1997 E350 Clubwagon Body Swap

[LanceBoyle]

Hi Everyone,

I have a 1997 E350 5.4L Clubwagon with a Quigley 4x4 conversion done through Ford when the van was new. This is my baby and I have driven it hard 310,000 miles all over North America - Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, all over the USA. Countless surfing and snowboarding trips . . . I love my van! I have kept it up mechanically, I am on my 3rd engine (120,000 miles), and recent transmission rebuild. The interior of the van has rattled to hell, seats are trashed, carpeting is dirt and sand held together with gunk, roof gutters rusted through, headliner torn up, all the icing from the XLT model basically trashed. I see tons of newer non 4x4 vans for sale cheap, with some nice interiors. I have looked for other 1997 vans, but most of them are pretty beat up. How difficult is it to do a body swap with a newer van? My 1997 was the first year of the new body style. What years can I look for where the bolts and wire harnesses be the same?

I want to keep this thing going and don't want to spend $50k on a newer rig.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Greg

 

[villageidiot327]

Might be easier to buy a newer van and swap your 4x4 running gear underneath it, transfer case, shifter, fuel tank, front suspension/differential etc.

 

[pugslyyy]

Might be easier to buy a newer van and swap your 4x4 running gear underneath it, transfer case, shifter, fuel tank, front suspension/differential etc.

Yeah that would be my thought as well. No reason why you couldn't do a body swap - but at the end of the day you are still going to be on a chassis with 310,000 miles on it.

I suspect that if you pulled the body off to do a swap you would find some areas on the chassis that would need attention not previously visible.

 

[LanceBoyle]

Thanks Guys. Makes sense. I am sure I would open up a can of worms with a body swap, especially to a different year. I'll check out that option.