Hello. I am new to this forum/website; however, I have always liked Ford truck products and I think they are still the standard by which all trucks should be measured by.

I vividly remember the 1983 Econoline van owned by my good friend's father for many years. Bought brand-new in early '83, shortly after my friend and I were born, that van was used for over a decade before it was retired due to age and harsh Northeast winters. My main points are these: The van was definitely an ordinary Econoline- not an E-150, it just plain said "Econoline" on the side. What did that mean? I know for a fact it had a 300 straight-six engine, but it also had a four-speed manual OD transmission (and it said "Overdrive" on the back door). To this day, that particular van was, and is, the only Ford full-size van I have ever seen with a manual tranny. I remember the shifter being long and kind of awkward to use.

Now how rare are manual-equipped Econolines these days? It seems as if most of those vans from the '80s are long gone by now. And was the manual tranny a strong and robust unit? I remember my friend's dad saying he had no problems with it in the 13 years he owned the van. I also recall it being kind of gutless, with terrible gas mileage, but having tons of torque from that 300 six.

 

I think '83 was a bad year for ford engine wise. We had an 83 E350 club wagon (15 pass.) with a 351w/c6 combo, then about 12 years later acquired a '82 same engine and trans,and weight class, even with more miles the 82 ran circles around the '83. How many lugs were there on the axles? If it was 5 it was a 1/2ton or E150, if it was 8 then it was a 3/4 or 1 ton (E250, or E350).

 

Sorry, I cannot recall how many lugs there were on the axles...

And I agree with you saying that '83 was a bad year for Ford engine-wise...my uncle had an '83 Mustang with the 3.8 V-6 (his first Ford); it broke down five blocks from the showroom the day he took delivery. The less said, the better.

 

I had a 1984 F150 with the 300 straight-six and a four-speed manual OD transmission (and it said "Overdrive" on the tailgate). That tranny is still working fine at 200,000 miles with only an oil change at around 100,000 miles. Of course it never saw work, only commuting. A van with a manual tranny sounds great. Really sad you can't get Ford vans that way anymore. Makes me wonder if they will do it to the pickups next.

 

all of the big three starting this year "phased out" the manual in their 1/2 ton models.

 

In 1980, I was shopping for a new E350 cutaway van, and looked at one with a 300 and a 3-speed column shift. It was the only manual shift cutaway I ever saw. I opted for a 351/C6!

 

we have two!
78 e250- converted from a 79 e150 w/351-4over
83 e150 w/302-40ver

the 78 blew an engine so i took the tranny out and put it into the 83 when the tranny in it blew, when that tranny blew i put the engine in my bronco...wait and its an 83!!!...

 

I'm running/working constantly on an '81 Econoline 150. No overdrive badge on the body but definitely has the 300 w 4spd. OD. Shifting forks are starting to get a little worn but last time I checked locally a rebuild was $800, that's more than the van's worth! I did trick it out with various electronics and a futon in the back, but with its carrying capacity and ease to work on I'll proabably be hanging on to it for a few more years.

 

the tremec 5 speed will bolt up to the 300-6 and the 351w if you take 1/2" off the input shaft, makes for a sweet cruiser(70mph @2000rpm w/4.10 gears and 16" tires)

 

In 1988 and 1989, The 4.9L with 5 speed manual was the last manual offered in a complete E-series van.
This trans was the Mazda M5OD unit.
The M5OD was basemodel equipment, although I've only seen three so far. On these, the shifter boot is on the engine cover tranny hump.
These were only available in 150 models.

There's a special procedure to remove the engine cover.

The ZF manual was available on stripped chassis only.