My question is this, why are there so few older 4x4 vans on this site, lets say mid 70's to early 80's models.
According to what I've read, it wasn't until 76 that Ford van bodies were really designed so that they could be effectively modified as 4x4s. Mine is an 87. Anyway, I suspect this may be true for other fullsized American vans as well.
Start with an AWD Astro/Safari, as they are pretty easy to find for cheap. Next add a lift kit and tires, the 4"
Overland Vans kit with 31" tires seems to be the most popular combo.
I learned about this *after* I made my purchase and believe it would have been a much better option. A small lift, some useful tires, and a pop top:
http://northwestoverlandsociety.org...rumid/31/postid/26911/view/topic/Default.aspx
listed here in Denver
http://denver.craigslist.org/pts/1621657397.html
its been listed for quite a while and seems complete but probably needs a bit of work and some updating.
I was ready to buy this van for parts, as he's selling it for parts. I wanted his xmission and xfer case since I have issues with mine.
The guy doesn't have the title because there's a loan against the van. He filed for bankruptcy but the van really belongs to the lender. Knowing this, I would be breaking the law buying the van. Furthermore, most salvage yards I've spoken with want a title with the vehicle so once I gut the van, I can't legally dispose of the shell. Bad news all around. That's probably why this things been for sale forever.
I also looked at the "ugly" van. I wanted it for the same reasons as above plus the 460 that's in it. I really like this guy, but his van needs a whole helluva lot of work. There's major rust damage to the body, the rear diff is completely apart, and the van is just in really rough shape. The engine fired right up and ran really nice. For someone who doesn't mind sourcing the parts and putting this van back together, it could be nice. It's fast...
I decided against it because it's 11 years older than my van. Trying to move the 460 over would kill me on CO emissions testing and the 460 is carb'd so the fuel economy would be terrible. If I pay the megabucks to install a 460, I need to go EFI.
Here's my van:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaskoda/4301557237/in/set-72157622595417905/
I've tried a few times to sell it... never got any serious interest... and now I've dumped so much cash into it I'd have to take a huge loss on it. I'm at about $11k now (including the cost of the van itself) and I haven't even started on the interior conversion. Some fixes to the steering and a rebuild of the xfer case and it'll be straight. I also wanna replace the xmission as someone put a shift kit in it - and shift kits don't go well with snow and ice.