Holley calls it Transmission Kickdown lever (specifically for Ford applications) and apparently there is an adjustment screw that I can set as well. Good thing is that I already ordered the 20-91 Ford Kickdown kit that they say I'm going to need, bad thing is, trying to figure out what they're saying without having the carb in my lap too is kinda difficult. So it looks like I'll have to look into this tomorrow as well.

 

Glad I could help... You're very welcome.. I get so much help here I have to give back,, and sometimes get it right too!

M5 85 e150 is very similar to your 86.. My 85 has a 302 in it. 1985, I believe was the first year ford put an eec IV, TFI ignition system with a feedback carburetor in their vans with a 302 engine. They continued to use the Duraspark ignition and standard carbs in the vans with 351's and larger for a couple of years longer.. That is why your 8 had the older Duraspark system in it, while my 85 had the EEC IV, TFI ignition.. The EEC IV TFI ignition system was basically a add on using the existing DSII harness wiring, just changing it once it left the firewall to work with the TFI system..

I converted my 85 EEC IV ignition back to a DSII ignition. It was basically plug and play once I found a 86 e150 with a 351 engine and pulled the DSII harness out of it and swapped it with my TFI harness...
You should have 2 round connectors and one square connector hanging down somewhere around the drivers side firewall to the right of the steering shaft.. All the wires should match the info I posted when I did the conversion on my van..
So that's how I know what little I know about it!! I had to trace each wire and rebuild the harness from the 86 as it had some bad connectors on it. I too had thought about the HIT ignition but opted for the DSII.

 

I was guessing that the choke heater (BLK/WHT) wire would be in that bundle but I didn't have time to look for it today, but I should find it tomorrow.

I think I found out why the van was over heating when I first got it. When it overheated the first time I took a look at the radiator but without coolant I couldn't be sure what the problem was. The second was the same thing but then shortly after that the connecting rod broke. All in all there was no saving that motor even if I had figured what the overheating was from. It had no oil pressure when it was warmed up and holes in three pistons, it was a surprise that motor did as well as it did.

Got the water pump (which I hoped would fix the lack of coolant flow) and the radiator in, would've had a new fan clutch in too if it had fit the fan blade bolt pattern. The only stuff that is left on the front of the engine to fail now is the power steering pump, alternator, and the fan clutch, everything else has been replaced. Replacing the water pump and now that the coolant flows like it should and the motor warming up I let it run at its high idle setting since I didn't deal with the choke wire yet. At least that way I'd have the initial cam beak-in period finished and all I have to deal with now is the 500 mile break-in oil change, which will be during the trip.

I also changed out the trans pan with one that has a drain plug (something that I had ordered when I first bought the van in March) and changed the filter and fluid. I put what I could find for fluid in the van minus a quart or two (4.5) and it still wasn't showing on the new dipstick I had installed as well. The van wouldn't move yet so I'm praying that it is only low, and not failed as well. The trans did worked well from what I could tell back then.

Looked over everything to make sure there was no major leaks and found none thankfully. There are ports at the back of the heads that is leaking, not sure yet if it is oil or not, it looked awful black to be oil. Also realized that I'm going to have to get some carb return springs for the throttle lever since the stock location for the throttle cable mounting bracket isn't allowing the throttle to return to idle without putting a little pressure on it. Also put the fuel in the foward tank and hooked the chassis fuel line back up to the pump. Ended up noticing that there might be some water in that tank though when I looked at the filter I put the in line behind the carb.

I probably could've had it driving tonight if I had had more daylight. I still haven't chased down the issue with the headlights yet. If I remember right I had plugged in a replacement bulb but it wouldn't light up so I'm going to try to check the floor switch and any other power points according to the wiring diagram.

Set the timing with the vacuum gauge, and the engine holds 21-22hg steady right now, if I have time before or during the trip I'll see if I can adjust the mixture screws a little and improve it, even though It is good.

