Projects Just got this 1960 Ford Thames van

I got this ex hippie van from San Francisco where it was sold new.
I grew up in England and was in love with big Yank cars, I still am, but since being here almost forty years my love for old Brit tin has only increased.
This is the latest addition to my Enfo fleet.
The van was last registered in 1991, the California black plate was issued in 1963.
After putting in an electric fuel pump, a Pertronix module and a bit of wiring, she started right up.
I replaced all the hydraulic parts and now she runs and drives.
The piston fot the clutch slave had pushed out and was hung up. It looks like it happened years ago, maybe the reason she was laid up.
Prior to the internet parts for these poor things dried up once English Ford pulled out, they were just left for dead or scrapped.
She’s in amazingly solid condition with just a a little rust. All the rubber around the windows is shot, but the chrome, there isn’t much, is damn near perfect. it’s supposedly a 12 seater van, the back seats are all missing but it only has a 1703cc four cylinder engine. It is not speedy, and I cannot imagine it transporting 12 modern adults, maybe 12 scrawny Brits in 1960 was feasible.
Anyway, I put some Astro Supremes and thin white wall tires on it. The plan is to leave the outside about as is, just fix the rust and blend the paint. The hippie stickers were canned instantly.
My wife can go nuts on the interior, do it all fancy and weird.
I love this thing.

 

Sweet little van!

 

Cool!

 

My Dad had one a panel van (dark green) back in the 50's.
Cool little van for sure!

 

Believe it or not, in 1964 while living in Waikiki, I traded my '57 Lotus 11 racecar for one of these.
regards,
Phil

 

wow!!!!! Lotus had these as tow vans, panel ones, they put in the bigger 2.5 liter six cylinder.

 

Nice! Are those vents on the front, above the headlights?

 

There was a lot of these weird English cars here in Canada when I was a kid and they have all disappeared. Nice to see one has survived.

 

She's a beaut!

 

Great find I am surprised that they were exported to the USA , you have a nice stable of English Fords there

 

Yes, but someone sealed them with silicone. I'll open then back up.

 

The back can't be lowered much without opening up the wheel wells, and I don't want to cut the body, but the front can be dropped for a little rake.

 

That's one mighty fine looking hippie-hauler you got there. But are you sure you want to peel off all the cool old stickers? That might just mess up the whole feng shui you got going on.

But I gotta ask . . . What's a WaWa?

 

Hippie "Dead Head" hauler - if you decide to paint it here is an example to make it stand out a little

 

Nice. You do not see that many of those 400e's on this side of the water these days.

 

gas station, they have the best made to order food. And the coffee rules.

 

This is insane. I have neither the skills nor the inclination to do this. Mine's just gonna be a van used as a van. The show Econoline is magnificent but I'm too much of a slob to keep it looking nice.

 

From an era of Brit stuff that rusted away by just looking at it. Admittedly though the Fords faired better than the Vauxhalls (GM).

Cool as nonetheless.

Chris

 

Cool....it survived the scrap drives......and now kudo's for getting it back on the road again !

 

Funky cool! Looks like it's smaller than an Econoline, about the size of a VW Transporter?

 

What does the license plate frame say...I'm guessing in or around Berkley.

 

Please tell me that you didn't scrape all off!

 

That stuff is gold. Regardless, I love the van.

 

Fantastic and the wheels and tyres are the icing on the cake. Going to warm up the motor a bit?

 

Looks like a fun project, Nads. When I was in high school one of the guys had one. He loaded it with about 8 buddies and when he made a right turn on high school hill, the little van just fell over on it's side!

 

Like, groovy man.

Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

So, ya gotta let air out of the tires when you move it under cover.