I haven't posted in a while, I've been busy with school and helping my dad with his new to him '09 Focus. We have reduced usage of the van to help preserve it. It has come to my attention that all econolines seem to suffer from heavy rust in the rockers and the rear over hangs. I believe this is due to the installation of foam by the factory. I would like to know opinions and what has been done to fix this, if at all. Also if Ford knows, or even cares.

Let'er rip...

 

If your talking Conversion Vans with full Running Boards then yes they were rust magnets, my 02 Eclipse conversion with short "Pony Boards" is rust free. Seam rust in the salty north is nothing new and any Foam Sealant just helps it along, I've been fighting it for 40+ yrs.................

 

I have got running boards. I found a patch for the outside skin just behind the barn doors. I am thinking to have the rockers cut open and remove all the foam insulation. I have a pair of clean front doors, fenders and a grille. I want to get the other 4 doors as well. Roof will be getting fresh seam sealer and a repaint soon.

 

Mine is rust free.

Move south if you hate rust. That's what I did.

 

.............

 

Yeah that Rocker Foam junk has killed a lot of cars here in Michigan, and that blue salt the State is using will bleach black undercoating light gray in just a few winters...............

 

Our van started off well, as you can see.

My folks and I are thinking of moving back to Tampa.

 

How is the license plate picture applicable?

 

lol We lived in Florida when we purchased it, and moved to Illinois a year later. If we had stayed this would be non-issue.

 

my 2003 is a rotten pile but runs and drives awesome at 485,000km if I could find a mint body from a southern extended van I might even swap it.
gravel roads make it hard to see outside

 

I am not sure that Ford put any foam in the rocker panels. Van converters would add all kinds of random insulation (mine has fiberglass batting) to make vans seem more luxurious but they have no long-term test abilities. In general, parts and processes used in van conversions are substandard compared to OEM Ford parts. You say "the factory" but I think you mean "the converter" who is likely out of business now anyway since van conversions are no longer very popular. I have had 5 van conversions since 1986 and while useful, they were pretty cheezy in terms of build quality, meant to appeal to people in a new car showroom... Ford has nothing to do with what a converter did to their van although in later years they did have "authorized" converters who presumably worked to some kind of higher standard. One reason Consumer Reports stopped reporting on vans is because people were confused an often thought that Ford built all parts of a conversion van--when all they did was supply an empty box.

As for worrying about preserving or repairing a 1998 van that's probably worth 2 or 3 grand at most, it's kind of "meh"...if you want a clean van, pick up a 2013-14 Club Wagon off lease and that will last you a LONG time. There is no way a 1998 van will ever be worth any serious money and the best thing you can do is to use it up before the body falls off...or sell it to someone who will use it up. Cars and trucks built in the 1960's and 70's would typically start getting rust holes when they were 3 or 4 years old. Things are way better now. Your van is 17 years old.

IMO vans are appliances and will never have much collector appeal. Which is fine by me.

George

 

I stopped by the local Ford Dealer the other day and looked at three different Transits models, and after a good look underneath all I can say is "good luck" with that...................

 

Well, that may be your case, nothing wrong with that, but this isn't "some van" that is a beater for the wheels to fall off. The van my family and I have has been with us for so long because it is paid off and it is now part of a dying breed. We've owned it since new and it has been with us, so it is more sentimental value than anything else. It's something one can't put a number on.

I'm pretty sure the foam was factory installed at Lorain. I doubt Mark III would cut into the rockers to add what was probably $20 of foam. I looked in the junkyard that has about 10 Econolines, and all of them had foam in the rockers. Conversion vans, work trucks, Club Wagons, and so on.

I've had to work with some of the Mark III stuff, that failed, but so little of it actually has failed. Mark III seemed to do a nice job, not really all that sleazy.

Failures were from a Pro-Air A/C unit and a TV which has been removed, not Ford or the converter.

I am well aware that these vans aren't worth much or popular but it is a very practical, comfortable vehicle, that IMO no European-style Transit van can match. It has a personality all of it's own that my family and I enjoy.

 

I am not a fan of the Transits. Ford thinks rebadging and selling European models here is a good idea (ie Fusion is a Mondeo) but it was published in Motor Trend or Road & Track Ford is losing their *** in sales cause people here don't care for a European car.

 

I bought my van new in 2003 and have had big vans for 39 years running. And yeah, I'm really attached to mine as well. But having owned about 45 cars in my life, living in the Detroit area, have had to give up on vehicles when the rust got too bad--even if I was just sick of looking at it.

We shall see how the Euro style vans do in the US. I believe they will be fine; truck users need reliable vehicles and Ford has served us well for many years. If there are issues, I believe Ford will deal with them. I'm even getting used to seeing them...

The Econoline went from 1975 to 2014 and that's a pretty long model run. Think of how different typical cars are today from what we were driving in 1975.

It's all good. I get very attached to my vehicles as well. My E150 has been thru my son's Boy Scout days (he made Eagle in 2006), his bicycle racing days both locally and with U of Mich. Lots of memories in that big white box with wheels

ps one of my most memorable rust-out failures was my first van, a '73 Ford E200 Turtle Top camper conversion. In 1987, when the van was younger than yours, the steering box broke off the unibody frame member that held it. It could be driven but play in the wheel was 6" or so because the box would wedge in both directions... Sold it with full disclosure of the problem. Saw the van at least 3 years after still running.
George