Faults:

Cylinder head gasket problems cause coolant leaks. Preventative maintenance can help extend engine life.

While the engine is reliable and durable, components wear out over time, requiring repairs and proper monitoring.

In very cold weather (which is common here in Sweden), it may have trouble starting or run intermittently, which resolves itself after starting it a couple of times. This isn't unusual for diesels.

Although the sheet metal is of very good quality, it can also rust due to humidity and cold, so it's best to have a garage.

General Comments:

I've had the van for over 20 years, bought with very little use (8000 km) and pretty well maintained, so I tried to keep it as good as possible.

It's a converted camper with a bathroom and bed, so it carries a significant weight beyond its structure. It's fully equipped with air conditioning, ABS brakes (not factory-installed), power windows, and power steering.

It's a fairly heavy van and its acceleration isn't its strong suit, but once it picks up speed it's quite easy to drive and, although it may seem otherwise, it handles quite well.

It's a value option due to its longevity potential, ease of repair (it doesn't rely on modern electronics), and its rising resale value, although it does require maintenance like any vehicle.

The engine is a 6.9 International/Ford, a naturally aspirated diesel, which, like all older diesels, is quite heavy but extremely durable and simple, old-school.

It featured oil-cooled pistons, four-pin crankshafts, roller tappets, an oil cooler, a gear-driven camshaft and fuel injection pump, internal combustion chambers (injectors on top of the engine), exhaust valve inserts, and positive valve cooling. The crankshaft is a forged unit, and the block cast from nodular iron.

With 170 horsepower, even if it wasn't fast, it had plenty of power for overtaking, and its fuel consumption was relatively low at speeds between 90 and 100 km/h. Beyond that, it wasn't particularly economical, but that was normal for its time.

For long trips it's very useful and enjoyable. At almost 40 years old, mine is as good as new, and I have no plans to get rid of it.

Faults:

Brake wear. Other than that, basically nothing... some rust on the wheel wells.

General Comments:

Bought it cheap to transport band equipment up and down the 401... incredibly uncomfortable, but it's built like a tank. straight 6 engine is indestructible; hit a large chunk of debris which ripped the oilpan on the 401, causing most if not all the oil to gush out of the engine. The engine overheated and seized, but started up again about an hour later, and ran until we hit the nearest gas station (maybe half an hour later).

Power and torque were quite good, particularly considering this van had a massively built-up rear suspension (had been used by previous owner to transport molds weighing several tons).

The cabin is completely unrefined, and it had no windows besides front door and front, which made visibility rather poor.

Gas mileage was significantly better than any of the V8 vans I had owned before.

I would buy another one of these in a heartbeat if it had that engine, and I had a need to transport a large amount of goods cheaply.