Hi Just purchased a 95 E250 with 87K on it to replace my 95 F150(straight 6 300) 240K and still running great. I have done some work on the van already. replaced original shocks with kyb's changed trans fluid and filter, flushed brakes, changed oil. fogged engine(351W ), replaced plugs and fuel-air filters. Have Hellwig sway bars for front and rear to install. I also have steering damper to install(wish I had seen this forums tech section, the ambulance damper looks the way to go).
Will be using the van to tow a 23' boat and campers also a car dolly. Would like to see what I can do to wake up the 5.8 . Have some questions and will address them as I get to them.
Little on me , 52 and been into wretch'n since 12 when my mom and I built a vw kit car. Been into motorcycles since then also. My neighborhood was cool with lots of gearheads in the 70's so learned to do everything myself or to work with people with the skills needed to do what I couldn't/can't. I do not do body work as I do not enjoy it.
Of late have been working on early 60's f100 step sides, and 64 Galaxies. Focusing on the FE390 power plant for these. Was drag racing motorcycles but have switch to running a 64 Dodge Polara with a 440.
Look forward to working on the van and interacting on the forum. You all like pictures?

 

Welcome. Pic's are great. I have found that wrenching on a van isn't always pleasant, but not too bad. The positives of owning my van greatly out weigh the effort required to work on it.

 

Welcome to the forum fella!

 

 

Sounds like you have a good handle on the upkeep/maintenance on the van. If you are going to use it as a tow vehicle, I always suggest a trans cooler and real gauges to monitor stuff. I do oil pressure,EGTs,coolant temp and trans temp. EGT's is cause mine is a diesel. Never heard of it being needed on a gasser.

As far as mods for the 5.8, I am not very familiar with the motor. Intake and exhaust is always a good place to start. Not sure what tuning is available for a '95, bat at a minimum most tuners can adjust the transmission behavior to make the shifting more tow friendly. Also, what rear end gears do you have? I would swap to 4.10's if you don't already have them.

 

There's another member here that has an old van with the 5.8 engine. I believe he did some fancy new heads and some tricked out transmission. You need to talk to that guy.

My opinion is go big or go home. in order of importance:
*Definitely some lower gears (unless you'll spend lots of time on the highway: do your calculations first).
* heads and/or camshaft. Seems like you want low rpm grunt, so buy the appropriate part(s). A proper cam will wake it up nicely, even with stock intake/exhaust manifolds. Cylinder heads as well- and triple your WowFactor if you get a cam/heads package.
* upgraded rocker arms. I've never done these but they sure are popular. They are like changing camshaft without actually changing the camshaft.
* tuner will be great.
*MSD ignition adds real value.

I'd suggest be careful what you buy as upgrades to the engine because most parts are for high rpm power and it sounds like you don't need that.

 

Van came with a aftermarket trans cooler and a electric trailer brake system hooked up. I have a three gauge set up I didn't use in my drag car. oil temp, oil pressure, water temp. was planing on using it. Have used egt's for tuning bikes and on the drag car, but they have carbs. . Not much info on anyone using headers on vans . Looks like there is room for shorties. Going to talk to some guys running 351's at the track next weekend see what they think. As to the trans, will adjust the band and see where I am. Got a 1400 mile trip with car dolly in two weeks will reevaluate after that. Anybody know if a tuner box will plug in?

 

An FYI on shorty headers, they don't really work that well. To me, too much money for so few HP.
I haven't looked into headers on vans very much but if long tubes are available and legal, those are what you want

 

First, you'll notice a big difference from the straight 6 to the 351W, like night and day

Don't do any mod's, keep it stock, and do a complete maintenance on it, replace all the old rubber hoses, old vacuum lines, and you'll get top performance out of it.

You have a 5.8 with the roller cam in there, can't get any better than that, last one I parked ('94) had 326K on the clock and still running.

If the rear end has 3.73, keep it, you don't want to go with 4.10 as it will kill your mpg's on the highway, even for towing.

 

I changed the skunk juice while putting on the rear sway bar. 3.73 It tows well at 80. Had a truck on the trailer this weekend up to Tampa to drop off to the painter. No issues in traffic.
I have never used shorties but have seen them on Mustangs that ran fast. Will talk to the guys running 351's .
Hauling a car from Cooksville Tn. back to Tampa in a couple weeks. Will see how I feel about the van after that trip.

 

people buy all kinds of stuff
if it all worked you could get 1000 HP and 200 mpg

 

Not real familiar with forced induction. I will watch your posts to learn more as by the looks of your rig your in the skinny.

 

I'm working on plumbing the fuel tank to the blowers
It's a hassle stopping to refill them all the time !

 

Funny thing is that I saw an article in a car mag where they did the leaf blower trick. With a high powered one they were able to get a couple of PSI of boost out of it. Maybe to hop up a moped.......I thought it was hilarious.!!!!!!