1990 Ford Coachman E250 Supervan

B

bronconite

Observer
I bought this in early April this year and thought it was time to get a build/mod thread started. It's incredibly solid for it's age with no real rust to speak of except a bit along the leading edge of the hood. The odometer shows 89,xxx and I'm convinced that is accurate. The drivers seat is so nice and the brake pedal pad shows no real wear, I just can't imagine it's 189,xxx. My plan is to pretty much remove everything inside and insulate it real well, and then redo/reconfigure the inside to my liking. For now though, I just want to use it as is and develop some ideas of how I want the final layout. I'll try to get some more pictures up soon. I do have a question for those in the know about Ford 4x4 Vans of this generation. If I were to buy a complete Quigley E250/E350 of this generation, is the swap a bolt in, or is there structural welding that will need to be done? Thanks in advance for any help on that.

 
Abitibi

Abitibi

Explorer
The old girl looks really good! Looks like the previous owner took good care and 90,000 miles is crazy low, good find. I always liked those top for all the comfort they offer. No idea for the 4x4 but a few members have them on theirs so you should be able to find out. If you want to lift her I'm pretty sure WTD started a kit for them. Good luck with your build.

Cheers
David

Sent from my SGP511 using Tapatalk
 
B

bronconite

Observer
Abitibi said:
The old girl looks really good! Looks like the previous owner took good care and 90,000 miles is crazy low, good find. I always liked those top for all the comfort they offer. No idea for the 4x4 but a few members have them on theirs so you should be able to find out. If you want to lift her I'm pretty sure WTD started a kit for them. Good luck with your build.

Cheers
David

Sent from my SGP511 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Thanks. Who is WTD?

GNTY said:
I wanted 4x4 as well but sourcing a conversion kit was nearly impossible. This is what I did.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/62776-4x4-Camper-Van-Project-Body-Swap
Click to expand...

I read through that whole thread a few years ago when I started really thinking about vans. I seem to remember you saying you wouldn't do it again. You deserve a lot of credit for undertaking and completing a project like that. I'm not nearly that ambitious. :sombrero:
 
B

bronconite

Observer
When I brought it home it wasn't inspected. The tires were really dry rotted. The aluminum wheel on the front is one I took along when My buddies and I went to get it. The tire that was there came apart really bad when I had test driven it a few days earlier. The ebrake seemed seized and there was definitley an exhaust leak up front somewhere. The ebrake was easy, the drivers side rear cable was kinked. Once replaced it was fine. There turned out to be 2 exhaust leaks, both involving the air injection system. The fresh air tube that plumbs into the exhust between the 2 cats had rusted off and the check valve plumbed into the crossover tube on the back of the engine had come apart. At both of these leaks, the hot exhaust had caused serious melting/heat damage to the wire looms that are right there. I was lucky it hadn't been driven longer like this. All of the damage was to the loom and the tape, it actually looked much worse than it actually was. Once I broke away all the melted loom and burned tape, the wires seemed to be undamaged. So I put some new loom in place and taped it up and all is well. And of course, it got a new check valve and air tube. And it passed inspection and emissions without needing anything.
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Weldtec Designs

Weldtec Designs

Active member
3rd gen lift kit

Thanks guys^^^^
We re working on a few different kits for these similar to the fourth gen. I will try to answer any questions you have if you are interested in doing one of our 2x kits. Cant help out much with the 4x4, sorry.
You can reach us online
or give us a call.
 
B

bronconite

Observer
The previous owner told me that the dual tank switch "sticks" on one tank, and that the gauge doesn't work on the tank that works. He said they just keep track of miles so they know when to fill up. After driving it a bit and running it out of gas (I was prepared for it) I came to the conclusion that the van was feeding off of the front tank whose sender does not work, and even when the switch is switched to the rear tank, which shows full on the gauge, the van is still feeding off of the front tank. I figured it must be the switch, so I took it out and disassembled it to see if anything was obviously wrong with it. It seemed fine so I thought I'd try to jump the wires at the plug to see if I could get the rear tank to pump fuel. Well I found the van continues to run even with the switch removed. I'm very sure this is not supposed to be the case. I think at some point it was wired directly to the front tank. Can anyone confirm that this should not run without the transfer switch installed? This is the version with low pressure pumps in the tanks with a frame mounted high pressure pump. Thanks.
 
B

bronconite

Observer
Also here's a picture of my super comfy front seats. They may be an ugly color, but they are in great shape, especially considering their age.
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B

bronconite

Observer
So I came to the conclusion that at least part of my fuel system problem was a rear tank fuel pump issue. I dropped the tank and got the pump out and it's completely dead. The tank is in great shape for its age with just a little rust along the seam on the front facing side. So today I cleaned it up good and am currently between paint coats. It's going to be two tone gray on the top side and black on the bottom side. This is a budget build so I decided not to buy any paint and just use what I had.
 
Mwilliamshs

Mwilliamshs

Explorer
The two tank system electrically switches pumps/senders with the dash mounted switch and the selected pump running is what mechanically switches the valve. If the rear pump didn't work that would cause a run-out situation when the front tank went dry but it wouldn't explain the gauge not working and sure wouldn't explain the van continuing to run on the front tank when the switch was set to rear. I bet the switch has been bypassed and the front sender is bad. The switches and valves are kinda pricey so it's common for cheapskate owners to rig things to run on just one tank.
 
B

bronconite

Observer
I got the rear tank back in, filled both tanks, ran the van for around 30 mile while switched to the rear tank, and I'm still burning off the front tank. After reading a lot online about the problems with these valves, I'm pretty sure the valve is just stuck and only able to function on 1 side. I checked the front tank fuel pump 12v source with a test light with the van running. It has voltage when switched to the front tank and the light goes out when switched to the rear. I believe the frame mounted high pressure pump must be able to pull fuel on its own when the in tank pump isn't pumping. I'd like to upgrade to something more reliable. Is anyone familiar with converting to the FS2VA electrically switched pumps like this http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...-1_5109&pt=N2000&ppt=C0025##compatibilityTab_
 
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