the van

[LTDMan83]

basically take the van, and make a wrecker, minus the boom and lift. what i have pictured is simple, usable, and i can still haul people and scrap metal lol

Nice!, should be a fun project.

[LumpyCheeseman]

now to make real what my mind pictures!! lol

[P72Ford]

it is literally only the body sides that are rusty.

Its funny you should mention that. The university that I go to has one Aerostar van left (for facilities maintenance; the rest have been replaced with Econolines). That van is totally rusted out; the sides and lower quarters are gone. A few friends and I decided to stop and examine the structural integrity of the van one day (engineering students stupid shit like that, for fun). Surprisingly it appeared as though it was a sound piece.

[LumpyCheeseman]

well, i suppose for now i could post up the written version of what i wanna do, i was talking with my buddy and describing how i wanna do it, i figure all you mangs can picture what i mean. here it is:

Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:07:37 AM): you know how i do a lot of recovery work, stoppin for cars, jumpstarting, workin on em, etc etc
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:08:22 AM): might as well make a kickass wreckervan out of it
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:08:36 AM): instead of fixin the lower panels, remove them and replace with the underbody toolboxes
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:08:41 AM): get a pushbumper
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:09:20 AM): upgrade the alt to a ford 3g, and use an isolator and drop a second battery into one of the rear storage cubbies, then i can get those bumper mount jumpstart receptacles for each end
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:09:39 AM): air compressor underhood with tanks where the spare tire used to be
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:10:05 AM): replace rusty bits with usefull bits
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:10:08 AM): make money with it
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:10:47 AM): yes, i could make a cruiser out of it....but this is so much cooler
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:11:22 AM): get a locker for the axle, 15" rims and heavy duty tires
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:11:31 AM): stiffer springs and shocks for the rear
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:13:19 AM): so i'm trying to draw this up
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:13:28 AM): cause i got an idea for the interior to go with all this
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:14:01 AM): an idea that would lemme haul a couple people if needed, allow me to have a small stereo system, and also allow me to haul scrap and parts and shit
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:17:21 AM): ok, see if you can picture this, shouldnt be hard it would be universal for any van, picture the astro if it helps
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:17:32 AM): everything behind the driver and passenger is cargo
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:17:55 AM): take plywood, and make walls, screw the sheets to the vertical beams
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:18:03 AM): carpet or rhinoline
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:18:35 AM): on the inside of the slider door, do a half shee to cover the guts, but not the window or upper frame
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:18:43 AM): with me so far?
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:20:03 AM): ok, now on the wall behind the driver, along the wall, lay down a box that is 1.5ft tall, and roughly 4ft long, mebbe 1.5ft deep
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:20:18 AM): in this box are two subs
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:20:33 AM): made of hardwood, not mdf
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:20:37 AM): carpeted
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:21:08 AM): now, on the top of the sub box, mount the bases for two jumper seats, and on the wall behind them the backs for said jumper seats
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:21:22 AM): box is hard mounted to floor
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:22:08 AM): at the end of the box, put a 36" tall wall from one side of the van to the other
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:22:16 AM): the cargo area is effectively split in half
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:23:11 AM): the front half can still haul shit, but can also haul people if needed
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:23:34 AM): have the entire floor of the van undercoated or rhinolined or whatever
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:24:13 AM): in the front half, have a thick rubber mat cut to fit the entire front half of the cargo area, including under the box
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:24:22 AM): the back half is just the coating
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:25:24 AM): behind the back tire on the passenger side, under the floor (where the wraparound of the back bumper used to be) is an underbody storage box
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:25:48 AM): same for the driver side, but the driver side also gets a box from driver door to rear tire (no slider on this side
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:26:30 AM): the boxes hold straps, chains, most used toolsets
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:27:49 AM): back inside, that half wall seperating the cargo area is made of metal and bars, a solid wall with pvc pipe lengths for holding stuff like door jimmies, crowbars, etc
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:28:07 AM): said tools accessible from the front half of the wall
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:45:59 AM): nothing extravagant
Dean VandenBurg (5/21/2008 12:46:04 AM): fully functional



