Just acquired a 1977 Ford Quadravan Chateau 4x4

[Joe Link]

Three years ago my parents were finalizing the paperwork for their place up in Amboy, WA my dad noticed the seller had an old 4x4 van sitting under the awning of their shop. Having always wanted a 4x4 van, he negotiated a price of $2500 with the house deal. Focusing all his time on his Jeep, the van just sat. Last year my brother (who turns everything he touches to ****) decided he wanted to make payments and buy the van. Before he makes his first payment he takes it out and wheels the hell out of it, leaving it in a mud pit in a field before going out of town for work. My dad gets the van back and again, it sits. Last week, while trying to figure out what we're going to tow our Scout with when we build it, it hit me - this van would make a perfect expedition/tow rig for us. I went up today to get some more info about it and my mom, knowing it was going to sit for a few more years, told me if I help them find a clean 2nd Gen 4Runner that the van was mine.

I don't know much about it other than it's a 1977 Ford Quadravan Chateau with 60,xxx original miles. My plan with the thing is to clean it up, lift it a bit to clear larger tires (likely 35's), go through the front end to address the very poor road manners, then begin the process of redoing the interior in such a way that we could comfortably live out of the thing for a week or two at a time.

Any suggestions, I'd love to hear em.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Now that looks like one heck of a project!!!!

 

[Joe Link]

 

[Joe Link]

Now that looks like one heck of a project!!!!

Yep! But it's actually in really good shape under all that mud (which has only been on there a few weeks). Very little rust, low miles, and I guess the engine runs very well.

 

[RocKrawler]

dude...

 

[Joe Link]

dude...

Can you please elaborate?

 

[dwh]

That's a nice truck. Popout windows on both sides and the rear is a nice option. Mine has the sides, but not the rear and it can get pretty hot back by the rear doors.

The old style vertical gas filler port is a PITA with modern pump nozzles. You'll see what I mean. Every time I fuel the truck, I dream about cutting out a set from a newer van - the ones with doors on them - and then cutting that vertical crap out and rivet in the newer ones.

You might want to get the mid mount fuel tank, switching valve and switch from another van. Mine has two tanks - 22g rear and 18g mid...which is still only a 400 mile range with the 460.

Also, the push on cap for the oil filler tube sucks. I've lost two on bumpy roads so far and there is a rag stuffed in it right now while I try to find another one. What I need to do, is secure it with a short cable so when it pops off it won't fall down on the road and disappear.

 

[Joe Link]

Wow, sounds like you know quite a bit about these things. Anything else I should know? Since this has the D44 in the front (and I think a D60 in the rear?) does that make it an E250?

 

[Kursac]

Love it, That is in nice shape, I thought I had a find. Good luck, I'll be keeping my eye on your progress. Looks like a bath is the 1st thing to do to it & see what you have.

 

[SirCampalot]

Great find! I think there's a lot of potential right there. Keep us posted on the progress.

 

[dwh]

Mine isn't 4WD, but I've owned...lemme see...I guess 4 of them...76 150 (my first non-motorcycle vehicle - back when I was in high school, it was 1 y.o. when I took over payments), 81 150, 84 350 and now a 76 250 camper.



I'm not real sure how to tell if it's a 250 or 350. Certainly you can Google the VIN and find out if it doesn't say on a door tag or something. It's probably a 250 since it doesn't have the extended body. Short body 350s aren't as common I think.

The front axle was added by Pathfinder (??), so you can't really tell by that.

Transfer case is likely to be an NP203, which drives the front driveshaft with a chain belt. If it is, those belts gets stretched and need to be replaced once in a while. Just depends on how much it was run in 4WD. There used to be a kit to mod the 203 so you could adjust the slack out of the chain, but I can't even remember who made it. That truck has locking hubs, so fortunately it wasn't a full-time 4WD so the chain is probably okay (if it's even a 203).

If it's an all gear drive NP205, then you're golden. The 205 is a great t-case.

Being a 77, it's probably got an R-12 a/c system - not that big a deal to convert it to R-134.

If it's a 460, the left front spark plug will be impossible to get to. The right front you can get to from the wheel well, but not the left. The custom mod is to make a hole in the inner fender with a holesaw.

It'll probably have a 600cfm Holley vacuum secondary 4-bbl. It's a good carb, but a little fine tuning of the jets, power valve and secondary ramp can make it a great carb. Also, changing it out to a center float at the same time can make it much more tolerant of operating at weird angles on hills.

The 600cfm carb, factory cast-iron dual-plane intake and the factory exhaust manifolds is a pretty good setup - nice and torquey.

If it's got a big block and has spacer blocks between the rear axle and the springs, then you could get some serious axle-wrap, especially when towing. One of the very first things I'd do is dump the blocks and get proper springs.

I dunno how much you can lift that Pathfinder setup without screwing up the front geometry. I'd send a PM to ujoint and ask him.

 

[RocKrawler]

Can you please elaborate?

That one word encompasses the perceived enormity of the project coupled with the agreed potential of the outcome. In person one would be gently nodding the head after saying the word in a deeper voice in order to visually impart acknowledgment they like the idea of the project but its going to be a lot of work to get it where you want it, all the while feeling somewhat relieved its you tackling it and not them. Ergo; dude....

:victory:

 

[TangoBlue]

That one word encompasses the perceived enormity of the project coupled with the agreed potential of the outcome. In person one would be gently nodding the head after saying the word in a deeper voice in order to visually impart acknowledgment they like the idea of the project but its going to be a lot of work to get it where you want it, all the while feeling somewhat relieved its you tackling it and not them. Ergo; dude....

:victory:

******** - well done Terry - I couldn't have said it better...

 

[RocKrawler]

******** - well done Terry - I couldn't have said it better...

 

[Vans-are-freedom]

Three years ago my parents were finalizing the paperwork for their place up in Amboy, WA my dad noticed the seller had an old 4x4 van sitting under the awning of their shop. Having always wanted a 4x4 van, he negotiated a price of $2500 with the house deal. Focusing all his time on his Jeep, the van just sat. Last year my brother (who turns everything he touches to ****) decided he wanted to make payments and buy the van. Before he makes his first payment he takes it out and wheels the hell out of it, leaving it in a mud pit in a field before going out of town for work. My dad gets the van back and again, it sits. Last week, while trying to figure out what we're going to tow our Scout with when we build it, it hit me - this van would make a perfect expedition/tow rig for us. I went up today to get some more info about it and my mom, knowing it was going to sit for a few more years, told me if I help them find a clean 2nd Gen 4Runner that the van was mine.

I don't know much about it other than it's a 1977 Ford Quadravan Chateau with 60,xxx original miles. My plan with the thing is to clean it up, lift it a bit to clear larger tires (likely 35's), go through the front end to address the very poor road manners, then begin the process of redoing the interior in such a way that we could comfortably live out of the thing for a week or two at a time.

Any suggestions, I'd love to hear em.

Hey we are in the same neck of the woods both with Quadravans very cool. I got a 79.