Exhaust smells good, no oil, no antifreeze, and the only smoke I was getting was off of the exhaust manifolds from lashing the valves. I just wish that I hadn't broke one of the studs on the passenger side, it isn't horribly loud but it is still going to be irritating. If I can I'm going to see if I can get the y-pipe where it should be on the manifold and then wire it in place with some bailing wire.

Heater core appears to be working when I turned on the heat so the only thing I should have to deal with there is the electrical nightmare in the dash that I'm assuming has resulted in the fans controls not working. Foward fan only comes on and is only in high speed, not a bad problem to have during the winter, but I'd still like to have both fans running once I reconnect the rear coolant lines, which I'm hoping will be down in AZ.

All in all, I had a pretty good day today, let's just hope and pray that I get it moving under its own power tomorrow. I did check the brakes and they feel like they are fine, but of course I can't really tell without having the van moving yet. Nothing was wrong with them before so let's hope that nothing has changed there.

 

Sounds like you are getting along great...

Here is some more information that might help out with the choke heater wiring.. My 85 w/302 choke heater comes directly from the S terminal on the alternator to the choke heater via the DSII harness. The white W/black stripe originates at the S terminal on the alternator and runs in a harness coming from the alternator, up across the crowl and then joins into the wiring going to the DSII harness connectors.
Here you can see the pics of my harness connectors, you should have the same connectors.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post15153039
The Round Connector with the choke heater wire is refered to as C235 in the wiring diagram. The other round connector with the reds and purples go to my transmission for the park/neutral switch. They are not part of the ignition.. Only the square connector (C226) and the one round connector (C235). SO you should be able to find that white W/black stripe choke heater wire at the round harness connector and go from there.. ...

Now I am not sure about your factory set up on the 86 w/351 but can tell you that the van I pulled the DSII harness from (year unknown but newer then 85) had a 351 w/stock motorcraft 4bbl. I believe it had a Choke heater relay in that system because I had an extra wire in the donor DSII harness.. I dont know if a 86 bronco and van ar ethe same, but here is an article about that where a buy was having trouble with his choke heater not working.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ric-choke.html
Either way that white w/black stripe choke heater wire does run through connector C235. i am not sure but believe the relay was after the c235 connector.. If need be you can trace it backwards if need be.. but that will give you an idea if your van does have the relay in it.. It will probably look something like this.
More Information for MOTORCRAFT SW1804
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Now to the heater fan running only on high...
That sounds very much like the blower motor resistor found under the hood near the blower motor mounted in the heater core cover.. it will look something like this, yours may be red colored... Also shop around and you will find it cheaper.
1985 1989 Ford E 150 E 250 E350 Econoline Van New A C Heater Blower Resistor | eBay
I am drinking my first cup of coffee and not awake yet, but noticed you posted on my thread about the blower motor and know about this anyway! looking at the diagram you can see how if the resistor is bad, that it will only run on high.. Unless your switch or harness connector is bad...

Have a great day!

PS. When you say broke one of the studs on the passanger side, that is on the manifold where the Y pipe connects? If so, can you get a heavy C-clamp on the flange ring and back side of the manifold?
If so, loosen the good stud a little, install the c-clamp tight, then tighten the good stud back up?
If a C-clamp wont fit, maybe you can devise a different type of clamp to use..

 

Or use one of these
NAPA AUTO PARTS

ROL Gaskets 631275 - Manifold Stud Clamp | O'Reilly Auto Parts

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Here's a thought for everyone...coffee is the most important meal of the day! Yes I just got up and I'm still trying to wake up now don't mind me if a go take a nap lol

I'm going to have a bit more of a "fun" time trying to find the wires for the heater simply because of the old engine throwing grease absolutely EVERYWHERE in the engine compartment. At least the wires in your picture look legible, I'll have wipe mine down a few times and hope that the oil didn't stain them too bad.

As for the heater core wiring, I would be happy if it was something as simple as the heater core resister, but when I say nightmare under the dash I mean a NIGHTMARE. Someone before me cut a bunch of wires under the dash and installed a couple of other random switches and wires that I have no idea where they go or are for who knows what. So I'm not sure how much of the original wiring is still intact or usable.

