Sooooo... Should I get it?

Howdy all, I've been looking at classic vans for a while and finally decided to pull the trigger and try to get one. I found a '65 Sportvan body down in KS. Overall it seems pretty good, but not quite ideal. The seller wants at least $3500 for it. Here's the rundown.

I had a buddy that's local to it go give it a test drive, he said he had a heck of a time trying to get it into gear. (three on the tree) It was probably partially due to the fact that he's a little out of practice with a standard transmission, but I'm betting that there's wear on the linkages that was making it a fight for him as well. (correct me if I'm likely wrong on that) He says there's a whine coming from either the rear end or the trans, but wasn't able to nail down exactly where it was from, which is honestly my biggest worry. The other concern I had was that the steering is supposedly sloppy, I don't know if that's just the steering setup itself or if something is worn out. He described it as having to go back and forth about two inches to keep the van going strait down the road. Overall the body is sound, there was some rust on the driver's side by the rear wheel well and a section below the driver's door. Both spots were patched in with fresh sheet metal. the paint is far from perfect where it was patched, but it's at least coated to keep it from rusting away again.

My plans for it are going to the local cruise nights, drive-ins, etc, and for towing my Wetbikes around in the summer. Maybe doing a few overnights in it, the back has benches built into each side that make a handy bed when you add a piece of plywood in between. So basically, is this worth looking at, or should I stay away? I'll be driving from MN with either a tow bar or a trailer to pick it up.
I can't yet post pics, so to see what it looks like, search for photobucket and exto

Thanks all!

No fotos-hard to tell -yet I believe overpriced- keep watching =the buys are out there too.

maybe this isn't the one $3500 maybe too high for that van. Welcome to VV!!!

photos are at photobucket(dot)com/albums/vv176/Exto/VANS/

I'm too new to the forum to post links, so I had to put the link up like that.

Honestly, the price didn't seem too terrible to me, but I'm not too familiar with how these beasts price out. The thing is, up here in the rust pit of the north anything that's still made of steel after 15 years is hard to find. As a result the price on classics go up fast. There are dealerships all over the place in MN that specialize in trucks and cars from anywhere that doesn't have snow for 6 or so months out of the year.

Welcome to the site!
You have a couple different vans in that folder. I'd assume this is the one?
Looks pretty nice, but the whine and steering can add up quick. My 2 cents is to see if you can get the price lower.

Welcome to Vintage Vans ,she looks pretty good for the price, and she does run and drive to me shes worth $3500. Today were going to look at a non running 67 108 that doesnt run and the guy wants $1800 . Also people not familiar with these old vans have trouble shifting them (3spd on the tree)

My first vehicle was a 68 Chevy van. It had worn linkage on the tree. It would ocasionaly get stuck, but once you learned it's idiosyncracies it worked okay.
On that one, you had to slide it up past the neutral point, then let it drop back and down through neutral, then push forward to second.

That's the one I'm looking at. I'm hoping to get them to come down a little bit. After all, it's really hard to say no to a pile of 30 $100 bills.

The other van is a 1964 GMC for sale over in Kentucky, they want 5k, and it's been sitting in a garage for the last two years doing its best imitation of a giant Rubbermaid tub. Probably not the best option on the table.

RodStRace wrote:My first vehicle was a 68 Chevy van. It had worn linkage on the tree. It would ocasionaly get stuck, but once you learned it's idiosyncracies it worked okay.
On that one, you had to slide it up past the neutral point, then let it drop back and down through neutral, then push forward to second.

thats why mine is now an automatic

I would offer him 25 $100 bills & then go from there.

I agree let him say no and leave him your number..

Here is some free advice (and worth the price!) from someone who just got their first van. Spend some time on this site in the forums other than "Vans For Sale". You will learn that no matter how nice these things look in pictures, and whether it currently runs or not, it will need work. Seeing the common things people have to work on will help you ask the right questions.

