Time to give it up?

[WRXtranceformed]

Sigh.

So buy a cheap Civic with the money you keep throwing into that thing for parts. If you have to keep that thing as a DD, put money into it to make it reliable, not to modify it all to shit.

[Kaan]

i suck at life... that is all.

[Jeff]

I guess I do see the point about the welds. They are kinda thick and not exactly the roll of dimes. The welds on that aluminum intake look sweet, that is custom made. I thought it was a mexi stratus intake, and it is, but only part of it. The round tube part and the portion that goes to the throttle body has been modified.

As for further modifying the van...I'm not. I have no plans to modify it any further then it is now, until it is no longer a daily car. At that point I will probably use it as a mule for a 2.4l/hybrid project, I already have the head for it. It has been doing well for the past week, no issues at all. Drives smoother, not as noisy, getting 22mpg average.

Hate on the van all you want, it has been a great learning experience for me. I have turned more wrenches and learned more stuff (mostly the hard way) with it then any other car I have. It has saved me money and time in the long run with the Daytona and I know more for it. At least I can turn my own wrenches and have fun with a car that is not expensive to modify or fix, some can't say that, those with tens of thousands invested in cars they couldn't build on their own. The Van is practical, unique, and fun...all I can ask from a vehicle.

[Mike]

The Van is practical, unique, and fun...all I can ask from a vehicle.

reliable is a good thing as well, but i guess when you're a chyrsler monkey you automatically throw certain things out the window...

[Dave]

As for further modifying the van...I'm not. I have no plans to modify it any further then it is now, until it is no longer a daily car. At that point I will probably use it as a mule for a 2.4l/hybrid project, I already have the head for it. It has been doing well for the past week, no issues at all. Drives smoother, not as noisy, getting 22mpg average.

So, despite what everybody in this thread has said, you're going to keep it until something blows up again (face it, it's inevitable). If it is running good, now is the time to SELL it.

[CaptainHenreh]

As for further modifying the van...I'm not. I have no plans to modify it any further then it is now, until it is no longer a daily car. At that point I will probably use it as a mule for a 2.4l/hybrid project, I already have the head for it. It has been doing well for the past week, no issues at all. Drives smoother, not as noisy, getting 22mpg average.

So, despite what everybody in this thread has said, you're going to keep it until something blows up again (face it, it's inevitable). If it is running good, now is the time to SELL it.

Aw, come on guys, give him a break. If he sells the van what's he going to drive?

[Jeff]

Maybe I need to start walking...I guess I can make blow off sounds and jerk a little like I am changing gears.

[CaptainHenreh]

Maybe I need to start walking...I guess I can make blow off sounds and jerk a little like I am changing gears.

Figuratively retarded vs literally retarded.

Tough call.

[Jeff]

The Van is practical, unique, and fun...all I can ask from a vehicle.

reliable is a good thing as well, but i guess when you're a chyrsler monkey you automatically throw certain things out the window...

Afterthought...its a hell of a drug

Not really, the key thing I have come to realize is that the minivan has only one real problem, honestly, its me. Over half of the transmission pulls were those "learning the hard way" things I was talking about. I drive the damn thing like a sports car...seriously. I beat on it, take turns to hard (wheel bearing going bad, started on a trip over 33W), and just generally hate the tires and motor mounts at every stoplight. Put me in a Civic (after you find a way to give it torque) and I will destroy it too. Thats why I hope the Daytona's manly mods will handle up to my abuse. The engine has NEVER given me any problem I did not cause, and the transmissions were just not doing the job with all the weight and the heavy right foot. The thing weighs over 4000lbs.

[Kaan]

they werent a roll of dimes because it was mig welded. you can tell by the gas marks. its not a bad way to weld... you can do rigid welds with it that will hold up to a ton of stress. there are several big issues with the tops of the shocks and the penetration of the welds on the tubes. it seems like the welder didnt adjust the machine for the different thickness of metal and definately didnt go from thick metal to thin metal to make sure there is penetration. Miter cutting some of the stuff would have really helped keep it clean and rigid as well.

tight roll of dimes = pull tig... lose roll = push tig.... dome weld with grey/brown color 1-2 inches on each side = mig.

they no longer do structural welds with a stick welder btw... they use flux core and multiple passes (up to 40). they'd probably use a mig but they would burn through so much gas it wouldnt be cost effective. They use a roll of flux core that can be unrolled from one end of the US to the other... could you imagine letting that thing unravel accidently?

[Jeff]

they werent a roll of dimes because it was mig welded. you can tell by the gas marks. its not a bad way to weld... you can do rigid welds with it that will hold up to a ton of stress. there are several big issues with the tops of the shocks and the penetration of the welds on the tubes. it seems like the welder didnt adjust the machine for the different thickness of metal and definately didnt go from thick metal to thin metal to make sure there is penetration. Miter cutting some of the stuff would have really helped keep it clean and rigid as well.

tight roll of dimes = pull tig... lose roll = push tig.... dome weld with grey/brown color 1-2 inches on each side = mig.

they no longer do structural welds with a stick welder btw... they use flux core and multiple passes (up to 40). they'd probably use a mig but they would burn through so much gas it wouldnt be cost effective. They use a roll of flux core that can be unrolled from one end of the US to the other... could you imagine letting that thing unravel accidently?

Very informative, I learned more from that post then I have anywhere else about welding... I need to take a class.