Starion in disguise! Starwagon maybe? '88 L300

RallySol · **Posted:** Sun May 16, 2010 10:03 pm

Someone once showed me pictures from an ebay listing of a Delica Super Exceed Starwagon something or other. Love at first sight, I -had- to have one. Started doing my homework and found a panel "VanWagon" at a friends shop. Bought it from the owner a few months later, most likely after he found out how much it would cost to bring it back up to par as I was to later find out.

Before I picked up the van, I had an '88 SWB Montero. Awesome little truck. Even more awesome after I swapped over late model Starion turbo bits. Phenomenal little truck, pained me to part with it, but it was just too small for my needs.

Here's most of the short lived congregation before all the work started. The only one missing is my '87 Starion. I've since thinned the fleet to just the L300 and my 87 Starion.

When I bought the van the overdrive solenoid was bad and both the 4G64 and transmission were -way- tired. The engine was so far gone that it only took one trip into town with the Monty's 4.66 rear end and 30's to bring it near death. It was an absolute chore trying to drive back up the hill to the house. I happened to be building a 8:1 .040 engine for my Starion at the time and, well, the van needed an engine more than the Starion.

Swapping engines with this thing is really quite a joke. I'd rather not do it again if I don't have to.

Swapping the 6 lug bits in

I've since painted the rims, buffed the body and re-painted the black plastic bits and rear bumper. Looks damn sharp, but I don't have any decent current pics unfortunately save for this blurry cell phone pic.

I love driving the thing, just as much as I loved the Monty, and let me tell you its an odd sensation sitting on top of the front axle when the rear is sliding out from behind you.

It's still a long way from being done as it remains 2x4 and lacks adequate heat shielding and an intercooler. Hopefully posting this here will help motivate me to git 'er done, or at least more done than it is now.

75wagon · **Posted:** Mon May 17, 2010 1:00 am

Awesome, I'd love to see more pics of it.
I've always liked these vans.

Camshaft · **Posted:** Mon May 17, 2010 9:53 am

I love boxy '80s vans, I hope to pick one up as a winter driver/official Rockstar Motors delivery vehicle someday soon.

john · **Posted:** Mon May 17, 2010 5:51 pm

What's the motivation for swapping in the 6-lug stuff? Just so it's more "heavy duty"?

RallySol wrote:

Swapping the 6 lug bits in

RallySol · **Posted:** Mon May 17, 2010 8:52 pm

Larger tires, more ground clearance and the 6 lugs have room for the locking front hubs that haven't found their way on the van just yet.

Best parts runner/service/recovery van ever. At least it will be when I'm through with it.

poindextrose15 · **Posted:** Thu May 20, 2010 9:11 am

Awesome Van. 80s box vans rule.

city hunter · **Posted:** Tue May 25, 2010 12:19 am

hows that thing tow a car trailer? I was contemplating this exact swap for a long time before I got too deep into some of my other mitsu turbo swaps.

I bet that thing is a blast to slide. Just witht he starion wheels my van slides great in the rain and th tired stock engine.

I snagged somes tarwagon badging from aus a while back to make it proper.

city hunter · **Posted:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 12:40 pm

tell it to the quire

75wagon · **Posted:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 4:44 pm

What sort of car is that on the trailer (it's to small for me to make it out, probably not something we got in Australia anyway)? It looks very small. What would it weigh? Not much surely?

What would the Box van weigh? The trailer would be what 500kgs or more. I am assuming that the trailer would be braked. If so that should increase the maximum tow weight, shouldn't it?
I am also assuming there is a fair bit of stuff in the back of the van also.
The thing I am not keen on about these types of vans is the lightness on the rear axle weight. But with a load in them and trailer weighted correctly it should fix that. You can see in the pic that the back is loaded compared to the front.

I'd still be curious on the weights though?

Maxzillian · **Posted:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 10:29 pm

So by your earlier math (stating the weight must be nearly double that of the van) the L300 must weigh roughly 2000 lbs. Sorry pal, no dice.

With trailer brakes and the trailer properly weighted (as shown in that picture) there should be no problems safely towing that load. Now if he choked the car up to the front of the trailer and overloaded the tongue, I can see your concern. Obviously, that's not the case here.

If you have a problem with your vehicle drifting while pulling at a steady speed, you've got the tongue set way too heavy. Keep in mind that weight on the rear bumper has a lever effect that caused a reduction of weight on the front tires. If you go too far, you can easily be in trouble.

RallySol · **Posted:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 11:01 pm

Its unfortunate how this sort of thing seems to happen often enough without any forethought that one automatically assumes the next one wasn't thought through at all either.

Yes, the trailer has electric brakes. No the van isn't loaded in that little pic, the street is higher where the front end it sitting. With the car & trailer hitched the rear squats about an inch, negating the rake the van would have otherwise. The Sol weighs 2,600-ish as it sits, haven't bothered to weigh the trailer. If I had to guess, maybe 1300-ish. I built that trailer from scratch with that car and that van in mind. Next time I have the scales out I'll get numbers for the van and trailer.

It tows pretty well. Doesn't drift at all. Yes there are better rigs out there, but I don't own them nor have the resources to buy one. Motor is solid with plenty of grunt for city traffic. Trans could use a bit more line pressure but is otherwise strong enough. Towed the car and half a van load of supplies over 200 miles to a race and back. Biggest issue was my water pump/alternator belt let go out in the middle of nowhere on the way home because it was old and fatigued. Had to unload the Sol to make a 40 mile round trip for a belt and water.

RallySol · **Posted:** Wed Jun 02, 2010 10:25 pm

So someone tried to occupy my lane while I was still in it on Sunday. Not sure where the other driver was, because she sure as hell wasn't paying attention. She was in a black Mercedes. Her side view mirror contacted my van right at the rear edge of the sliding door, which means 2/3s of a big beige van was in front of her. Her tire and fender met my slider.

No witnesses pulled over, no tire marks, no evidence as to what happened other than the damage. Her word vs mine and she desputes, so no one is "at fault" and I don't get any money to have my van fixed. Fortunately I've been in a facet of the automotive business long enough to pick up on a few tricks.

Used a Harbor Freight puller to push out some of the rear quarter damage, then used it for leverage to push the rest of it out with the rounded edge of a disassembled breaker bar. Only broke the paint 7 or 8 times. Not too bad for my first shot at paintless dent repair.

75wagon · **Posted:** Thu Jun 03, 2010 2:24 am

Nice repair :tu:

That's some interesting insurance rules. Did the Mercedes driver admit fault? That is generally enough in Australia.

RallySol · **Posted:** Fri Jun 11, 2010 11:21 pm

Thanks!

Nope. Even though she crossed into my lane she did not admit fault. Bends me out of shape, but Karma will catch up with her in due time. If she had admitted fault her insurance would have handled it.

city hunter · **Posted:** Sun Jun 13, 2010 8:24 am

Gotta love cops. Fuckin useless government money makers of the government.. I hate this country, ran by a bunch of f'n corps.

Starion in disguise! Starwagon maybe? '88 L300

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