Sportsmobile competitor!

[jage]

Here's my own similar find from 2007:





More at
http://jage.com/offsite/misc/frankensteinsvan/

[Aldercrest]

If you prefer a Toyota...

[carringb]

Originally Posted by jage

Here's my own similar find from 2007:





More at
http://jage.com/offsite/misc/frankensteinsvan/

I saw that van driving on I-84 in Hood River a couple weekends ago.

[sac95985]

I know this is a Oh No They Did Not Do That To This Van Thread!!!! But in the case of the older Ford green van, I think youn could take a 98-2003 7.3 EB with a sliding side door and buy replacment barn door quarter pannels in front of the wheel wheels and weld that rectangle of sheet metal into the old wheel wells and buy a rectangle of rear qaurter panels where the rear fenders are and weld that into the back and have a very factory looking Ford van with sliding door that would not hit the DRW fenders with the Dana 135 Axle and 19.5 wheels for cheaper than Dynatrac axles and after market wheels with a one up offroad rear traction block after a UJOR Front.

I know this is a "cheesy van" thread, but I think you could do this though it would still cost a considerable amount of time and money and finding a 98-2003 Black exterior 7.3 EB with sliding side door and Power Windows, Locks and Cruise with under 100,000 miles for a platform probobly does not exist and if it did you would have to have $6-$20,000 cash because they are awful old to finance.

Anyway it is probly a silly idea, but I think it could look stock much like the longer wheelbase GM Vans if you did it right, and you could maybe move the stock fuel tank back rather than shorten it. Anyway it is a silly idea that would probly require one to put $80,000 into a van with 300,000 miles and make no sense, but I think it might be able to be done and look like it came from the factory even though this is a "chessy van" thread.

[sac95985]

This 6X6 is not what I am talking about, but I think they put alot of time into it and it looks very professional when it could have easily looked cheesy. I am not talking about a 6x6 but a dana 135 with the 4.88 gears and a Dana 60 from a F-550 as well with the free 4.88 gears in a 4X4, but this shows that chopping these vans up can look good. Having said that they are putting it on a plane and probobly put 1 million dollors in the thing to break the world record. I wish I knew how to post pictures, but here is a link to some.

http://www.4x4offroads.com/south-pole-e ... there.html

[daveb]

Actually, the picture I Posted was (in its day) a very nice vehicle totally home built. If you got the skills go for it.

[sac95985]

Thanks, Yeah...I don't know if I have the skills to do it, but I have been pretty good at demolition with a saws all, cut off wheel, carbide blade dremil drill, and plasma cutter on my other vehicles. The demolition is easy, but the welding back together may not be? I don't want that high of a lift, or 38 inch tires as I just want something for my family, but I think I could do alot of the fabbing. I ran across the older Ford green van today for the first time and have actually been thinking about this for 3 years or so now. I kind of like all of the vans and know they took alot of work. But the main thinkg holding me back is being able to finiance such an old vehicle if I found it in black with the 7.3 and sliding rear door and power windows and cruise and I don't have $17,000 in cash because if it has less than 100K miles then that is what someone will want for it even if it is just 2 wheel drive. Maybe someday I will try it with a white van, but IDK????

[sac95985]

Just to clarify I am looking for a black platform passenger van with factory windows, sliding side door, CC, pdl, pw and less than 100K.

The white vans are great and seem to be most common color, but what I am saying is that for the inner doors, window, under the hood etc to look all the same in a black van, it would be nice to start with a black van in the first place, not that one color of van is better than another. It seems to be rare in a 7.3...and a van of any color seems to be going for more and more rather than less and less with the 7.3 even if they have 400 or 500 thousand miles on them. But I have yet to see a black in this configuration and these things seem to be comming through with 2 or 300K miles on them more and more. All color vans are great and I was just thinking that my post may have seemed to discriminate against white vans, but what I was thinking is that they are the most common, weather that is trure or not???? But I sure cannot find a black van in the configuration I am looking for over the past 3 years.

[carringb]

I found somebody on TheDieselStop who did a body stretch the right way...

Take an E350 EB, cut it at the front doors, then drop it onto an E450 ambulance cab/chassis:




Here pulled the outer rear duals since he didn't need that much tire capacity.

But when my motor finally goes.... I may have to give that idea a try. May be easier than a motor rebuild...

[carringb]

PS - my van used to be "church van white". But i got tired of that, so it went to MAACO.