Hello All! I had a few people inquiring when I posted a few pics of my van recently so I figured I would detail the last year and a half of my build. What started as a quick 3 month clean up and use for a daily driver quickly turned into a full on restoration. In the summer of 2019 I started looking for a small van project so I could build a 70's style muscle van and still be able to haul my Harley in the back from Sacramento to any number of chopper shows in southern California. I saw an ad for a 1969 Econoline short panel van that had new paint but needed work. The price wasn't bad at $2000. I kept looking but always came back to this van. Flash forward to November of 2019. The '69 was still available so I decided to go and see it.

This may be very long winded, please bear with me.













These were the pictures I received from the seller before I made the 2.5 hour trek down outside of Santa Cruz to check it out. It was running from a gas can, needed a radiator, and had been off the road since 2003. A deal was made and the seller trailered it to Sacramento.





I started tearing it down immediately. I already had an idea of what I wanted to do with the van. Nothing crazy, remove the stock carb and intake, replace with Edelbrock options and make the same changes that I had done to my Mustang. The wiring needed to be gone through as there was almost 50 years worth of wiring tampering, splicing, and hacking. Eventually, I will replace the whole harness.

The first major issue was the fuel tank was full of holes. It was useless. Now the second generation Econoline has no aftermarket direct fit fuel tank option. I had to use a third generation fuel tank with very minor changes to the filler hose and the mounting straps. The third gen sending unit hooks up to the original sending unit wiring.





Using two 90 degree exhaust bends and some flex filler hose, the new tank fits in with no major mods.







After this, I continued to work on the engine, the wiring, and I was on the look out to replace those 80's era wheels with something a bit more period correct. I found a set of 5x5.5 slot mags that were 8.5" wide and threw some new fat rubber onto them. Now, I know what you're thinking. "The E100 has 5x4.5 bolt pattern hubs, not the larger". Yes, that is true. At some point someone swapped an E200 suspension onto the van, This is great because 73-78 F100 disc brakes will fit onto the E200 spindles making a brake swap a piece of cake later on.





Test fit looked great, time for some new rubber.



I removed the old intake and replaced with a 289 Performer intake and an Edelbrock 1406 carb. If I had to do it again, I would have gone Pertronix and not the HEI for a SBF. That is my two cents. It has made certain things a headache when they shouldn't be.



But, at the time, I wanted to try something new. You can see I had a coil in some of the pics because I still wasn't 100% on the conversion.



Once I had everything buttoned up and running smoothly, I started on the interior wiring inside the overhead console. A lot of wires were just twisted together. Honestly, I am surprised I didn't have a fire. Thankfully, a lot of wiring didn't actually go anywhere.





Everything that went nowhere came out and into the trash. I lost about 10 pounds of junk wiring and cleaned up a lot of live wires that would have led to a fire. It was about this time California wen on a lock down. I had kept the van about an hour away where I could utilize a lift, tools I didn't have, and space. This kind of limited how much I could travel to work on it. Eventually, I was able to go down and work on the van during the lockdown due to it being stored with family, so I used that loophole.

I slapped on some new Cooper Cobras and the exterior started.



I still had a general idea of what I wanted the van to look like, but as I continued my research into the subject of vintage van parts, I gradually became more and more involved. I started picking up a lot of period and NOS parts. I wanted it to be done correctly and not just has an imitation. A proper CB radio was acquired, whip antenna, fiberglass parts, vents, and other aftermarket parts. Slowly as I started working the exterior though, something seemed a bit off.









I couldn't quite put my finger on it until about the third flare was installed and I had a lot of body filler powder and rust spill out of the pilot hole. A lot of rust.



Then the front air dam had a huge gap in addition to the flare being off center. After knocking around a bit, off came all the filler and fiberglass.





The cancer was beginning to show itself.

Until I could get the full idea of how bad it was, all I could do was to press on. I knocked the panel in with a hammer, lost more filler, until the flares lined up.





