some general advice please

[vanfc]

g'day all i have an fc van which has been in the shed for the last 12years and i have finally decided it is time for the old girl to see the road again the van paint and trim is in mint condition with the general rust spots ie floor pan ,lower radiator support panel no real drumers my main question is. faced with an untouch van what would be the best mods without going over the top ie hr front end,gearbox ,diff ,what discs on the front end, bucket seats all welding and mods will be done by me with help from you guys as this sort of advice is invaluble and hopefully save me time and money by not buying things i don,t need
thanks
       shayne

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

The best tip I can give is to only do what you want to do to it.
Next tip, what do you want from the car? Cool Cruiser? Drag Strip terror? Retro? Street Machine? have a look around and find out what you want to do to it.

[vanfc]

thx for the reply stinky it will be a cruiser i will put a red motor with EFI in it i will post some photos tomorrow as i would also like some advice on keeping the original paint or going the whole hog and having a full colour change if so should i strip and sand blast the lot ? i have some info on mods from this great site but a lead in is always helpful i am more worried about the mechanical side what matches what i know most things are posible im fine with the panel side of things thats why all mechanical advice would be helpful
Thx again
shayne

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Read a few of the build ups in the "Real Cars" section Smithy's Purple/White FC is running VK EFI on a 186 with a manual box.
HR front end is a relatively easy swap, covered in a few places on the forum, the main trick is welding the engine mounts in the right place (as far toward the back as possible) and getting the right outrigger. To make the swap that little bit easier a HR rear end would be a good idea too.
The easiest way to get a red gearbox in is by using a CRS chassis kit, these strengthen the car and have a built in trans crossmember and tail-shaft loop.
Bucket seats aren't too hard, but you need to drill extra holes and mount captive nuts for the inner rails. Seats of choice and half hour with various blocks of wood (or anything else handy) to get the seating position right. Then start measuring up for the adaptors.
You may want to keep the original paint for a while, unless you are very patient, have a look at TTV6FC's post in the "Real Cars" section for what you might come up against if you strip the car bare.

[vanfc]

[vanfc]

inside

[vanfc]

just trying to work out posting more than 1 photo at a time

[vanfc]

i think ive got it

[FCOV6]

i think ive got it

 Wow, nice clean straight van, should make a nice street cruiser. I am in a similar positon having bought my FC special sedan in 1985 doing an almost ground up resto and then losing interest untill now. Spent 4 years overseas and then got into 4wding (still am) and only now after thinking about it for a few years and finding this forum i am keen to get stuck in and finish it. I joined the Vic club in 1987 but lost interest after a couple of years ( or more the case interest shifted onto other things ). I will post up some photo's when i get a chance but here is a quick run down - 58 special sedan, stripped to bare metal and painted 2 tone Maranello red over Sable silver, CRS chassis kit, CRS R&P steering kit, celica 5spd, HR front end with LJ disc and calipers, HR diff, 186S motor with 2 piece cast headers, S 2brl manifold (carby to be decided), also have 2 x 3.8 ltr Buick V6's that i bought to go in,1 is a 77 and 1 is a 79 with hi port heads and an Edebrok 4 brl manifold, HR prem buckets original rear.

regards,
Nick.