1973 Ford Econoline E300 1 Ton. Base Model. 34k miles, one family owned since new. 302 v8 2bbl, 3 sp auto, manual steering & brakes, drums all 4 corners. Full floating rear with 3.73 gears. 8300 GVWR. Heater, no A/C, AM radio. Exceptional shape, runs and stops, but gas tank needs mending/replacement.
They say Vannin’ is a thing again. Whether it’s vannin’ or a yearning to be that suave evil Professor Dr Metz hitting on hottie Tiffanie Case at a Shell station parking lot in Vegas this is the van for you.
General - Bought new as a stripped work van for the family business. Mostly in town trips to trucking companies for pickup/delivery. Saw duty towing a boat on a few family vacations. Last plated in 1998. Stored inside approximately 40 of it’s 45 year life. As the pictures indicate the van is in great condition for it’s age. Runs well and stops. Clean title.
Interior - Body is exceptionally solid with some normal interior wear from use. The yellow plugs were from the original Ziebart undercoating treatment (ask your dad, everyone did it back in the day). Floor boards and rockers are solid. Only rust through is on the passenger side floor by the motor cover (pic). Spots are pretty small and in a limited area. Much of the interior paint looks brand new. Side and back windows have been tinted. Original seats with some rips in the drivers seat. Original rubber floor mats. AM radio with one speaker.
Exterior - The rear quarters just behind both rear wheels and below the body line rotted out back in the day and were repaired by my dad and I. While passable from 50’, those really need to be redone with metal instead of fiberglass and bondo. Van was originally all green, top half is the original paint. Roof is the original white. There are a few pictures of underneath that show it’s in exceptional shape with the Ziebart undercoating fully intact.
Drivetrain/Mechanicals - In 2017 in preparation for sale I cleaned carb, installed a new fuel pump, fresh battery, fresh gas in the tank, and it started and ran with relatively little drama. Then the fresh gas started dissolving the gunk in the tank and it fouled the fuel pump as well as initiating gas weeping from the tank itself (that’s why there is kitty litter on the floor in some of the pics). Replaced the fuel pump for a second time but ran the fuel pump inlet to an external 1 gallon tank (pic). That enabled me to drive it around at 10-15 mph where it is stored to make sure everything was functional. So the gas tank will need to be fixed or replaced and the line blown out between the pump and the tank. Exhaust system will also need to be replaced before it sees much road use. And as with any old 45 year old vehicle coming out of retirement a good front to back checkup and basic tuneup will enhance the ownership experience.
Tires were swapped out for radials in the mid 90’s but it still as the original bias ply spare. Probably less than 500 miles on the tires. I have the original hubcaps as well but took them off for the pictures. Rear engine seal and rear transmission seal don’t appear to be leaking much. Most of the pics included are from summer 2017. Since then the rear hitch as been removed. That was a) to see how hard it would be to get the gas tank out and b) I’m uncomfortable selling it with the hitch as the brake controller shown is an old school unit that taps hydraulics off the master cylinder. I don’t think that’s legal these days or safe in general. Hitch is included with sale.
This is certainly of an interesting piece. There can’t be many of these left with this sort of mileage and in this kind of condition.
Cash only, no trades. Sold as is, as seen. I’ll be happy to take additional pictures of specific areas of the vehicle BUT please SERIOUS inquiries only.
