Teamoatmealpie
Observer
It lives !!! looks like you're making good progress sorting out some of the gremlins.
Roxanne, the Van of Many Lovers (1989 Ford Club Wagon XLT E250) Build Thread
- Thread starter JakeC
- Start date
JakeC
Member
It does! Thanks, yeah, it's been a tough journey of sorting out all of the temporary fixes and installations from past owners. The incorrect ECU was pure dumb luck... I posted the codes to an Econoline Facebook group and one of the past owners of the van chimed in: "Oh yeah, I completely forgot! When i got the van, the ECU was sitting in the van and needed replaced, so I replaced it with a unit from a different Ford, I completely forgot about that."
In other news, I ordered the 18" cable from Gear Vendor for $40. They said it would be shipping out today. (Fair warning, if you ever deal with Gear Vendors, they're slightly condescending to talk with)
Recently I missed the chance to purchase an already build table set up for the back of the van, for a cool $100. Luckily, the woman selling it was nice enough to send me pictures of how it was built.
Mwilliamshs
Explorer
I wouldn't be in a hurry to duplicate that construction. 
JakeC
Member
This weekend was a decently busy car weekend in general. I decided sometime last week that I wanted to paint the rims on the van black, this was my first time removing the wheels on the van which gave me a chance to inspect the front brake pads (which look to be in very good condition). It also appears that it has newer rotors on the front, which gives me hope for future work.
After reinstalling the rims I decided I was going to take the van for its first wash in my year(ish) of ownership. I pulled into the busy Crew Car wash with hopes of sliding into the self-service... which was unbeknownst to me, blocked off. I bit the bullet, said "Screw it" and decided that I would pay the $10 and drive through the touchless. My pup by my side, we gave it a go and it went extremely well aside from my mirrors folding in.
After this, I went and dropped off my Jeep to pick up my father's truck which I'll be doing the brakes on this week. Lucky me, a buddy of his had a bull bar that he claimed was for a Jeep (my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee) to be exact. After taking one look at, i knew it would not fit... but I think it'll fit the van with the correct brackets! So I'm currently looking through options for that.
After reinstalling the rims I decided I was going to take the van for its first wash in my year(ish) of ownership. I pulled into the busy Crew Car wash with hopes of sliding into the self-service... which was unbeknownst to me, blocked off. I bit the bullet, said "Screw it" and decided that I would pay the $10 and drive through the touchless. My pup by my side, we gave it a go and it went extremely well aside from my mirrors folding in.
After this, I went and dropped off my Jeep to pick up my father's truck which I'll be doing the brakes on this week. Lucky me, a buddy of his had a bull bar that he claimed was for a Jeep (my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee) to be exact. After taking one look at, i knew it would not fit... but I think it'll fit the van with the correct brackets! So I'm currently looking through options for that.
JakeC
Member
It's been quite a while since I've posted an update on the van. It's been pretty damn warm and I don't have shade enough to cover the van. This last weekend though my girlfriend asked me what I wanted to do and we ended up working on the van a bit!
We've been wanting to pull up the carpet for a while, it was pretty crusty and I wanted to get an idea of what the floor was like beneath it. Sadly, the floor is in somewhat sad shape but i feel pretty confident about being able to tackle it. I've got a buddy who owns a few parts vans and Ive taken measurements to see if he can get me some floor patches for the problem areas. The same guy is also selling a later 1970's Sportsmobile pop top which I will hopefully be purchasing soon! I know it needs a bit of work as well, but I'm so excited for this.
Anyone have any recommendations for canvas or fiberglass work in the Indianapolis area?
We've been wanting to pull up the carpet for a while, it was pretty crusty and I wanted to get an idea of what the floor was like beneath it. Sadly, the floor is in somewhat sad shape but i feel pretty confident about being able to tackle it. I've got a buddy who owns a few parts vans and Ive taken measurements to see if he can get me some floor patches for the problem areas. The same guy is also selling a later 1970's Sportsmobile pop top which I will hopefully be purchasing soon! I know it needs a bit of work as well, but I'm so excited for this.
Anyone have any recommendations for canvas or fiberglass work in the Indianapolis area?
JakeC
Member
AND the big day finally came!
Yesterday my brother, cousin, and I loaded up into my dads truck with a trailer in tow to drive South to Kentucky to remove this pop-top.
I'm actually incredibly lucky my father came as he had the right tools for the job (aka a diamond blade for the angle grinder). He did most (damn-near all) of the chopping on the roof. I ended up finding out quickly that I was dehydrated and after spending about 20-30 minutes in the sun in 90+ degree heat i let my family down and started getting nauseas, dizzy, and light-headed. Luckily they were there to pick up my slack, which I still feel bad about. I'll just have to be careful and consume more water more frequently.
I'm pretty excited to get to work on the top. The canvas is in pretty decent shape, the top has some repairs but needs some work as it bows a bit in the middle and leaks a tiny amount. I'm also glad we grabbed the roof because that will give me a perfect stencil for where to cut my roof when the time comes.
