1964 Falcon Travel Wagon

Here is a link to a photo set of the interior of the van.  Tell me what you think.

https://s283.photobucket.com/user/jasongipson/story/13081

That van is like stepping back in time...You got yourself a Keeper!!! Everything looks very well preserved. Enjoy!!!

That looks really nice FCC. Like vanny said...you have a keeper there for sure.  

I pulled my tie rod bar off yesterday, to put on new ends.  My van had been jacked up by the bar at some point, and had a nice big bend in it. My fix?  Three strategically placed home run swings against a telephone pole and it was 96.857 percent straight..



Also, I noticed that the passenger side end is bent in the exact same fashion as CalitoChitown's bar was in his post about the subject here -->  https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t41928-tie-rod-bar-bent?highlight=bent
Not sure what to do about that just yet...might drop it and swing it at the pole again.  LOL

It took 20 minutes to get the rod off the car, including raising the van off the ground.  But it took  two guys, four hundred pounds of man flesh, four hands, four feet, an entire can of propane torch fuel, tons of PB, a pipe wrench and slew of leverage enhancers, a curb, a telephone pole and four hours before the van was back on its wheels.

I'm gonna guess that the tie rods hadn't been touched in 30 years or more.  They were rusted shut something fierce. In the end, it seems that the ends want to thread in too far to get the toe near 0 degrees.  I'm not sure I can get any more turns on the bar, it is THAT tight. Even with a generous amount of anti-sieze on the threads.  Yet there are probably 10 threads showing on each end.

While I was far to greasy and anti-seize covered to take any photos of the wrestling match between man and steel, I do however have photos of the scene.  And to any passerby, an epic battle happened on that spot..

Those spots near the pole...Was that you or a dog???  

Looks like you used good old fashioned "PERSUASION" to get the job done!!!

I think the small spots near the pole are actually beer bottle sweat..

I think I'll pop the link back off and smack the pole a time or two and see what happens. Sounds gankey, but it worked for the band in the middle. So don't judge..

Ok.  Just gave all the lube joints a good pressure washing at the carwash.  Years of not wiping grease off after the lube jobs made for some serious balls of goo on every hinge point..   Then I gave her a proper filling with some modern grease.  Boy, was she due.  I think it was mostly dry under the king pin caps.  

Interestingly, when I pumped in grease to the passenger side king pin top fitting, it would raise the whole spindle up with each pump.  While the driver's side didn't move at all.  Anyone know what this might mean?  I have pins on order.  But I hope its not an indication of wear on another, less commonly accessible part.  Like a spindle.


Oh, and this just in. I have a friend who's grandfather owned a garage back the day. And the old timer says that it was common to bend the tie rod bar, in conjunction withe the 'string method" to get the toe adjusted properly. They would use a bottle jack to bend it up until the string was just barely off the front of the front tire. Now, according to what I know about bent bars, any bend just makes that bar a spring. So I don't like this idea one bit. It can't make for a stable feeling ride. But I see the logic for a work truck. Considering the fact that I can't runs the new ends in far enough to get the tow exactly where I want it.

My solution would be to shorten the threaded end of the ends a bit, so they don't run so far into the bar...

So, I have been having issues with fuel supply..  mileage was all over the map, starvation issues, the gauge didn't work, etc.  So today I drug my butt out of bead early and went to work trying to figure out issues.  I tested the sending unit, wiring etc. and everything pointed to the seining unit.  

As far as the starvation problem, I was convinced it was crap in the tank..  but there was just one problem.  My big ass trailer hitch..



..that, and the van had a mostly full tank of gas.

So after draining off 10+ gallons into every mower, and gas can I had, I pulled the sender.

Yeah,  its toast.



Then that let me take a few pics of the inside of the tank.  Um, don't store a car with anything less than a full tank.



Yeaaaah.  It had to come out, but then so did the hitch.

After I cut some the welds on at the down/cross braces and removed three bolts, it was out.  No pics of that monstrosity because my phone died at about the same time..

Tank came our just fine.  Found this little guy hanging around..  Should I pull it?



I pounded on the floor of the tank, and the top.  This is the first wave of goo..  Looks like a couple pots worth of coffee grounds!!! Not to mention the random hose and the solder ring from the float... thats all that was left of it!



I gave it the chain and shake treatment a couple times, rinsed it will water and got another pile out of it and set it out to dry in the sun.

Now I just need to decide how to proceed.  Seal it?  leave it?  

Not sure..

take it to a tank rebuilder-or get a diff one.with that much corosion it may leak soon anyways. Replace the fuel lines too!!
Id remove that weight also -vans heavy enough with the conversion!!

Yeah, i got rid of the weight on mine. Just makes sure when you have removed it that you do a brake test in the wet, to see if the rear brakes lock up first....

Well, after considering a Mustang tank conversion for a minute, I ended up picking up a tank locally and swapping it in.  Due to time constraints, I had to buy a mid-80s econoline sender float from the stealership at 19$, and then desmantle and repair the sender, but I believe all is well.. .  I have yet to get the filler/tank connector hose installed to see if I get a readout at the gas gauge now, but it all tested good.  






Also, I took the opportunity to run new brake lines on the rear end.  Now if I could just get the damn cap off the brake fluid res so I can bleed me some brakes!!!

Got the van back in the ground.  
New fuel pump.
Flushed brake fluid

...Got this guy a pumpin'. It's the vacuum driven air pump for the air horn reservoir. Next I will get the res out and try to figure out the servo that lets air out to blow the horns..

After the good news that the pump was functional, I tore out the air tank..

The electric servo is interesting.  I could get it to click with a 12 volt hit, but I'm not sure if it was opening.  When this opens, the air flow to the horns.  I would imagine that this was wired up to the stock horn button, being that I can't find evidence of another button anywhere..







Once I got done tinkering with the tank and servo, I put the system trough the paces of a pressure test, to see if it would actually work for the horns..  after finding a couple air leaks and letting it run a while, it built up good pressure!!!  Enough to blow out a thin spot on the tank!!  dammit..

Dug in to the rear seals. The passenger side has been leaking goop since we bought it. That brake was nicely lubed..

So easy to work on, these are..did both seals in less than half a beer. Bearings get installed tomorrow. Then I'll finish the beer when I put it back together..

All this talk about spare tires makes me want to build the rack I was thinking about, it would reuse the holes from the original rooftop AC unit..    Unless someone knows where a rooftop AC unit is...

Added some new, old flavor to the van last night. Some old water decals..  

This after I put the axles back in. New bearings and seals in there now. Next is the pinion seal..  



Took the fam out for dinner after and grabbed this beauty shot on the way out..  What amazing weather we had last evening..

nice van and great thread. I’m probably the only one here interested... what “vintage BMW” is sharing the stable? “eurotrash" Jason? verona 02, w/ etsy carpet etc?

You got it! That's me!

You a fan of the 2002?

Wait. Austin? You use that in your FAQ name?

I'm waiting for a video of those horns...lol. Been following since this thread began.  

Ha! I have to justify spending a Hundo on flippin horn parts first!!!

I haven’t ben on on the FAQ in a while.  I think I have the same user name there.  

I’ve had many 02



I just don’t have as much time for cars like I used to

I have one ’02 left. it’s got all the fun parts, but nobody is driving it.

Awesome thread & great van!

Fun read thus far, cheers!