Bought another one...parts van!

[batook]

I now own three of these beans! I was searching craigslist for someone parting out a previa (was looking for the alloy wheels), but came across an ad of a guy asking $500 for his wrecked previa in ft collins. His son has rear-ended a Jeep, and the spare tire had crushed in the hood and pressed the radiator into the accessories.

He said his son had driven it home after the accident, but coolant had leaked and it probably couldn't make the trek to denver. I had recently replaced the original radiator in my 91 auto, so I had that in a box in the shed, and the fan and fan clutch of my 91 automatic was sitting on the floor of my garage. I grabbed that stuff, some hose clamps, antifreeze, and my tools, and went up there to check it out.

Took a few minutes to get the hood open, and then I wrapped a tow rope around the front metal and had him hook it to his jeep to pull the radiator back away from the accessories. That worked really well, and I was then able to tear out all the fan shroud plastic. The fan was trashed, and I don't think the radiator itself was leaking, but the plastic nipple that connects to the reservoir tank had broken off and was stuck inside the small hose. I put in my radiator and fan/fan clutch, reconnected the hoses, and filled it with coolant. No leaks, and no overheating...good stuff!

Drove it around the neighborhood for a while, it steers fine but definitely has some odd sounds and vibrations, especially between 1k - 2k rpm (seems to get better over 2k, not sure why). I think the SADS alignment is definitely messed up. I think it's road worthy enough now though to make it on the hour-long trip down the freeway for its final voyage. Then its off to my garage where I will strip that sucker bare!

Best part is--it's a 91, dark blue, manual transmission, AWD with 225k, EXACTLY like the manual previa I bought last fall with the head gasket leak. At a minimum, I'm going to transplant the engine into my manual. Then, who knows...when the auto trans in my white van finally quits, I have a complete donor van for a manual conversion! I talked him down to $300, and it has nice goodyear allegra tires that are only a year old...those are worth it just for that!

With this thing, I should be able to keep my vans running for decades to come!

Later,

Eric C.
91 LE AWD Auto @ 314k, JDM engine swap underway
91 DX AWD 5Spd @ 267k, running but with head gasket leak
91 DX AWD 5Spd @ 225k, parts van

[timsrv]

Nice find! 5 speed All-Tracks are cool! Does it have the rear axle you were looking for? Alloy wheels? Tim

[batook]

Nice find! 5 speed All-Tracks are cool!

Agreed. Definitely my preferred combination of options for the previa. I have all the rear seats removed and the carpet pulled (it smelled like wet dog when I bought it...). I love it though, I threw a big piece of cardboard down over the back and use the massive cargo area like a truck for all my tools, jacks, etc, except it's better than a truck since its completely covered, lockable, much more space, and of course the previa handles like a car. The manual trans makes it feel a bit more manly to drive, too.

Does it have the rear axle you were looking for? Alloy wheels?

No, unfortunately, same as my other one, just the 14" steelies and rear drums. I've only ever seen one manual trans prev with 4-wheel disc and ABS (a 92 cash-for-clunkers van last August). The tires on the 14's are nice though, and incidently my tire of choice for an all-season on the prev (Goodyear Allegras, sold exclusively at Sam's Club). Oh well, at least it was well maintained, no rust, and the rear diff isn't leaking like my other manual. Since that van has a gasket leak or cracked head, I'm planning on just swapping over the entire engine/trans as a complete unit into my other manual. That makes for a pretty simple transplant--I wont even have to disconnect the trans from the engine and re-install the clutch! Then I need to decide if I still want to tackle the rear disc upgrade, or just swap over the rear axle assembly from the parts van instead. Part of me still wants to have 4-wheel disc brakes, but since most of the braking is done by the fronts anyway, I'm not sure how much improvement in stopping distance it will actually see, as a practical matter. The only other reasons to do it then would be the discs are a little easier to work on, and the parts would then be compatible with my other 91 white automatic. Eric

[batook]

Had the wife give me a ride up to ft collins today to pick up my parts van. It drove fine on the way home, albeit with bad vibrations and rumbling everytime I applied the gas. The SADS is totally out of whack. The engine, however, is excellent. The guy said he babied it, and it shows. The engine has way more power than my gasket-blown van, and the trans shifts nice and smooth. Even the shock/struts are in good shape--it rides a lot better than my other beat up van, even with the SADS issues. It's a shame really that it was so wrecked, but then I wouldn't own it, so... Anyway, I'll definitely be transferring that power train over to my blue van with the gasket leak. I wouldn't be surprised to find close to 180psi in each cylinder of that engine! The gasket leak engine is down to about 150 each. Eric