Finally My Own 4x4 Van (1985 E150 Chassis)

[Ari3sgr3gg0]

Got some new tires under it, went with 31x10.50R15 due to pricing. All four tires mounted, balanced, and old thrown out for just over $450 after tax. Couldn't pass up the price. The 31's look good and after I get some hesitation fixed on it I might do sale hunting for 33x10.50R15 to make it look great. Also adjusted the AOD shift rod so that this thing doesn't shift like complete garbage. Still have some fine tweaking on that since now it shifts like a luxury Lincoln.

 

[toastyjosh]

Nice van!
Down the road after you save up some coin, TBI it. That will make cold starts and driving it way better.

30003 Go Street EFI 400HP System - FiTech Fuel Injection

The Go Street EFI 400HP Self Tuning Fuel Injection System is rated at 400 HP but is suitable for engines from 100hp thru 400hp.

fitechefi.com

Summit Racing SUM-240505 Summit Racing™ MAX-efi 500 Fuel Injection Systems | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Summit Racing™ MAX-efi 500 Fuel Injection Systems with qualifying orders of $109. Shop Fuel Injection Systems at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

 

[Knickter]

Congrats on the purchase, it looks great. Goodluck also on your project

 

[twodollars]

May I suggest a paint scheme, even though it was a gm thing. Love your van!

 

[Ari3sgr3gg0]

Nice van!
Down the road after you save up some coin, TBI it. That will make cold starts and driving it way better.

30003 Go Street EFI 400HP System - FiTech Fuel Injection

The Go Street EFI 400HP Self Tuning Fuel Injection System is rated at 400 HP but is suitable for engines from 100hp thru 400hp.

fitechefi.com

Summit Racing SUM-240505 Summit Racing™ MAX-efi 500 Fuel Injection Systems | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Summit Racing™ MAX-efi 500 Fuel Injection Systems with qualifying orders of $109. Shop Fuel Injection Systems at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

I'm actually thinking the old style Mercedes diesel more and more. Power is great to have and really puts a grin on my face but filling up at the gas station hurts quite a bit. The little 5 or 6 cylinder Mercedes should get close to triple the mileage this thing is pulling.

 

[Ari3sgr3gg0]

May I suggest a paint scheme, even though it was a gm thing. Love your van!

The A Team look would be great but I think I'm going to go with a more generic look. Cheap harbor freight bedliner and then paint over it with a sandy brown type color. The bumps and texture will help hide imperfections while the sandy color helps hide the inevitable dirt.

 

[Ari3sgr3gg0]

Did more with the van today. I had found some "fancy" rims that I thought about going with but decided that sticking with the steelies is the way to go. I made a breather hose section for the valve cover to air cleaner inlet. I also did some trail and error to get a better set up with the transmission shift rod and linkage. A spring keeps the rod to where it moves more directly with the throttle now. I need to do a little more fine tuning because it shifts from second to third very quick then lugs until it builds more speed. Changed out my overflow reservoir with a universal one and found another hose that was weeping but not burst yet. I'll need to take care of that asap before it leaves me stranded somewhere. Still dealing with some hesitation issues when I get one the accelerator but that's to be expected with how filthy this carb is. I sprayed some carb cleaner liberally into the intake to get that crap blasted out and burned up. Hoping the Seafoam/Marvel Mystery Oil treatment will further clean out crud from the fuel system and oil. Figure when I do the coolant line I'll also actually get an oil change on this thing as well.

 

[Ari3sgr3gg0]

Another thing I did was used my old bajillion piece Harbor Freight special as the van's exclusive tool kit. I really need to buy some socket rails because so far I have all the sockets loose in a Husky tool bag that I don't use anymore. The size of the tool bag sure beats out the big blow molded case the tools came in. Figure I'll also be able to add the misc tools needed for a roadside kit as well.

