66 Surf Wagons Ford Falcon

Don, it was great meeting you today. Hopefully Sarah and I will get the chance to meet some other awesome vanners like you in the San Diego area. Thanks for the help with another "to do" on the never ending "to do" list. I guess I'll have to spend the time to type up a proper introduction since you started a thread for me

Don, the seats are from an 1985-1986 Ford Aerostar. Not all the rear seats from the Aerostar fold flat into the bed. Most of them only tumble/fold forward. Obviously if you get them from a pick and pull like we did then you can make sure for yourself.

I have read through that thread a few times. It appears that C&G parts sells the fuel sender though I may check that van in the junkyard I spoke of first.

So our journey began this past summer when we were surfing at Cardiff Reef. A gentleman pulled into the parking lot with a freshly painted white 1965 Ford Econoline and parked next to my friends and I. Our entire group thought the van was pretty cool. My wife, Sarah, and I had been previously debating getting some sort of surf vehicle and junk hauler (lots of trips to Home Depot to support our other hobbies). We had tossed around getting a small pickup, a VW bus, etc. So while browsing Craigslist for good deals and junk I can't live without, I came across our van listed for sale.

A nice Mexican gentleman from Chula Vista was selling his van to raise money for his son whom was expecting a baby in the near future. It is a 1966 Ford Falcon Club Wagon HD. The van had been in his family since it was new. The grandfather had passed it down to his son, the Dad, and the Dad was going to pass the van down to his son but the son was not very interested. Therefore the Dad was begrudgingly parting ways with it. Apparently the grandfather use to take the van on long vacations into Mexico. My wife and I meet the father and son in Chula Vista and when we saw the van we knew if it was in halfway decent shape we were going to purchase it.

We checked the van out and it was indeed in decent shape. There is some rust and a little body damage but overall it was in good enough shape for what Sarah and I were looking for. We took it for a test drive and it was a hoot driving a cab in front of the axle vehicle again (the last vehicle I drove like that was a fire truck when I was a volunteer firefighter). The father was impressed that I had the "touch" with the van and was able to drive it so well. We finished the test drive and a couple days later we meet up again to seal the deal. Here is me and the Dad passing the torch:



Below are some on the pictures from the test drive day.







Since Sarah and I have taken the van home we have removed the curtains, windshield visor and the old tint. We also repainted the bumpers and replaced the windshield. Recently we purchased folding rear seats to replace the GM bench seats the previous owner had installed. We have a lot of plans to do a mild restoration to the van including some bodywork, a new paint job, new upholstery and "wood" floors. We also are going to be swapping in a Ford 250 ci inline six with a T-5 five speed manual transmission behind it. We want the van to be a nice driver that we can take on surf and camping trips and enjoy the adventure that is our lives.

We look forward to meeting up with fellow vanners, hanging out, turning wrenches and having fun. We are very excited to make this van our own special "SWAGON" (Surf Wagon).

Matt & Sarah

love it! Cool story! Keep adding pics and updates as you go, it keeps the threads fun to read now and in the future! Cool van man!

Welcome, and enjoy the ride

Going to be picking up a new fuel sender later this week, in the meantime working on cleaning up the dash area including restoring the original gauges. Cleaned off the dirt from the gauges using some Q-tips and then repainting the needles with Testors model paint.

Here is the temp gauge complete next to the fuel gauge which is yet to be painted:


Here is the speedo with the tail of the needle painted:


Still have to finish up but should look good back in the van. Also need to fix the gauge panel's glass that was broken.

Welcome to VV Matt. Nice looking van. Keep the pics coming as you go along.

Got new wheels and tires for the Swagon today. Wasn't planning on getting new shoes for her yet but the front tire had some steel braiding starting to show and thought it would be safer with new stuff. The old front left is the spare with the weird blue powdercoating. The new shoes are 15x7 Cragar S/Ss with 235/60/15 BF Goodrich Radial TAs on the front AND 15x8 Cragar S/Ss with 255/60/15 Radial TAs on back.

Before:



After:



Fit great. Only a little rub on the front at the steering stops.

Matt

Tires and Rims look great. looks like you have a nice solid project there keep up the good work... ..JOE VAN..