Vannin' Home Forums General Discussion Readers Rides 1969 Econoline Shorty

Get your sunroof from CR Laurence if you do.

Holy Bondo and Fiberglass, Batman!

I found out why the flares were off. The lower portion of the front fenders is cancer, Nothing that can't be repaired, but holy hell. I will have to delve into the rest of the van because of the quality of repairs that were done. Let's just put it this way, I can entertain changing the color of the van if I want.



This is the passenger side where the flares fit the worst. It was about 1/8" thick over the cancer. It was a mixture of fiberglass and bondo. What is so funny was it should have been easier to cut and weld a new panel in than do what they did. Oh well.





Once it was all removed, I was able to pound the metal back to fit the body line. It was so much better that the flares fit up and matched the spoiler on both sides. The metal on the fender has good areas, it just looks like the lowest point where water would collect is the rotted area.



The driver side appears to have a gap, but it isn't fully tightened down.



For grins I threw a KC light up front to give me an idea.



The radiator dropped right in and I did all the hoses. From here it will be the wiring from the interior to get her started. I found some bore bad lines and also found the marked resistor wire had been cut, but none of the wire colors matched the diagram I have in the factory manual. Time to do it all with a meter.

Right now, the plan is to get it running well enough to get her to the body shop for proper repairs and paint. I'll mould the flares in with the spoiler, help get rid of those seams and repair all the rust in the jambs. Just taking it one step at a time.

Wow, that was a number.. They must not have had access to welder or knew how to operate one. Looks like that rig spent some of its life in my neck of the woods!
Hey! Your a lucky man anyway, I love those Econolines!!

Good lord man, what a mess. I bought a 66 VW once with a "little rust" in the floor pans. Found out the pans were nothing but fiberglass and rust. Once I yanked all the fiberglass out, it literally had a center tunnel and a little of the heater channels holding the whole thing together.

I'm glad you got it found now before it got worse. That stuff seems to cause the rot to spread faster for some reason. Diggin the fog light too.

That'll do it for sure.

Right now, the plan is to get it running well enough to take it to the body guy for repair. I pulled an interior panel off yesterday to prep for the wing install and I found some old paint, a cool metallic brown color.

Well I got to working on the van again today. I put the new grille in and it is a night and day difference. She is starting to look more and more like a street machine.







I also mounted up the NOS 8 Track deck I picked up in Pomona. I haven't wired it up yet. I wanted to run a modern stereo also, but most of what I listen to old music, why not?




It has been about 4 months since I picked up the van and she has come a long way.


I was finally able to wire up the HEI correctly and I filled up the radiator; found two gaskets that didn't seal and coated the interior with radiator fluid. Nice. I fixed one and have to let the other one dry before I can remove and redo it.

Next comes the brake lines and the wing before the body guy repairs the metal and the paint, then the exhaust and side pipes.

I also picked up a decent venturi vent. Let's see how the next month pans out for work.

Coming along nicely!

Charlie keep up the good work .