I thought I would put together a page about the progress of my Econoline van. I found the van in the Summer of 2007. It was sitting for 20+ years but it wasn't the worst I've seen. I've always wanted an early van so I bought the crate for $200. Yes that is a tree growing up through the front of it. I was a 3 on-the-tree and it had a 289 V8 dropped in it. I was told it was from a mid-60's Comet but who knows. It wasn't locked up so I thought there might be a chance to bring it back to life. So it made it to my tight one car garage.

The van spent a good year in a friends garage going over the mechanical end of things. It did turn over and run pretty decent. Here's a list of what was added at that time.

• C4 trans from a Mustang

• New brakes

• Aluminum Mustang radiator

• HEI Distributor

• GM one wire alternator

• Holley 4 barrel carb

• Edelbrock intake

• Lokar gas pedal and cable system

• Air scoop where the 61 heater box was

• Chevy V8 engine box

• Mustang fuel tank

• New dual exhaust

• New master cylinder

• High-flow aluminum water pump

• B&M Shifter

Now it was back at my garage and time to address the body etc.

• New back corner panels

• Drivers side panel between the wheels

• Drivers side rear wheel panel

• Drivers side front valance

• Added glove box door

• KYB shock all around

• Electric fan in the air scoop

• Rolled the back bumper panels

• Smoothed the dash

• Replaced the rear cargo doors with '63 doors

• Replaced the drivers door with a '63 door

• Replaced the Passengers door with a "67

• New bushings on the front

• Added a heater from a '67

At this point I had an idea of where I wanted to go with the van. A rat-resto-mod. Not too pretty but not too ugly. I had plans to paint it satin black reconfigure the dash and accent with chrome and billet aluminum. Keeping it simple & clean.

Now on to the bells & whistles:

• 15" Majestic Torque thrust polished aluminum wheels

• BF Goodrich Radial TA

• New PPG windshield

• New window rubber all around

• All new outside door handles

• VW California T-bar bumpers for the front

• Stewart Warner gauges

• Billet steering wheel

• All billet knobs to replace the plastic

• Aluminum insert for the front grill

• All new turn signal and brake light lens

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The pictures below are where the van stands today (6/01/2009). Two years after I bought it. A good friend and I just painted it last week with PPG black dulled to 50% with a $25 paint gun in my dusty one car garage. It came out nice considering the circumstances. I also had the new PPG windshield installed today, so now all the glass is back in the van.