I am new to the forum I joined up hoping I could get advice on where to source a pedal assembly for my Ford van. I am installing is he a five speed into my 1976 4 x 4 van but I'm having difficulty finding a pedal assembly in fact it's the last item I need before I tear the van apart . Any help or advice would be very much appreciated from what I understand in 1985 pedal assembly hydraulic type works I don't know if you can use a pedal assembly off a pick up though thanks a lot .

 

What engine does your van have? Being a Quadravan I'm assuming it's a 460? If it's a 460 the ZF has a different hydraulic slave set up then the smallblock version does. The 460 version has a clutch fork, the smallblock ones don't.

Finding the clutch/brake pedal assembly is going to be difficult. The manual transmission equipped vans are pretty rare. It won't be easy and may take a while but if you keep looking you should be able to find one. You might have to buy a complete donor van to get them. That's what I had to do. No one sells the clutch pedal new. And I have never seen a used one on Ebay. So it may be a long wait to find one there.

I believe the vans went to hydraulic slave cylinder set up in 83 or 84. So if you want the entire set up you want to find a 83 or 84 thru I think 90 was the last year for the manual transmissions. But because of how the van master cylinder mounts you shouldn't have an issue using a mechanical linkage clutch pedal assembly.

The truck clutch pedal assemblies are different.

I don't know what your fabrication skills are. Or what kind of tools/facilities you have access to. If you can't find the correct Econoline pedal assembly you might be able to take an automatic 75-91 Econoline brake pedal assembly ( mounting bracket/pedal ) and then get a 73-79 Ford truck clutch & brake pedal assembly. Remove the clutch pedal from the assembly. Then compare it to the van brake pedal. You might have to modify the shape or length of the truck pedal. And then fit it to the van pedal bracket. I haven't tried this so I can't guarantee it would work.

Here's a parts catalog picture break down of the van pedal assembly.



Here's a picture from my donor van that shows the location of the clutch master cylinder in the van.




Another option might be an aftermarket clutch pedal. One like this CNC pedal I'm using in a different truck project.



I believe CNC, Wilwood, and some other companies all sell them. This would take some fabrication to make work. And it would be an awful tight fit for the clutch master in the van in that location due to the brake booster.

Your best bet is to find a stock set up. But that probably won't be an easy task.

 

An option I was exploring with my van was an air operated clutch, with a valve handle on the shifter. In the end I am going with a built E4OD instead, mostly to clear the turbo that will go in there.

 

I had no idea they sold vans with sticks. Where is the shifter located? It seems like it would be way behind the driver's seat!

 

There was a 3 on the tree which was a 3sod column shift.

Then there were 3spd & 3spd OD transmissions that had the shifters here:





Then the NP435/T18/T19 4spd's and the 5spd vans had the shifters here:

 

interesting the 435s in the doghouse