So the 6.9 engine in my 85 E350 auto van has issues yet still runs.


An injector came apart and trashed the cylinder and went through the piston so I was looking to rebuild it but found another engine. This engine has an ATS turbo and is out of an 87 F250 MT.


Other than the oil filter and cooler assemblies what should I look out for in this swap? Will it bolt in? Are there exhaust differences?


Thanks in advance.
Darryl

 

The truck turbo kit will not work on a van. As you said, the oil filter assy is different. The vac pump is different. I assume other pulley items are different, but you can probably transfer those from the old motor.

 

What separates the truck from the van setup? I have read that the ATS setup will fit either application.


I did intend to use all pieces from my van engine on the truck engine to match it up as best as possible. The donor truck is manual trans and my van is C6 auto.


The possibilities are motivating.

 

I read the ATS truck setup won't work in a van for the following reasons. When I shopped around for a van turbo kit, I remember the truck air filter housing opening from the top, and with the van engine compartment having a roof, it couldn't be opened. Also, the intake hat is conjoined with the housing, so using the air intake was totally out. Also, I read the turbo mount is too tall, so the turbo would clash with the roof of the engine compartment. The mounts for the turbo all have to be van-specific, otherwise they don't fit either. The up pipes won't fit in the doghouse, nor the down pipe.

Overall, when I shopped for a van turbo kit, I eventually stopped looking for a truck kits, because it would involve fabbing up all my own brackets, exhaust, mounts, air intake, etc. Pretty much the only thing that was interchangeable was the turbo itself. It seemed like a waste to buy a truck kit when I'd blow over a grand on drawing up and welding up all sorts of things.

On a different note, I think the manual and C6 trannies warrant a different up- and down-pipe configuration, but that's not confirmed. I know on my hypermax van kit, they asked for what tranny I had, probably to deal with the shape of the up-pipes.

 

So I will narrow my search to van only. What about adding 7.3 turbo to my search? What years will the van 7.3 turbo fit my 85 van?

 

You could run that engine without the turbo in the van. You'd have to find the original exhaust and air cleaner housing, but that shouldn't be too hard.

 

It looks like the ATS turbo engine is the best I can find for my van and it should be here in about a week.


Is there anyone who owns an ATS Turbo who can share with me the major differences? I called ATS only to hear that they never made a turbo for the van and couldn't tell me what the differences were.


All the typical vans stuff like oil filter tower and oil cooler will be swapped from the van engine and I will need to fabricate a new intake as the truck one will not fit under the dog house.


What else?



I'm going to have a 6.9 turbo sitting in my carport and would love to figure out a way to make it fit.

 

Well this seems fairly conclusive to me. Looks like a royal PITA in my estimation. I don't know much about vans, but I do know that just opening the hood and trying to find the engine is enough to scare me away

 

My point is getting past "I read" and "I think". My question was pointed at those who have the ATS and to share their experiences. I will have the body lifted from the chassis for this engine swap so access will be much easier. Pulling the turbo and plumbing off is easy and an option. I just want to do my homework before I choose.

 

As great as this IDI-forum group is, we don't have a deep bench on the van side. I'm probably the only guy on here that actively installed a custom van turbo kit on my van. I remember researching ATS and Banks truck kits and they wouldn't work in the van compartment.

There are plenty of pics of dudes installing remote setups to get around this, so if they we willing to go thru that trouble, I doubt they did it without researching it all first. I wasn't going to do the trouble of a remote turbo setup, but I considered it.

Maybe JohnIDI or the other van guys could chime in. Maybe you could install the truck engine and post the pics. I suspect your exhaust will clash with the doghouse, but you could custom fab that part if necessary. And maybe you could route your own air intake with large diameter hosing. Oh, but make sure your turbo isn't too tall.... come to think about it, I remember JohnIDI saying the truck kit was too high and it would clash with the top of the doghouse and underside of the engine compartment.

If you wanted, you could measure the height of the turbo from the top of the valley pan, then I could measure it on my engine. If it clashes, then you will know. Regardless, I'm sure the hump in the doghouse pocket is probably there for a reason.... see this image:



www.nickpisca.com/hypermax

 

Thank you.

 

Truck turbo has to come off.

Drivers side exhaust manifold, oil cooler, and fuel filter head are different on vans compared to trucks.


Vans have the fuel filter mounted on the drivers side vs. on the passenger side in trucks.

You will need to mount it on the drivers side to put the engine into a van, but you can leave it be if you put a van engine into a truck though, but everything else I mention has to change.


Also, put your chain as tight as you possibly can when pulling/instaling an engine into a van, and lift the engine as straight as possible. You have about 2-3" on both sides to play with, and about the same from the top with a cherry picker in there.


If you have any van questions I'm the guy to talk to, I got 4 of these things, ones a gasser.