1961 econo van the work begins

Nice and clean!!!!! Just the way we like it. Great job

Making Great Progress!!!

Messy job, but WOW, the panels look great in primer.

Thanks guys, it is messy I dont like using stripper but its faster and makes less dust, my neighbor appreciates that.
I hit the doors I stripped yester day with some filler mostly skim but there were a couple small dents also, the front part Im stripping now has a good sized piece of bondo, it was pretty well done though I never noticed it, each time I find something like this I can usually pound it out and use maybe 1/10th the filler that was used in the first place, Ill deal with that another day though its late and Im pooped!

How do you get the wiper arms off the shaft? I don't want to force them but it looks like they just pull off , they go a little way then wont buge

if they are like most of the older arms there is a small clip(on the arm where it joins the shaft) that you pry up and they release...

what spray bombs are you using?
that comes out nice.

Thanks Dudley, that worked the lil tab needed to be pryed forward from the shaft then they literaly popped right off first one hit me square in the forehead!!

Mario Rustoleum the have a bunch of new colors at Depot lately and i started playing with a couple, then just to see if could do it I bet my neighbor who is a big show car guy, I can spraypaint this van enter and win a prize in one of his shows (Im thinking people choice or most original not best of or anything) so its on, im going to prep the crap out of the van spray paint it probably twenty coats sand and paint till its perfect and enter it one of the Southern California auto shows and win something (I hope)!!The paint lays down well and its hard enough to polish so I think it will work the real difference is the path you laydown compared to a gun, so the chance of messing up is much greater, it takes ten times the passes with the can as it does with a gun...

I'm pulling for you Fish! If the rest looks as good as what you've already done, you're a winner!!! Don't need no stinking trophy ... but it would give you bragging rights with your neighbor!

[quote="'fish"]Thanks Dudley, that worked the lil tab needed to be pryed forward from the shaft then they literaly popped right off first one hit me square in the forehead!!




Sorry...I forgot how far they can jump...

dudley32 wrote:

'fish wrote:Thanks Dudley, that worked the lil tab needed to be pryed forward from the shaft then they literaly popped right off first one hit me square in the forehead!!




Sorry...I forgot how far they can jump...

Its all good!! Lol it surprised me but I  managed to avoid it the second one!

vanny wrote:I'm pulling for you Fish! If the rest looks as good as what you've already done, you're a winner!!! Don't need no stinking trophy ... but it would give you bragging rights with your neighbor!

Just for neighborhood bragging rights, he owns cars that are so far out of my level I am not trying to compete with him (he has some of those 100k plus sponsored cars) a 51 merc sponsored by McGuire's, a 56 nomad and a 55 truck with a 672 in it........

Im just doing this to poke him a bit like I said he OWNS several show cars, but he didn't build any of them..... Ill have less in this van when complete that he probably has in the custom bumper on the Merc....

I was able to get the sides a bit smoother along with the door and I started stripping the top, its not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be, its very straight and the paint is coming off pretty easily.

Moving along very nicely!!!

Ok so how do you get the back and front windows out?? that rubber is so hard Im guessing it has to be cut out?

probably the quickest would be a side grinder with a cutting blade...be careful...they cut fast and don't care what they cut...

I managed to get about 1/3 of the roof done today then it got too hot out to handle the glare

I got tired of being on the ladder yesterday so today I finished the front, there was a big chunk of bondo, i still cant figure out why, there is only a small dent, the brought the plastic up around the nose it looked good but there must have been half a can of bondo there, I think I can get it back to being clean again with only a few oz, I popped out the small dents already it was easy since the heater is already out.

I can really appreciate the HARD work you are putting into this van! You're taking the time to do the job right and to fix what others have not had the patience to do in the past. I encourage you because it makes me happy to see how far you've come with this one. Thanks for posting so many pics and sharing what works and what doesn't because I'm sure to run into a lot of the same things when working on mine!

vanny wrote:I can really appreciate the HARD work you are putting into this van! You're taking the time to do the job right and to fix what others have not had the patience to do in the past. I encourage you because it makes me happy to see how far you've come with this one. Thanks for posting so many pics and sharing what works and what doesn't because I'm sure to run into a lot of the same things when working on mine!

Thanks Man, hopefully when your working on yours ill be around to watch and help too!!!
I am hoping to get this done in the next few months or so, it seems to be going pretty fast now.

I got a bit more done up front holes from the old mirrors were filled along with the lame aftermarket antennae, added a bit more bondo after sanding the previous layer smooth with 60 grit, ,

Man on a mission! Amazing work!!

Thanks guys!

Today I worked on the rear doors, roof and opening , removed the rear windows and seals. then it got too hot outside..

I finaly got a bit of time to work on the roof, its been on and off rain wind etc. this week so I got a bit of surface rust where I didnt cover the roof with enough primer lesson learned.
This time I used stripper from a can not a spray can it is much much better, I
Pretty much now all that's left is to strip the front doors, remove the windshield and start sanding everything to prep for paint.