I really need to take my iPad with me so that I can write down any notes for things that I need to address, otherwise I know that I will probably forget them along the way.

Hopefully I can get the van driving and put the bike into storage for the winter, and then I can clean up the mess from working on the van and get anything I don't need for the trip into storage as well.

Does anyone have the pictorial diagrams for where the connectors are and the connector numbers and what boxes (if any) they are attached to? That would at least help me clean up the mess under the dash as well as under the hood.

 

The bolt that I was talking is on the exhaust manifold's down pipe flange, so a c clamp would probably work fine. I suppose I could pick up a small 3" one to do the job, I just hope that the engine vibration won't vibrate it loose, but I can use a little wire to put a lanyard on it so if it does at least then I won't lose it on the road somewhere.

 

Woohoo! SHE DRIVES!!! Still a couple things to work out, but at least she moves good under her own power.

She doesn't shift out first, but I think that is because I forgot to hook up the shift modulator to vacuum. Or at least I hope I'm right anyways lol I'll dig around on the ole interweb and see if I'm right. Anyone have any idea where to hook it up to? I have a full vacuum port on the Holley, but I'm not sure if that is the right port to hook it up to if that is indeed what I need to do to get it out of first gear.

Power steering still works even though it was empty when I first tried to drive and had a pint in the van so I fixed that. Unfortunately, I forgot how much slop was in the steering so I'm going to look into adjusting that if I can. I know you could on other vehicles of this age so I'm sure there is a way.

Took care of the first break-in oil change and then dumped all the oil at the local community used fluid dump station. Refilled the oil, but wasn't paying attention and ended up putting in the full synthetic oil, but oh well. I guess I'll return the cheap oil I got and get some more good oil for the next one. I forgot how little room there was between the block and the frame for taking the old filter out.

Still need to find out what is wrong with the lights, didn't have time to deal with that or any of the other lights and little things.

I did look for the choke heater wire, but didn't find it when I looked for it quickly so I ended up just crimping an end on a wire I had laying in the van and just hooked it to the battery. That means that I'll have to undo it every time I stop but that is fine for the short term. At least now the carb choke works right now and drops in idle when driving in the city. Had to hook up a return spring since it didn't want to return to the idle stop on its own. Ended up using two springs but I might be able to take one off since I was using a light one at first.

Took her down to the closest gas station and filled her up, well the forward tank anyways. Everything seems to be fine with the exception of the issues I already knew about, but I didn't check the fuel tank for leaks yet like I wanted to.

Ended up putting another 1.5 gallons of trans fluid in so that she could move and not burn up the trans. I think I might have over filled it a little, but I'll check the dipstick when the trans is hot to be sure since it was cold when I checked it. At least the trans pan has a drain plug so it'll make it much easier (cleaner) to drain a little and not the whole thing.

I had wanted to have it fully driving by tomorrow so that I could test the MPG on some doc appts I have but I guess that will have to wait until the day after when I hopefully start the trip. At some point I'll brave the rear tank to see if it is working properly, but considering how old this van is I'm sure that tank isn't in the greatest condition on the inside, let alone whether or not the fuel transfer switch is working right. I didn't try the fuel switch after I filled the forward tank like I had meant to so I'll try it at some point in the trip. I'm hoping that both the switch and transfer switch work right, fingers crossed lol.

Tried a new air filter housing and still having the same problem with the carb stud not being long enough so I guess I'm forced to change out the carb stud for a longer one.

 

congrats!!! You are getting there!!!

 

Been a good solid 8 months or so since she broke down so it's definitely nice to be able to drive her again! Sad thing is I was real wishy-washy about rebuilding the engine for most of it and then another 2 months of actually doing the rebuild and getting her back together. I hope that I see many good miles of traveling with her and seeing the country before I start on Canada, Central and South America. Of course, I have to keep in mind that anything I do to the van will have to fit inside of a 20ft shipping container when I cross the Darien Gap. But anywhoo, I'll see y'all later, time to leave for some doc appts, I'll update later when I have a chance.

