69 ford van

[zenndog]

The van at the junk yard was gone, bummer.

Here is the set of used auto meter gauges

I will need to remove them from the bezel that they came in an make oneto fit the dash

Finally went out and put in the windshield

Here are the tools, nothing that I would recommend, just what I used

String, a plastic butter knife, soapy water, and a couple of sticks

#m butyl sealer for after the window is in, it seals the gasket andwindshield from water

Stays viscous. My old gasket was dry and cracking but the butyl sealerwas still soft and I had to clean it off. Hopefully this is as good as the oldtype

I worked the windshield rubber onto the windshield. I used the plasticknife if it was stubborn. I was sort of being cheap, I think there is a tool toassist with this kind of stuff and it is probably worth the money

Here is the windshield with the rubber installed

I cut off a long piece of string and soaked it in the soapy water

I worked the string into the rubber bead that fits over the sheetmetalaround where the windshield fits in

I wind the strings together at the bottom center of the windshield,then wrap both ends around one of the sticks

I lifted the windshield and set it in place. I held the stick with myfingers and dropped it onto the dash before setting the windshield down. Thispicture shows the part of the gasket that is supposed to lay flat on thesheetmetal around the outside of the windshield. I had to “un-tuck” it fromunder the window. I tried to set the inner rubber bead over the sheetmetal lipthat holds the glass in. I had to screw around with it before I could startpulling the string to get the lip over the metal.

Outside

Inside

I had to take time once I started to “shift” the windshield into place

It took some time and patience to get it in, especially around thecorners. But I think I got it . I am still a little worried about the fit atthe corners but it is in for now

[zenndog]

Took out the column on Saturday morning

 

Thing looked pretty bad

 

Just happened to find a 72 van at a "semi local" junk yard today. By semi local I mean about a 40 min drive. There is a self service chain with an online car finder system. It searches junkyards in their chain. They update irregularly and I have gone to find vans before only to have them not there. But not this time.

 

I picked up a column in very good shape so I can get back to it now

 

I will post some pics tomorrow.

 

This should get me jump started again on this van.

[zenndog]

Here is the new column next to the old

 

 

 

At this point I had left the shifter in the the van for the old column, but I decided to use the complete column from the junk yard van

 

Here is a picture of the plate that locks the column in place on the floor, the rusted one that was in my van next to the one I picked up with the column from the junk yard

 

 

First I removed the steering wheel from the old column, I plan to patch the cracks and paint it satin black like everything else

 

Here is a steering wheel puller in case you haven't ever seen one in action

 

First I removed the big nut that holds the steering wheel in place, then I put on the steering wheel puller. It comes with a number of paired screws, hopefully a pair fits the holes in your steering wheel. Anyway....a couple of pics.

 

 

 

The "new" column has two seals that don't come off without cutting or disassembling the column so I will paint the bottom half of the column and then slide the seals down to where they go and then paint the top half. I unscrewed the blinker switch but that may have been a waste of time, I will see. I don't want to cut off the plugs for the blinker wires and they won't go through the column so I can't take the switch all the way off. Again....pics. Here is the bottom half of the column in primer.

 

 

I prepped and sprayed the steering wheel and the floor plate as well. While all that stuff was drying I went out to put the sealant on the windshield gasket. Messy messy messy job. Basically you need to squirt the sealant under the windshield rubber and wipe off whatever squeezes out with a ton of rags. It is very sticky and makes a hugh mess, at least when I did it.

 

I didn't pick up the camera while doing the work but here is a couple before pics showing the stuff I used and where I wanted to apply it.

 

sealant

 

 

Where I want to put it

 

 

 

After making a big mess and then taking a long time to clean it, I managed to spray a coat of semi gloss on the bottom half of the column before I had to go get my kids from school

 

Here is how it looked tonight before i came up to post this

 

 

Here is the first seal in place

 

 

Second seal

 

 

View of the column so far

 

 

Here is the aluminum piece for the dash, waiting to be drilled for the gauges.

 

 

Here is the bezel laid on top, unlike my bezel that burned in the fire, this bezel from the junkyard is steel

 

 

More to come. Hope I don't make these posts to boring, I personally love pics so I try to take many.

[bananahamuck]

I got on of these monsters " in the back " it is being used as a shed but if you need weird little, ship-able pieces it might have them..

 

You never know..

[zenndog]

Banana- I need the glove box and the defroster vent still. There is an all steel glove box door that I would be interested in if you have it.

The defroster vent "pops" out, only held in with tabs I am pretty sure. You need to remove the glove box door at the hinge and a few sheet metal screws to take out the glove box. Both are faily fragile. Let me know what you think, maybe shoot a pic? And Thanks!

