DRTDEVL
Mothfukle
OK, the crowd wants it, so here it is. I'll try to spend at least a few minutes every day getting the van story up to the current phase. Since there is a lot of text, but the pics are all on my phone, I'll try to edit pics into the text after posting each day. If that doesn't work, well... it might take forever to get this thread done.
It all started in February, when I stumbled across a 2005 Dodge Sprinter 140" wb SHC (Super High Ceiling) that was being sold for cheap. He wanted $1500, so I drove an hour away in the snow to check it out the day after it was listed. After giving it a quick look-over, I had enough fodder to negotiate the price further. The belt only had 2 ribs left, and one of the idler pulleys was broken. There were three bad glow plugs (its a 5-cylinder), the fuel filter looked ancient (change interval is 20k), and someone tried going through a low clearance entrance, caving in the front roof cap. I offered, low, he declined, I walked, and he called me back in and countered with $700, to which I agreed.
I came back the next day and put a spare belt and idler pulley on the van so I could drive it home. On the way home, it entered limp mode, but for $700, I didn't care.
I put the van on the backburner for a couple weeks, as I initially planned on fixing it and flipping it for a decent profit. I stumbled across a guy through a friend who runs an RV rental website that specializes in Sprinters. He has 16 Sprinters that stay rented all summer long for $189/night on up, and he is always looking for more. The idea stuck, and I decided to make this a camper van around the first of March.
The first item of business was to measure everything, and plan the layout. I then pulled the headliner to pop out the dent in the roof cap the best I could... it will be hit with a little filler and sanded down to get rid of the crease that remains. I then started ordering everything I would need, and began working on the mechanicals.
So far, I replaced the starter, radiator, A/C Condenser, A/C pressure line, water pump, cooling hoses, both idler pulleys, and the tensioner pulley. I also changed the oil, replaced the fuel filter, and serviced the transmission and rear end. I figured out the reason the belts were breaking (the replacement I put on was shredding within a couple hours) was the alternator's sprag clutch had failed and the pulley was cocked a bit off-center. Since I had the front end disassembled, I took care of some of the rust on the headlight surrounds for the core support. While I was in there, I also replaced the alternator and the turbo resonator with an aluminum eliminator kit.
Side note: For those who don't know, the vans were engineered to run nearly silently. This meant that Benz put a plastic muffler of sorts on the turbo outlet to silence the whistle, AKA the turbo resonator. The plastic seam for the end cap is a known failure point, hence the aluminum eliminator/delete pipe. I put these on dang near every van I touch for that little bit more reliability.
Story to be continued.
It all started in February, when I stumbled across a 2005 Dodge Sprinter 140" wb SHC (Super High Ceiling) that was being sold for cheap. He wanted $1500, so I drove an hour away in the snow to check it out the day after it was listed. After giving it a quick look-over, I had enough fodder to negotiate the price further. The belt only had 2 ribs left, and one of the idler pulleys was broken. There were three bad glow plugs (its a 5-cylinder), the fuel filter looked ancient (change interval is 20k), and someone tried going through a low clearance entrance, caving in the front roof cap. I offered, low, he declined, I walked, and he called me back in and countered with $700, to which I agreed.
I came back the next day and put a spare belt and idler pulley on the van so I could drive it home. On the way home, it entered limp mode, but for $700, I didn't care.
I put the van on the backburner for a couple weeks, as I initially planned on fixing it and flipping it for a decent profit. I stumbled across a guy through a friend who runs an RV rental website that specializes in Sprinters. He has 16 Sprinters that stay rented all summer long for $189/night on up, and he is always looking for more. The idea stuck, and I decided to make this a camper van around the first of March.
The first item of business was to measure everything, and plan the layout. I then pulled the headliner to pop out the dent in the roof cap the best I could... it will be hit with a little filler and sanded down to get rid of the crease that remains. I then started ordering everything I would need, and began working on the mechanicals.
So far, I replaced the starter, radiator, A/C Condenser, A/C pressure line, water pump, cooling hoses, both idler pulleys, and the tensioner pulley. I also changed the oil, replaced the fuel filter, and serviced the transmission and rear end. I figured out the reason the belts were breaking (the replacement I put on was shredding within a couple hours) was the alternator's sprag clutch had failed and the pulley was cocked a bit off-center. Since I had the front end disassembled, I took care of some of the rust on the headlight surrounds for the core support. While I was in there, I also replaced the alternator and the turbo resonator with an aluminum eliminator kit.
Side note: For those who don't know, the vans were engineered to run nearly silently. This meant that Benz put a plastic muffler of sorts on the turbo outlet to silence the whistle, AKA the turbo resonator. The plastic seam for the end cap is a known failure point, hence the aluminum eliminator/delete pipe. I put these on dang near every van I touch for that little bit more reliability.
Story to be continued.
Last edited:
But not rusty as far as I can tell.