I bought a camper (kinda)

[steamjam]

Welp, I bought myself a new project. Its a 1979 Dodge-Quigley 4wd 3/4-ton cargo van.This is a big gal with alot of power.

I'll be busting out the welder and fixing some rust, and I've been cruising the internet looking at how other people do their conversions.

[zelph]

How did you locate the van? 4 wheel drive in a van, common?????

Cruse no further. Take a look see what goes on at "Burning Man" festival. Get some ideas from what you see there. Just found out about this place today, never heard of it before. It's a 1 week camp out.

http://www.burningman.com/

google images:

https://www.google.com/search?q=burning ... 80&bih=817

[steamjam]

How did you locate the van? 4 wheel drive in a van, common?????
Cruse no further. Take a look see what goes on at "Burning Man" festival. Get some ideas from what you see there. Just found out about this place today, never heard of it before. It's a 1 week camp out.

I've been to five Burning Mans in the '90s when you had to solve a riddle to identify and message the "Keeper" to get another riddle which told you the super secret location of the festival. I have many many great (albeit somewhat fuzzy with notable gaps here and there. ) memories of being there. and NO, I'm not turning my van into burning man van.. Already had one of those. Well ok it was an AMC Matador station wagon....

1970's and 1980's 4wd vans are somewhat rare. Dealers who offered 4wd conversions would order a 3/4 or 1-ton chassis from the factory, and have it drop shipped to companies like Pathfinder, or Quigley to covert, then they would send the completed van to the dealer for delivery. Dodge did offer a "Van-Charger" in the 1970's that was a dealer conversion. My 1979 Dodge is one of about 1500 built that year. (I'm waiting for confirmation from Quigley on that number..) Here are some pics of other vans from the same era that if you keep your eye out, can be had for under 4K

van-charger


Chevy Van-K


Pathfinder Chevy


QuadraVan


Dodge Xplorer-Pathfinder (RARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!) You won't find one of these for less then 10K


Older Quadravan


Dodge-Mowag

[steamjam]

My Dodge will end up as a low key (read: LOW BUCK) version of this Sportsmobile:


You want a sportsmobile? Please pluck down 50K to Mr. Sportsmobile dealer... I'm doing mine for less then 10K.. (I hope.)

[zelph]

My Dodge will end up as a low key (read: LOW BUCK) version of this Sportsmobile:


You want a sportsmobile? Please pluck down 50K to Mr. Sportsmobile dealer... I'm doing mine for less then 10K.. (I hope.)

Can't you buy something really nice for 10 grand? Used of course but well taken care of?

1st new vehicle I purchased was a 65 chevy carryall. 6 cylinder, nuttin fancy. Good camping and fishing truck. No girlfriends at the time....I was free as the breeze.

[steamjam]

Can't you buy something really nice for 10 grand? Used of course but well taken care of?
1st new vehicle I purchased was a 65 chevy carryall. 6 cylinder, nuttin fancy. Good camping and fishing truck. No girlfriends at the time....I was free as the breeze.

Not really. Sportsmobiles go for 20K and up used and quigley's start at about 8K for one with high miles and goes up from there. And merely thinking about taking out a loan for a Sportsmobile sends my blood pressure soaring. Nope. Got to go the "paid-for route"..

Besides, IMHO its alot more fulfilling and satisfying to create something rather then go out and buy it..

[zelph]

How much did you have to lay out for the one you got? Are the rocker panels in good shape? show us what's under the hood Can you fit a hand along side the engine and firewall? Is it leaking oil?

[steamjam]

How much did you have to lay out for the one you got? Are the rocker panels in good shape? show us what's under the hood Can you fit a hand along side the engine and firewall? Is it leaking oil?

I originally wanted to get a cheap-o camper van and convert it to 4wd. I budgeted 2K for the van itself, so when I found this one thats already a 4wd for $1200, I jumped on it. There is no rust on the rockers, but I will haveto do some rust repair on the wheel arches and passenger windshield pillar. (Dodge vans always rust there) There is a low mileage (90K) 360 V8 with a 4v under the lid.

oh haha and the tarp is there on the ground to catch any coolant it leaks. (radiator is kinda old and crusty)

[zelph]

Ok, so now you've got a good project going. You got a garage big enough to keep it in and work on it? Looks like you have been keeping it outside.

I tried to find used cheap Dodge-Quigley's in a 200 mile radius of me on craigslist and nothing shows up. They are rare around here.

Are you planning on camping with it while it's be renovated? Looks like a nice camper to start getting out real soon with it.

[steamjam]

Ok, so now you've got a good project going. You got a garage big enough to keep it in and work on it? Looks like you have been keeping it outside.
I tried to find used cheap Dodge-Quigley's in a 200 mile radius of me on craigslist and nothing shows up. They are rare around here.
Are you planning on camping with it while it's be renovated? Looks like a nice camper to start getting out real soon with it.

The thing doesn't fit into my garage. I'm nearly done gutting the interior for the restoration so the van should be ready by October or so.

Old Dodge-Quigleys are rare no matter where you go. Quadravans and Chevy K-Van's are much more common. In fact just now I found an '85 K-Van on Craigslist for $1500.... A few weeks ago I passed on a $900 '77 Quadravan I saw on Craigslist because it had a 460 (read:7mpg) instead of the 302, and a $1400 '85 Vancharger because it was a 400ci/full time 4wd.

I think I made out pretty good with my $1200 part time 4wd 360ci (read: 12-14mpg) dodge....