Cool old 1949 Ford Stepvan

Clear title. This was originally a delivery van. At some point it was converted into an RV. This has a very similar grille and look as an international metro van. It would make a sweet rod project, harley hauler, ice cream truck, food van, coffee truck, vending truck, etc. etc. This has more headroom than the majority of old step vans you will find. It does run and drive but will need work. It’s fairly straight forward to modify these to have more modern drivability.

MECHANICAL
The van has a six cylinder, with a manual 3-speed transmission. I believe the engine is a 223 ford six cylinder. I don’t believe this is the original engine, as these were no available at the time. The overhead cam 223 was not available until 1952. This has the three speed manual on the column. The motor runs nice and doesn’t smoke it has good oil pressure and doesn’t overheat. It has no dripping leaks, but the usual old truck seepage. It will need the carb rebuilt, although it does work and doesn’t leak. I’d do a full tuneup on it also with new fluids. The brakes don’t work, but the driveshaft parking brake does work for lot moving. The clutch sometimes won’t disengage, so that is going to need attention. I’ve driven it around my shop but if the clutch won’t disengage, I started it in gear. It most likely needs a pressure plate. The transmission shifts nice and all the gears work. I tried them all with it sitting on jack stands. I have not tried anything electrical except the ignition. These are very easy and cheap to rewire. The tires will need replaced. It is fairly easy to find newer style 19.5 rims for this off an RV or NPR style box van.

BODY
The body does need some work, but it’s all flat sheet metal. The low perimeter of the sheet meta needs some rust repair. You can see the flat metal above the front wheels does also. This work is very basic and can be done by an amateur bodyman, with little to no experience. The floor is all solid with no soft spots. The frame and floor supports are in nice shape. The only spot of rust up high is above the entry door. It’s flat metal also. The roof is in nice shape and is not dented or sagging. This does have one roof vent that can be deleted easily if you want. The grille is in nice shape and is steel, so you can choose to chrome it if you want. The rear bumper has heavy duty bracing underneath. It must have been used or at least prepared for towing at some point. I can remove the bracing if you want. Some of these old vans have aluminum siding which is nice for weight, but they are much more difficult to fix than steel sheet metal.

INTERIOR/RV conversion
The RV conversion is still in pretty decent shape actually. I will describe it here, but if you don’t want it, I will take everything out for no extra cost. If your not planning to use the RV stuff, shippers will prefer it is not in there. They will charge less and it will be easier to get it shipped if the RV stuff is removed. I have not tested any of the RV stuff. The van has a propane stove. It has a sink and two water tanks. It probably has an electric water pump but I didn’t look for it. The icebox is in good shape. It has two fold down couch/beds. Cabinets are in usable shape. The drivers seat was junk but it will come with a bucket seat mounted there. The paneling on the ceiling needs a bit of work where the roof vent had leaked. It is wired with 110v outlets, but I didn’t try any of that. There are 12v overhead lights. There is probably a light and fan in the stove shroud, but I didn’t check.

Overall, this is a solid old stepvan that could be usable with a little work, or a great platform for a custom.

Price: Auction

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Location: Eureka, Montana, United States