by Doc in Az Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:20 amHi my name is Doc & i finally caught my unicorn.
back in '87 i found a 63 falcon van for $300 that was road worthy but my parents wouldn't let me buy it... at the time i didn't understand why but years later i realized they didn't want to be such young grand parents... lol.
i've been on the hunt for them from time to time when i was looking for a new project but they were always just a little rougher than i wanted to start with, got sold 5 minutes before i got there or my schedule wouldn't allow me to begin a project when a van was available. back in june i started emailing a guy that had a couple on craigslist. we continued to negotiate the price from $2200 cash - to cash and some fab work for him - to just a bunch of fab work - to "i don't have time to get it to run so just give me $500 and get it out of my driveway".
with it not being in running condition we further negotiated to have my guys run down and trailer it back to my shop and allow me some time to see if i could get it running and at least drive it around the block a couple times before i paid him. i needed to make sure i didn't have another vehicle growing roots in the back of the shop like my roadster that has been pushed out every morning and pushed back in at night... the van weighs too much for that.
i started doing some research on the vin and it seems like things don't really make sense. i don't have the vin in front of me but this is an E12 and i haven't found any info for anything but E10, E11 & E14. the vin shows it to have a 170 but that shouldn't have been available in 61 from what i've read. it has the light duty rear axle with 3.50's in it, 3 on the tree and it's a window van that was originally a people mover, not a work truck.... i think. i was doing some work on it last night and found a tag on the side of the motor by the coil. again i don't remember all the numbers but there was "200" on it in one place and "65" or "66" on it. it has a single bbl carb with a water jacket in an adapter plate the carb reads "carter made for motorcraft" or something like that & it is a 2100 series IIRC. this carb has what looks to be a "universal" type choke on it it has a small brass fitting of some sort & also a mechanical actuator. the freeze plugs in the head were rusted out so we started taking it apart only to realize the intake is part of the head. the valve cover was originally orange but has since been painted blue. the valve springs were orange - not painted though - but looked like they were powder coated or something.
the odometer shows 45,000 miles it is VERY original. it has 6,500 GVW stickers on the sides & it still has the sticker inside by the door handles to show how they open, the dash only has one hole in it that isn't factory. the PO sold the rear seats and pulled the carpet - the floor looks like it has never carried anything heavy. it has the original door panels in the back, all the original window latches, the original head liner & curtains as well. it even has the spare tire mount & battery box cover. there is the side step that moves out with mechanical linkage connected to the door, it all slides smoothly but he lost the linkage from the door to the step. it still has the rubber floor mats up front & the dog house is still well insulated. the body is in good condition for it's age. there is a dent in the front with some shabby bondo work and a couple others here and there. the worst part would be the rear cago doors have been hit pretty hard and someone used fibreglass for a piss-poor repair. with the bad seal back there it leaked in the rain and has some pretty bad cancer in the left rear quarter. i found a place that sells that replacement piece & i've done a lot of rust repair over the years with my fab shop and it's nothing i can't get done in a couple hours.
the van had been sitting for about 10 years i guess and there was no way i was going to hit the started and have it roar to life. it was parked when the fuel pump went out. since we had no idea what the motor was we ordered in a couple different fuel pumps. the one that came with the van was the type with the spin on filter and the foot of it seemed to ride more vertical on the fueling cam. the others we ordered in the foot seemed to ride more horizontally on the fueling cam... we made a block-off plate for the motor and installed an electric pump just to try and get it running. we pulled the carb and boiled it out since it was full of what looked like brown sugar and caramel. my guys dumped some fuel in the tank (big mistake - we should have started it from a gas can) and it fired up. after a little bit of driving it around the mung in the take made it's way through the fuel system and gummed everything up again. it seems to have great compression the way it cranks and runs & it stops immediately when you turn it off, it doesn't kind of just wind down like high mileage / low compression motors do... the oil in it looks like it's brand new although the engine block does have a lot of road dirt on it. it has been fitted with an alternator & also has a secondary pulley on it and what looks like a mount for an a/c compressor. this thing really moves when you hit the gas! i don't remember my old 61 falcon fordor running like this with it's 200cid crate motor from a Fairmont.
i only have a few pix from the outside and will post up vin info and numbers from the engine tag as soon as i get to the shop tomorrow morning. i appreciate any help you can provide with the identification of this thing.
