1998 Ford E350 Camper Van Build

[kb3yeu]

With my daughters & I wanting to go camping but the girlfriend not keen on sleeping in a tent, I set in motion a camper van build that will make everyone happy.

So on March 28 I purchased this 1998 Ford E350 Club Wagon in Ohio.



It has major body rust issues but ran great.









Since Ohio does not have a safety inspection program and my home state of PA does, I had to get this rust taken care of before I could pass. So I ordered a couple repair panels off of eBay and went to town.



With so many patches needed to make the rust go away I have nicknamed the van "Patches". After all of the body work was completed I decided to paint the van flat black.



Yay it is one color again! Since the window tint on the van had turned purple as most cheap tints do, I decided to take it off. What a pain in the butt. Not one but two layers of tint were on each window. After several days it was finally all off.

 

[kb3yeu]

Continued

In the meantime I was busy making a bed for the girlfriend and I. Using a full size futon mattress, it fit like a glove and it quite comfortable. I also decided to make it fold up into a couch either facing forward or backwards.

 

[kb3yeu]

Continued

The exterior of the van needed some help so what better color to paint the wheels than red.





And to finish it off, some original equipment center caps.

 

[kb3yeu]

Continued

To match the red wheels, some red curtains for privacy.







This has been a really fun project and I have a lot more to do. Thanks for reading!

 

[ober27]

Looks like your off to a great start! Did you install the body panels yourself? Are they attached with adhesive, or welded on?

 

[Abitibi]

You should have bought an early 70's van, you got a good styling touch for that era

Seriously though, good work on fixing all that rust and best of luck on your project!

Cheers
Mr. D

 

[kb3yeu]

Thanks guys. I used loctite adhesive for the panels. Then tiger hair then bondo. The adhesive worked great.

Yes older vans are awesome and I almost picked up a 74 econoline. Would have been sweet.

 

[kb3yeu]

Added some eBay black turn signal lenses today.

 

[Mwilliamshs]

Where did you get the patch panels? They marked with a brand or manufacturer? What was your impression of their fit/finish?

 

[kb3yeu]

I purchased them off of eBay but the seller also has a retail website athttp://www.fixmyrust.com/. They fit really well and the quality was very good. I would purchase them again.

 

[350outrage]

I dig the funky style!

 

[Petrolburner]

Nicely done. I still dig the flat black and red, although the hot rod scene has overdone it.