Projects Another Project...1961 Econoline Van...I Must Be An Idiot!!

haha you have more projects than jeroma!!!!!!!!

 

Yes you are!!




BloodyKnuckles

 

Umm ya i think it was a terrible mistake...and ahh you should get that van over to my place ...........................
ahhhh right away

Cool van lol

 

Hey! Boobie! Boobie boobie Doo. Where are you? We got some work to do now!



You better get some boobie snacks. We got a lot of work to do now!

 

Vans are fun, cheap (relatively) and easy to work on. Possibilities are endless with that. If your not in a hurry, take your time and just go creative on the thing.

 

It was that damn hat he was wearing!

 

So pretty much if you are a close friend of Boobies (Ron not the Anatomy part) then you are almost certain not to have anything good to say on this thread except ball busting.

Model A????

 

I see shag carpet in your future......and a disco ball.....and some fat cragar ss wheels.....I can paint a wizard on the side for you......and some side pipes.

 

We can call it........da lub machine

 

"Boobie Bungalow"

 

nice score. love the Econo's.

 

I'll look up in the dusty old attic and see if I have a shop manual on that van. Great find, I've always liked those, I'm having a little "van envy" right now.

 

My dad had a '62 he wedged a Boss 351 Clevland (he ran a 351CJ while he was building the Boss, he also mentioned that when using a Boss 351 that it is neccasary to build the living crap out of it because they didn't have enough power to begin with )...

His van was all converted to 4x4 (he used a mustang 9inch and an early bronco front diff and a bronco transfer case)...

I talked to him about switching it out to a V8 and he said it would be best to get the crossmember from a 240 equipped van.. He also said he cut the floor out to pretty much the inside edges of the frame rails so the engine fit, and also modified the dog house to fit, oh he ran a C4 too with a B&M Star shifter that had an extra long shift cable.. He also built struts off of the engine crossmember that went to the outside edges of the floor to stiffen that area up.. And he ran cables from the front of the block to crossmember because he had problems breaking motor mounts.. He said that could be eliminated if you used solid mounts though.. And he modified a set of Mustang headers to fit (he just shortened them so they didn't hang real low).... He also built the dog house so at a later time he could fit a 429 or 460 in, but he said the Boss pretty much did it for him...

And he said that if you want heat you want the heater that goes behind the passenger side headlight, not the one in front of the dog house.. (he did that for cooling issues, he said once you take that heater out then you make a tunnel thats goes from the original heater opening on the floor to the front of the dog house, he says if that isn't done he can gurantee cooling problems, he also had a 5 core radiator made, but it may not be needed, it used the radiator tanks from a later 460 powered van.. But with todays aluminium radiators you might not need to do that either.

He said the main problem was moving air into the radiator, he used an 8 blade fan but said at about 6,000RPM it'd flip the belt off... he recomends an electric fan..

there's probably something I missed but that should give you some ideas...

I forgot he built a custom tranny crosmember, and he ran 3500 stall converter, and 4.10's with 33" Mud Wompers (actual name) he said they were a super aggresive tire... he said they were super noisey too but traction was unbelievable..

He said his side project during this fiasco was '75 F100 Short box, with a built 427 and a C6 for mud drags... But that's another story... There was also a plethera of 427,429, and 460 powered F250 High Boys built for mud drags.. Then there was the F250 Highboy with a 4-53 Detroit that turned about 3,400rpm (which according to valid sources it didn't sound anything like an internal combustion engine should...it was pretty damn scary, and for those who don't know 3,400rpm on a Detroit is really f'n fast!)

 

Love them vans. Check out my albums, there alot of my buddys Econoline.

 

Man, I need a van. Nice score!

 

Here's the nicest one around these parts...Hamber Fuzzy Bunny's "Free Candy"...
This van is just the coolest....

 

Thats funny as shit!!! HaHaHa!

 

I love those vans/pickups. My dad had a '62 'line pickup when I was growing up. He had it since it was new, and has since been through 3 or 4 engine swaps in it, at one time it even had a sbc in it.

 

I had a 65 Falcon van YEARS ago, stuck a 289 in, pretty tight fit so I cut access holes in the sides of the engine cover. Great truck, lots of fun cruising, camping and just messing around. Lots of Ford stuff will fit. If your engine is stuck or you have too much grief with it just step up to a fun one.

 

Finish your BUICKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! hahaha

 

hahahahahaha!!!!

 

BloodyKnuckles,

vintage van forum
http://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/forum.htm
weatherstripping
http://www.restorationspecialties.com/chevy_&_ford_van_kits.htm
Shag, baby! Yeah!
http://www.starrugs.com/shagcolors.html
Formica to cover stuff
http://www.pastense.com/surfaces.html
metalflake naugahyde to match the shag
http://www.naugahyde.com/productline.asp?id=32

Yes, you gotta have fun with that!

 

I like it! May be because back in the early 70's they were the thing to have....rolling hotels!

 

my buddy had one that tried to kill him like 3 times. exactly the same. you should put a 400hp 460 in it. now that would be fun

 

Will you look as good driving it as she does......

 

what if we called it the stabbin cabbin!!!

put a lil velour bed in the back

 

I think you should name it the "Sin Bin"

That thing rules. It really needs a crazy 70's lace paint job though.

 

You rule! now put that off to the side and build that Buick~!

 

Personally, I love the 144 motor simply because its a weakling. Not to many fans out there for the motor. The 85 hp isn't that bad in my ranch, but you've got a lot more steel to haul around. I dont know if the large 6's will fit, but I'm sure that a 200 would. Look for the motors with the seven main bearings. Thoes motors are indistructable. Whats cool is that I get 24 mpg out of my 144 and I haven't done squat to the motor other than routine tune up parts.

Good luck with your new box. It looks like it will be fun to tinker on.

 

I dig those things!