Call the dealer and see if they can make a key using the vin number. At least it's an old style key and not these chipped fob style ones.
Grandma's Van
- Thread starter Rochev
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Or take out the door lock and take to a locksmith if the cut is the same.
With the two barn finds I got to watch come to life recently, one thing we observed was all the rubber bits on the fuel pumps were melted, presumably from ethanol. The guy supervising the work (church program) is ASE certified and said what we were looking at was ethanol related. I hope you don’t run into that but who knows? Do those have an access panel to pull off the top of the tank from the interior?
If it happens to have a 1/4 tank of gas or less, I would fill with fresh premium high octane gas, and a 2X dose of Techron or Gumout Regane.
This might allow you to avoid having to pull the tank.
This might allow you to avoid having to pull the tank.
Sorry for your loss. Lost my grandma a few years back, amazing woman and fantastic link to the past, grew up in the tenements, lived through the Great Depression, had a career, went back to school in her 50s and had another career. They don’t make them like they used to. I’d run some fresh fuel in that beast and change the fuel filter as well as drop some Techron into the tank. Rattle can or wrap for the roof. Check the brake lines as well.
Thanks everyone for the replies! It's actually been sitting for 7 years. The key was one of the first things I found when cleaning out the house. I don't know what motor it has or the condition of anything under the hood because the hood release cable snapped and vice grips can't pull it. There was a lot of weight stored in it, but I cleaned everything out of it and tried rocking it, and its suspiciously stiff. I also didn't hear gas sloshing. It's squat down so much the exhaust is almost touching the pavement so I hope the suspension isn't rusted in place. I'm going to try filling the tires and have it towed home, but it may be a bit before I can get around to it unfortunately.
It's actually been sitting since 2012. I did a Google street view and it was 100% white in 2012 when it was taken. Well after several more months of sitting, here she is. 1994 with the 3.0. New battery, fresh gas (had about 0 gallons in it) freed the pulleys, put some oil down the top end and cranked it. She fired right up but died. Started again and ran quiet and smooth before I shut it off. Up next is a basic tune up before checking how (or if) the transmission is working. The tires actually sank several inches in PAVEMENT! And yes, both shocks are rusted off and there are no rocker panels or leaf spring mounts left. It also looks like the rear axle is too far back somehow. Maybe from having no shocks it's squatted back?
You may get lucky, we recently got a '95 Chev G20 van going again by just putting a battery in it and cranking it over. Sat since 2008 but still ran decent on the gas that was in it.
EDIT: just saw the pics, idk if I would try to put that back on the road, I would be concerned about the rear axle falling out of it
EDIT: just saw the pics, idk if I would try to put that back on the road, I would be concerned about the rear axle falling out of it
Nick1994
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Let’s see some more in depth pics and we can help determine if the rot can be fixed. If it can, weld in some new rockers and to paint it you can get those Rustoleum Turbo cans and they seem pretty good.
I get the sentimental part of this, my grandpa always told me when he passed I could have his 61 four door hardtop Impala. By the time I got it it was in bad shape but drivable so I drove it around town (didn't trust it at highway speeds) for few years on Sundays until the upper rear shocks rusted thru and they ended up in the trunk. I ended up selling to someone that had the money to fix it but never seen it again.
Maybe after you mess around with it for awhile you can get it out of your system, good luck to you.
Maybe after you mess around with it for awhile you can get it out of your system, good luck to you.
I'm only looking to use it for dump runs every other week. The rot is just the rockers, mostly the left side as it's eaten into the door and body. Leaf springs and mounts are fine, they looked bad but aren't, as well as the axle. Underneath the body is surprisingly clean. It's only got 80k miles. I think my 2017 has more rust on the subframe than this thing. I changed the oil and will be testing it out on my private road hopefully today.
Wow these vans take me back. Always had very fond memories riding around in these as a kid with friends and their family, always felt like a special treat to ride with friends whose parents could spring for the loaded versions with the Quad Command seats. My parents had a '96 Grand Voyager SE (generation after yours) w/the 3.3, Chrysler has made pretty decent vans over the years.
IIRC the Mitsubishi 3.0 in that generation is hooked up to a 3spd Torqueflite, loaded up with kids, gear and adults always sounded like a very high revving affair. The 3.0 didn't seem to mind.
IIRC the Mitsubishi 3.0 in that generation is hooked up to a 3spd Torqueflite, loaded up with kids, gear and adults always sounded like a very high revving affair. The 3.0 didn't seem to mind.
This is the base model I'm pretty sure, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a 3 speed. Luckily I wouldn't ever be driving it past 60. And no deep pockets here, it'll be a long project. The body isn't worse than any other 15+ year old car here. Brakes and cockeyed axle are next on the list.
If it landed in my lap I would definitely tinker with it too lol. I have a bit of experience with these vans, and as it's been pointed out definitely look hard into the rear axle, they like to break on these vans when they get rusty back there
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