Yesterday my brother, cousin, and I loaded up into my dads truck with a trailer in tow to drive South to Kentucky to remove this pop-top.
I'm actually incredibly lucky my father came as he had the right tools for the job (aka a diamond blade for the angle grinder). He did most (damn-near all) of the chopping on the roof. I ended up finding out quickly that I was dehydrated and after spending about 20-30 minutes in the sun in 90+ degree heat i let my family down and started getting nauseas, dizzy, and light-headed. Luckily they were there to pick up my slack, which I still feel bad about. I'll just have to be careful and consume more water more frequently.
I'm pretty excited to get to work on the top. The canvas is in pretty decent shape, the top has some repairs but needs some work as it bows a bit in the middle and leaks a tiny amount. I'm also glad we grabbed the roof because that will give me a perfect stencil for where to cut my roof when the time comes.
JakeC
Member
Took the van for a drive yesterday while the weather was extremely nice!
Then I tricked my brother into helping me move the Sportsmobile top into the garage so that I can begin working on it. It was a hell of a feat for the two of us, but we finally managed to get it situated. I am so ready to start tearing into it!
Then I tricked my brother into helping me move the Sportsmobile top into the garage so that I can begin working on it. It was a hell of a feat for the two of us, but we finally managed to get it situated. I am so ready to start tearing into it!
JakeC
Member
He was actually pretty flustered by it.
He's a little bit smaller than I am, a little bit shorter, and he was having a tough time keeping grip on the metal while moving or lifting it. At one point he threw his gloves off and tried to go ape on lifting it and ended up cutting his finger and arm. Then just last night we took a trip to CVS to get him a tetanus shot.
After doing some research yesterday it does appear to be in pretty decent shape compared to some of the others that I have seen being restored. I guess now my plans are to remove the silicone, clean it up, sand it lightly, then monster-line/raptor-line it.
JakeC
Member
Saturday morning I started on dismantling the pop top. The thin 80's wood paneling was already coming down, so I made a decent little pile of it and luckily found nothing surprising. The screws in the firring strips that sandwich the cloth to the top were mostly pretty rusty. Some of them just pulled out, I had one that ripped the cloth a bit but I should be able to fix it pretty easily.
I've got some cleaning to do and I'm going to contact Sportsmobile here in Indiana to see about acquiring a new top or new windows depending on the overall comparison of the costs. The screens are shot!
I think I am going to be opting for a MaxxAir of Fantastic Fan in the pop top and right now would probably be the best time to tackle that.
I've got some cleaning to do and I'm going to contact Sportsmobile here in Indiana to see about acquiring a new top or new windows depending on the overall comparison of the costs. The screens are shot!
I think I am going to be opting for a MaxxAir of Fantastic Fan in the pop top and right now would probably be the best time to tackle that.
Attachments
JakeC
Member
Quite a bit has happened since my last update.
I've installed the bullbar on the front of the bumper, it looks alright, still need to wire up the lights but other than that it'll hold me over until I build a bumper myself.
The poptop has been broken down completely - well, mostly. I chose not to mess with the lifting mechanism. I repaired the fiberglass top to the best of my abilities, which isn't saying a whole lot haha. It was definitely a learning experience. All that I can say is that I did my best and it SHOULD be water tight now. I also cut a hole for the Maxx Air fan, which is exhaust only, and I'm really struggling with trying to decide if I should opt for a model that has more function or if I should try it out first?
We decided to use Elastomeric Roof Paint from Menards. We had only a 1/2 NAP roller so I did about 4ish coats with that, pretty thin, then bought a 3/4 NAP roller which is what is recommended, and put on the final coat.
Now I'm looking into replacement hardware.
I've installed the bullbar on the front of the bumper, it looks alright, still need to wire up the lights but other than that it'll hold me over until I build a bumper myself.
The poptop has been broken down completely - well, mostly. I chose not to mess with the lifting mechanism. I repaired the fiberglass top to the best of my abilities, which isn't saying a whole lot haha. It was definitely a learning experience. All that I can say is that I did my best and it SHOULD be water tight now. I also cut a hole for the Maxx Air fan, which is exhaust only, and I'm really struggling with trying to decide if I should opt for a model that has more function or if I should try it out first?
We decided to use Elastomeric Roof Paint from Menards. We had only a 1/2 NAP roller so I did about 4ish coats with that, pretty thin, then bought a 3/4 NAP roller which is what is recommended, and put on the final coat.
Now I'm looking into replacement hardware.
Mwilliamshs
Explorer
Reversing the fan's direction can be accomplished with a double-pole, double-throw switch. That's how Maxx and Fantastic both do it.
On(in) Off On(out)
_+_____0____-
_-_____0_____+
On(in) Off On(out)
_+_____0____-
_-_____0_____+
JakeC
Member
I have heard that about the Fantastic fan but I have also read that Maxx Air has a "circuit board" that is set up in a way to not allow this. Granted, I do not know if this is true or if it is a ploy to keep people from buying cheaper fans and reversing the fans direction themselves.