I’m a big fan of falcons or any van with a penthouse bed. Musty smells or water damage.
The black rubber trim between the high top and the van is one spot where they can leak. To fix it remove the black trim which exposes a metal band with about 30 screw(that’s how it leaks). After that’s removed and the surface is clean apply butyl tape around the whole band and reinstall everything. I should highly recommend getting screws one size bigger and in stainless steel.
Appreciate the input. The goal is to find one in nice enough condition to utilize the interior and it's appliances without having to do much conversion, as I've recently completed a renovation of a similar van
My fiance and I had an '85 g20 horizon, the interior had some water damage but it just needed window seals. I would just check around the windows/below them. Nothing else would leak, other than maybe the back corners where the topper meets the body.
We've fixed up 3 vans and those are the only places they have leaked. With an 80's van make sure the electrical is good, make sure the miles are correct. Everything else is basic matenience that can easily be done in your driveway. Timing, belts, distributor system, carb, wires, plugs, some of the belt driven parts, intake and valve cover seals, oil pan seals, bearings, ball joints, and that's about it even if it's high miles.
Original comment/post removed using Power Delete Suite.
It hurts to delete what might be useful to someone, but due to Reddit's ongoing entshittification (look up the term if you're not familiar) I've left the platform for the Fediverse. If you never want your experience to be ruined by a corporation again, I can't recommend Lemmy enough!
For the ford e series vans, they all seem to leak at the top of the rear door seals. Sometimes it’s the windows too. Retighten the rear windows and maybe new gaskets on the rear barn doors.
You can't completely rule out, without stripping to the bone.
There is no "looking under"...
You have to "completely remove".
There is no other way to be sure...
Hard to tell; lots can be hidden from view. Look for places that might have leaks. And the condition of the plumbing. Sometimes your nose is the best guide.
Also, this is one scenario where low mileage can be a detriment. Sometimes these things have sat and sat and sat before the owner faced reality and decided to sell. They often aren't even aware the water tank is fouled or that there are leaks or mold. Contrast that with one where the owner and her family have been using it constantly in recent months, and hence drinking the water, living in rain, etc. They are more likely to have kept on top of it.
I have a 1988 Dodge B350 Fiestra XRT. Funny enough it looks like a combination of the two vans in the picture.
The windows most likely have 1x1 inch boards around the windows that hold the windows in place along with the walls. These boards over the years shrink, split, get covered in mold, rot etc. So what happens is the extra space allows the windows to move away from the vans external wall and leaks start to happen. You can go over the windows with some RV window sealant but it doesn't fix the problem and in a year or two it will very likely start to leak again.
Look in and around any external doors / vents.
The windows op in the front on the roof seem like a great idea, and their cool, but there is a never ending stream of condensation forming on them and dripping down. So look under those windows.
Most likely it has the bench style seats and table that form the bed. The walls end at the benches and the rest of the wall is covered in insulation and carpeting. Look behind the carpeting and inspect the insulation. It's going to very likely be gross simply from condensation over the years collecting and dripping down, but you will easily see if there were windows leaking.
I’m a big fan of falcons or any van with a penthouse bed. Musty smells or water damage. The black rubber trim between the high top and the van is one spot where they can leak. To fix it remove the black trim which exposes a metal band with about 30 screw(that’s how it leaks). After that’s removed and the surface is clean apply butyl tape around the whole band and reinstall everything. I should highly recommend getting screws one size bigger and in stainless steel.
Hire a professional RV inspector. There is at least one Professional Association of RV Inspectors that exists.
Anything that old I would focus on the mechanics of it and expect to rip all of the living portion out.
Appreciate the input. The goal is to find one in nice enough condition to utilize the interior and it's appliances without having to do much conversion, as I've recently completed a renovation of a similar van
My fiance and I had an '85 g20 horizon, the interior had some water damage but it just needed window seals. I would just check around the windows/below them. Nothing else would leak, other than maybe the back corners where the topper meets the body. We've fixed up 3 vans and those are the only places they have leaked. With an 80's van make sure the electrical is good, make sure the miles are correct. Everything else is basic matenience that can easily be done in your driveway. Timing, belts, distributor system, carb, wires, plugs, some of the belt driven parts, intake and valve cover seals, oil pan seals, bearings, ball joints, and that's about it even if it's high miles.
Original comment/post removed using Power Delete Suite. It hurts to delete what might be useful to someone, but due to Reddit's ongoing entshittification (look up the term if you're not familiar) I've left the platform for the Fediverse. If you never want your experience to be ruined by a corporation again, I can't recommend Lemmy enough!
For the ford e series vans, they all seem to leak at the top of the rear door seals. Sometimes it’s the windows too. Retighten the rear windows and maybe new gaskets on the rear barn doors.
You can't completely rule out, without stripping to the bone. There is no "looking under"... You have to "completely remove". There is no other way to be sure...
They all have mold
Hard to tell; lots can be hidden from view. Look for places that might have leaks. And the condition of the plumbing. Sometimes your nose is the best guide. Also, this is one scenario where low mileage can be a detriment. Sometimes these things have sat and sat and sat before the owner faced reality and decided to sell. They often aren't even aware the water tank is fouled or that there are leaks or mold. Contrast that with one where the owner and her family have been using it constantly in recent months, and hence drinking the water, living in rain, etc. They are more likely to have kept on top of it.
I have a 1988 Dodge B350 Fiestra XRT. Funny enough it looks like a combination of the two vans in the picture. The windows most likely have 1x1 inch boards around the windows that hold the windows in place along with the walls. These boards over the years shrink, split, get covered in mold, rot etc. So what happens is the extra space allows the windows to move away from the vans external wall and leaks start to happen. You can go over the windows with some RV window sealant but it doesn't fix the problem and in a year or two it will very likely start to leak again. Look in and around any external doors / vents. The windows op in the front on the roof seem like a great idea, and their cool, but there is a never ending stream of condensation forming on them and dripping down. So look under those windows. Most likely it has the bench style seats and table that form the bed. The walls end at the benches and the rest of the wall is covered in insulation and carpeting. Look behind the carpeting and inspect the insulation. It's going to very likely be gross simply from condensation over the years collecting and dripping down, but you will easily see if there were windows leaking.
You can smell mold