Junkyard Gem: 1971 Ford Econoline E-300 SuperVan

Ford launched the Econoline van for the 1961 mannequin 12 months, and its mixture of compact measurement and large load capability (due to a design that put the engine in a “doghouse” between the entrance seats and the driving force in entrance of the entrance axle) made it a gross sales hit. GM and Chrysler copied the Econoline’s structure inside just a few years (with the ChevyVan and A-100), and American roads of the Sixties buzzed with small-but-sturdy forward-control Detroit vans. These vans bought the job completed, however the mid-engined structure proved an evolutionary lifeless finish and Ford moved the engine ahead and adopted the F-Sequence pickup’s entrance suspension for the Econoline’s 1969 mannequin 12 months. In the present day’s Junkyard Gem is a type of second-generation Econolines, present in a Denver-area self-service yard.

The passenger model of the Econoline was generally known as the Membership Wagon for many of its life, however the Econoline identify proved so memorable that almost all of us apply it because the generic identify for all E-Sequence Ford vans of the twentieth century.

In 1971, the Econoline was obtainable in half-ton, three-quarter-ton, and one-ton variations, with both 105.5″ or 123.5″ wheelbase lengths. This one is the massive one-ton, long-wheelbase monster, generally known as the E-300 SuperVan.

The engine nonetheless lived nicely again and below a doghouse between the entrance seats, however most of it was ahead of the entrance axle and the driving force’s knees had a bit extra distance from the skin world. Beginning in 1975, the Econoline bought a for much longer snout and a real body-on-frame design as an alternative of the loosely-related-to-the-Falcon chassis of earlier years.

The construct tag for this van was lengthy gone, so there isn’t any telling what its authentic engine might need been. This one is a member of the Windsor V8 household, most likely a 289 or 302, and it is most likely the third or fourth mill to have powered this van throughout its half-century on the highway. The bottom engine within the 1971 E-300 was a 240-cubic-inch straight-six rated at 150 horsepower, with a 302-cubic-inch V8 as the one engine improve obtainable.

There was a time when this Edelbrock Performer aluminum consumption manifold would have been grabbed immediately by the primary junkyard shopper to identify it, however these days are long gone. No less than somebody snagged the presumably aftermarket carburetor immediately.

You had precisely two transmission selections on the 1971 Econoline: a three-on-the-tree column-shift guide or a three-speed column-shift automated. This van has the guide.

Three-on-the-tree vans have been obtainable new in america via 1987, although Ford stopped making them a few years earlier. Even by the requirements of the early Nineteen Seventies, the V8/guide mixture was uncommon in new vans; when you may afford the V8, you would afford the slushbox to go together with it. Later within the decade, new Detroit vans with guide transmissions turned extraordinarily uncommon, although I do discover the occasional oddball three-pedal machine.

This van labored and labored after which labored some extra. What number of junkyard driver’s seats have been swapped in throughout its life? Perhaps it bought a brand new seat every time it bought a brand new engine.

In some unspecified time in the future a few years in the past, it bought fiberglass insulation and a few wooden paneling.

There was an RV-style skylight, however a junkyard shopper purchased it.

There’s some rust, as you’d anticipate.

The driving force’s door was slammed so many instances that the striker publish finally tore out and needed to be repaired with some not-so-pretty welding.

What number of miles? The odometer has 5 digits and is not a lot assist, so I will guess a half-million.

The physique has been painted, patched, painted, dented, painted, reshaped, painted, bulked up with physique filler, after which painted some extra. There have to be 150 kilos of paint on this van. You might reduce out a random part and cling it on the wall, for a fantastic murals (I used to be tempted however my storage is working out of wall house).

You realize a van has tales to inform once you see a classic Gold Prospectors Affiliation of America sticker on its bumper.

Sure, some fascinating issues have been hauled inside.

Finally, it ended up being parked for lengthy sufficient to have vines develop up into the grille. A 51-year-old two-wheel-drive van with a guide transmission is not value a lot as a piece automobile today, and the physique is simply too tough for a custom-van fanatic to trouble with it. Subsequent cease: the crusher.

Extra payload than any economic system van.

Chrysler and GM adopted Ford’s lead in shifting van engines ahead, however not till the Nineteen Seventies. Look, you’ll be able to examine the oil with out entering into the passenger sea!