202 replies to this topic

[yogreasygramma]

After bending and installing all the new brake lines, I had to wait nearly 2 weeks to get another chance to bleed the system (other things in my life plus nobody else available to help me bleed the brakes), and though it was raining, we got to work today and did that, put the wheels back on and let her down....and after trying to start the engine, realized it was out of gas. So out came my spare gas can an in went 5 gallons of gas and she started right up and purred away as usual. So after a quick test, I tore up the country roads where I live with the van and my two little boys in the back seat (bench covering a storage area right behind the front seats). They absolutely loved it and we were all shouting with glee and laughing like hyenas as I gunned the engine and ripped around the small neighborhood. It was a sight to see. Some of the neighbors were out and joined me in smiling at the sight. We had fun and best of all, the brakes work fine and no signs of any leaks.

[yogreasygramma]

I discovered another great use for our Econolines. Of course I'm surely not the first to use them this way, but it just so happens that they are perfect for pulling down huge trees... I had to remove 6 more trees from my property and as is usual when working with felling trees, they seem to have a mind of their own and want to try to kill you and fall in the wrong direction. So I hooked up the box van to the line and simply pulled them down as they were being cut. Great fun and makes the job so much easier and predictable!! Despite the hard-packed sand I was driving on, the PDV hooked up with no problems.

[Tom Snyder]

Mostly running off topic ...
But there are pix!

yogreasygramma, on 25 September 2012 - 12:53 AM, said:

I discovered another great use for our Econolines. ...

I usually use my old Bronco for pulling trees. Catching falling trees in a windstorm if you don’t move them from their normal parking spot is another, & not so great, use of our vans. Had to use the Bronco’s snow plow to push some trees out of the way. Ain’t the first time.



The ‘72 usually sits a bit farther back with the dead flat tire ‘61 van right on the other side of it.



I got lucky though. The front of the ‘61 would have been smashed if another tree hadn’t caught it.




I didn’t expect those trees or some others to go down but they did. A rare & highly collectable car that I picked up this spring would have been smashed for sure if I hadn’t moved it too.
Lost 6-7 big trees. One fell close enough to the back of another of my old vans, the rust bucket one, that it hit the far side of the step bumper. I finally pumped up the tires on that ‘61 & pulled it up out of the way for the next wind storm. Another wind storm is supposed to be be on the way too. These latest wind storm are unseasonable, been raining a lot, ground is very soft & not frozen & the leaves were still on the trees. Knocking many trees over by pulling them right out of the ground by their root balls. Big long power outages, & now lots of places are flooding.

[yogreasygramma]

Cool pics and story, Tom! Thanks for sharing. My Jeep is getting some work done on it so I used the box van, which worked great. I like seeing your pictures; you have so many cool Econolines. "...a rare and highly collectible car that I picked up...." Do tell! I see you have lots of birches. Are they prone to falling down or getting uprooted? I have mostly pines on my property but I have two huge old birches (must be about 75 feet tall) out front and I'd hate for them to come crashing down on my house. If you run out of storage space for that old jalopy roadster, you know who to call....LOL

[Tom Snyder]

Old jalopy? JALOPY?! Why, you .... !

[yogreasygramma]

The van passed inspection earlier this week and now it is finally registered as a historical vehicle in Poland. It's hard to believe that it's been 2 1/2 years since I bought this van!! I never would have expected such an arduous journey to get it registered. And actually, it needs a full restoration yet.

An issue I dealt with recently was the horn. I needed a working horn prior to inspection, and after tracing the problem down, it turned out that the ground through the steering column was faulty due in all probability to worn bearings in the steering wheel itself. Has anyone else seen that problem before? They say this van has 775,000 miles on it, so I wouldn't be surprised. The horn button was getting only slight and sporadic contact, so it seems to be the bearings inside, because the horn would work slightly depending on how I'd turn the wheel. After a while looking for a solution to this problem, I simply rigged up a new wire from the horn, through the firewall, and connected to a toggle switch I drilled a hole for in the steering column retaining brace. Now I have a fantastic and reliable horn! Yippee.

[Guitar Builder]

yogreasygramma, on 26 October 2012 - 02:38 PM, said:

The van passed inspection earlier this week and now it is finally registered as a historical vehicle in Poland. It's hard to believe that it's been 2 1/2 years since I bought this van!! I never would have expected such an arduous journey to get it registered. And actually, it needs a full restoration yet.

An issue I dealt with recently was the horn. I needed a working horn prior to inspection, and after tracing the problem down, it turned out that the ground through the steering column was faulty due in all probability to worn bearings in the steering wheel itself. Has anyone else seen that problem before? They say this van has 775,000 miles on it, so I wouldn't be surprised. The horn button was getting only slight and sporadic contact, so it seems to be the bearings inside, because the horn would work slightly depending on how I'd turn the wheel. After a while looking for a solution to this problem, I simply rigged up a new wire from the horn, through the firewall, and connected to a toggle switch I drilled a hole for in the steering column retaining brace. Now I have a fantastic and reliable horn! Yippee.

Mike,

As you know there is a contact for the horn in the turn signal cam. When I have had problems with the horn it is typically that the brass contact has worn down and now no longer makes contact. You will see it - it has a spring around it. I ended up finding a small nut that I was easily able to thread onto the brass contact. I then put a little dab of solder on top of the nut. That it what is now making contact. From time to time the solder wears down (it is very soft as you know) so I simply put another dot of solder on and I am good to go. I doubt however that the bearings in the steering shaft are the problem with the ground - but I could be wrong. I am sure there is a ground in the wiring for the turn signal cam.

[yogreasygramma]

Yes, I know there is a ground in that bunch of wires that comprise the turn signal system. I have a non-factory wheel (and the spring is missing for the horn button) but I don't know if that makes a difference or not. I couldn't find a way to route the wire from the steering wheel to that group of wires without becoming entangled while turning the wheel. I thought for sure that the ground must be through the column (and bearings).