New here with my first econoline pickup

Hey ive been looking for one of these cool trucks for years..i finally found one for a decent price that runs and drives..it a 1965 and has a 170ci with a 3 speed and plenty of rust...im meeting the guy i bought it from next week to buy another pickup he has with all good panels to replace the ones that are rusted out on this one....probably gonna sell the other stuff on it if anybody needs anything im not using. the other truck also comes with a 240 if anybodys interested. thanks for looking.

Welcome to the site!!!!

thanks..theres a lot of good information on here!

Feel free to ask questions

Welcome aboard. Nice looking truck. make sure you take lots of pics as you venture on with your project.

G-Man wrote:Feel free to ask questions

well i havent gotten the parts truck yet but i am wondering if the 240 motor that im getting with it would be worth fooling with? the truck currently has a 170 in it and its running pretty good but it seems to have a slight miss. im gonna change the plugs and wires since the wires appear to be pretty old. he did have the carb cleaned before i bought it and its pretty smooth during acceleration. it kinda sounds like somebody might have put a bigger cam in it but it does have a glasspack for a muffler so thats probably throwing me off too. either way i hope the stuff i cant use off of it can be sold to somebody that needs it. i really dont wanna scrap this thing since they are getting so hard to find. all im taking off of it is the back rear quarters and the top off of the cab...someone had cut a sunroof in mine and totally messed up the roof on it.

Welcome.

I wasn't always a Chevy guy, had my share of Fords over the years and Ford makes good 6 cyl motor. If the 170 can be made to run good I would keep it

I'd go with the 170 but keep the 240 just in case you decide you want more power.

welcome to the forum, these guys are awesome and its helped keep my van running daily for two years now!

vanishingbreed wrote:I'd go with the 170 but keep the 240 just in case you decide you want more power.

yeah thats what i was wondering..i guess ill run the 170 till the time comes when i can figure out how to drop a 302 in there..im afraid if i go through all the trouble of putting in the 240 that ill regret not just dropping in a v8

steve wrote:welcome to the forum, these guys are awesome and its helped keep my van running daily for two years now!

yeah i was lucky to stumble on it..i do a lot of google searching on these trucks here lately and i just got lucky to find this site. it looks like a good place to source parts and links to some good stuff.

Why a V8?? More power?? A 240 can achieve over 225 hp and 385 pounds of torque very easily and that is more than a stock 302. In fact a 200 ci can be built to have more power than a stock 302. I have a 200 in my 65 and am building a 240 for my 61. I had a 419 hp 347 stroker in my 66 but it was an expensive motor and I only got 4mpg.

vanishingbreed wrote:Why a V8?? More power?? A 240 can achieve over 225 hp and 385 pounds of torque very easily and that is more than a stock 302. In fact a 200 ci can be built to have more power than a stock 302. I have a 200 in my 65 and am building a 240 for my 61. I had a 419 hp 347 stroker in my 66 but it was an expensive motor and I only got 4mpg.

i was thinking more about the reliability and easy access to parts for the 302 platform...but i like the sound of 225hp..i dont think the old truck i got would want any more hp than that anyway...it looks like the driveshaft is out of a 4cyl civic. not to mention the fact that i have to be careful not to spin the tires taking off in this thing now....i appreciate the info on the 240 though. im not sure if the donor truck im getting has the trans in it or not, or it may still be hooked to the motor? im guessing that either way there is no way the 240 would bolt to the 170 trans?

The parts for a 240 are available everywhere. The drive shafts in our pickups aren't very big, thats for sure. I saw where a guy had over 500hp and over 800 pounds of torque on a 240 once. Way more than I ever want.

I just remembered you probably have a peanut rear end on the truck with a 170 and if you swap to a 240 you will need the 9" rear in the other truck, so save it and the drive shaft.

vanishingbreed wrote:I just remembered you probably have a peanut rear end on the truck with a 170 and if you swap to a 240 you will need the 9" rear in the other truck, so save it and the drive shaft.

good to know..ill check the other rear end, either way the 9" will be a better upgrade whichever way i decide to go with it.

also save the larger radiator from the 240 as you will need it too. I would save the doghouse too since the 240 doghouse is larger and has the hump on the drivers side for the alternator

I would go with the 302 or any other v8, no disrespect to Mike, but no matter what you do to a six it's still a six!Put the same amount of money into the 302 and you will get more horse power, better feel, sound, smell, more weight,better look, better resale value, etc..better gas mileage really should not be and issue when building a custom truck. I know for me it's not. I am building my pick up for fun not commuting.
I have never heard a six come close to the sound of a nice v8 with a cam

Welcome. Be careful parking two earlies close together. They have a habit of multiplying. LOL. I started with two 67's and next thing I knew I had 5 Econoline pickups, 7 Econoline vans, 2 second gen Chevys, and a Dodge A-100 pickup. I've thinned the herd down some.

The 6 or V8 argument is full of pros and cons. The 240 is a bolt in deal in a 65-67. The V-8's take some work. You'll have plenty of time to make that decission latter. The is a ton of good help and advice on here and eveybody is always quick to help out. Just keep posting pictures. We like pictures. LOL.

Duane in Tennessee

When you get the chance you should send in your serial number and find out what you have to start with. My 67 had the 170 in it and according to the numbers it also had the 9 inch rear with 4:11 gears. This van was for in town deliveries, not a highway cruiser. But that may not have been an option for your truck...I don't no for sure. There are some other numbers as well that will tell you what size rear the truck should have, paint code, engine size...on the door. Providing a past owner didn't swap any of it out at some point.

well i got the parts truck this morning..its already been pretty well striped, it does have the doors plus an extra drivers door in the bed. it has the motor and radiator plus the lower section of the doghouse. it looks like the lower grill is in pretty good shape as well as the front end. all im interested in is the rear fenderwells and rear roll pan which is rust free. he did throw in 2 chrome bumpers in pretty good shape plus a carpet pad for the cab which i didnt have yet. all in all i think i will come out pretty good if i just cut out what i need and scrap the rest. i just hate to scrap it.

Big W wrote:When you get the chance you should send in your serial number and find out what you have to start with.

well the story i got on the truck was that it was an air force vehicle. where would i send in my vin number to? ford?

there are people here that can decipher your vin code

240 for sure...