1988 E350 4x4 - La Ballena Gris

[blupaddler]

Well... I guess it is about time to update everyone on my recent pile of steel.


Quick background: I owned a 1994 FZJ80 for six years. Which is the longest I have ever owned a vehicle. She was a great vehicle and handled everything with ease. However with Mrs. blupaddler in nursing school, the 80 was seeing only light day trip usage which resulted in too much pavement and not enough dirt. So... the 80 was sold in March of 2010 to a wonderful gentlemen from Seattle who is using the vehicle as designed...

Now nothing quite beats a Landcruiser... And for a while I was looking at some FJ55's, barely missed the opportunity of a lifetime on a BJ42. Rest assured I will own another (running) Landcruiser one day.

However, one day my freakish, overly obsessive Craigslist search habits came back and bit me in the rear - or blessed me depending on how you view it. A Van popped up on Craigslist with a Sportsmobile penthouse top, and a "lift." I called the guy and went to have a look. The van, as it turns out was 4x4, had a Sportsmobile top, stove, fridge, water heater, and furnace. So, needing another project for a year, we brought it home...


So, without further ado... THE Van... La Ballena Gris
Named because of her color, and most importantly size.

Specs:
1988 E350 EB
4x4 (more on that later)
7.5L -460 Gas
NP 205 transfer case
C6 Automatic
Dana 60 front (now)/rear

The van came with a low-pinon Dana 44, which resulted in a bad driveline angle up front. Through numerous emails, pms, and phone calls I decided to change the front axle to a Dana 60. This would help correct the driveline angle, and strengthen the front end as well. Thanks a bunch to Chris at U-Joint OffRoad, Gordon at Pathfinder-Van conversion parts, and Joaquin Suave!!! After more Craigslist searching I found a 1979 F250 4x4 about three hours north of us, we drove up and drove it back. And I plucked the front axle from the 1979 and placed it under the van.

We looked over the van and determined the stove, sink and water heater all worked. The furnace doesn't work and has been removed. Currently the fridge only works on electric-not propane, don't worry I still have a 35qt engel, and may just run two engels instead of a propane powered fridge. But, if anyone has any suggestions on how to correct/fix the fridge issue feel free to post up.


I would post pics of the 80, but it is too painful...
Some pics of when we brought it home.

 

[blupaddler]

So far the front axle has been swapped out to the Dana 60. I got the steering conversion parts from a great guy, Gordon, at http://www.pathfinder-vans.com/ I highly recommend Gordon for anything you might need for older 4x4 Vans. Super knowledgeable, helpful, as well as nice to boot.

I also ordered some new brakelines for the front axle as well as all the parts to rebuild the front axle seals, bearings, etc.


Plans:
Baseline all fluids
Add house battery(s) and possibly solar
Fix fridge or replace with another unit (thinking of running two 35qt engels)
Add swivel seats in front
Install new springs. Haven't decided on Deaver or National Spring.
Tires/Rims
Clean up wiring
Line-x or something the exterior bottom trim
Paint?





Below is a pic of the new axle and steering!

 

[blupaddler]

Well, after some front shock issues... Translation tried to change the front uppers to eye mounts versus bolt with a Teraflex conversion, but after putting a hole in my hand decided to keep it stock for a little while.

Picked up some used tires, Hancook DynaPro M/T size: 295/75/16. Yes, it is an odd size, and they are load range D, but still have a load rating over 3000#. They are a little aggressive, but the price was right, and they still have good tread. I think the long term solution might be 285/75 BFG a/ts. Although that being said, I am getting used to this size tire and it would be just as easy to go up a tire size to 315s. ha, ha, ha. Only time will tell.


Good news though...
Front has been aligned.
The van has made a couple trips so far, Arizona and the Central Coast. I really wish it had an overdrive, the C6 transmission at fwy speeds just sounds like its working too hard... Maybe a new tranny or gear vendors is in the future?
The tires have been good, maybe a little noisy. The 3.54 gears seemed fine with the tires, and I didn't see much power loss going up 2" in tire size.


Now I need to figure out how to increase up travel, start budgeting for new springs, and start the interior rewiring process.

Pics. New axle, Bella on "her" bed, central ca

Thanks to Joaquin Suave to helping me out with some stupid errors, and helping me to always remember "slow is pro." And for letting me poke around Casa and her electrical system...

 

[blupaddler]

Question for anyone...

Does anyone know the frame measurements of an 1988 F Series? Specifically the rears. Or know where to find it?

 

[Saline]

Nice work man! Looks great, and even a bit mean!

 

[ExpoMike]

Nice rig. Been wondering what happened to you and Bella. Welcome to the big truck club.

 

[TroySmith80]

Nice! I like seeing the older van build-ups... although this one sounds pretty well built out already.

 

[2040JAVIER]

van

Well... I guess it is about time to update everyone on my recent pile of steel.


Quick background: I owned a 1994 FZJ80 for six years. Which is the longest I have ever owned a vehicle. She was a great vehicle and handled everything with ease. However with Mrs. blupaddler in nursing school, the 80 was seeing only light day trip usage which resulted in too much pavement and not enough dirt. So... the 80 was sold in March of 2010 to a wonderful gentlemen from Seattle who is using the vehicle as designed...

