What to do with my old panel van

[meltd0wn]

Ok guys a number of years ago my father had the bright idea of the 2 of us rebuilding a car together.  We both worked full time so we had very little time but after 4 years we finally did it.

 

We started out with a 1976 Mach 2 ford escort panel van.  For those of you guys that don’t know what the hell that is.

 

 

This van started out as a sunburst yellow 1.3 litre automatic.  It was rusty, dirty and not held together very well.  It was a mess.  When we finally got it back to his place the gearbox actually fell out and got hung up the driveway lip leading into the garage.  The first year was tear down.  Being only able to work on it on Sundays was murder we would get a few things done then the day would be over.  I don’t even want to remember how many snapped bolts we found and had to get out.  After the teardown we decided to go a bigger 2 litre engine, so we grabbed one out of the older car we had there rebuilt it and got a 4 speed manual and threw that on it.  We stripped all the paint and began the process of rust repair .  Anyway to cut a long story short after we got it rebuilt repainted and on the road I enjoyed it for about 12 months then it developed a number of ignition issues and it got to a point that I just didn’t want to fix it anymore, so in the end it was towed back to my dads and put in the shed.  That was back in 2008. 

 

Now its 2013 and my van is still in the shed collecting dust and my father has asked me what I would like to do with it.  I had the thought of selling it but the look on my dads face when I said it spoke volumes he looked as if I was cutting his throat.  I guess it means more to him than I thought.  This leaves me in a bit of a quandary.  For the last few years I have been wanting to buy myself a GTR Skyline but my wallet has not been willing to part with the 40 odd grand it would cost. 

 

On the other hand I wouldn’t mind rebuilding it again but with a few extras.  I have never liked the roof on the van so if I was to keep it and rebuild it I would have to take it somewhere to get some serious modification done to it.  I have seen a few guys here is Australia put Nissan SR20 motors in them and that to me sounds awesome.  A full rebuild with a chopped top SR20 new gearbox new paint would be something to behold or just leave it there to slowly decay, I just don’t know what to do.

 

As car guys I know most of you will have many different ideas an opinions.  So what would you guys do if in my position.  Please help guys I don’t want to loose anymore sleep over this.

 

Cheers

 

Damo

[Marylander]

Oh man that little thing is cool. I'd start a business just so I could use it... Maybe auto parts delivery, or a courier service. Or an Adams polishes express delivery service! Doll it up with some cool graphics and it'd be a rolling billboard for your business.

[meltd0wn]

if i do rebuild it i will remove the rear windows and weld them up i never liked the windows.

[2008fx4]

sell candy out of it?

[CMDChase]

Re-restore it and use it for your newly-founded mobile detailing business. And earn enough $$$$ for your GTR Skyline.

[scootertrash19]

Wow! I have never seen anything like that! Kinda cool, you should keep it for sure!