I had a thread here about adding an intercooler to a 7.3 E-350, and there was some interest in the overall build, so I figured I'd start a build thread.

Background on the van and where we are going with it: This van started out down south and is clean as all can be underneath. This van is being built to haul a trailer for a business. This van will be all over the eastern part of the country. When done, the van will be a 4x4 Dually hauler.

Picture time.



The van and trailer shortly after picking up the van.



Mocking up the Superduty rear fenders. The plan for wheels and tires are 22.5 tires in the summer and 33's in the winter.



Transmission and transfer case has been swapped in. Crossmember needed to be lowered 2" for clearance of the trnasfer case to the floor.



Front suspension removed. I am not use to working on clean under carriages. This is definitely not a snowbelt van.



F-350 Superduty Dana 60 front with 4.10 gears. U joint off road spring hangers and Atlas springs.



Custom built shock towers and Bilstein 5125 shocks.



Dana 60 rear and auto leveling air suspension rear. Dana 60 is coming out.



Dana 60 out, Dana 80 going in. That Dana 60 looks so tiny lol.



As it sits today. With 33's under it, the pinch weld at the bottom of the rockers should sit at about 22" off the ground.

I will continue to update this thread as I go. Next on the list is the engine mods. Those will include the intercooler install, high volume oil pump, regulated fuel return, FASS 200 GPH fuel pump, Swamps injectors and tune, exhaust brake, 4" Diamond Eye exhaust.

Then it is time to swap the '08 Van front end on.

Steve S.
To many to list.

 

awesome! I am currently doing the ujoint offroad 4x4 kit on my 99 psd!

 

Fantastic! Great photos. I am subscribing to this thread. Keep up the good work, looks like a lot of fun.

 

Yes, Very Interesting build.

Some nice fab work there too

I've seen your other posts, but did I miss what your using for a donor vehicle??

Also looks like your kind of tight in the work space there, at least you got it out of the weather to do all this work.

Next time I'm down your way, I'd like to check this out.
Typing this from Buffalo
I do get down to Erie for jobs once in a while.

 

Thats an awesome build!

 

Thanks for looking. I am doing this for someone else, but if you happen to be in the area in the next few weeks, your more than welcome to swing by.

Things are tight with this van in the shop. Ive been working out of this shop for 20 years now, but I am going to be upgrading in the next few months. I cant wait for that.

As for the donor vehicle, I present one well abused Superduty.



The rear ended up being bent, but the owner scored a hell of a deal on one of his trips south, so it worked out in the end. He sold enough off of this to make his parts he used free for him

Steve S.
To many to list.

 

I understand it's for a customer of your.

I'll see what my schedule runs in the next couple of weeks.

Of course........Erie is always a good trip, because you have a Golden Corral down there, and we don't

We just got to beat back the weekend Canadian visitor's too.......

Good donor, nothing like getting something for re-use, that someone didn't appreciate very well.

 

Intercooler time.



Front end removed. As most of you know, there is not much room. I'm installing a 6.0 intercooler.



First fitting. This is where it will sit in the vertical plane. Now we just need it to get closer to the A/C condenser.



This is where I stopped last night. It still needs to get closer, as right now, there is 5" between the condenser and the intercooler. Driver side tube will interfere with anti lock module, so that will have to move. The passenger side is a clear shot right now. It looks like the lower part of the core support will have to be modified greatly. This part of the core support also holds the bottom of the radiator, so this should be fun .

It will be a couple of days before anything else gets done, as the kids take over the next few days The onwer is also going to start bringing over the '08 front end so I can see how much more the intercooler needs to go back.

Steve S.
To many to list.

 

I will be interested to see how this works out. Do you have any plans for a large trans cooler? My van is an '88. I put a 6.0 trans-cooler on it and wouldn't have room for anything else. I would love an IC if I ever turbo mine, bit I have no idea where it would go. Do you think the IC will have a negative affect on cooling since it could reduce the airflow over the radiator? I have not towed heavy with mine yet, but am interested to see how the addition of the large trans cooler affects the functionality of the radiator. Here is what my trans-cooler looks like:

 

WOW! I never noticed how huge those coolers are before. Fantastic.

 

There is a trans cooler and power steering cooler on the van right now. We would love to go bigger on the trans cooler, but are not sure if that is in the cards yet. A second cooler and filter can be mounted under the van, and that may be the way we go. The 99 front end offers a little more room in front of the core support than the 88, and it looks like the 08 front end will offer a little bit more than that.

Steve S.
To many to list.

 

Here is an update from last nights adventures. I got the intercooler into its final resting spot. I mocked up the grill and the header panel to see about clearances. I also got some stuff off the top of the motor so that I can build the intercooler tubes, remove the fuel bowl, install the new HPOP, and install the new injectors. On to pictures.



This is the start of the new front end. I do not have all of the front yet, but this gives you an idea of how much more room there is.



This is the view from the top. The intercooler is at the top of the picture. I was able to tuck it partially under the core support top bar. I still have to make the final brackets to mount it, but this is where it will be. There is a good 5-6" between the cooler and the grill. Very minor trimming of the header panel will be required at the bottom to clear the end tanks.



The turbo and van spider has been removed and the truck spider is in its place.

This is where I stopped for the night. Tonight, I think I am going to swap out the HPOP and remove the fuel filter bowl. I will also remove a few other hoses and such so that I can start on the tubes.

Steve S.
To many to list.

 

Not sure if its just me but this is one of the more ambitious projects I've ever seen------congrats on making progress!

 

That front end definitely provided some more room. With some adjustment you might be able to fit a bigger trans cooler in there, though stacking too much could hurt the efficiency of all of it and the engine cooling.

What are the plans (besides the intercooler) to fight heat with the added power. I remember reading that cooling was one of the biggest hurdles in the van body.

 

Thanks JWA.

Well, last night didn't feel very productive, but in reality it was. I got the fuel bowl off, which is being deleted, and I got the HPOP switched out. We also got an idea of what is going to happen with the front end. Only a couple of pictures from last night, but sometimes, pictures are worth at thousand words.



Ooooooo, pretty new parts Talk about not alot of room to work.



The 2008 front end is NOT bolt on. As you can see in this picture, the fender mounting points are not there. The fender is lined up with the door pretty well, but the very front and the second bolt back have nothing to bolt too. After talking with the owner, the decision has been made that we are swapping the inner structure over from the '08. He bought the whole front clip, so we might as well use it. Time to get the spot weld cutter out.

Another way to approach this is to make up mounting points for these 2 mounting spots.

jayro, as far as cooling concerns, The grill on the '08 is huge compared to the '99, and the front bumper will be custom, so I will be adding cooling cutouts for that also. I may open up the core support with ducting to flow air thru the engine compartment. The owner has also made comments about wanting a ram air style hood, so I may be able to incorporate something there.

Steve S.
To many to list.