Some people would have stopped here and started searching for a new van. Either I'm dumb or I don't give up so easily. To be honest, I still don't know which is which. I pressed on with the project.

I slowly started fixing old brake lines, removing the old interior that was falling apart around me, and uncovered more rust.







All I could do was clean and seal until I could cut and weld it later.



More and more vintage boogie parts slowly started to find a more than welcome home with the van. At this point, I was still convinced I only had small areas that needed attention and I could just fix and paint those areas.



Out came the old interior. As I had suspected, there had been a leak from the old roof vent as some point and the old fiberglass insulation had retained water.





But I couldn't stop now, she just got the last of the Hooker Headers meant for a second gen Ford van.





She was slowly starting to show many more decades of abuse. The brand new battery wouldn't hold a charge. I went into the wiring, bad fusible link. Still wouldn't hold a charge. New alternator, still had problems. I threw in a Chevy 1 wire (I know), charging like mad.

By this point I had been working on her one day a week for almost 7 months. I needed to start bringing my work home with me if I wanted to see some change. I started upholstering panels replacing window wing rubbers, and any other little jobs I could do at home. During this time I spend 2 weekends sanding the interior surface rust off the ceiling and walls. Sealing with a rust inhibitor, and paint painting trying to get a clean surface for insulation. I used R Tech sheets and stayed away from spray foam. It'll rot you from the inside out and that's all she wrote.



I started working on more and more of the van realizing there was more work that needed to be done. If I was making the inside nice, would should I have to settle for rusty and flaking bumpers? Peeling door handles? Of course.

Off to the chrome shop they went.








I started hitting up more and more swap meets to get parts or reading material from the era. There just wasn't enough out there on vintage vans that I could read on. Swaps brought the best stuff for me. Friends in other states were always sending me odds and ends.







Junkyards became my new playground. So many custom vans that had gone off to die. Many filled with new ideas and even more with cancer and rust warnings for me to take heed and not repeat those mistakes.

As summer faded into fall, then fall to winter, I started the body work. The van could and would drive under its own power back and forth to the gas station. Not far as she was on Non Operation.





Interior panels began to be built, bedframes went up, and the interior started to take shape. I had torn down and rebuilt it so many times I had to be careful that I didn't drill too many holes in the interior ribs.





New ideas started to take shape and old parts get customized for future use. More and more vintage custom pieces begin to find their way home to me.







Body filler continues to be my enemy.



So here I am after almost 2 years worth of work. She is own to bare metal and the rust repair is almost complete.



I recently nixed a vintage sunroof I restored because I didn't want to cut her up anymore. Too much rust will make you wary like that. I feel I know this van inside and out by now.

 

Sweet van!! Lots of work but really cool. Glad to see it saved.

 

My rust free mid was taken out in a head on collision with a Jeep, had I your abilities I could have cut the front off and replaced it, tho the accident was followed by several surgeries, I've yet to recover, I would love to save my van. Yeah don't cut your roof, no vents nor sunroof, they are future head aches.

 

Hello Charlie99909! I live in Sacramento and purchased a 1972 ford econoline 100 in February of this year. I have been thinking about disc brakes and ran across your thread. I have 5x4.5 wheels..but I went to Oregon in July and purchased a 1974 E200 as a parts van. I removed everything except the Front suspension and rear end. You mentioned that E200 Spindles will allow you to bolt on 73-78 F100 Disc Brakes. Can I remove the 5x5 spindle from the donor E200 van and attach it to the stock 5x4.5 E100 suspension or do I have to remove and install the "ENTIRE" E200 Suspension and put it onto the E100?? Thanks, love the pictures of your van. Mine has the dark brown "Tuck and roll" as well inside!! Hello and good morning to everyone else!! I'll post pics of my project once I learn how!! (I'm 64) not to computer saavy!!

 

Put the entire I-beam on or get an I-beam setup from an F100 truck and use the truck disk brakes, then you'll need the E200 rear end to match the bolt pattern for wheels.

