ◦Has collectible vehicle or classic automobile insurance coverage that restricts the collectible vehicle mileage or use, or both.
3.You must have another vehicle for personal use.

[Stewart G Griffin]

Do you work for KW?

[ehjorten]

I do!

[Stewart G Griffin]

This is off topic, but why did you stop making the cabovers?

[ehjorten]

The length laws in North America are such that we can run conventional trucks and conventional trucks are much easier to work on than a cabover truck!  That is the basic reason why they have faded from the US market.  In Europe where the length laws are much more strict you see cabovers because that is what they have to do and small tight European towns are easier to navigate with shorter trucks.

For the medium-duty market we still produce both KW and PB cabover trucks, but we import the chassis from our DAF/Leyland Divisions.

[roundhouse]

The length laws in North America are such that we can run conventional trucks and conventional trucks are much easier to work on than a cabover truck!  That is the basic reason why they have faded from the US market.  In Europe where the length laws are much more strict you see cabovers because that is what they have to do and small tight European towns are easier to navigate with shorter trucks.

For the medium-duty market we still produce both KW and PB cabover trucks, but we import the chassis from our DAF/Leyland Divisions.

There are basically no length laws now ,
Most states restrict the trailers to 53' but several states allow 57 foot long trailers

And to my knowledge there is no overall length limit
So the length of the tractor is not a legal concern , although it is a maneuvering concern

I m pretty sure most companies still make cabovers
They just sell them everywhere else in the world except here

I liked my COE
Had a international with the set back axle and air springs
Rode very nice and would turn around on a dime

Plus it was less than half price of a conventional 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Stewart G Griffin]

ok

[ehjorten]

Was Elk hunting in the '91 Crew Cab over the last 10 days. Thursday night I had parked my truck and was riding with a buddy. After dark we came back down to get my truck. I then took off for my parents, but stopped at the rest stop before crossing over the Megler bridge. When I left I pulled away and heard a strange noise coming from the front-end. I got out and started looking around with my flashlight. It was of course blowing and pouring rain.

Anyways, I found the problem...one side of my tie rod fell apart!!!

Man that was lucky because I was going 55-60 around corners along WA-401. I don't want to imagine a wheel going sideways at speed! I tried calling Astoria NAPA to get the parts as they were open until 7 pm, but they had a power flash in the storm and the servers were down. I have AAA Plus, so I had a big flat-bed tow my truck to the 19 miles to my parents house. Ordered the parts from a local parts store on Friday and fixed it on Saturday morning!  And yes I did get the LH and RH Tie Rod parts.  I am not playing Russian Roulette with the LH Tie Rod which didn't fail.

The kicker was that I already had these parts painted and assembled laying in the garage at home!  Guess I have a spare now!

After that I set the toe and bit the bullet on new tires for it.  Since I was home in Oregon I got Tax-free tires at the local Tire Factory.  My original tires were Toyo Open Country MTs and they were getting pretty bald!  I got Hankook DynaPro MTs in the same size: 315/75R16.

Oh!...and I know there are gonna be a few guys that will ask...


My 5-point


One of my buddy's 4-point...he got me by 70 lb. on hanging weight!


What my freezer looks like now!

My other buddy has today left to get one.  Otherwise we will have to dibby-up some of the meat!

[bd]

That's great that you weren't hurt or experienced a catastrophic failure at speed.  Breakdowns in the snow add to the adventure of enjoying outdoor activities.  I've had to fix pressurized oil leaks with whittled wood to get out of the backcountry.  I'm sure there are a few stories that members could share.

Moral of the story:  See what happens when you buy new parts and don't install them?  It's like a hidden purpose being set into motion....  LOL


Nice winter stores!

[LTZ C20]

Your game looks good, nice 5 point. I like elk, it's pretty good, there are alot of game meets I like

[ehjorten]

So bad news...my Gen V 454 in my 1991 Crewcab decided to start a rod-knocking!  Ugh!!!  It does have 261k miles on it, so it was probably just a matter of time.

Plans???...Ultimately I would like to put a 5.9 Cummins in it, or a Duramax, but fitting the Duramax between the frame rails is a bit of work.  My brother put one in his '72 K20 and finally got it fired-up, but I really need this truck back on the road quickly.  I looked at short-blocks and they are about $2,800.  I looked at a GM Performance long-block and that is about $4,500.  I called a local, reputable machine shop in my area and they told me about $2,500 to rebuild mine if I pull the engine and bring it in and it will be about a 4 week turn-around.  I would rebuild it myself as I have the skill to do so, but I really don't think I will have the time to commit to it right now.

What I would like to do with it is upgrade the heads to some better flowing heads, bump-up the compression ratio and put in a better cam to wake this slug up!  Problem is, I would have to then deal with the TBI to keep up with the engine and I am not sure what that all will entail other than an adjustable fuel pressure regulator and a TBI rebuild.

The other idea I have been contemplating is going and finding a 1996+ GEN VI 454 (Vortec 7400 L29) engine that was mated in-front of a 4L80E (which the truck already has) and converting over the engine and transmission controller to that system.  I am not sure how much work that will be, but I would think it shouldn't be that hard.  My 1991 does have the DRAC that converts the VSS signal to usable ones for the Cruise Control, speedometer, etc.  I know that the newer models don't have that and not sure how much surgery would be required on the dash harness.  My fuel pumps and flex lines would need to be upgraded to higher pressure.

Thoughts from the crew?  Suggestions?

Thanks,