Shadow Van 6
Time in so far: over 6 years
What is it? 1961 ford Econoline
The purpose: To build an awesome hot rod van .
What's in it? Ford 351c.u. with a C-4 tranny, connected to an 8in.rear-end.
How far was it lowered? The suspension is totally custom fabricated air ride suspension ,that dropped the body nearly 12inchs.
The wheels? They are 17in.American racing Torque Thrust 2's custom offset . the front tires are 8in. wide, and the backs are 12in. wide Yokohama low profile
Tons of thank you's go to Rick at the WOP Shop for the body ,parts, space and advise Also, all the guys Eagle Coach.
Here she is when I first brought her home. A very nicely restored van. only 75K original miles. NO LIE!! She ran great. I drove it around for 2 weeks before we---- well, you'll see.
First thing we did is , mock up a suspension drop.
Then we stripped it. oh no!!!
Then we cut out some big holes in the floor,and dropped a fresh small block into place.
Next was a whole new air ride suspension, some Posie leafs, and some big exhaust. Yea I know it's pretty heavy duty, but if all goes as planned , and she hooks up good, she'll be able to get the front wheels up pretty high. the front straight axel is set up pretty much the same as the rear.
Then we added some sheet metal to the wheel wells for the big meats.
Here she is with big new wheels.
Next came a nice big comfortable seat. Ever see a bench in a van?
What's that under the seat? Could it be a big 3 core radiator? Still needs a couple of electric fans.
3/29/2k
Been working on a cool engine cover lately. I have been pretty busy with buying a house and stuff, so I haven't been able to get much done on the van. We will be using the lids of 2 original box lids. we needed to make it a couple of inches wider. for the new fiber-glass box sides. Still working on it. will add new pics when the box is in.
6/16/2k
took out the 289 HIPO and dropped in a 351 with a bunch of goodies in it. here's a pic
9/13/00
Have been hitting it hard lately, trying to get it up and running for the Pumpkin run. The box is coming along nice. the lid is done and in primer, the bottom is almost there. just another wipey wipe and then primer. Thought about pulling a mold and make a few in fiber glass ,maybe sell them if there is any interest .Notice: no nuts or bolts showing. Smooovved .It locks down tight from the inside, and the lid is hinged on the drivers side. pretty kool huh?
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Have all new brakes in , dual chamber master, lines the works. Keeping the drum set up. Found some good drums with cooling fins. Will look good behind the wheels. Also found another bench for the rear and put it in.
And we have started putting sheet metal back in the front floor. As you can see, we're getting plenty of air to the motor . Got to do something with that steering column--
8\5\02
Well a year went by real fast ,and virtually nothing was done to the van. The shop went thru some serious turmoil. I fired my whole crew and have had to start over from scratch, including buying a new location . My friend and now partner Rick gutted the place and built a whole new shop for us to work in. Its taken alot of time and money, and its still not finished yet. But we have started back to work on the van again. As you can see from the pic below, we've changed out the steering column, and are building a new dash for the old girl. How do you like where we put the shifter?
9\18\02
Well the time has finally come. Time for paint and polish. Last week the ole girl was totally stripped back down. Every piece, part, nut and bolt was dis-assembled and separated into piles for the different finishes. Aluminum for polishing, suspension parts for powder coating, engine and exhaust for heat paint, and the rest in paint. The last few days have been spent under the body cleaning ,and painting with por-15. Today was a day with the sticky ass seam sealer. Every where two pieces of metal came together was sealed. Tomorrow is another coat of por-15 this time it will include the lower half of all the doors. I know it might be over kill but I want this van to be around for a long long time. It just gets closer and closer to being done .
1\ 20\03
Last month I dropped a G- on Vintage air. Took it all back to the van and you know, held some things into place to see what we had. We want a more efficient heating and air conditioning system but there is only so much you can do with the main unit under the dash. The back of the van wouldn't get much of anything. Also there really wasn't much of anything to mount the unit to. Rick and I have been kickin around the idea of putting in a roll cage just for the added protection , Needing something under the dash to mount the air unit to, ---well roll cage it is. Then it dawned on us ." hey! we can use the roll cage to pump the air thru the whole van!!" So that is what is going on now. The van took a ride on a trailer for the 1st time .Its at a friend of a friend who has plenty of roll cage experience.
also got alittle artwork done for the beast. since I am an airbrush artist, there has to be some art . the van has awesome lines in the body so why gaudy it up with murals, when I can tuck it away in surprising places. here's an example of what I mean.
5\21 03
Spring at the shop is always busy .it starts in February and so far this year it hasn't let up. it's great for us. lots of customers, and they come 1st. its bad for workin on the van. but I have managed to sneak in a little time here and there. so the super gen2 from vintage air went in under the dash. if you get a chance to see one you'll understand when I say it's huge!!! but with a little dremel saw and some pvc glue I was able to shoe horn this thing under the dash , right in the center. had to flip the wiper motor up and other stuff but everything works and you can hardly see but maybe a couple of inches hangin from under the dash. I did lose a little of the glove box . now its on to mounting the compressor and condenser. got the condenser from a newer Cadillac. its the exact size of my radiator. it'll look like one unit .also started work on making the vents in the roll cage. found some cool stainless nozzles at our favorite recycling yard. alittle work on a lathe and some polishing and we're talk'in air conditioned !!!! (cool)
6\20\03
Air conditioning is in!!!! I would post some pics but there's really nothing to see. But isn't that the point? I have started a new project though. So heres a pic of it so far.
Yep! modern style projection lights. I ditched the old lights, buckets and all, and made these from scratch. they are fully adjustable and take up no more room than the original lights. They look alot deeper though don't they? Pretty trick huh?. Just when you think it couldn't get any better. I come up with something else. Keep watching .I'm not done yet!!!
