How many of you are running big blocks in your vans? Which tranny and rear gears? Pictures are great.
James

 

putting a bigblock into my 86 e150 shorty, and tinkering with the idea of a 5spd manual. C6 would be easy but ........... it has a 9" rear so I will probably go with 3.00 ratio trac loc .


a highway cruiser that won't like cars passing it...........

 

You'll like the 3.00. Mine's a 56 panel truck. Had the 2.75 gear s for the power tour and loved them for hwy cruising at 75-80 mph. I put the 3.50 trac loc back in. Much quicker, but hwy speed is kept 60-65 now😞

 

86 E-350 Ambulance w/460 big block. Carbed. C6 tranny. Dually. I don't have any info on the axles, Tags are ripped off.

Shoving the bick block in that tiny engine bay was not one of fords better ideas.
nearly impossible to work on.

You know you have a van when you have to take the tires off to change sparkplugs.

 

Or remove rear spare to change shocks!

Not sure if the pre-'92's are similar to that model year but removing one or both front seats including bases gives a huge amount of room for working at the back of the engine.

I kid---but not too much---I remove front seats to change radio presets!

 

Actually the rear of the engine is probably the only easy thing to work on on mine. Plenty of room. Getting the doghouse out without removing the seats is the hard part. Those dual captians chairs get in the way.

 

stuff a 7.3 into one and them and try and work on it............
did headgaskets on 7.3s in these when they were still under warranty, had to tie headbolts and pushrods into a raised position to allow removal from engine bay. that was a muscle builder! only had about 1/2" clearance from the new head gasket when putting the heads back on.
a lot of knuckle skin left behind back then

 

With the V10 gasser and most diesel engines the practice is lifting the entire body.

Given the relative ease of that over dismantling the entire front end sheet metal, doing a Houdini act wrestling the block complete with heads and exhaust manifolds I'd give it a try.

IIRC labor rate for pulling the engine is about 16-20 hours---with the right set up I'd say a strong 5 hours to raise the body and remove the engine.

 

I just pulled out a 460 from my bus to install a 5.9 Cummins diesel. I think the diesel is going to be easier to work around than the big block but not by much. I just hope I don't regret it. Nothing wrong with the 460 but the 8mpg.

 

Well those behemoths weren't designed for MPG's!

You should document your swap---more than a few here might be very interested in the project---I know I would just out of curiosity.

BTW how's the bus working as a hauler these days?

 

Like Areoseek, I have an '88 E350 ambulance, 460/C-6/Dana70, and fully agree that the 460 is physically just too big for the space. The 400M, with its tall decks, is probably too much as well. IMHO, a good alternative to the 460, if someone is up for building a new engine for one of these old vans, is a 351W with a stroker crank yielding 383 cu. in.. The 351W still doesn't give a lot of room for plug changing, but it's manageable. With some practical hopping-up for good low-to-midrange street torque, a 383 stroker should make enough power for most uses.

 

I had a 79 E350 ambulance with a 460. That was a nightmare to work on.

That's why my current E350 is getting one of these. Nothing but room, nice and easy to work on.

This picture is not my van. It belongs to another forum member.

 

I think the problem is the "E". Why is everything directly under the dash? Give me a foot one way or the other. Or a tilt cab would be nice.

 

I see there's now a big variety of stroke options for the 351W

Ford Engine Kit - Ford 351 Stroker Kit, 351 Windsor, 383, 393, 408, 418, 427, 454, Stroker

 

Hell no! The "E" is what makes the vehicle great!! If you want something with a big nose get a truck. Or a new nissan van. If you would prefer the engine be between the seats then get a 60's Falcon/Econoline van.

A tilt cab van would be one hell of a site.