Clueless New Girl Introduction to VANdalizing...

Hey all....

Dont laugh too hard at me but
I've always toyed with old two wheelers
and I finally took a chance to give four wheels a shot

I've also always had connections to info, parts, and services for bikes,
so I've surely lurked on the other side here (JockeyJournal)
but when it comes to cages, I am totally CLUELESS !
& I figgered there is no better place to go than over here

hell yea, I picked up a '63 Ford Econoline Van
that is in considerably decent shape as a start of a new project

I suppose the 1st things I'de like to find (if possible ?)
is any parts and service manuals and/or catalogs to any companies selling parts for it etc ?

everything on the van is working except for the horn, dome light & radio right now (hot damn)
but there is surely some stuff (I dont even know what parts are called - haha) clanking around !
starting with...

the dry rotted weather stripping rubber gaskits around the side & vent windows and the door felt ?
I dont even know if thats what ya call it, or if ya buy it in universal lengths, or its made to fit ?

another thing is like some 4 or 5 inch fat rubber boot ( thats rotted & almost gone)
it is on a bracket serving as a ******/motor mount, right where the drive shaft and U joint connects
( when I shift too hard, it feels like the whole motor and ****** wants to drop out - ka bang ! )

it does start to run a bit ruff after a bit, no smoke, but the plugs seem to wet fuel foul
and one thing I did learn the hard way thru a very surprising messy spillage
is that it has an "oil bath air cleaner" ! wtf is that all about ? ( told ya I dont know squat ) hahaha
so I'de like to find some aftermarket carb to eliminate that **** and it might run consistantly smoother ?

most of it is stock, it has a straight six, three on the tree, etc etc,
but I was told it is not the original motor, so I gotta figger out how to ID it ?
I think he said something like its a 187 something or other, I dunno ?

any help, suggestions, links or info to anything at all
to hookin this thing up is greatly appreciated !

oh, I found "flat" little windows, but can ya still get those different shaped "bubble" windows ?

Thanks for reading and roll on !















PS. I am not a female as it says on the thread ***le,
but I saw that the new girl below got the most hits,
so I made ya look ! hahaha

 

PS. I am not a female as it says on the thread ***le,
but I saw that the new girl below got the most hits,
so I made ya look ! hahaha


hahaha...thats funny ****!!!!! welcome to the HAMB!!! )

 

Bitichin VAN!!!!

 

Thats hilarious! Welcome to HAMB LAND, i would tell you to thicken your skin but i'm pretty sure the other JJ already did that for you, awesome score with the van, i've got a 66 pick up and they're a trip, your's is lookin sweet, search econoline madness and get ready to spend the next hour or so day dreaming and planning.... HAPPY HAMBING!

 

I like yur plate girl. That isn't a 140 cid would it. great lookin van

 

I really dig those vans. Wish I had one.

 

Welcome!

We like clueless girls.

 

Cool van :thumbup:

It should have the same straight six motor as a Ford Falcon car. A 144 or 170 would have been original. The 144 and 170 can only be told apart from the outside by the original paint colors. A 144 had a blue valve cover, a 170 had a red valve cover. Given the age and history of the van these are definitely variables. But all the accessories and stuff are the same between the 144 and 170.

If its been swapped for a later engine you might have a 200 or even a 250. You can tell the 200 and 250 apart from the smaller motors because the 200 and 250 both have 5 freeze plugs on the block under the exhaust manifold. The 144 and 170 only have 3 freeze plugs.

You can then tell a 200 from a 250 by the starter location. The 200 will have its starter at 9:00 and the 250 will have its starter at about 7:00 on the bellhousing.

The 200 and 250 are the more desirable motors for the extra displacement/power and the fact that they have 7 main bearing blocks whereas the smaller motors only have 4 mains. There are some 4 main 200's out there but they are not common.

It is unlikely that you have a 250 as the 250 is a tall deck motor and sits up 2" taller than the other motors. The low mount starter on the 250 also causes problems swapping it into earlier vehicles.

Hopefully this will help you out some. There are some real guru's at http://www.fordsix.com who can help you some more.

 

Made me look!!

 

Yo, dennis-carpenter.com has a catalog loaded with econoline stuff, I have a '61 econoline pick up and would probably be dead in the water with out them.

 

hi there, what part of maryland are you from?

 

Yeah, where in MD? My in-laws are in Hagerstown.

You will get more and better responses if you post your questions in the main board rather than in your intro.

Mac's has more Econo parts than Dennis Carpenter. All the parts you mentioned are available new (including the trans mount), but you can use a universal weather strip kit for the doors... I forget the part number though.

What's an oil bath air filter all about? You haven't been around old cars much, have you?

 

Thanks for the replies everyone.....

ok, I gotta learn my way around the board better after this introduction thread
and I spose I should get a better detailed game plan of exactly what I wanna do too
before I blurt out too many questions (and I got a zillion)

I surfed Econoline Madness & other stuff for hours and damn,
you people got some super cool **** in here !
I thought I had 1/2 a plan till I saw what others here did !

Erose999 - you obviously know Econo's motor history etc
guessing by what my bud said that sold it to me and your info, I guess its a 170
but I'll take a better look at it, compare it to your facts and hopefully ID it correctly
but now I'm day dreaming puttin a big ol' motor in it though ?
bikes I got no problem doin anything to, cuz theyre easier and I always had tons of resourses,
but I'm kinda intimidated on something like a big motor or anything that wouldnt just "bolt-in"
plus its so stock and everythings working & I dont know how badly I should **** it - decisions ?

