I know the principles of the Quadrajet well and on a search, found that Ford did used them on the '70 and '71 429's so I learned something. But in the old race days, the first thing most people would do is ditch the Quadrajet and go with a Holley which were much more flexible. I just babysat a friend's new Formula Five Cobra Daytona coupe at the Detroit Autorama for a few hours, and he put in a Pontiac(?) engine "just because"....it did have a Quadrajet. I didn't ask why he went thru all the trouble to adapt a boat anchor Pontiac when a big-inch 302 Ford would have been so right.

I had a '70 Gremlin with a 232 as a beater (while my Hemi Roadrunner sat as a garage queen), and a couple 2-seat 390 AMX's in my muscle car days....

If I were in your position, I would get the camper running well with tight suspension and totally reliable drivetrain and just use it for camping. I miss my old Turtle Top vans (but man were those shabby conversions). My wife and I are musical and it would be fun having your van for music festivals, NASCAR races, etc.

I dunno about 4WD. You sound like me as a kid who just got a cool car and dreamed about any and every possible modification.

I've had my big vans on many muddy and rutted campground roads and even some mild offroad trails and they do pretty well with limited slip axles if you obey the rules of momentum.

If you really want gas mileage, put a Cummins diesel in it

It would be good to bench race with ya, but I will never believe 22 mpg out of a Bronco with 35" tires. I had a 1980 Toyota Land Crusher with the stock 4.2 inch six and it got 11 mpg in the city and on the road with 31" tires...

Take care,
George

 

George , we could spend hours discussing

I had a 4.2 2F engine Toyota landcruiser that I shaved the head .090"
better exhaust and I gained so much torque .....and fuel economy ....
I was running on 35"

I had a 69 AMX BigBadGreen .....with a 390 & 3:54 gears 4 speed T10

I had 5 oldsmobile 442 W-30's from 1970 -1972 ....
one 1969 Z28 , one 1966 389 6v GTO, 66 fairlane GT and many more ....

Last october ,I bought a 1990 Ram first gen Cummins 5 speed just for this purpose it has 82,000 milles ......But the conversion seems to be quite difficult to do !

Dan ,

 

Holy cow...my AMX's were a '69 with a 390 and the horrible Borg Warner auto that was my ex-wife's daily driver and dragstrip toy, and a '70 390 w/Go Package in lime gold with a 4 speed (that one was mine and a LOT of fun).

My Detroit Dragway racing trophies came from my beloved '68 442 (just a 400) with an indestructible Muncie, and I bought a number of Oldsmobiles after that for daily drivers (an 88 an a couple 98's with 350, a 403, and a 455). Sad to see Oldsmobile go...

I've made some friends in the last couple years from the original Ramchargers and that is very cool. I had a '70 Hemi Cuda with a 12.5:1 Ramchargers built hemi with a crossram and Keith Black gear drive cam, full manual B&M built 727....but I bought it built already and flipped it for a profit. It was fun to take friends for demo rides. I also had a mint black '68 Hemi Roadrunner with no power steering or brakes but a 4 speed and a 4.10 gears (track pack).

A number of my hot rods were research for my college thesis and cars to flip and make money when I was a broke and married college student. (I also played music in bars, had a college work study job, and took in light car repairs.)

For my jollies these days, I ride bicycles a couple thousand miles a year with the hope that I'll be alive for a while. And my garage queen is a '91 BMW 318is (4 cylinder poor man's E30 M3) that gets fewer miles than my bikes.

Peace out for now; are you near Detroit perchance?
George

 

I live in Quebec,Canada .....
I'm born french !

I went to Detroit 3-4 times .....
The last time , I felt sad when I passed thru some neighborhood !
Last year I did a roadtrip in the US :32 states , 15,000 milles in my 94 westfalia , 1.9L TDI converted !! ( averaged 30 mpg )
did a lot of boondocking in national forests .....Did most of the rte 66 !

The Econoline is to redo the same in feb 2017 but with possibility to do some off road trails .....
Now youll understand why I insist on fuel economy .....

Dan ,

 

I'd dump the ford and keep the westy. But my first love lies in veedubs

 

Hey Dan:

Great trip you have planned. My wife retired last year and it's our dream to drive thru all 49 continental states. I live 4 miles from Canada, right on Lake St. Clair.

My main problem with planning to use our van for traveling is the dang engine cover; my wife (and I) can't tolerate much more than a hundred mile trip in the front passenger seat without feeling knee problems and spinal alignment issues in my case.

I can't help but think that your parameters are in conflict. Making your van into a 4x4 makes it into a big science project (lots of non-standard parts) and will raise the center of gravity so it would frankly be scary to drive cross country in high winds or on winding mountain roads. And adding more weight and using big gnarly tires doesn't seem logical if gas mileage is important. I would personally bring mountain bikes, park the van at a campsite, and explore the woods on 2 wheels. Actually, that is exactly what I have done. If you break down or wedge the van between a couple trees or boulders out in the woods you could end up in a pretty tough spot. And if you're after gas mileage, you should lower the van and build a front air dam.