back in '87 i found a 63 falcon van for $300 that was road worthy but my parents wouldn't let me buy it... at the time i didn't understand why but years later i realized they didn't want to be such young grand parents... lol.
i've been on the hunt for them from time to time when i was looking for a new project but they were always just a little rougher than i wanted to start with, got sold 5 minutes before i got there or my schedule wouldn't allow me to begin a project when a van was available. back in june i started emailing a guy that had a couple on craigslist. we continued to negotiate the price from $2200 cash - to cash and some fab work for him - to just a bunch of fab work - to "i don't have time to get it to run so just give me $500 and get it out of my driveway".
with it not being in running condition we further negotiated to have my guys run down and trailer it back to my shop and allow me some time to see if i could get it running and at least drive it around the block a couple times before i paid him. i needed to make sure i didn't have another vehicle growing roots in the back of the shop like my roadster that has been pushed out every morning and pushed back in at night... the van weighs too much for that.
i started doing some research on the vin and it seems like things don't really make sense. i don't have the vin in front of me but this is an E12 and i haven't found any info for anything but E10, E11 & E14. the vin shows it to have a 170 but that shouldn't have been available in 61 from what i've read. it has the light duty rear axle with 3.50's in it, 3 on the tree and it's a window van that was originally a people mover, not a work truck.... i think. i was doing some work on it last night and found a tag on the side of the motor by the coil. again i don't remember all the numbers but there was "200" on it in one place and "65" or "66" on it. it has a single bbl carb with a water jacket in an adapter plate the carb reads "carter made for motorcraft" or something like that & it is a 2100 series IIRC. this carb has what looks to be a "universal" type choke on it it has a small brass fitting of some sort & also a mechanical actuator. the freeze plugs in the head were rusted out so we started taking it apart only to realize the intake is part of the head. the valve cover was originally orange but has since been painted blue. the valve springs were orange - not painted though - but looked like they were powder coated or something.
the odometer shows 45,000 miles it is VERY original. it has 6,500 GVW stickers on the sides & it still has the sticker inside by the door handles to show how they open, the dash only has one hole in it that isn't factory. the PO sold the rear seats and pulled the carpet - the floor looks like it has never carried anything heavy. it has the original door panels in the back, all the original window latches, the original head liner & curtains as well. it even has the spare tire mount & battery box cover. there is the side step that moves out with mechanical linkage connected to the door, it all slides smoothly but he lost the linkage from the door to the step. it still has the rubber floor mats up front & the dog house is still well insulated. the body is in good condition for it's age. there is a dent in the front with some shabby bondo work and a couple others here and there. the worst part would be the rear cago doors have been hit pretty hard and someone used fibreglass for a piss-poor repair. with the bad seal back there it leaked in the rain and has some pretty bad cancer in the left rear quarter. i found a place that sells that replacement piece & i've done a lot of rust repair over the years with my fab shop and it's nothing i can't get done in a couple hours.
the van had been sitting for about 10 years i guess and there was no way i was going to hit the started and have it roar to life. it was parked when the fuel pump went out. since we had no idea what the motor was we ordered in a couple different fuel pumps. the one that came with the van was the type with the spin on filter and the foot of it seemed to ride more vertical on the fueling cam. the others we ordered in the foot seemed to ride more horizontally on the fueling cam... we made a block-off plate for the motor and installed an electric pump just to try and get it running. we pulled the carb and boiled it out since it was full of what looked like brown sugar and caramel. my guys dumped some fuel in the tank (big mistake - we should have started it from a gas can) and it fired up. after a little bit of driving it around the mung in the take made it's way through the fuel system and gummed everything up again. it seems to have great compression the way it cranks and runs & it stops immediately when you turn it off, it doesn't kind of just wind down like high mileage / low compression motors do... the oil in it looks like it's brand new although the engine block does have a lot of road dirt on it. it has been fitted with an alternator & also has a secondary pulley on it and what looks like a mount for an a/c compressor. this thing really moves when you hit the gas! i don't remember my old 61 falcon fordor running like this with it's 200cid crate motor from a Fairmont.
i only have a few pix from the outside and will post up vin info and numbers from the engine tag as soon as i get to the shop tomorrow morning. i appreciate any help you can provide with the identification of this thing.
