1969 ford van 4wd ?????

[UHAULER]

My friend just picked up a 1969 ford van with a pop up top with the intent to convert it to 4wd. This was a total impulse buy and we had not done any measuring of the van to see if any doner vehicle running gear was even close.
The original plan was to get a d44 front from an f100/150 or 78/79 bronco but the frame on the van is kind of unibody and is very wide to accomodate the engine that is offset about 6" to the passenger side.

Does anyone have any info on this conversion or a link to someone who has done it ?

 

[ujoint]

hmmmmm. Gonna be a tough one. You may find some pics here in cyberland, but I don't think you'll find any detailed info on completing a conversion. The unibody is gonna be a big hurdle, but nothing is impossible!

 

[nely]

i saw this old body style van in 4x4 at the long beach motorcycle swap meet. my friend and i got to look at it a bit. i dont remember it being a unibody but i remember the guy using stock radius arms and such for the swap and keeping it coil sprung on the front. i believe since the front overhang is minimual thats the reason for going with the coils. it seemed to work althought i dont know how well it flexs and all. he made a comment times are tough and might be selling it. hes a vendor there and i will probably see him there again. my friend and i thought about it till i found my diesel club wagon.

 

[wanderer-rrorc]

pirate4x4...EMIEVEL

he had one...it might have used an early bronco front 44...

they do exzist..
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=664850&highlight=van

1974 Ford Quadravan Club Wagon E300 (1 Ton)

302, C4 auto, Dana 20 twin stick, Dana 44 front, Dana 60 rear

another

 

[DragRag]

That tan van is awesome!

 

[Adventurerider]

If it's possible I'm sure Chris can help, and It will be a really cool build to watch, keep us posted.....

 

[ujoint]

Those vans have Quadravan badges, so they were built by Pathfinder. Contact Gordon @ www.pathfinder-vans.com. He may have some info......

 

[Railvan]

I don't know much about the details of the 4x4 conversion but I did run into one at Mojave National Preserve a few years ago. I was amazed at how much smaller a full size van was back then.

http://www.pbase.com/railvan/image/61297442

Brian Rutherford

 

[dsw4x4]

Look at what I just found on Craigslist

http://fortcollins.craigslist.org/pts/1488912526.html

 

[T.Low]

My new favorite thread.

Luv those vans. :lurk:



Brian, that's such a great picture with the old and the new.

 

[UHAULER]

Thanks for the replies and pics, it looks like he is going to dive in to this project so I will start another thread.

 

[RIDGE]

Luv those vans. :lurk:



Brian, that's such a great picture with the old and the new.

You might like these. None of these are mine.

 

[RIDGE]

This used to be my Quadravan.

This is my '69 Pop-Top. I bought it about 5 years ago with 35K original miles on it. It was garage kept! This is still the original paint and canvass on the top. It has 56K miles on it now and still is super reliable.

These are some of my favorite van pics from my Baja trip. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12756&highlight=econoline+baja