Will it run? Rare 4 speed on column, 1964 Ford Econoline Heavy Duty, can we drive it?

I had a 64 Ford econline truck. Those things have a huge 161 pound counter weight under the rear of the truck, near the tailgate, since they are nose heavy. We put an inline6 300 Ford in it, c6 trans, and it had adapters to put those Oldsmobile rims that all the 70s Cutlasses had. My Brother in Law took them off his 71 442 and put Big and little steelies and moons on the 442. Not sure if that chunk of metal might be a piece of the counterweight? Doesn't look like mine did, it had holes used to mount things to the bed. I loved it because it was overpowered with the 300, and I could do a U-Turn on a normal neighberhood street in 1 turn. I miss it fiercly. Got sold out from under me by a family member 'trying to clear old cars out of my Dad's yard" after a series of stroke. She didn't ask anyone for permission, just sold them,.Mostly because her ex-con bff convinced her to do it. They were all mine, a 66 4 door Catalina, a 66 C10 long bed truck, and the 64 Econoline. Her explanation was 'she assumed' they were Dad's, sold them all to pull-a-part, 75 dollars each. Made me sick. I still don't speak to her without another family member forcing me to conversate with her. Unforgivable.

You have 2 great vintage guys who know there stuff. You can't duplicate the knowledge and experience they have. They make working on this vehicle look easy and straight forward when it really isn't. Good for you.

Back in the early 80's I bought a '63 van model with a four on the column. It was different but worked fine. It was better than my prior van where someone had put a floor shifter in it with a long extension handle on it. Mine also had the 170 engine from the factory but the engine had a death rattle and I swapped in a 200ci motor from a newer Maverick with low miles. (The 200 posed a few height issues with the original air cleaner though but I solved that in a slightly drastic way, I pulled the head, sawed off the manifolds and made a custom dual carb manifold and custom headers for it. (I worked in a performance/fabrication shop at the time). In the end it ran fantastic but the more race oriented Weber carbs and headers posed driveability issues in the cold or when using it as a daily driver. I eventually swapped the motor again for a rebuilt 170, and put the modified 200 into a 1960 Falcon 2dr sedan. (When I eventually tired of the 200 motor and dual carb issues, I pulled that and stuck a '69 351 Windsor in the Falcon along with a top loader 4 spd from a Mustang).

Can't beat them old 6s and finally someone that knows how to run a motor that has sat for years

Nothing like having an old head on the project. Glad I found yours.

I had a Econoline Van that was four speed on the column, it always managed to get the shift linkage stuck once and a while . 😂

Boy the memories and stories this little guy will have! Good job dad.

Four on the tree was quite usual in Europe in the sixties. My father had a german built Ford with four on the tree, and most of the french cars at the time had them, as did Saab of Sweden.

Greetings from Germany... Back in 69,70 & 71 my High School Daze, I worked at a local hotel and we had a 63 Ford Econoline. Six Cylinder with 3 on the Tree. Later years while stationed in Germany I bought a 72 Opal Record C 1.9 Ltr 4 cylinder. It had a 4 on the tree with a push button for reverse. The gear shift pattern, as best I recall, was the same as a floor mounted shifter. This Super Duty Econoline is pretty Kool...! I never seen one and could not imagine a 4 on the tree back in the day.

This vehicle is extremely nice. Not very many of them left. Thanks for sharing.

My Favorite Ford truck is the 1965 F100 custom cab with a 289 v8 with a granny gear 4 speed trans. During the 1980s, I had 3 different 65 Ford F100 trucks. The first one was the custom cab I bought for $75.00. With the inline 6 cyl. The second one I traded a 1974 Chrysler New Yorker for. That truck had the 289 v8 with dual exhaust. The last one had the granny gear 4 speed a d paid $300.00 for it. The first truck I described is my dream truck. Love the videos.

Had two vans. A 62 E-100 and a 64 E-100. The 62 had a floor mounted heater which was super cool. Ripped the 6 140 ci and the 3 on the tree out. Put a 289 with 82 Mustang GT heads and intake 4 bbl holley with an auto C4 trans. Shift kit with a Quick Silver cable shifter mounted to the engine cover. Man ! Was it bad, you know what! Had to replace the weak rear end and put a HD rear end. You could smoke the tires off the thing. I loved it and miss it bad.

So hard to find one for restoration - they had a super high attrition rate. Nobody seemed to care about them for a long time. They were so lightly built - easy and fast to rust, and easily totaled in accidents.

Out West in the late 1960s & 70s we had a rash of "Bondo Gypsys" . They would walk up to unsuspecting motorists at the supermarket, offer to remove dents and they would SLATHER on the Bondo and make it look passable so when you came outta the super market and it would look OK but it was all Bondo. I suspect that was the case with your truck. Great video, keep up the good work I enjoy seeing what you guys dig up. Greetings from Real del Monte, Hidalgo, Mexico !!

My brother and I started a plumbing company in 1880, and we had 2 of these pickups. We drove them for years and worked the hell out of them. My brother still has his. One thing for sure is that you never want to hit another vehicle head-on!

I had a 1961 but it was not heavy duty. Had the straight 6 cylinder 3 speed column shift. They have an amazing turning radius. Got to stop to shift in 1st. No synchronizer. Can shift down to 2nd. From 3rd.That battery under the drivers seat needs to be secure. Or it will slide out under your feet. Those 6’s are indestructible. Almost. Loved seeing your video. Brought back a lot of old memories. Thank you for sharing! 💕💯👊👍

That short stainless pipe piece is the top of a beer keg. It's the ball valve to fill and tap.

1964 Ford 4-speed on the tree shift pattern was Up and forward Reverse, drop down and forward 1st, back 2nd, drop down and forward 3rd, back 4th. When you first started you were putting it into 2nd to start rolling, as well as on the ramp.

Awesome, you found a Dagenham 4 speed. I wanted one of those for my '63 Econoline van and never found one. That old van would go anywhere it could lift it's wheels over.

Great 👌 little deliver Ute for the shop.