Doing 6 doors is almost like doing another whole car. Everyone of these things needed some kind of patching and all the bottom door catches were froze up and had bent rods. What a PIA; one more after this one.
Mine was a 66 ,I believe it was called a sportsman. loved the shifter on the dash. engine fire ended its life.
Yeah, that dash shifter the automatic used was killer. Dodge brought that back in the 2008 Grand Caravan and I bought one just for that reason.
Got through all the major door repairs; now just going back through each one and fixing some details along with checking the fit. Hinges were rusted, bolts broken, and the pins didn’t want to move so I took them all apart, fixed all the issues and getting the ready to paint.
I started painting the inside with some primersealer this week; I’m going to get the inside and jambs painted, hang the doors, and then get the outside ready.
You're like a pitbull on this thing. Really nice work! When I got to the end of my van project I remember saying "Y'know, If I started with a better specimen this would have been a LOT easier! I'm sure you now feel the same way! As I recall the Dodge was the only van that wasn't unibody. That's nice.
Wow, I thought mine was rough! That’s amazing you were able to save that Econoline. Beautiful job. The Dodge is a unibody, too. Wish they had a full frame, though.
Love them Old Vans. Should have never gotten rid of my 64 Econo. Called it Van Go! Isky Camed, Holly 500, Clifford Research goodies. I can kick myself for selling it. Got a 75 Econo now. Thanx for the resurrection, carry on man!
Thanks! Cool Econoline, I had the Falcon version of that many years ago. First vehicle that I put a different manufacturers drivetrain in; I put a Chevy 305/700r4 in it.
I was full on Mr Miagi today; “Daniel-San, sand the floor!” Finished spraying the sealer on the walls, sanded the ceiling, sanded the floor, epoxy primered the floor and the jambs, and painted the inside of the front doors. I’m beat like a dog.
Thanks! I’m hoping to have the inside painted in the next week. Except for the floor; I’m going with bedliner for that.
Beauty! I had a LWB '67 Sportsman wagon years ago; 318/727 combo. blew one exhaust manifold out and dropped the driveshaft on the way to work one morning! Loved that old beast, it didn't have ANY rust in it at all. 318 spit a couple of core plugs once, had to slide the trans back to replace them. It also busted the oil pressure gauge feed line twice and pumped all the oil out.... thought she was a goner after that, but changed the filter, fixed the line, filled her back up with oil and she kept on for two-three more years before I traded it away. Best damn Dodge I ever had!
My old Dodge van looked like the one you are restoring,I blew the 273 v8 and installed a 340 from a Duster and that beast would fly,but it didn't stop as well as it went,that was one of the most fun vehicles I have ever owned. HRP
Yeah it’s hard to kill the old small block Mopar. My sister had a Duster she would let run out of oil on a regular basis and when the oil light came on she’d dump a couple quarts of the old oil in it that dad drained out of his truck when he changed it. She ran it 3 years like that and it still ran when she sold it.
My first ride in a van was one of these. It was nearly new. My dad had borrowed it from our next door neighbor. I was around 6 or 7 then. When I got in I asked where the engine was not realizing at the time it was in the dog house between the seats. My dad pointed at the heater and blower under the dash in front of and said that was it.
If you have never sprayed bed coating before mask everything off. Overspray is not bad from it but with the interior that nice already you will want to take care not to get it anywhere. Looks good so far.
This is gonna be one nice rig. Looking forward to seeing it when it's done. I had a '65 back around '76 or so. It was a slant/3 on the tree originally but someone swapped in an auto from an older Mopar with the push button shift. Trouble was, the cables weren't long enough to reach the front of the van so they mounted it on the seat back and you had to reach around behind the seat with your right hand to shift it, but hey, it worked and I put a lot of miles on the old beater. Often thought I'd like to have another one and actually saw one last weekend way out in the middle of nowhere on my way home after buying some hydraulic stuff. It was sitting beside somebody's garage with all tires aired up and looking pretty straight but man oh man it was rusty. Stopped on the roadside to take a picture but the camera wasn't in the truck. Yeah, I'm old, I don't have a fancy phone.
The Jalopy Journal
