1961 econo van the work begins

Ok i put up a post the other day about this van I found, it was far away so I asked a friend to check it out then I could get out that way later in the week, he did and said it looked to be a great deal and if I didnt want it he would buy, so ofcourse i called them back and put a downpayment to hold it.
We went out to Murrieta ita about 65 miles from our house in Orange County, checked it over, checked the water, oil, and air in the tires, put a bit of gas and drove it home, not a fun ride but we made it, the van has bad compression so hill climbing was very slow, it also has some serious braking problems, pulls very hard to the right first then to the left, its like a clown car!! After a few scary breaking situations we made it home, took about two hours to go 65 miles.

The van is in very good condtion except for the obvious tear in the rear corner, the floors wheel wells frame drip rails everything are completely rust free!! turns out its a original Gumby Green so thats what ill be painting her again.

Removed the pipe fitting shelves her previous owner was a plumber, all the carpet was soaked with oil, several stereo system speaker wires junk in general but the original truck is under all that.
Not too bad for 800.00 huh?

You've got your work cut out for you, going to be interesting to watch it progress. Nice looking van otherwise.

Keep the pics coming Fish! Congrats on picking it up and getting it home safely! Can't wait to see your progress. You'll probably want to address the safety stuff first... Brakes first!   Good luck and keep us posted.

Cool van... We all enjoy seeing the progress as you fix and repair..

Van looks very nice. Can't waite to see more pics as you move forward on your new project.

Here is some detail of the rear damage, you can see where the rear lower corner right at the wheel well seam was hit and torn, the previous owner put a patch over it and left it at that. We will be removing the patch soon, then using these repair panels, the panels will replace the demolished corner, and the wheel well the sheetmetal above will have to be pounded back into shape, the door post pulled back to original position and welded up. I think it looks a lot worse than it really is, everything is there, just kind of rolled up and squished in a few places, the wheel well itself will be the hardest to pound out but its only a small area.

rear damage:






Panels for use in repair:



they run about 99.00 ea plus shipping, keep in mind im not building a perfect show van here just a cool surf van to take to the beach and put my boards on top, probably carpet the inside maybe a bed re-do the seats, Ill be adding a bigger long block sounds like the 200 7 bearing is the ticket for a simple swap, the brakes will be completely redone, the parts are too inexpensive not to, the only thing ill keep there will be the orginal hard lines.
I need a line on bumpers both of them are bent on this truck and the one in the back isnt a bumper its a 2"-3" steel scrap...

It looks bad, but I think once you cut away that corner and replace with new, it's going to be great. I would look for a new door jam and inside wheel well if there's one close to you, and that floor corner as well. That way all the new outer stuff will go on that much easier and fit better. Looks like a new wall rib could also help you out on getting the outer skin straight as well. Lots of those parts available. Damn if you lived closer you could have the corner off my 67..But I'm sure there is someone closer that will help out. Keep those pics comeing, and good luck with your repair.

nice project.
where in ca?

Thank you, Im in Mission Viejo

Fish,  I have  a complete parts van that may have what you need to fix that wall.  PM me if your interested.  Here is a quick photo of it.

Vintage Metal wrote:Fish,  I have  a complete parts van that may have what you need to fix that wall.  PM me if your interested.  Here is a quick photo of it.

That really cool thanks!!
I am not sure right now what I might need, I get the parts on Friday my idea is to pull together and pound out what i have after i remove that stupid patch, visualize the new parts on and go from there, most of the metal is more like folded over than smashed it looks like it can be straightened, but this is strong old metal so who knows.

Sounds good. Its here if you need it, I'm in So. Cal as well.

Hmm...at some point I might need to contemplate replacing my drivers side door.  It has a fairly large rusted out section near the foot well.

I recieved my parts today Macs is a good vendor with decent prices the parts were good quality same guage steel as stock and a good shape and fit, like with all patch panels the edges are sharp and rough cut so be careful!

I took the panels and marked where they would fit, then pounded the side out as far as I could using a mallet, then I cut out the rear corner and the side panel using a angle grinder and a composit blade, slow but smooth and accurate I then used a loading strap to pull the rear back into the original location, I did this by attatching the one end to the seat support and the other to the door brace, then using the ratchet I pulled the door support back where is was before the accident, tomorrow when its light ill weld it in place along with the panels.




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Good Progress, keep us posted as you move along. Thanks for the pics!

I was able to get in a bit more work today, I detailed the cut out from the front panel I removed making it more exact, I tacked in the panel, it looks pretty straight, I working off the best original lines i can to complete this pulling the rear door post in place has really helped, things are starting to fall together now.

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Dude you rock!

Good job on the panels. Watching this with interest. What are you going to use for floor sheet metal

There was very little metal left where the door post was supposed to go, I added a perch using some of the sheet metal I cut off the side damage, good old metal like that is hard to find.




I added a little tab to hold the door frame in place, now Ill build up the floor and strengthen the post attachment.

How it looked at first:

After pulling the door frame square and building up the floor and post so its very sturdy I then took the loading strap and wrapped it around the rear corner and connected it to the front bumper this made it easy to pull the gapped sheet metal back into a decent seam again.



As I pull the parts together Ill be able to straighten the sheet metal a bit better now I have nothing really to pound against, Im hoping tomorrow I can get the lower quarter in place and really start to sew up that mess!

You've come a long way pretty darn quick! Nice work and thanks for the inspirational pics.

looks great! always nice to see these cars/trucks get saved!

Looking good, you'll have her back on the road in no time at this pace

Thanks for all the comments and feedback its really been a fun experience hitting this hard old metal with a hammer really melts away the days stress from the job!! I might start charging executives to come by and de-stress...
I love welding even though I'm not all that great at it, I just don't get enough practice, it will be one project then a couple years go by then another, if it weren't so dangerous and unhealthy I would love to do that for a living, watching the metal pool and melt then bond, is awesome..

I was able to get a bit more done last night, things are starting to close up a bit, the corner sheet metal is tacked in and the seam has been closed up a bit more, the sides straightened a bit more and most of the holes from the patch closed up.

As I am able to place these parts better they will be permanently attached, without the floor and its supports its hard to hold the correct line so I'm going to tack in some supports that will stay in even when the floor is repaired, all of the stock brackets have been destroyed so Ill have to make them up myself.

Doing Great! I can't believe how far you've come already. Nice to see guys who can look at something hit that hard and be able to have the Cahonies to dive in head first and go for it. Another one saved from the Crusher! Nice piece of work!