10\15\03
have been working on the van alot lately, but nothing really to show. it's been all tweaking things I've already shown here. you know the saying "the devil's in the details" doing the mock ups are fast and easy. getting them to look and work perfectly is another thing. I have started a new project van to. the aerostar was starting to show its age, so I sold it while it still ran and looked good. I drove it daily for 7 years. so I started looking for a replacement. I've never been one to follow the crowd. the astro has been done to death, and the rest of the mini-vans all act and look like pregnant station wagons. not much left to choose from. I wanted a traditional snub nose van that could haul a full sheet of ply-wood or a motor bike or what ever. so this is what I got. click here to see the build up.
11\21\03
the air-ride system is now in and working now, and the quarter stick is mounted and linked to the tyranny. also the dash fabricating is finally done. all the switches, gages. lights, and controls have been located it just waiting for leather and paint and final assembly the dash pad and seats will be going to the upholsterer soon.
3\9\04
still tweaking stuff. ended up losing the glove box in the dash for a sleeker cleaner look. then I shifted back to the engine cover. by the time all of the mud smearing was done( about 5 gallons worth to get it perfect) the thing weighed better than 60 lbs. way to heavy !!! so we pulled a mold and cast it in fiber glass. then I got some treated plywood and layed a floor for the cover to sit in nice and square and began fabing in a hinge and latching system for the top to open. i had said above that I was going to hinge it from the drivers side of the box, but that's not what we did. Rick came up with a strong arm assisted hinge set up and a cable activated latch, which will be located under the drivers seat. so you pull the handle, and the lid opens on its own. neat huh? just finished most of that up today. will make a trim part tomorrow to dress up the lower latch so that it looks as good as it works. heres a pic to look at. oh yea! the door in the floor is for filling the stainless steel fuel tanks that are being made . hummmm? wonder what we'll come up with next? I guess that's why this thing is taking so long to build. we just keep coming up with new things to do to it.......
6\30\04
Since most all of the major fabricating has been done to the van, and we needed the space at the shop, the van has been moved to my house. the van has its own garage. it's kinda nice. I can work on it everynite if I want. The 1st thin g I did when I got it home, was disassemble it again. I figured it was the best thing to do since it needed to be undercoated. I used a 2 part epoxy bed liner for the undercoating. it should be bullet proof. I've reassembled the front axel with the addition of a sway bar from the 68 parts van I have. the down link were swapped for some that were shorter and thicker, with urethane bushings for all. the brake lite switch and the gas pedal assembly from the 68 were also nabbed. nice shiny billet pedals have been installed. the dimmer switch has been relocated to where the clutch pedal was. all of the rubber gaskets for the engine cover, radiator cover and rear axel cover are in. it an air tight floor again now. right now I'm working on running the water lines to the engine. something that would only take a few minutes on any other ride, is not that simple on this van. the filler neck has to be relocated. so I have to figure out, to where and how.
10\25\04
Its been a good productive summer on the van. the wiring harness is in and everything is working. the dash gages, controls, and switches are finished. the under dash sheet metal panels are done, and everything in the engine compartment is completed. all I'm lacking now are fuel tanks. its the only thing keeping me from DRIVING it back to the shop for final paint. yes I said driving it!!! here's a couple of new pics.
11\19\04
just finished some more art for the van. Rick gave it form. I did the paint . not bad lookin , for a rear axel huh?
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5\28\05
finally have the fuel tanks in. only one thing left to fab up are the seat belts. have been workin on the dodge van alot lately. will be taking the econoline back up to the body shops soon for paint.
11\27\05
big day today! started the day workin on the dodge van. hooked up the electric choke , now that the weather has turned. check the dodge page for an update. i took it up the road for a test drive. and when i got back, my partner rick was waiting for me. a couple of weeks ago we spent a day on the econo, putting in fluids, fixing leaks, bleeding brakes, and tried to start it. but there was no spark. so i had to go thru the wiring. it was a bad connection at the MSD. but it did give me a chance to double check my wiring. anyway today was the day . she came to life , and OH MY GOD!!!! if you could only hear what it sounds like! it's not a roar . it's a scream!!! so we thru the front seat in it, tied the rear doors closed, grabbed some safety glasses, jumped in it, and pulled it out of the garage!!!! she went down the road smooth as glass no vibrations no weird noises, nothing. so rick gave it some more. and she went from 30 to 80 before you could take a breath. you could not chisel the smiles off our faces. we did a few standing starts and began its life of get flogged on a regular basis. needless to say this little van is too much fun to drive!!!! we put about 20 miles on it before we had to put it away because it started leaking tranny fluid. so you could say we beat it til it broke. just picture our day. 2 guys thrashing a bad ass van with no glass in it, on a late november day in ohio, with the biggest grins frozen on our faces, yes it was a good day..................
9\17\05
wow what a year. the year started out with a divorce, and slitting up everything. all went smoothly . dont worry i still have the van. pretty much just took it out every couple of weeks and beat on it . shes holding up well. have some overheating issues on hot days, but i don't have the belly pan on it yet. will be driving it to the pumkin run this year for sure. still doesnt have glass in it yet lol!! oh yea got a new toy. some of my friends have been takin their cars and racing them at road racing coarses and talkin about how fun it is. 2 friends have ZO6 vettes, 1 has a roush mustang, and rick has a cadilac CTS-V. well i just had to go and have fun too, so i bought myself a crossfire SRT6 can you say supercharged! now say 330 horsepower from the factory! after a few modification, i think i'll be able to hold my own heres a pic. yea i just gotta be different. rick was skeptical til he drove it good and hard. now he's pretty impressed with the power it has. my son thinks its a hotwheel come to life.
oh yea heres a pic of the van doing a smoky burn
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