 

Floor plate finished

 

 

Some steering wheel shots. I sanded and cleaned it, most of the original brown had worn off. I filed the cracks open some more and discovered that someone had tried to patch the cracks in the past. This is a string of pictures. In the last pics you will see paper stuck on the JB Weld, that is so it won’t run out before it dries, the paper sands off when I shape the epoxy.

 

 

 

 

 

[Z chopper]

My stepfather had one of these vans.

[zenndog]

I picked up a seat from the van I got the column from

 

The driver seat pedestal is actually for the passenger side, this causes only three bolts to line up which is kind of scary.

 

 

Also here is the drivers seat, which is actually quite comfortable despite its haggard appearance.

 

 

My plan is to make some seat covers from a Mexican blanket so I wasn’t thinking about upholstering the seat but Here is what was in the van I just picked the column out of

 

 

 

After quick cleaning

 

 

The passenger seat I found at U-pick-parts in North Hollywood (LA), it was $15 for the seat/frame/track, in the bay area the Pick and Pull charged me a ridiculous $56 for the same thing……they charged for each item, including the seat belt. Oh well

I sanded and put rust inhibitor on the seat frame, I don’t know if it works but I am not going to spring for sandblasting right now. After it dries 24 hours I will prime and paint it.

 

Seat frame primed and painted satin black

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the column, pretty much finished, waiting for the steering wheel. I need to polish the shift lever also and screw on the blinker arm

 

 

Another detail

 

 

 

 

Here is the steering wheel after sanding the epoxy, I had to reapply a thin layer as it sank into the cracks. Which is a good thing!

 

 

Took a minute to work on the gauge panel a little. I needed to remove this “ bump” on the bezel so the bezel will sit flat on the aluminum.

 

 

 

I used a piece of tape on each side as a guide and then cut it with a cut off wheel on my grinder.

 

 

That will be all till tonight.

[zenndog]

Steering wheel

 

Sanded

 

 

Primed

 

 

Semi gloss black

 

 

Finished

 

 

 

 

That’s all for this weekend probably

[bananahamuck]

These??...the box is pretty bad but could be used as pattern and the door looks to be a plastic front with a metal skeleton screwed on back.

 

 

 

 

__________

 

 

 

 

The 70s was here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[zenndog]

I sent you a PM Banana, just let me know the details of how you want to handle it. Thanks!

[bananahamuck]

Oh i got the PM...it`s just been a couple of weeks of early release, band concerts, field trips, track meets and year end child placement conferences, for my sons ..even though i have went by the post office i haven`t stopped...And i didn`t want to bug you till i actually had some info..

 

i got all that stuff on a shelf in the garage and the only place it will go is to you.....well.....unless i forget where i put it. :lol:

[zenndog]

Finally an update

Doing some more cleaning, decided to put some POR-15 under the dash and other spots.

 

 

 

 

 

I have been continuing further down the rabbit hole. After doing a small patch of the floor on the driver side I broke down and pulled off some more of the interior stuff and sanded a bigger part of the floor.

 

 

Results

 

 

 

Now the grill comes off. I want to run the wires very neat and need to change the timing chain and a couple of other changes to the oil filter location and trans mission cooler.

 

 

Work shop getting cluttered

 

 

Water pump and new timing chain

 

 

The old chain and all the mess caused by a front seal which had turned brittle and cracked away

 

 

The crank sprocket would not slip off so I had to make a tool to fit on my slide hammer. I used a ½ fine thread bolt and used the grinder to make a notch in in that slipped onto the teeth of the sprocket. Worked well……I tried a bent nail first. Bent nail = fail.

 

 

 

Here is the new timing chain installed. I don’t know if you can tell but I cleaned up the engine as well.

 

 

The balancer shaft is scored so I bought a sleeve to repair it

 

 

 

 

The camera battery died so no installed pic….sorry

 

Timing cover back on after much cursing and screwing around. It was very hard to fit it back over the oil pan with the new oil pan seal in place.

 

 

Water pump on, front of engine painted

 

 

Balancer reinstalled

 

 

Now the top of the engine

 

 

That is all for now, been sick and my son has been sick for the last few days so no progress.

[zenndog]

Work is proceeding slower than I hoped......gee, I am sure no one else can relate!

 

New alternator

 

 

I made the dash insert for the gauge cluster

 

First I screwed the aluminum to a large board

 

 

 

To the drill press Robin!

 

 

Luckily I have some WD 40 in my utility belt

 

 

 

 

 

I still need to drill three holes for the blinker and high beam indicator LEDs

 

Couple of shots of the completely unecessary Streetmaster intake. Picked it up at a swap meet cheap. I wasn't going to put it on but it is easier than trying to clean the top of the engine........at least that is what i tell myself.

 

 

 

 

Don't like the Mr Gasket adapter, will make my own if time allows.

 

Here is a pic of a vent from Banana here on Ratsun....I am lagging on sending him the postage........It is coming!

 

It needs work but it is better than nothing!