 

Yes, this is correct. Use the whole front I Beam and bring it over. It will all fit.

 

Well helloooooooooooo

 

😂

Welcome!

 

I WAS HERE FIRST

 

So I went back to work on the van a bit more because my truck is giving me grief. So, when I first got my van, I noticed it had a good amount of positive camber on it. Since owning it, I have really delved into the world of Ford Twin I Beam suspension.

Well, a lot of talk has gone around about the DJM Dream Beam lowering beams for the F100 fitting the Econoline. It is true, they fit and will lower the van up to 3" with no camber changes. But the kit is usually $750 or more. These kits have been very hard to get since Covid screwed up the supply lines, which leads me to believe they come from China is some degree or another. I was sold on ordering a set until I really researched the product. Buried in many forums are tales of failure and frustration with the company. Many of these posts go back into the later 00's and all have the same issues. Bad welds and thin tubing used for the beams that are prone to failure. What sealed it was seeing a picture earlier this summer of a set that failed. I can kill myself many other ways for less than $750, thank you very much.

So I hunted around a bit more until I found Jamco Suspension. They make a set of lifted coils for the mid Ford as well as up to a 3" drop. These coil springs are made to order. It took about 2 months but I finally got a set of 3" drop for my van. It took an afternoon of wrestling old rusted bolts but I got it all installed and the front dropped. I still have to replace all the bushings so I won't call this the final stance, just yet. It may change the final product.







There is a very minimal amount on negative camber which can be seen in the last pic. I plan to run a 15x7 up front and I think that will help keep down on the tire rubbing. If I had to do it again, I think a 2" drop would have sufficed in addition to a stiffer E-200 spring. But at least I know I can still get the coils made to order.




Now, back to the body work. It has been moving a bit slow but we are starting to pick up some pace. Roof rot has been discovered and is going to get patched up. The barn doors have some rot. Good news is there are only two, one for each side with the issues. I had two spare doors but they were window doors. I called a friend of mine and he happened to be looking at an E-200 sitting in a yard with rear pop outs. I promptly requested them and now I will have rear pop outs on the van. I was able to secure some louvers for the van and now the look is changing from my original plan but I am looking forward to the pop outs.

 

Excellent post! Really cool to see the progress you've made. Also, glad I stumbled across this, since I picked up a 1974 shorty last year too (Long Beach, CA). At some point someone installed a 10 gallon gas tank on my van so it's good to know that a 3rd gen gas tank can be used with little fuss.

How annoying was it to replace the vent window seals?

Looking forward to seeing the work you do on your van.

 

Hi! It isn't super annoying, just tedious. You're going to have to pull everything out of the door, which is a good time to do all the window rubbers, clean, and grease your mechs and window tracks. It's a good weekend project.

 

She's moving a bit slow but is now about 70% in primer before the fill. It has been a bit too cold and windy to really shoot anything without some issues but we are getting there.







The rake is more prominent in the second picture. The rear will drop down more with a full tank of gas and a fully loaded rig. I just started cleaning and assembling the disc brakes from a 1973 F100. It has the same bolt pattern as my van, someone converted over to the E200 suspension a long time ago. Way more convenient as everything is off the shelf.





The rotors have enough life left in them that I resurfaced them and just had to replace everything else. I scrubbed the heck out of everything with a wire brush, degreaser, brush, degreaser, and then a power washer. I still found a few spots where paint wouldn't take. Thankfully it is on the back and not too bad. Everything is ready for reassembly and I may have it all done as soon as this weekend.

 

It took some doing, but I got the old drum brake spindles off and replaced them with 1973 F100 disc brakes. I can't confirm just yet, but I think the new spindles offset the camber issue. I had heard unsubstantiated rumors it would push the wheels out and make a camber issue, but I didn't have any proof of this. I have to adjust the toe and bushings in order to confirm.

 

If I had the ability like you, I could have repaired mine, and not had to sell it as totaled, great work, looks good, I miss mine.