Hello all,
So in a weird twist of fate I can in the possession of a 1969 Econoline Turtle Topper camper van conversion. As many of you will see in the pics, she has been sitting for a number of years(last tabs are from 1994, when I was 2 years old) and is in need of some loving. But after some careful inspection not only did I find very minimal rust, but it seemed like a good starting point. Plus the price was very hard to turn down (Traded a 1966 Mustang from my parents farm that had a tree land on it for it, so basically it was free)
Some of the backstory:
It was and still is owned by my cousins, husbands, grandmother. She and her husband bought the van from ford off the showroom floor in 1969 new, sent it to turtle topper for the conversion, and then have owned it ever since. There is a book in the dash pocket documenting absolutely EVERYTHING that has been done to the van, all the way down to the oil changes from 1969 till it was finally parked in 1994. My cousins husband brought it out of the hay barn it was sitting in the work on it, but soon lost interest and let it sit, but now Im taking it over to get this sweet classic back on the road.
The plan:
I'm a big fan of the whole resto-mod ideal. I love some of the design that went into the older cars, but at the same time its always nice to get some modern comforts in the name of safety. SO the immediate list is as follows:
Get engine running with some mods to add a bit of power and get the 302 running a bit more efficient(new pertronix ignition, plugs, coils, wires, and a rebuilt and a e-fan conversion)
Mild lift and tires ( going for about 1.5" and throwing some larger tires on there)
Improve the Brakes (Manual drums don't sound like a fun time on mountain passes, so adding in a brake booster and possibly front discs from a f250)
Solar, horizontal propane tank, and fresh water tank
Insulate the inside
Rework the interior camper buildout( The inside is very old school, nothing but a simple icebox and a hand-pump faucet with no tank. Plans are to redo the cabinetry to better fit my needs and add in a cooktop, horizontal fridge/freezer, small hot water heater, and a furnace)
Eventually look into doing a 4WD conversion( Not alot of info floating around for this, mostly it takes narrowing a bronco front axle and changing around the radius arms and such)
The goal isn't necessarily to have a jeep trail ready rig, but its also not going to be something more suited to be seen on some Insta-lame "Influencer" page. Its going to be a solid basecamp for climbing, backpacking, bikes, and fly fishing all over the state.
Enjoy a quick pic of the pre-pressure washed look of the van and admire the many years of grime and mold. Seems like a good way to set the bar low to make any future progress substantial
So in a weird twist of fate I can in the possession of a 1969 Econoline Turtle Topper camper van conversion. As many of you will see in the pics, she has been sitting for a number of years(last tabs are from 1994, when I was 2 years old) and is in need of some loving. But after some careful inspection not only did I find very minimal rust, but it seemed like a good starting point. Plus the price was very hard to turn down (Traded a 1966 Mustang from my parents farm that had a tree land on it for it, so basically it was free)
Some of the backstory:
It was and still is owned by my cousins, husbands, grandmother. She and her husband bought the van from ford off the showroom floor in 1969 new, sent it to turtle topper for the conversion, and then have owned it ever since. There is a book in the dash pocket documenting absolutely EVERYTHING that has been done to the van, all the way down to the oil changes from 1969 till it was finally parked in 1994. My cousins husband brought it out of the hay barn it was sitting in the work on it, but soon lost interest and let it sit, but now Im taking it over to get this sweet classic back on the road.
The plan:
I'm a big fan of the whole resto-mod ideal. I love some of the design that went into the older cars, but at the same time its always nice to get some modern comforts in the name of safety. SO the immediate list is as follows:
Get engine running with some mods to add a bit of power and get the 302 running a bit more efficient(new pertronix ignition, plugs, coils, wires, and a rebuilt and a e-fan conversion)
Mild lift and tires ( going for about 1.5" and throwing some larger tires on there)
Improve the Brakes (Manual drums don't sound like a fun time on mountain passes, so adding in a brake booster and possibly front discs from a f250)
Solar, horizontal propane tank, and fresh water tank
Insulate the inside
Rework the interior camper buildout( The inside is very old school, nothing but a simple icebox and a hand-pump faucet with no tank. Plans are to redo the cabinetry to better fit my needs and add in a cooktop, horizontal fridge/freezer, small hot water heater, and a furnace)
Eventually look into doing a 4WD conversion( Not alot of info floating around for this, mostly it takes narrowing a bronco front axle and changing around the radius arms and such)
The goal isn't necessarily to have a jeep trail ready rig, but its also not going to be something more suited to be seen on some Insta-lame "Influencer" page. Its going to be a solid basecamp for climbing, backpacking, bikes, and fly fishing all over the state.
Enjoy a quick pic of the pre-pressure washed look of the van and admire the many years of grime and mold. Seems like a good way to set the bar low to make any future progress substantial
