Brent's Van (uante)

Sounds expensive, but NOS parts do get top dollar! I'm still waiting on my Junk Yard arm to arrive  

econopoor wrote:

uante wrote:I was told by someone that only the 61-63 vans came with the round base 3 screw/round disk mirrors and that in 64 they changed to a square base 4 screw/rectangle mirror. Plus all years had an option to get some type of West Coast mirror instead.

Anyone know if this is correct?

Nope, That is incorrect info. There are two styles of first gen Econoline mirrors. The short arm round style and the long arm rectangle mirror. Both have the three screw base. The 4 screw base came on second and third gen Econolines. The four screw mirrors do look good on the early vans though. I suspect that's why they have gone up so much recently. They used to be cheap.

Duane in Tennessee.

After looking at several brochures and tons of pictures of museum quality original earlies...I'd have to agree with you Duane about the bases. Especially convincing is this picture of a 66 with a square mirror and round base.

Cool Dodge concept I saw when searching vans for sale

Could someone post a close up picture of the an original emergency brake handle for a 63 or so Econo. Mine is just bare metal and I don't think that is the way it was made.

Brent. I don't have a good picture of one right now. The original was made from plastic with a metal insert molded inside for reinforcement. A few years ago a couple of guys got together and started casting some handles out of aluminum. Maybe this is what you have? You could buy them natural aluminum or painted. A fellow that goes by pigeonfalcon has been selling some on ebay from time to time. The original handles got brittle and were easy to break. The aluminum seems indestructible.

You can see the reproduction handle in this shot. It's not a great picture. I have it mounted with a cotter pin and it should be a roll pin. This handle is the same style as the factory handle. Offset to the right and say's brake in the center ribs.



Duane in Tennessee

Thanks Duane,
I figured it was something like that. Mine is just the metal and is uncomfortable in the hand so I figured it had a plastic covering of some sort at one time. Nice looking interior btw, dig the beer, ah I mean soda holders! lol   

Here's a picture of my brake handle...

I did a search for a possible replacement plastic covering, but so far have come up empty.

How about this http://m.summitracing.com/parts/sdk-c0dz-2760-b?seid=srese1&gclid=CJeA44rkib0CFS9p7AodLHYAYA

I saw those and similar ones, but didn't think they'd match up correctly....they look smaller. Guess they just pin on a shaft.

that's the right size but the word brake will be upside down, I bought the one off ebay like econopoor

It took a bit of detective work with vin number searches and Lewiston inquires to circle all the way back to TexasJohn's thread on here. Wish I would have found out sooner as the info would have helped a lot in the purchasing/negotiation process I went through buying it.

Anyway still tracking down some leads as to the van's real history Hopefully the owner before TexasJohn can give me some insight into which story is true, The Dog Catcher/Printer story or the Dry Cleaners story.

Texas John has alot of vans, and he stops by only once in a while

I MISS IT, Great talking to you today. I drove this thing from Lewiston to seattle (546 miles) to problems. Drove it to Canadian boarder, all ovr town and to north Idaho. I WANT IT BACK.......KINDA. but seriously, good van. yes it needed some bome body work but not because of rust. Cant wait to see what you do to it. Now, if I can ever get my father in law to finish my 64 custom (yellow and blue one) ill be ready to road trip again

Picked up what I believe to be an original AM radio ($200) for my van. Looks to in great shape and with a speaker or two and a FM converter in the glove box...I'll be set! Don't need anything too fancy...mostly listen to Sports Radio anyway.

Went to Phoenix last weekend and loaded up the van at the old storage unit and drove about 60 miles to the new unit closer to where I hope to be living and working soon.



Stopped for Gas before hitting the road!



Driving the van went well, I forgot to roll the passenger side window down and it got pretty warm inside in the Arizona sun!



After unpacking I took the passenger side mirror off...The original holes were underneath, one enlarged of the three in a triangle. Can't understand why people over the years drilled the hell out of it swapping mirrors?!



Finally after some exploring inside the van noticing a few things...I looked at the radio situation. I think I'll use the hole from this large knob as the left radio control button. As I figure from the drawing posted on the other thread, I'll be about 3/4" from center between the ash try and the speaker vent. (closer to the speaker vent)

Lol, mine are like that to some extent, my "good" replacement(it is nice) passengers door is likewise riddled with the remnents of by gone mirrors lol. You know, I think, it's a van.. a utilitarian vehicle and they've been treated as such. Any still on the road have been in service for 50 years or so

You're right Seth, I just found out mine was a Dog Catcher van from 1963 to 1993! Apparently it has had 3 or 4 different types of mirrors on it, I'm going back to original round ones after I weld the holes closed

Can someone tell me if taking the doors off a Econoline Van is simple/easy? Also is it better to remove the door with the hinge, door off the hinge or remove the pin?

uante wrote:Can someone tell me if taking the doors off a Econoline Van is simple/easy? Also is it better to remove the door with the hinge, door off the hinge or remove the pin?

The hinges are permanently attached to the doors, so you unscrew the hinge from the body, and the hinge stays with the door.

It is possible to drill out the threadless "bolt" that holds the hinge to the door and replace it with a threaded bolt and nut.

I have never tried to remove a door hinge pin, but it is apparently possible, and replacements are available.

The front doors are heavy, so it is best to have a friend hold it while you unscrew it.

Thanks Barnabas,
Good to know.
I was just making a plan. My moving back to Arizona has been delayed and instead of bring my van out to Texas, I thought of just taking the doors off that need body work, bringing them back here and doing them while I wait.

One thing to be aware of is the likelyhood that some bolts may be seized/rusted and snap. I had this happen with a lower bolt on my back door :/

Ok...
I officially have too much time on my hands.
Painted the toy van I got from G-Man to match
my van! lol
Here's a before and after.

Way Kool!!!

NICE!! Vanny-ur way 2 easy!!!    

Went back to Phoenix this weekend and took the back doors off the van plus the drivers and passenger doors. Got them all in my 4 Runner and brought them back to Texas and get them all straightened out before I move back to AZ in August.

When I took the mirror off the driver's side, I was happy to see that the original mirror holes were intact and even had the original screws still installed. This door will be alot easier to fix than the passenger side.