I remember seeing that van and thinking it looked cool, but too far away from me.

sandyvan wrote:Here is some free advice (and worth the price!) from someone who just got their first van. Spend some time on this site in the forums other than "Vans For Sale". You will learn that no matter how nice these things look in pictures, and whether it currently runs or not, it will need work. Seeing the common things people have to work on will help you ask the right questions.

I remember seeing that van and thinking it looked cool, but too far away from me.

Ditto on above sentiment. Also, a lot of these guys don't like window vans, so there may be some bias. I love window vans as much as panels, myself. Based on personal experience, check all windows for working condition, check all seals for leaks (unless that doesn't bother you.) Non-auto prices should be far less than ones with modern automatics. Keep in mind that at that price, a good paint job, if you desire, is going to put the van at $8-$9000 invested and that's all she's worth in tip top shape IF you didn't have a single other thing to do. $2500 sounds much better...

i have to say I stay netural when i'm asked of my opion dodge. gm. ford no window or all window no door or 8 door,my thouts are the linkage needs bushings a 3 speed trany is not the reason for the sound his friend heard, and it needs body work and already has some body work, and does need paint, on top of all of thatthere is always more. the pick ups sell higher and there is not a huge market for these vans . So that is why i agreed to $2,500 and then leave him your number. althou you might be beter off paying a more informed person to look at it for $100.00 and have it put on a lift to have a good look at the frame. ps it maybe the throw out bearing he heard,

I will admit I prefer a cargo van with NO windows and am looking for a 1st gen cargo van or panel I can make into a cargo van but I like and have had more than 1 sportvan all have been 1st gens. I think all old vans are awesome (except when molested) but my preference is for G series vans and ive had a 63 econoline window van with a 283 and a 66 a100 cargo van with a 327. When im not rollin my chevys im on my chevrolegs

I personally would suggest that if you are not available to go inspect it for yourself in person just forget about it! Another one will come along eventually that will be close enough for you to be able to go inspect it in person and take to a garage and have them put it on a lift so you can see everything under it like dix suggested. Buying something without seeing it in person is like buying a pig in a poke & some pigs dont make good bacon.

I just noticed it has the long Chevrolet logo on the nose instead of the bowtie, which looks kinda cool. That wasn't a factory config on these was it? Never noticed it on one before.

Having my buddy go and take a look at it was just to save me the trip in case it was a rolling pile of patches and shot parts. At this point I'm still going to drive down and take a look on Friday, I can always say no if I find something I don't want to deal with or we can't come to an agreement on price. One thing that I should have mentioned, he's about half again pickier on vehicles than he really needs to be, if it isn't almost as-factory or better, it's a project. So in reality it's likely in better overall shape than he's thinking.
Ultimately I'm not too worried if the transmission or engine are in need of attention. I have a t-10 transmission collecting dust in the corner of the garage, and I have access to a couple of strait sixes that are looking for homes (though I'd need to pay at least a few bucks for those) And then there's always my favorite boneyard to go picking through.

I kinda like the look of the Chevrolet lettering over the Chevy logo myself.

Camaro Addict wrote:I will admit I prefer a cargo van with NO windows and am looking for a 1st gen cargo van or panel I can make into a cargo van but I like and have had more than 1 sportvan all have been 1st gens. I think all old vans are awesome (except when molested) but my preference is for G series vans and ive had a 63 econoline window van with a 283 and a 66 a100 cargo van with a 327. When im not rollin my chevys im on my chevrolegs

The '64 90 inch model in the photobucket album is still for sale as far as I'm aware, though the owner did have a few buyers lined up after me. My lady said she'd prefer a windowed van over a cargo body, I'm pretty much up in the air on the matter, I like 'em both. As the lady likes the '65 bod better, it's closer by five hours, and has a $1500 lower asking price; it seems a better idea to look at that one.

Well, I picked it up. We wound up settling on $3000 as a working price, and I towed it home with my S10.

Congrats on purchasing it! Would like to see more pics of it if you can post a gallery of it.

i agree congrats on the van hope it'sas nice as the photo's and welcome to vintage vans...

Yes I would like to see some pic's

Congrats Exto!!!

And "WELCOME" to the family!!!

Dan

Congrats form one Newbie to another!