 

Posted this in a different thread until I realized I was in the wrong one lol

Can't believe that this thread has had 1200 views already! I never thought that what I was doing would be that interesting or helpful lol The reason I named as such is because I wanted to have somewhere that I could post everything up related to the van and not have to worry about creating different threads for every little thing, not to mention you guys can see it as it comes together. The reason I named the van the BioHazard is because of my trip to SA and that will become a little clearer as things progress on the van in terms of bodywork.

Anyways, this is what I had posted in the C6 vacuum source thread I created until I fixed it.

Thanks for the suggestions guys! Got the vac line hooked up day before yesterday and it drove and shifted fine, however with the driving around testing, and then starting the work on packing everything up and moving it to storage I got stranded because the charging system wasn't working, which I hadn't noticed before because I was keeping the charger on the battery while doing the rebuild and before that it would overheat long before any charging issues showed their ugly head. Fortunately I was at a friends house who is also a mechanic and we both worked on it trying to figure it out. At first we thought I had an integrated voltage regulator until I tore the wiring apart trying to figure out the problem and found the external VR. After I removed it, we took both the alternator and the VR to AutoZone to test them and the alternator tested good (@100A) but they couldn't test the VR so I bought one, and fortunately that fixed the problem.

The headlight problem still hasn't been sorted out yet, I bought a new switch thinking it was the problem, but still having the same issue, which is really strange. I can pull the switch to the first detent and the parking lights come on fine and work properly, minus a couple dead bulbs most likely, but the second detent for the headlights yields nothing. However, while I was fooling with it at his house while I was stranded I found that if you get the switch in the perfect spot between the two detents then the headlights will come on and function properly. Of course I immediately thought it was the switch but the new switch has the exact same problem in the exact same position. My buddy thinks that it could be the **** and shaft causing it, but I seriously doubt it since the headlights come at the exact same position between the detents. I don't have a clue what the issue could be so I was hoping that someone else on here has had a similar problem and figured out how to resolve it. I'm concerned that the vibrations of the road will shake the switch out of position and I'd be driving blind (at night) while I fool with the switch to get the lights to come back on.

The one other issue I have is that I still don't have a working 12v power socket to plug my speedometer into (my phone) so that I can keep it charged while driving. Of course the POS Haynes manual doesn't have anything for the OEM power socket so I was really hoping that one you guys had the electrical diagrams for this van. This damn manual doesn't have anything but engine, chassis lights and starting/charging systems. It would be nice so to have good diagrams so that I could figure out the mess behind the dash and radio so that I can get them working properly again as well.

Think I'm going to have to set my floats on the carb and check the mixture screws because this thing is really drinkin the fuel in just 12 miles according to the fuel gauge anyways. I'm going to call Holley and see if there is anything else besides the floats that could cause that, and I need to set the carb choke too. The only concern I have with the original wiring is that I'm not getting a consistent 12-15 volts at the choke, it really bounces around a lot so I think I may have to find another source for the choke.

Anyways, I got a lot of packing to do today and I still have to talk to Holley so I'll post up later.

 

"It's Alive".

 

Lol FINALLY! She's done some good work for me too. I'm actually impressed at how well this thing handles at 55 considering the condition of the steering


This is why I love this van.... I had the van loaded down with cherry, walnut, oak, maple, and pine (all solid wood) about half full in the back and as long as the entire interior length, plus a kayak, and the van barely squatted an inch, when just the hard woods minus the maple squared the hell outta my buddies pickup when I got them. I have pics that I'll try to edit the post later with since they have migrated to the iPad yet.

She drove fine loaded, just a little softer than I'd like, but that ok it's expected considering how heavy that wood is. Haven't had any issues today thankfully. But I did adjust the fuel floats to be a little lower and advanced the timing a little, I need to find a timing light that I can borrow before the trip. Still need to read the plugs but I leaned out the mixture screws a little and she ran better with the advanced timing.

