I've owned 2 and find most everything I need on Rockauto or mostly ebay.
The worst part is the interior. As they age, plastic cracks and screws loosen. I've ended up with larger screws and fender washers on the door panels of both I've owned. And the darts that hold the filler panel (between the windshield and hood) seem to be unobatium. They are recessed and no screws will fit down in there.

 

you can still get the plastic rivets that hold the Cowl Vent Panel in place, but I wanted it to be removable, so here's how I fixed the problem.

1) remove one of the tail light assemblies (4 long screws).

2) look at the plastic square anchors where the screws go into. Those are what you need.

3) go to a salvage yard and remove them from Aerostars by hammering them from the rear, they are a pita to remove. I removed 16 of them.

4) find a hole-enlarging drill bit or drill-mounted File, and slightly enlarge the oval rivet holes in the sheet metal, 11 holes total.

5) the anchors need to fit and snap tightly into the holes, and yet be able to slide up and down the long ovaled hole.

6) go to a hardware store and find phillips screws that grab into the anchors tightly.

now you can remove the cowl vent panel whenever needed. No more rivets.

 

Jose, your advice was sound. I just needed time to work it out in my own mind.

After investigation, just to pull all the metal out and get a basic straight structure to assess what needed to be cut out, was going to cost at least $600. That's ok.

Problem is finding a good donor van with a decent complete rear quarter. This has proven to be very difficult, where I live in the rust belt.

Say I find a van in a bone yard. I'd have to pull all interior parts just to cut what I need. Then, my van would have to be cut and the donor piece properly fit, welded, sealed, painted. Who knows where that would come out $$$ wise.

So, I come across a really nice 113k mile white 94 in Tennessee for the price of just the body work on my 93.

I quickly came to the conclusion that the white 93 is done, fini, over.

Snagged my brother in law, hopped in the motorhome and took a trip to Tennessee and brought back this 94. It's rust free with a Spanish Inquisition red interior that POPS!!! Don't see many Aerostars in red like this one.

I never posted, but, I also picked up this light green 96 in Akron, OH a while back. It's also got around 113k miles and is almost as clean as the white one. I now have two vans and love it.

 

man you hit the power ball! they look very nice. Keep the crashed one for parts.

what are the under-bumper attachments on the Silver Aerostar ??

 

Good eyes! I guess you missed the parts booty right behind her and in front of the motorhome. Yeah, yet another Aerostar on site, not pictured, not long for this world stripped down for parts, as it's entire frame is a rusted disaster. I would have used this one if it weren't such a lost cause. It's actually my brother in law's and he drover it for 40k miles to and from his job. It's soooo ugly, I could not take a picture. Purple People Eater, as it's a dark, metalic purple color. A truly singular vehicle.

The light green van has a Blue-Ox tow bar system to allow the van to be flat towed behind a motorhome. I have to disconnect the drive shaft at the differential side for it to work. Fabbed up a angle bracket to mount the drive shaft to when flat towing. Just put the trans in neutral and good to go. I guess I could use any pickup to tow it, as the other end is just a class III hook up system. It was on the white van before it was crunched...

 

ok, I've seen those, used to work in a motorhome storage business, but having to disconnect the driveshaft is a pita.

 

I flat tow my Aerostar behind my motorhome. It's an idea vehicle for that purpose. At 3800 lbs dry weight for the short Aerostar, it works great. I bought a REMCO driveshaft disconnect that allows me to pull a **** mounted under the front seat that slides a synchronizing ring on the driveshaft and separate the front of the driveshaft from the rear piece attached to the rear axle. There's a carrier for the slide bolted to the rear axle. Here's a picture:
here's the website
I'm not sure what one would cost today, this is the four vehicle I've had this one on - first was an 84 Ranger, then 3 different Aerostars.

 

[QUOTE=MotorCityBolt;11675932]Found probably one of the cleanest ones left. I'd imagine that replacement parts may be an issue some years down the road. I did have to replace the clock spring and wiper/signal assembly.

this my first time posting, sorry for your loss.

Wanted to find out about your tow hitch setup.
Roadmaster or BlueOx, did you install?

 

Now, that is TRICK!!

Thanks for the info/link. I will look into this setup, now that I have two
Aerostars.

I have the BlueOx two bar and a Brake Buddy. I still need to tie in the coach's 7 pin wiring to the van lights so they go on when the coach's do.

I do have a question for the members, here.

My dash engine light is on. Had AutoZone dig up the code and found that the evaporator bypass was faulting.

Where is this part located on the van? It's got a two pin connector and a plastic T line. I have not been able to locate it by looking in the front of the engine bay. It's a $50 part.

 

It's kind of buried under the intake manifold, driver's side, towards the front. Follow the line from the vapor trap canister up to that area.

 

It's very common for the hoses going to the charcoal canister under the air filter to go bad - they just flake apart. Replace them both. Just use straight hose and some claps. One end is smaller than the other but the clamp will permit you to tighten it down to size.

 

That's where it was, under the airbox. Sure did not want to dig under the intake manifold. Bada Boom, replaced it, reset the battery and the dash is cleared of the error light.

Thanks very much..

Found a nice bit of info when under the van. I have a limited slip diffy....bonus!!

 

Saw this puppy stranded on an island waiting to be rescued.

Used Ford Aerostar For Sale - CarGurus

p.

 

It looks very nice but the shipping costs back to the mainland might kill the deal for most of us. It's right next to Pearl Harbor on Oahu.

 

id rather move there and drive it.