Pick -n-pull in Windsor Ca, is Areostar heaven. Found exactly what i needed quickly. Totaly worth the 2hr drive.

 

Count your blessings. I have scoured the area for a 200 mile radius and can't come up with much of anything. I had to get a friend (in California, no less!) to find me a steering column to replace one damaged in an attempted van theft.

 

Dave:

Get Ceanz's phone number fast

 

I agree. I am in Northern California also. (Sacramento area) The Aerostars I see are completely rust free and solid in dismantling yards ect. Need a front fender off a van tHAT has been rear ended? Solid, like a fender you'd pull out of a box from a Ford dealer's body shop.

I had no idea where these Aerostars even rust until I visited family in friends in NE Ohio. THEN, I saw what winter road salt does to our Aerostars!!!! haha.

Not ALL of them, I will say that. I did see some very nice Aerostars back in Ohio and Western PA that looked nice, shined, obviously either stored over the winter or taken care of during the winter with frequent washings, flushing of door skins, frame rails ect.

I mean, I have a 1987 Aerostar XLT, I bought from the original owner in late 1990. California Cert. van. This van looks new, no rust whatsoever, and I can still see factory chassis paint marks, white and blue grease pen inspection marks on the undercarriage, check marks near fuel filter area where I suspect the fuel line fittings, clips, and related fuel lines were inspected before the Aerostar left the Ford Assembly Plant in Missouri, where it was built.

Ed
PS I tell my two teenage sons that the Ford engineers who designed and built my Aerostar are the same people that designed and built the recent Ford GT-40 sports car. You've never heard so much laughter, and catcalls of how I am losing my mind as I approach age 50 from those two boys of mine! (Both over 6' now and all muscle at 200 LBS.) Why won't they beleive me??!

 

The issue here is that there aren't any in the junkyards. If they exist, they are on the road. Snow isn't a problem. My nineteen-year-old daughter was born here and has never seen enough snow to build a respectable snowman. It doesn't snow more winters that it does.

Fortunately, I now have the parts I need and will probably start that project in a week or three. . .as soon as I determine the other Aerostar is safe and reliable to drive for a while.

 

Dave:

You don't have to wait. Swapping out a steering column is a 1-hour affair, may be 2, but not much more than that.

 

copper,
have you been to the ophthalmologist lately?
may be time to go

 

Most of the Aero's I see on the road down here are in good condition too. Every now and then we see one that's been dogged out. But it's pretty rare.