Also got the backup clamp on 12v power socket added so that I have at least one for charging the speedometer lol I still need to get the OEM one fixed though since the only place I can put it is on the doghouse since the cable for the socket is so short. I don't like it there at all because I feel it takes my eyes of the road too long to check it. I had it sitting in the left lower corner clamped to the windshield so that it obstructed my view as little as possible. In my packing I found the 12v extension cord for my clamps so I'll take the power socket off the bike when I get to the storage unit and use it to put the phone back in the cradle I have for it on the left side of the dash.

 

Well, I'm 123 miles into the 500 mile break-in period and I must say that I'm really happy with my choices for the parts on this engine build. She can get up and go with ease, doesn't feel like I'm whippin the backside of this horse to get her to move. The secondaries come on at just the right point and everything feels good. I just wish I could say the same about the way it sounds. With this exhaust leak it makes this old van really stand out in the crowd...and not in the good way lol

I've gotten almost everything squared away inside the van concerning all my clutter so now I can start working on other things. I do have a tail light issue, probably because of the new headlight switch, although it could also be another fuse blown because of a shorted wire. But I will most likely put some effort on this issue when I start removing interior panels to do insulation there. I did get the first bit of insulation for the Windows today though and I hope to have it put up tomorrow. I went and bought some cheap black felt from Joann Fabrics, it'll be the first layer for the windows so that the reflectix isn't directly on the metal. It may not have the "proper" air gap that they call for but it'll be the best I can do on a very limited budget right now. The felt is only 1/16" to an 1/8", a far cry from the 1/4" but it should still pretty good once the 4 layers is in place. Besides the insulation part, it'll do great as a blackout material until I can get the reflectix on the first of Jan, and it'll do great for keeping noses out of my business while I'm driving around. That is one part about this van that I really don't like, I feel like I'm in a fishbowl when I drive this thing. Hopefully the felt on the windows will help this out.

I'll also really start puttin some thought into how I want the layout to be as well, especially considering I'm living in it full time (by choice). For the last week I've been using my headlamp for lighting, but I just remembered that I have 12v red LED strips that were intended for the Harley's brake lights so I'll most likely use them instead. Then after the 1st I'll see about getting some white or soft white LEDs and move the red ones up to the front area for overhead console lights when driving.

I know that I'll be doing solar, batteries, and an inverter, but it probably won't be in that order. At least with the batteries I know where I want to put them, so at least that I can do without worrying about disrupting any plans for the layout. The wiring for the "house" will be a bit trickier until I finalize a plan for the van.

One of the other things that I would like to get done early is cameras, I just don't know if the funds will allow for it so I will have to make sure that I at least allow for running wires later if I need or want to for later upgrades.

The sooner I can get some cabinets built the better, I must admit that I'm getting really tired of hearing things crash around and then trying to find them again after driving, especially if I have to get onto the the throttle. I spent about 20min looking for my cigarettes after the last drive lol

Anyways, I'll try to be sure to take some pics of my process now that I'm most of the way past my cleanup stage from moving out of where I was at and puttin my stuff into storage.

 

I'm glad to hear things are working out... I have rebuilt a B&S mower engine before but never a V8!!! I would be a bit nervous for a while.. Great job!

When i get a chance i will add more to the camper van thread and hope that others might too.. In the videos it is not about making yours like theirs but rather different ideas that can be altered to suit individual needs. Like the mini van with the folding plywood for the bed. The idea was not to make that bed but rather the concept of a hinged folding plywood bed ideas. I am used to seeing the beds across the back. If you put it on the side and it folded in half, it would be longer. the side you fold out would go into the center space of the van but you wouldn't be using that when sleeping.. It would be a couch when not in use
Another idea i saw was the stove and sink folded up flat against the insulated wall leaving a desk space on the cabinet..

Aren't vans great storage? Much better then the trunk of a car!