Now nothing quite beats a Landcruiser... And for a while I was looking at some FJ55's, barely missed the opportunity of a lifetime on a BJ42. Rest assured I will own another (running) Landcruiser one day.

However, one day my freakish, overly obsessive Craigslist search habits came back and bit me in the rear - or blessed me depending on how you view it. A Van popped up on Craigslist with a Sportsmobile penthouse top, and a "lift." I called the guy and went to have a look. The van, as it turns out was 4x4, had a Sportsmobile top, stove, fridge, water heater, and furnace. So, needing another project for a year, we brought it home...


So, without further ado... THE Van... La Ballena Gris
Named because of her color, and most importantly size.

Specs:
1988 E350 EB
4x4 (more on that later)
7.5L -460 Gas
NP 205 transfer case
C6 Automatic
Dana 60 front (now)/rear

The van came with a low-pinon Dana 44, which resulted in a bad driveline angle up front. Through numerous emails, pms, and phone calls I decided to change the front axle to a Dana 60. This would help correct the driveline angle, and strengthen the front end as well. Thanks a bunch to Chris at U-Joint OffRoad, Gordon at Pathfinder-Van conversion parts, and Joaquin Suave!!! After more Craigslist searching I found a 1979 F250 4x4 about three hours north of us, we drove up and drove it back. And I plucked the front axle from the 1979 and placed it under the van.

We looked over the van and determined the stove, sink and water heater all worked. The furnace doesn't work and has been removed. Currently the fridge only works on electric-not propane, don't worry I still have a 35qt engel, and may just run two engels instead of a propane powered fridge. But, if anyone has any suggestions on how to correct/fix the fridge issue feel free to post up.


I would post pics of the 80, but it is too painful...
Some pics of when we brought it home.

thats a great sportsmobile van i was going to get it you got at craigslist san diego good buy i was going to installed a coil over suspension dana 60 05 and up hey are you local im close by in chula vista ca 91911 if i can be of any help email i have build like a dozen vans see you.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

You gotta love a 460 and C-6 combo.. not the most fuel efficient.. but its as bullet proof as you can get.I wouldn't worry about the RPM's too much going down the highway, I don't think that will really harm it. As long as you have a good cooler and fresh fluid you should be good to go.

 

[el-cid]

Any interior pics? I got my rebuilt 460 into my '79 E350 Pathfinder last Summer and the interior is next on the list this Spring. Also, any more front suspension pictures? It's interesting to see leaf springs instead of the coil suspension like what's on my van.

 

[New River KTM]

The Little Brother of the big E-350

Sounds like you have a great project underway. I have the e-250 351W Dana 44 little brother to your van. Yes I'd love a Sportmobile roof but have my eyes open. I think we share the same off road patina. I have installed an additional 2" lift and have lots of projects in the works for her but she gets us outback and home very well. I do wish for a big 460 or diesel but that is down the road.

 

[poriggity]

Can't wait to see more.. Love those 4x4 vans...
Scott

 

[blupaddler]

I will try and get some interior pics soon...

The 460 is a monster, good thing it has two tanks though! LOL.

 

[blupaddler]

Quick update...

Been on a couple of trips so far. So far, so good. We have been getting about 10 mpg! Which, oddly enough I am happy with. At least it isn't in the single digits...


So I had the rear windows tinted dark, limo tint. I don't currently have curtains, and you can't see in at night even with the lights on inside! They also tinted the front windows, but really light. There was old window tint on the front windows that had was bubbling and peeling in places, which made it difficult to see out of, yet alone even see the mirrors. This is definitely one of my more favorite mods at this time...


We also now have tunes! Well the factory stereo worked, but only one speaker... Thanks to TacoDoc! (yeah!!!) I put in a new, especially compared to the old one, Kenwood stereo. The install was easy, just time consuming because of some weird wiring thing with the older Fords, I had to route all new speaker wire. Nothing difficult, just time consuming. And of course I got a great deal on some new speakers at the local stereo store. So now we have music in both doors! (its the little things)


After some thought and deliberation, I decided to rip out the propane/elec fridge that came in the van. Partly because I couldn't get it to work on propane and I can use my wife's Engel 35. The box holding the fridge was the perfect width of the Wolf boxes that I still had. So I made some quick, but functional shelves that hold three boxes perfectly. The shelves don't look pretty, but work great! It really helped clean up the rear interior.


Finally, since the fridge was gone. I had a lower vent that was just a hole. After some measuring, I figured out that an outside shower box would fit with only a little triming. So after re-routing, and lengthening the previous interior shower lines, we now have a working outdoor shower (the previous shower was inside, and had been removed b/c of space issues).

 

[blupaddler]

Up next will be the aux battery system...
I got some of the factory frame mounted battery boxes online, the only issue they are designed for a new Ford Van. That and I am not too sure if I like how low they will hang down below the frame rail.
Otherwise I might just move the batteries somewhere else...

If someone with a newer Ford van can post a pic of theirs that would help a bunch!