I fell in love. What the hell is this? It was listed as a "1970 susuki van" on craigslist. It took a tractor to load it up the ramp of a 5x9' uhaul.

Have not tried starting it yet.

I spent 500 on the van and 100 on gas and trailer.

I know it was last registered in 1980. probably hasn't been running since then. I've taken a few pics to share with you guys. Am I a dummy for buying this?

Hey dummy what were you thinking??? your now in the company of at least 296 of other dummies! welcome to the club. you dodged the first bullet by posting pics!!

Wow! you have headrests! I would kill for those! And you have a rear seat! It also looks like you have an original battery! Your off to a great start! Welcome.

Ian & micro image check out the breakin sticker on the dash.

Welcome to the club, Wisdom is not measured by the initial purchase, it is measured in how many rare parts you destroy before you realize they are rare. Looks like it was well bought to me. But hey I'm a frequent shipper. Somewhere there are truckers telling stories about 360's I know they are.

Welcome to the Club from downunder, Doodle!

waaahooo!
welcome to the club!!

Great little project you have found!

You have some work ahead of you but we are all here to help as much as we can

Welcome to The Club!

The emblem on the "air conditioner" flap is from the engine door of a 360 sedan. Probably the only van in existence that has this, I would keep it there!

The little light on the front door is also not original. But keep it too.

The jack handle goes under the front seat, along with the spare. It hooks in the jack and holds the spare in place.

The hose to the left of the battery is your cold air intake, air comes in behind the front bumper, travels thru the the right frame rail, up a metal tube and then thru a flex hose to the air cleaner!

See P. 277 in Vol 2 of the BOOK OF REPRINTS, what you need there is a 2" ID straight radiator hose 19 or 20" long.

Great car, we have been driving a van like it since Feb. 1975, still drive it every day. You will really enjoy driving yours!

Ed

I think that's a pretty nice find, very complete. Got some rust, but I bet you can get it running.

Ian & micro image check out the breakin sticker on the dash.

yeah, I saw that. jealous!

oldone wrote:Ian & micro image check out the breakin sticker on the dash.

It's cool and in good condition, but I have a sedan, which has a different style sticker.

Where should I start? It hasn't been started in 30 years I'm assuming. Pour some oil down in the cylinders? Try cranking it over?

pcdoodle wrote:Where should I start? It hasn't been started in 30 years I'm assuming. Pour some oil down in the cylinders? Try cranking it over?

Hi Dummy, I have a truck that sat from 1984 & the first thing I did after finding out that I could turn the gen pulley was to pull the plugs and put some oil in the cyls and turn it a few times by the pulley. i let it set for a few days & did the same thing again.it lets the oil seep down the cyls and into the piston ring lands. then i cleaned the carb & used premixed gas in case the oil pump was a no go. to much oil can only foul a plug. a dry engine can seize the pistons in short order. turned it over on the starter a few times with the plugs out. put new plugs in & it fired right up. has ran good since. good luck wayne

Check & polish the rotor, points and distributor contacts. Make sure you get some new gas; gas that old will almost certainly foul the carburetor. Turn the engine by hand to see if it's free before you start cranking it -- or put it in 4th gear and rock it to see if it's free. If you get it running, put a line filter onto the gas feed; the tank is probably rusty and you want to catch the rust before it gets to the carb. Assume the brakes are shot, so do some research on how to get them working.

Hey congrats on your purchase. You got a great deal. Remember, you didn't buy a car, you bought a hobby! Clearly you are not daunted by the challenge. And, this is definitely the place to be to get good advice as you restore your van. If you need the BOR, hit the "PM" button at the bottom of this post and send me a note - I will reply with the link. Also, if you need any manuals you can get them here

Hey, who swiped the handle on your driver's side back door?

Steve

Nice time capsule survivor with alot of extra bits that didn't get lost that the rest of us are searching for.....you'll have a lot of fun with this van, that appears to be the original battery. Cool.


Welcome to the club