1969 Sportvan Restoration

I got this van halfway through my freshman year in high school, we bought it in Portland Oregon and towed it down to southern Oregon. My dad bought his van from the same guy a year before, although it was drivable.

I started working on it immediately. Time took it's toll, it had been sitting for a long time, but on the bright side, it wasn't messed with. It had a trailer brake that wasn't stock, but was from the same era. It also has an era correct factory replacement engine. So my dad and I ame up with the idea that some guy bought it for a family vacation, blew up the engine, got it replaced, and then when the kids moved out sold it/had it sit.

However, because I didn't have a job, I couldn't do much on it. I replaced the points, spark plugs and wires, cap, rotor and rebuilt the Carburetor. We emptied the gas tank, the gas was yellow, and we still have 5 gallons we don't know what to do with, it is unusable. We blew out the gas line and put fresh gas in, and started it up. It sounded great, aside form the exhaust leak. It was a solid engine, but I ran out of money. So, I saved up, and in my Junior year, had enough money to do the next big project, the brakes.

The great thing about old cars, is the parts are cheap, at least the mechanicals anyway. by now I was in automotives 2 at my school, so I got a parts discount at the local parts store. I bought new brake shoes, hoses, slave cylinders, a new master cylinder and new brake hardware. My dad and I rented a tow dolly and towed the van down to my school, where it sat on a lift for 3 weeks while my friend Chad and I worked on it, 50 minutes at a time. Although most of my classmates saw it as a piece of junk, some liked it, most have never seen a car that old.

Anyway, the 3 weeks passed, the brakes were done and we towed it home, I was out of money again, but it was almost ready to drive, I just needed new tires, and to fix the exhaust system, and a title.

I bought the van for $700, and it didn't have a title. So, once we got it back home, I had to start my battle with the DMV. It took 6 trips in total, 4 of those was because they gave me the wrong paperwork to fill out, they are so helpful. Finally, I had the right paperwork. We towed my van down (We hired a tow truck this time) to the DMV for a VIN inspection. They took that, my receipts from all the parts I bought and some paperwork and sent it to Salem, I got a title 5 weeks later.

I decided that I was going to restore it Senior year. I had a job and was saving money. My grandma decided to buy me a car as a graduation present. My grandma likes new cars and surprised me by taking me to a Ford dealership (New Ford, = nightmare fuel) I asked if it had to be a new Ford, she said no, as long as it wasn't too expensive, so we agreed that I would look for a car on craigslist, I found a 1963 Corvair 4 Door for $3K, she was glad I chose to get an older car, it saved her a lot of money, plus it isn't a Ford.



Anyway, now that I had another car, I decided to restore my Van.

Right now it's being used as storage. We did an engine swap on my sister's '79 Caprice Station wagon, it has a 'Vette motor now, we plan on putting it back together eventually.