by ThomastheTankVan Fri Mar 14, 2014 12:01 pmI just bought a 1965 A100 van from a 94 year old man who passed away, his brother (93, their dad lived to be 104!) was selling it. He had driven it everyday for 20 years. But the brother had no use for it.
I have always loved vans since I bought a 1986 toyota van a couple of years ago. But this is the biggest project I've ever taken on. Mechanically the van is sound, runs well. I was told the motor and tranny were rebuilt. But the body and interior were left to rot. The roof has some major rust around rain gutter. So much you can just push the roof off. But the rest of the body is perfect. It has been a California car its whole life, even has original black and yellow Cali plates.
The more I see, the more I find that the old man was a tinkerer. The engine is out of a 1966 it seems from the block casting numbers. He put a water injection system on the engine, which I'd like to remove but fear messing something up. He put a reallllly low gear in the rear end, something like 2.73 I think. Which makes it super gutless. He also put an electric fuel pump in the rear which I hear it run but dont know if its doing anything.
I'd really like to make this van original as far as the engine goes, maybe a little performance out of it. But I'm working with limited funds too.
So I would appreciate any advice, what to inspect, useful upgrades, things to beware of, etc etc. I bought a manual for it but it wont be here til Monday. So until then I'm just doing what I can.
Also It came with a spare motor which I told was running. It is on a running stand and has hoses and wires to run it stand alone. The casting numbers show its a 1968-1970 225 slant 6. So if anyone needs a engine give me a shout, it's taking up space.
Thanks!
I have always loved vans since I bought a 1986 toyota van a couple of years ago. But this is the biggest project I've ever taken on. Mechanically the van is sound, runs well. I was told the motor and tranny were rebuilt. But the body and interior were left to rot. The roof has some major rust around rain gutter. So much you can just push the roof off. But the rest of the body is perfect. It has been a California car its whole life, even has original black and yellow Cali plates.
The more I see, the more I find that the old man was a tinkerer. The engine is out of a 1966 it seems from the block casting numbers. He put a water injection system on the engine, which I'd like to remove but fear messing something up. He put a reallllly low gear in the rear end, something like 2.73 I think. Which makes it super gutless. He also put an electric fuel pump in the rear which I hear it run but dont know if its doing anything.
I'd really like to make this van original as far as the engine goes, maybe a little performance out of it. But I'm working with limited funds too.
So I would appreciate any advice, what to inspect, useful upgrades, things to beware of, etc etc. I bought a manual for it but it wont be here til Monday. So until then I'm just doing what I can.
Also It came with a spare motor which I told was running. It is on a running stand and has hoses and wires to run it stand alone. The casting numbers show its a 1968-1970 225 slant 6. So if anyone needs a engine give me a shout, it's taking up space.
Thanks!
