The 69 was gonna be heading to the junk yard so we rescued it, & trucked it to Colorado. Funny thing was it wouldn't start in CA, when it got to Colorado I put some start fluid in the carb and i fired right up, and we drove it around town for the afternoon.
This whole project started because of the 808 van (Joe's van) we considered buying it when it was on ebay, just waited to long. Our van is a project for sure, but has good bones. Ford contracted out to another fabricator to do the pop tops in 69, but not sure who with... SMB wasn't doing them in 69 (I don't think).
Lots to consider with the 8 lug swap. There's a 78 quardavan/pathfinder here in Foco that could be a potential donor van, not sure on axel width since it's a 3rd generation van and not a second generation van. Think the 3rd gen is about 2 to 3" wider… not sure.
We are going to restore the 69 for short trips, and daily around town driver. It won't be a full period restore or a garage princess. It will get used, we want it nice but will be putting a 69 bronco front winch bumper on as well as a rear with tire carrier and it will have black wheels and not white rims like most van's this vintage. We are excited to get the project moving
Looking forward to see what you do in regards to your swap