If I was preparing an old van for such a trip, I would start driving the van daily, replace any and every rubber part (hoses, seals, belts), and make sure you can trust it completely as opposed to putting energy into modifying it.

But it's certainly your choice to do what you wish and you clearly have the mechanical skills. So keep in touch, and if you're around Detroit on your trip, drop a line and we can get together for a beer or a meal.

Sorry for pulling off topic, but it's been a good way to get to know your background and know that you're not completely a dreamer with regard to mechanical modifications.

Take care,
George

 

George ,
Just had knee surgery yesterday .....
I dint drive nothing for the last two months .....

I already feel better !

On our last roadtrip march-july 2014 ,there are some places that I wanted to go but couldnt because of the off road signs : 4x4 only otherwise at own risk

we met some couples that had 4x4 vehicles that went ......they had the best boondocking experiences of their lives ....this is the main reason for the Econoline being converted .....
I think I can create an off road vehicle with "reasonnable" fuel consumption

In 1980 I had a 77 Econoline 460 4x4 ......it would do 10 mpg ...but what a powerful rig ! I did a lot of ice fishing on lake ontario at the time .

 

ok back to the subject for now

someone offered me some D0OZ-C heads from 1970 351W

60.4cc , 1.84 int valves ....would those be better then my originals ?
and would the original MPFI intake fit on ?

they would raise the cr to about 9.5 to 1 ....greatttt !

 

I took a look under ....

There is no Y pipe ....the cat is the downpipes joining item ....( looks like a canted Y ) it is pretty small too .....

Ill remove the whole air pump system .....this thing is prehistoric for an 88,
reminds me of the 73-77 chevy`s era ....

the GT40`s new heads alone are costing me around $1200.00
Ill probaly go for 60cc`s 69-74 iron heads ....

MY knee surgery ( wednesday ) is slowing me down a lot !

Dan ,

 

About time I do an update here .....

removed the whole air pump & tubing related to it
plugged the heads with 2 short 5/8" coarse bolts & flat washer .....
( heads already threaded )

Belt : Dayco 5060935 ....fits perfectly !

started the 351 , runs smoother already .....
better throttle response ,,,,


removed the air cleaner & hoses ....

throttle body had sooth ....
used intake medic while engine running .....

idle more stable now !

driving it , better throttle feel .....
dint drive it enough to notice any fuel consumption difference ( I have a fuel gauge problem too )


next step : install shorties stainless headers & dual exhaust ....

While at it , should I remove the EGR system ?
we dont have any inspection concerning this around here .....

any gains ?
thanks ,

Dan ,

 

Hey Dan:
Sounds like your surgery went well. I frankly don't know if removing EGR would help; this might be a better Q in an engine forum because I doubt there are many van drivers working with such an old engine design.

I used to pull air pumps in pre-catalyst cars, but the oxygen coming into the exhaust probably helps the catalyst keep up with the afterburn of the exhaust stuff.

I still love my van (used it to carry a large workbench home today--and that would not have fit in a smaller vehicle) but am still conflicted about wanting it to be a comfy traveler for the two of us.

Take care,
George

 

Nothing to be gained by removing the EGR system in terms of performance and you might actually lose a bit of fuel milage, so if possible get headers with the EGR fitting and keep the system.. it's pretty compact anyway. If you delete it you will get codes and quite possibly a check engine light, this should not affect engine operation that you will notice but it will be an annoyance. Another solution is to leave the whole system there and functional except for the tube connecting it to the exhaust, and place a blockoff plate between the valve and intake. The valve will go through the motions and keep the computer happy but no exhaust gas will get into the intake so it will stay cleaner.

 

Paul ,
Ill probably do the second option....this way ,if it doesnt work out as id like, I can turn back to original ......

It is so pleasant to drive the E250 now without this pump system ....
When I start it it doesnt rev at 1500 rpm`s like before for a while , just a nice idle ......

with the shorties & dual exhaust .....it will be a dream !
the catalytic converter will go too !

ill weld a bung for the O2 sensor .....

George ,
I dont know your plans for retirement
but since we did our roadtrip last year , we dream of going back .....
personnaly id go wih the Econoline , but wife prefers the Rialta .....

it`s french ,but still quite interesting ! ;-)

Travel Blog: Bigdan : Road Trip 2014 aux US !


Dan


p.s;» still wondering if I should change the heads & cam ....lot of work ! Is it really worth it ?

 

GT40 iron heads(from an explorer) will work with the stock intake but that then becomes a bottleneck, the motor will make great torque but will be HP limited. To get compression up a bit have them shaved, it won't take much to get them down to about 60cc.

The cam is key to getting any gains from this motor, the stock cam is just to restrictive.

 

Paul ,


do you mean that in this case ( heads & cam ) the intake would be the bottleneck ?


this intake was said at a time to be better then the car intake .....


I dont target more then 300 hp /350 ftpds of torque
my goal is combo to be pleasant & fuel efficient
otherwise id buy a mustang


I Might even try to use the original heads and port & shave them .....


But I would like aluminium heads for better compression ratio possibility ( no pinging ) & heat exchange
but they are pricey ......( I`m on a budget )


Dan