They apparently moved the engine forward in the B van chassis twice, once in the late 1980's, again in the 1990's, reducing engine access each time, at least from the interiour. The literature is vauge as to which years the changes occured and by exactly how far the engine position changed, does anyone know, photographs would be nice.
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B-series vans differences in engine position in chassis.
#1
Posted January 8, 2013 at 10:26 pm
#2
Posted January 9, 2013 at 08:35 am
Welcome to Allpar. It was in 1988 and again in 1998 according to the Allpar article: http://www.allpar.co...cks/b-vans.html
It doesn't mention how much the dimensions were changed.
Seat and instrument panel clearances to the doghouse were also changed.
#3
Posted January 9, 2013 at 09:30 am
Huh. I drove an '84 Royal 350 Maxiwagon and a '97 Ram Van 2500, and the doghouse covers were identical other than the color. If they moved the engine forward they didn't change the cover. I moved up to a '98 Ram Maxiwagon 3500, and it felt more like they moved the dash and seats rearward than moving the now-redesigned doghouse forward.
#4
Posted January 9, 2013 at 06:10 pm
I'm trying to find out what years had the best engine access from the interiour because its much easier and safer to work on from inside, especially during hard weather if you don't have a shop or driveway available. I've read the allpar article.
Edited by flblessk, January 9, 2013 at 06:12 pm.
#5
Posted January 10, 2013 at 10:01 am
I pulled heads in a junkyard from a '90 or so, that was not very much fun. It's hard to get the exhaust manifolds off because of the body of the van being so close. Top-end work would probably be fairly easy, but nothing on the front or deep in would be accessible from inside. The A-series (flat front) vans would probably be fairly easy to work on, but those are an entirely different animal.
Full-sized vans just suck to work on.
#6
Posted January 14, 2013 at 09:36 am
Pull the passenger seat and the motor lifts up and out the passenger door.
Piece of cake, a one man job, but easier with two.
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