My new van 1994 Ford econoline 150

[SoulRaven]

Here’s a pic

Your new van is gorgeous  :heart: Lucky you! Looks to be in very good condition. Good for you!!!

 

[Giulia]

I would be really interested to know how/where folks are finding these deals. In Craigslist, driving around, trader mag, bulletin board?

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[JD GUMBEE]

I drool at those seats!!

Were that mine, I would loose the rear seat and replace it with a nice foam mattress over a solid platform.
Selling it on CL would pay for the other stuff...
A couple of solar panels on the roof would keep it cooler and generate enough juice, with a couple of batteries, to feed the fridge and amplifiers to feed those speakers...or the new ones.
With blackout curtains on the rear windows, that would make a pretty damned sweet stealth machine that blends into the urban parking scene easily.
(Talk about comfy highway cruiser...)

You are on the right track with that transmission.
They make ATF for that spec.
That one is soooo young, you will catch it before it succumbs to the gremlins.
Besides the typical oil seepage that may be present in all low mile older vehicles, you won the battle of "inexpensive awesome van!"
Maybe see you @ RTR next year.

 

[Giulia]

I've found that if you fix the panels on top you are forced to park in the sun, plus flat panels miss out on a huge amount of rays. I tried just placing them on the ground, inclined, to match sun rays angle, and moved them as the sun moved. It worked so much better, especially charging my solar battery. They are tucked in door well while I'm driving from spot to spot. Also, you can keep them cleaner, which makes a huge difference too.

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[Jaketheone46]

This sounds good being I’m not really wanting to mount anything on the top due to not wanting to drill any holes. Or is there another way?? Perhaps mounting them to the rack up top?? I’m new to all of this solar stuff.

 

[Jaketheone46]

I would be really interested to know how/where folks are finding these deals. In Craigslist, driving around, trader mag, bulletin board?

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Well when I decide I want something I search everywhere for as long as it takes. I was surprised this search only took a few months. Ended up finding this listing on Facebook marketplace. It was listed at 8,000 and I checked it out and showed them a stack of 5,000 all in 20 dollar bills. They accepted. I started searching with my limit being 2500 bucks. After a bit it increased to 3,000. then I found a 94 Vandura that was 4,000 firm. He was waiting on his title that he lost. So I searched a bit more and seen the ford. I figured well it’s closeso why not take a look. If anyone is interested I do know of a 95 Vandura that’s nice 82,000 miles for 4 grand. The same guy has a second Vandura with 40,000 miles he was letting go at 2500 it had a cracked windshield and had a odor from water getting into a visor that was mounted with screws that leaked. Both vans look great and are inside. . I was going for the one with 80,000 miles on it being it needed nothing plus had really nice wheels. Then I found my ford.

 

[Jaketheone46]

Thinking about the solar panels I would definitely not want to park in the sun so mounting them on the roof won’t work for me.plus I only will be using it for camping so may not even need any solar. For my electric needs I may build a large capacity bank out of lightweight life cells to run things when I don’t have a electric source. I suppose I could buy a panel or 2 to keep it charged though. I’ve been in the radio controlled hobby a long time so batteries are my thing.

 

[Jaketheone46]

Any secrets on getting these covers on a big ol van without it taking everything out of ya?? First time I spent almost a hour just getting it on the van. Since then I’ve had the wife help.

 

[Crabbyjerry]

Any secrets on getting these covers on a big ol van without it taking everything out of ya?? First time I spent almost a hour just getting it on the van. Since then I’ve had the wife help.

You should try it on a 40 foot motor home.. thing weighs a ton..  you did real well on your van. I had a high top years ago and loved it and would like to get another one day.From the pics it looks like practically brand new and for 5 k it would probably cost 50k plus for a new one. Best of luck with her.

 

[Giulia]

They need to invent a bazooka that just shoots it over the top, and it gently drifts down, perfectly covering the van. Or you could rig up a scaffolding and drive it under and just drop it on. ...

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[RepublicOfTXPatriot]

^
Put magnets on the oil filter. Then you get rid of the particles each oil change. I use the magnets out of old PC hard drives. Any PC shop will have trashed hard drives they will give you for free.

I place mine on the bottom of the fluid pans (oil and trans). I use the ones that are about 2-3 inches in diameter they sell at Harbor Freight. But the ones you recommend are even better if one can get them for free.

 

[Jaketheone46]

I like using a magnetic drain plug as for sticking them on my filter I have a fear of them not staying there. lol I am sure they would. Maybe I’ll give it a try.

 

[Jaketheone46]

Hey guys on these conversion van windows, should I add some kind of sealer around the side windows ?? Some kind of a silicone or caulk to keep water from settling in there. My 94 is rust free but being 24 years old I am just wondering if there is some preventive maintenance that should be done with these conversion van windows.

 

[Jaketheone46]

Ok I need some assistance guys, I installed a new hitch to the van today and while I was adding a 4 pin flat trailer wiring plug I seen that there was one already there from the factory. I thought this was great until I tested it all out and found everything works except the running lights. So I went back to wiring in my 4 pin flat only to find that I couldn’t find any running light power in the wiring under the bumper at the rear of the van. So I had to splice in from the left tail light to get the power for running lights. No idea why but the tail lights work fine. So my trailer light setup has the running lights to the trailer all ran from the one wire that feeds the left rear tail light. Will this be too much current being drawn from that one tail light or will this work ok?? I just don’t want to fry my wiring going to my left rear tail light by running to much current off that one wire. I wish I could figure out why the factory 4 way plug is not giving me running lights like it should. I want to try and track why it’s not working.