Hi Everyone,
Ive always loved 3rd gen Econoline vans since I was a kid. My dad and grandfather had a 76, 78 Super, 85 Super and a few 4th gens as well. Seeing the older ones always gets me nostalgic. I have a family now and thought it be nice to have a Club Wagon for family outings and trips. I found a (seems to be mint) '89 XLT 15 passenger in South Carolina that I'm gonna go look at in a few weeks. 5.8L, rear step bumper, engine cover console, 54K original miles (said to be a church van originally). New fuel pumps in both tanks, new distributor and wiring, new front window motors. Owner said that he had the fuel pumps replaced once not long ago and then they both failed shortly after (coincidence?). So this time while had the new pumps put in he also replaced the distributor. Any clue what could lead to both new fuel pumps failing so quick? Also its an 89 but oddly the rear doors license plate area is the pre-89 design. It also doesn't seem to have overdrive which makes me wonder how highway driving will be (?)

 

That van is fantastic. I cannot believe how well it has held up through the years. Seriously, there's no way it's all original right? I feel like even in the best of storage conditions stuff would be deteriorated by now.

Excellent van.

 

Well the gentleman who owns it now did have it repainted from the roof line down. Not sure of its original paints condition but it had typical Church lettering on it. Also you would think being owned by a church most of its life that it would have been parked outside. As for the interior - I guess very little usage could lead to an interior of this condition.

 

That van looks extremely clean!! I really like the blue interior. It is the same color I have.

The reasons you brought up are the exact reasons why I bought my '88 e250. Growing up we took long road trips in my dads e150 every summer. Now there are 5 in my family, plus a dog. Just made a 3000 mile round trip to Texas this summer in the van. Besides an alternator issue it ran like a champ. Bad part is that I was thinking that I should replace the alternator before I left, but got lazy. It was showing some voltage drops under normal use. Running the front and rear AC on high, along with everyone charging their electronics did it in after about 500 miles.

I also have a c6 3 speed in mine. Looking at the axle code in the door jam would tell you if you have 4.10's or 3.54's. 4.10's would give you pretty high rpm's at today's highway speeds. 3.54's would be tolerable, but still pretty high rpm's. I was able to find a used DNE2 auxiliary overdrive to bolt on to the back of mine. You could also swap in an e4od/4r100 and use a stand alone controller for it without too much trouble, though the new trans would cost you a little over $1K for a good freshly rebuilt unit. The older e4od's had their issues, but those have been fixed with updated parts used in the current rebuilds. Using a stand alone controller takes care of the finicky OEM controllers from that era of Ford trucks/van. If I can ever get the free time I am planning on swapping in an e4od/4r100 on mine along with the auxiliary OD.

 

Awesome shape...gotta love your Rust Free southern states...

 

jayro - thats great info! I was checking out an 89 Club Wagon brochure and though it states that a 4spd elect. OD transmission was standard there is a note below stating "see your dealer for availability".

 

I don't know exactly when Ford made the change to the e4od. I know that evwn after the change was made, the c6 was still available. Some people picked the c6 due to its rugged durability and simplicity......especially when compared to the first rendition of the e4od. Biggest pluses on the e40d or 4r100 is a deeper OD then the auxiliary aftermarket (.8 vs .71 i think) and the locking torque converter that combine to render better mileage and less cabin noise as speed. At 55mph mine wasn't bad, but at 65-75mph it would get pretty loud....but mine is also a 7.3 idi diesel. In my dream world i would swap in an OD trans, keep my aux OD and swap in 4.10s for increased towing/efficiency in stop and go traffic and a lower cruising rpm then i have now on the hwy......plus a lockong torque converter. The higher rpms of the gasser may put it in the motors sweet spot. I would say that you probably shouldn't expect to get any higher than low to mid teens for mileage on it. I know the 460 versions get closer to 10mpg. Don't know if the 5.8 would do any better.

 

jay - again great info. BTW I was just reading another thread that you swapped your rear bed/bench to regular bench seats!! That is so funny! I have always wanted to do this exact thing but with an extended body van such as the one I'm looking at. My ultimate goal is to find a set of factory swivel captains chairs for the second-ish row and maybe space out the third row a little further back or something. I always wished Ford would have offered the quad captains chairs in the super van but perhaps with some customizations I can make that dream come true.

 

This was my setup to begin with:


I kept the 2 captains chairs for any adult passangers since they are much more comfortable than the benches. The kids don't seem to mind the benches. Putting the benches in with the quick release brackets gave more versatility. Since I only have a small utility trailer I set it up to haul big/heavy stuff in the back if needed:


I did something similar to what you were talking about for our trip to Texas. I pulled the middle bench seat and just left the back one to provide more interior room:




Used a hitch mounted cargo carrier for luggage. Started with 2 totes and ended up buying 2 more while we were in Texas for more luggage space. Had to temporarily mount the licence plate to the carrier so it was visible on the return trip:

 

Jared that van looks likes a much nicer twin to my 89 E350 ( Except mine doesn't have power windows ) . That van looks like it's in great shape! I wish mine looked that good.

Mine has the 5.8L/C6 with the 3.54 rear gears. It runs fine at highway speeds with out a OD gear. I've never had any issue with any 75-91 van with a C6 not having enough top end speed.

 

Hello, New to the forum and this will be my first post. I love this van you have pictured and I hope you end up getting it. I don't know why but I am obsessed with big heavy duty vans. I just purchased a Red 2005 E-350 extended with literally 60k miles l. I am waiting for the transportation company to deliver it. I am so excited I can't even sleep . I would definitely get the one you are considering because it's rare to find a old clean van like that.

 

Originally, there were two different left back doors with windows in 1989.

E8UZ-1140011-B .. Left Back Door-includes window opening / Replaced

1988 E150/350 from production date 3/1988 / 1989 E150/350 before production date 10/88.
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E9UZ-1140011-B .. Left Back Door-includes window opening.

1989 E150/350 from production date 10/88 / 1990/91 E150/350.

In fact, E9UZ-1140011-B replaced all the 1975/88 & 1989 (before production date 10/88) left back doors for use as "service part replacements."

Sometime in the 1990's, FoMoCo was cited by the NHTSA because the Super Van/Wagon were prone to rolling over.