I got catalogs ordered & on the way from Dennis-Carpenter and Macs you guys told me about,
but will the printed ones I get in the mail have more parts than the online ones,
cause they seemed kinda limited to what they got ?

also for service manuals and exploded view parts books,
man I surfed ebay and a buncha **** and cant find nothing complete like I can with my bikes
are there any specific reprints of one "complete" parts book or service manuals,
or must I just collect anything & everything I can find that are partial or 45 years old ?
I saw one CD catalog on Ebay offered, but I dont know how complete it really is ?

for instance, the Macs catalog says 48 to 79 TRUCKS (plus Econolines)



I'm guessing I cant just pick up a book and order ANY part I want like ya can with Pans or Shovels etc,
so should I and/or are there any specific mechanical parts I should be collecting as replacements,
for hard to find **** ?

yup, like I said, I'm a dumb*** to cages
friends that got old cars & trucks will rattle off to me "look, I did this and did that, its got this and that"
so I've seen stuff and heard terms or phrases relating to old four wheeled vehicles
but all I got to say is "yea man, looks cool" having little to no idea what thier talkin about ! hahaha

and geeze, look at you people.... that real "new girl - seriouslybaby" below, came in after me,
and she already got way more hits and replies than I do, glad I did what I did ! hahahahaha

oh yea, I'm near Frederick MD, 1/2 hour south of Hagerstown

Thanks again for all the comments, help and suggestions !

oh yea, anybody know where I can find a GLOVE BOX DOOR for it ?

 

Got me too,, LOL


But some haven't caught on yet.

 

You need to "scooby doo" it out. All the cool kids are.

 

Early Econ's didn't have glove box doors, maybe the later ones did,up to '66?

 

Yeahhhhh you perverted bishes, I did a search on econoline to find this thread. Sweet van you got there, I got a 66? supervan and looking for inspiration.

 

Dude That rocks ...that is some funny **** . YOU can go right to the head of the cl***! WE are Jokeing all the time about the new guys that post 200 posts on the welcome board and jump all over every new chick like flys on **** ...You already fit in ! Welcome

 

I was expecting a naked blonde chic with big gazooms in the back of that van looking for advice BLAAAHHHHHHH >>>>.

 

Mac's and Dennis Carpenter's catalogs are 98% truck and 2% Econo. The catalogs have pretty much everything that's online.

Econos share a lot of motor parts with other trucks and cars, but pretty much everything else is Econo-only. The good news is you can still get all the mechanical parts (brakes, etc) new and most of the rubber stuff. Very little else is made for them. Only a few patch panels are available, but it looks like you don't need one.

Look on ebay for glovebox doors, bezels, doors, and other oddball things. Most of the common stuff is still pretty cheap since these vans are still undesireable to most people.

If you want to stuff in a bigger motor, you're in for a LOT of work. If you had a 65-67, the swap is relatively easy. But 61-64 Econos had this weird sheetmetal crossmember, so you pretty much have to start from scratch. You'll need so many parts that you'll practically need a parts van. You can drop in a 200 inline 6 easily, but that's about as big as you can go without major work. I had a leakey, worn out 170 in mine and it ran great and could fly down the highway at 80mph with the rest of Chicago traffic withut complaint. I'd keep it if I were you... but why listen to me, I stuffed a 302 into mine.

My brother-in-law lives just outside of Frederick. I'll have to look you up next time I'm out there.

 

I recently saw some "smallish" bubble windows at a truck supply company (fleetpride)

You gotta find a set of the old ones in the shape of an ace of spades, or a heart, or a diamond, or a Club. Soooo cheesy, but sooo cool.

 

bubble windows are very 70s, if you want to go in that direction. I think JC Whitney still has carries them

 

The first vehicle I ever owned was a flat front cab over van (a 65 GMC Handi-Van)....I have always loved them and am currently sportin' a woodie to get another. Diggin' the Econoline!!! Where abouts in Maryland????

 

Ha ha ha got me too

 

Hell yes...
Thanks for all the good info, need all I can get !

guess I'll keep my eye out for all the replacement parts I can find
and I spose I'll just clean it up astetically inside and out for right now,
it moves slow but solid, so in time I'll decide on a motor change up
& I hope you dont mind me pickin your brain about the task too
cause I like the sound of stuffing a big ol motor innit like you did ! haha

hit me up if if ya come down & thanks again !

Van on !

 

yep,got me too
well now that you are outta the closet are you one of dem transtesticles ya know a woman trapped inna man's body????
just askin'
cool van fer a ahhh chic with a ...

 

YES! You've got to turn this thing into the Mystery Machine!

Man, this thread got some serious hits! If you put "Clueless New Girl" in the ***le, it's like a mating call or something... I need to try that on my cl***ified adds... Hmmm...

 

First off PanVan, good joke, ya made me look too!
And you arent alone in the two wheeled community here either bro...
Here's mine....


And a guy had some questions so I made this 'instructional video'....but it's also the only vid I have of my bike...

 

not a chick huh... well, theres some here who will bend you over an pop ya one anyhow.


welcome to the HAMB

 

Welcome from MD.

Vans are a bikers best friend(next to pig mats or kitty litter). Place to haul the bike and a place to crash all in one. Give a holler, theres plenty of us on here who are two wheeled fanatics as well(myself included).