 

[Ari3sgr3gg0]

Ugh, ran into a whole slew of little gremlins and issues today while changing out the weeping hose. Got some fueling issues I'm going to need to work out. Going to go full aftermarket gauges as well I think. Sick of the non operating and spotty gauge cluster. Figure as the days go by I'm just going to get little by little done to it. On a side note, I've been debating going with a Mercedes OM617 or Ford 300 I6 since this 351(302?) seems a little more tired than I would like. Buy a 4x4 van at a discount and just get nickel and dimed until you had bought one at regular price it seems

 

[twodollars]

Small block fords are nearly as cheap to build as small block chevys, I'd stick with it. An inexpensive rebuild with a mild cam would wake it up. Or a reman long block. Engine swaps tend to be more involved than they ever seem, in my experience.

After market gauges are a good idea, those factory gauges are really more like animated idiot lights anyhow.

 

[toastyjosh]

your fueling issues are going to be that carb and the ******** in the tank.
Pulling off the carb and fulling cleaning it with a new carb gasket would be good. I am sure there is tons of garbage in he tank, so you could try double fuel filters and lots of sea foam untill you get it blown through.
Run the 351 untill it pops, start running cheap diesel 15w40 oil in it, this will buy you some time.

 

[Ari3sgr3gg0]

Small block fords are nearly as cheap to build as small block chevys, I'd stick with it. An inexpensive rebuild with a mild cam would wake it up. Or a reman long block. Engine swaps tend to be more involved than they ever seem, in my experience.

After market gauges are a good idea, those factory gauges are really more like animated idiot lights anyhow.

Reason for the swap comes down to getting better MPG and peace of mind knowing the history of the engine I put

 

[Ari3sgr3gg0]

Did some fine tuning of the transmission today. It actually shifts how I like it now. Hesitation is likely a combination of carb and the large exhaust leak where the down pipe comes off of the driver side manifold. Have a Facet electric pump on the way to get rid of the wonky mechanical and electric combo going on now. Changed out the speakers in the door so I can listen to some music while swearing at the van. I think this weekend I bite the bullet and order a whole set of Autometer gauges. It will be quite a bit of work but I think running fresh stuff will end up being easier than dealing with the rats nest of wiring behind the dash. Slowly but surely I'll get this to a point where I feel better taking it more than just around town.

 

[Ari3sgr3gg0]

My plan today was to get some engine cleaning accomplished, along with the undercarriage more. A simple detour of changing the black positive cable to a red one ended up being much more work than I anticipated though. Did a ton of wire tracing and clean out. Don't have any after pictures yet but the bay looks much cleaner. Picture attached of a sample size of how many dead end wires were removed. Changed the alternator wiring as well, actually getting a rock steady 14v at the battery now with the upgraded and cleaned wiring. The little Autolite 7078 1G alternator will likely be the next electrical upgrade to compliment with light bar I added as well. Got the two front door speakers all cleaned and tucked up nicely too. I need to add rear speakers and upgrade the deck to get some really great sounding tunes. Today was tiring but really gets me seeing light at the end of the tunnel for taking the van out for some trips.

 

[Ari3sgr3gg0]

First of all, got a new camera(phone) so hopefully picture quality will have improved some. Second I've been having a terrible time with the cooling system ever since I got a new 13psi cap for it. I used an inspection mirror to see that I was leaking at the old thermostat housing gasket. I had previously tried doing the upper radiator hose without luck because the universal hose I got before kinked. Well I was out doing plenty of parts hunting for the van today. Got a higher quality hose, new housing, new thermostat, found an ac compressor with all brackets and got a chance to see that my oil pressure has improved after a change. When I pulled off the old thermostat housing it was a wonder it hadn't been leaking sooner. Double thick on the gaskets with plenty of RTV gobbed in. Old thermostat was also a 160 which explains why the gauge read out was always so low. Poor thing probably never really got to run nice and hot. New one is a 195, in a new housing and a gasket that is using just the right amount of RTV. Plus with the new hose in place I'm not seeing a swollen line when this is up to temp. Ran out of time today but I'll end up installing the AC compressor tomorrow. Brackets were filthy and required major clean up.