Econolinebed by royalseal posted Mar 25, 2019 at 8:28 AM Just looking for opinions on a project econoline I am still tempted to buy . The truck was sitting for quite some time and overall from the outside it has a great look. The problem is the bed suffered the most damage. Anyone have experience with replacing the bed floor on one of these or if I should even tackle a project like this ?
Those things seem to rust from the inside out. I've been wanting an Econoline pickup for years, but every one I find is a total rust bucket. I would RUN away from that one.....
Does anyone make a full replacement bed floor panel, or one for a full size truck that could be cut down?
Are you wanting to do a concourse restoration? If not, buy a bead roller, few sheets of 18 ga steel, a case or two of beer and invite your favorite fab buddies over for a party. But as others have said there is probably more than just the bed rusted on that one.
I don't know if anyone makes Econoline floors but they make them for pickup trucks which should be easy to adapt. If that is all that is wrong with it, and the price is right, it wouldn't scare me off but then I come from the north where rust repair is a way of life.
Buy a cheap pickup for the running gear and cut the bed out of it and use it. Like others said, I’d check the frame real good. Looks like it might have been a fertilizer hauler, that shit will rust water!
Since that is a unibody, those ARE the frame rails you are seeing! If you are going to restore, only buy this one for parts! If you are going to modify, it could be used as a shell on another chassis, BUT the front steering and suspension are going to be interesting to make work. Coby on here did an amazing van, but he still started out with the best body he could turn up. Do a search on here for econolines and research them, along with the links on those pages. The floor is under the back of the cab, flanged at the wheelwells and inner bed sides, and is spot welded all along those meeting points and the framerails. It would be a LOT of work.
Are Ecolines unibody? As much floor that is missing, I'm not seeing frame rails, but I sure see what look like unibody frame rails full of debris. If its a unibody, I wouldn't expect to find good rear rails or good rear crossmembers on that one. If it has an actual rear frame, it might be OK...maybe. OK, I'm a little slow. Gene
Gene, you are a wealth of knowledge so I'm humbled to know some tiny thing you don't. Here you go, now you are smarter again! All the early vans were! Here's one of mine (A100) sideways, showing the back section which would be roughly the same in an econoline another
Econoline pickups are indeed unibody, but not really spendy, at least around here. Yet. I would look for a better one.
Two ideas...Maybe a wood floor like a pickup available anywhere. Or I like the idea of taking measurements and going to a local salvage yard and cutting the bed floor from a newer pick-up truck.
Maybe I should elaborate on what I meant by "if that is all that is wrong with it". I know they are a unibody truck. I see by the OP's signature that he is in California. If the floor was rotted out by being left full of wet leaves after having the paint worn off by hauling heavy loads, it is possible the frame rails rocker panels etc are still good. In that case it would be possible to weld in new floors. Not easy but possible. Now he says it was sitting in weeds in Georgia. That would keep the whole underside wet and rust it from underneath. So, jack it up or get it on a hoist and see how bad it is. If the whole bottom is flaking rust and holes then this is a parts vehicle at best. If the bottom is fairly solid with only surface rust the floor can be replaced. All this assumes the rest of the truck is good and the price is right. If you are not on a budget and don't have the skills and equipment to do the floor yourself, better forget this one and find a better one.
It took me decades, but I finally decided to buy a car *not* from Missouri and full of cancer to build. The car I bought is from the dry part of Texas and is just not rusty at all. It was a wonderful decision, as I have a grand total of about 4 hours fixing one small rust hole in the trunk where the factory seam sealer trapped water. Life is too short to spend weeks welding in patch panels on a common car or truck. Save the rust repair for 32 Fords or Duesenbergs or such.
The Jalopy Journal