since that i noticed that AWDirect has 2x4 sheets of diamond plated. rather than plywood the walls and coat them, weld together sheets of metal. my driver side wall is 4x8 give or take a couple inches of body curve. i could do all the inside walls with diamond plate, mebbe the floor too, make it easier to clean out. just have friction strips in the front half so people dont slip. what i got pictured is a wrecker minus the boom and lift. plus its versatile to more than that, obviously. when i get out to my buddy's house in a couple weeks (i'm moving) i'll be the gearhand for the 2 bands he is in, so i'm gonna be using my van to move equipment. i still use my van to haul scrap, plus i do auto work. i think it will be cool as hell.

i'm still workin on the drawings, and i suck at drawing, so gimme a few days to get something nice looking together.

[Pirate]

theredlineboss, i'm not sure the exact milage. my ticker only goes 5 digits. its 09xxx, so either 109 or 209 and i cant see the rollover digit behind the panel so no clue.

More like 909.

I hope the frame isn't as rusty as the body.

These things don't have a frame. Personally, I would hang a funeral wreath on the front of this van, because there is MAJOR rust in structural areas, which will buckle incredibly easy in even the lightest of collisions. Like I said previously, think of the Aerostar as a giant fox-body mustang.

[LumpyCheeseman]

they do have a frame, they are just not separate from the frame. the frame is welded to the body, unibody style, but they ARE on an actual frame.

[88Vic]

I guess Ford figured nobody wanted to take the body off the frame for any reason, I don't know why they'd do that other then I guess for strength.

I'm just gonna get a unibody fwd 4 banger van as a beater to have fun with. Those old Honda minivans gets good mileage, i'll look for one to drive around while i'm in the military.

[Enigma]

i have no name for this bastard yet.

Call it Swiss Cheese. License plate = SWS-CHS

[LumpyCheeseman]

wow awesome, this is my longest running post so far lol. i'm thinkin of callin it the wreck. it looks like ass, and pretty soon i'm gonna start converting it to wrecker style lol

[Pirate]

I'm thinking of calling it "Official Cause of Death".

[LumpyCheeseman]

say what you will, its way more fucking solid than it looks.

[LumpyCheeseman]

lights and tach mounted



in case anyone is wondering about the wierd mounting of the tach...i used existing screws... trying not to hack shit up. i already know though if i get a 3 gauge set i'm mounting it on the inside of the dash pods, each gauge covering the factory version lol

[88Vic]

Are you gonna do anything to get better mileage like a cold air intake and performance muffler? I got a Flowtech Raptor muffler (cheap turbo style) not doing anything, 2.25" center/offset not sure which is inlet/outlet or if that matters but if you want it i'll sell it to you cheap.

Also what's the vehicle in front of the Aerostar?

[LumpyCheeseman]

once i'm moved and start working again i'm gonna focus on the body and getting everything cleaned up before i worry about mods....unless i see decent condition stuff in the salvage yards lol. all my money right now is for my move. i will see what i have left over once i'm moved lol.

i do know that i will prolly have my buddy help me fab up a new exhaust though, or at least part of one. the y-pipe is a friggin joke on these. two 1.75" pipes joining into....a 1.75" pipe, it didnt stretch to 2.25od until after the cat. i'm gonna have him make some kind of new ypipe peice where it joins, the rest of the pipe is fine, its just a restrictive joke where it joins. will prolly get a piece or two of pipe bent up to use as a cai. beyond that the mods wait until the bodywork is done.

the vehicle in front is my buddy's 93 Isuzu Trooper. If I had money I would prolly buy it from him. I like Isuzu's. Fuckin awesome offroad.

[85crownHPP]

Are you gonna do anything to get better mileage like a cold air intake and performance muffler?

how do these things get you better gas mileage???