new falcon owner from germany!

Welcome back and congrats on the baby boy!

All of us have found more work to be done once we dig into them, very solid van worth saving.

found some more time to work on the van. cleaned up the nose:

Congatulations on your baby boy , nice work :-)

more bondo!
i had suspected the rear right corner - and found some more:


and somebody obviously tried to repair the passenger side door:


apart from that, the van seems pretty solid.
i put together a nice set of wheels. et keystone klassic lookalikes in 15x8. two have 3 7/8" backspacing and they don't fit very well. i'm waiting for the other two to arrive. supposedly they have 3 1/4" backspacing. i doubt i can fit them in the wheel wells...

with the nose dented as much, i ran a quick calculation. labor cost for fixing it vs. the NOS nose panel on ebay. at $400, i took the NOS route. will be drilling out spot welds soon.

what would you recommend doing on the rear corner? fix it or get the corner panel from sherman? it's just dented, not rusted.
and what about the door? were there ever door skins available?

If its solid,repair it.Just get the metal as straight as you can before the plastic work. A stud gun would be a wise purchase and will make pulling dents a breeze!Look on Ebay and Great score on the van!

got myself a nice addition for the engine:

wow, it's been a long time since i updated this thread. the van has been pushed back for quite some time - too many projects, but now it's time for the van again!

i mentioned a NOS nose panel in a previous post. here it is in all it's glory:


old nose drilled out:


front corner is mangled:


rear corner cleaned up:


and opened:

front corner straigthened:


rear corner slowly getting there:


roof cleaned, a lot of surface rust under a white rattle can paint job:


drip rail in perfect condition:


van completely stripped on the outside:

Wow!

Wow is right!!! Looks like Lots of hard work done. It will pay off in the end. Please keep sending updates as you progress as it is inspiring to see! Great work!!!

Great work. Keep it going and keep those pics coming.

today was a good day... the new nose is in! top and sides are welded completely, the bottom still needs to be done, though. the passenger side lower corner is in, too:

Nice work Tody!!! Making some Great progress...quite a difference! Seems like you've gotten past the REALLY tough stuff now. Congrats and please keep the inspiring pics coming.

Now that I can see the inside of the nose panel, I think I may be able to work the dented nose on mine from the inside if I remove the insulation panel. I have a question for you...was there originally an interior panel inside the nose panel or is it open access to the nose section if you remove the insulation panel?

vanny, the bus came with neither an interior panel nor insulation - i found some parts of the insulation hanging here and there, though. so i assume, it's no problem removing it completely and working on the nose from the inside.

Really nice work Tody. I wish I had your skills.

Excellent work Tody. That nose looks right at home, and has saved you tons of labor on body work. Very inspiring indeed.

painfully slow progress...

doors are back in, with all new oversize hinge pins.


rear axle completely reworked:


front axle in the making. kingpin bushings are being reamed by a professional. tim brogan will provide me with a new wheel hub, as one is split.


lets see if i can get this sucker into paint jail before fall...

Can't wait to see her all painted. Have you decided what color you're going with?

Wow, long road eh? Nice work. The odds of you scoring that nos nose and getting it shipped over there have to be a million to one or less.

color choice is as follows: gulfstream aqua with a wimbledon white roof

Nice Old School colors!!!

a quick update from paint jail. it's going to look awesome!

It already looks Awesome! Congrats, I'm anxious to see it all done just like you!!!