Hi all. Well it turns out once your a van guy you're a van guy for life. True in my case at least!

Van addiction has netted me a gently used '96 E350 turtle-top leaf sprung 4x4 with a scant 175k mines on the clock and a dubious past. Had to drag her out of a banana patch basically, but she purrs, so that's something.

The 5.8l Windsor does fell a little sluggish and I'd like to do something about that. I'm planning to upgrade the radiator and go to electric fans. I have some shorty 302 headers from an old project that I'd like to use, and I believe I can since I want to redo the exhaust from the Y pipe back. Also considering cold air intake, but can't find a specific kit for my year.

Will this be enough to give me some noticable pep? I don't need it to knock my socks off, but a little fizz in the trousers would be nice.

​​​​Should I do something different/else? I understand a cam is really the way to go, but how difficult is that to do while the engine is still in the van? And what other changes will a more aggressive cam necessitate?

Would love to hear stories and see photos of your built 5.8W in your van.

Mahalo,
Sean

 

 

They make computer friendly cams so check around. If you don't mind removing valve covers and the timing cover then a cam change isn't horrible (but not fun). Find out what your axle ratios are and maybe do a change there for a better seat of the pants feel. Once you start changing heads or big cams the computer has to be tweeked. There are some intakes that can help but usually doesn't do much until the heads are changed.

Depending on what your existingaxle ratio is, I think the gear change will be your best bang for the buck. NM I see that yours is 4x4. Still doable but the price may make this prohibitive.

Post some pics of your new find.

 

That vintage motor already has a decent RV style roller cam so the best upgrades are exhaust and 1.7 rockers. After that you're looking at heads and intake but that's when things get complicated because those upgrades coincide with limitaions of the EFI control system

 

I did GT40 heads, 1.7 Cobra rockers, shorty headers and a full 3" exhaust on my 96 E150. It did pep it up, but the Mass air never has fully adjusted to the mods. I changed the rear gear from 3.55 to 4.10 and that alone did more seat of the pants feel than the engine mods did. Your E350 I think has an SD EFI so you may be more limited than mine was. Just removing the intake silencer will help and replace the filter with a K&N. Check and see if you have Mass Air next time you pop the hood. Leave the MSD to the Chevy guys, these already have an excellent ignition system that's controlled by the ECM. A tune up with new wires, plugs, distributor cap and rotor would likely help if that hasn't been done

 

Something else that hasn't been mentioned yet is just make sure the base timing is set correctly and that it advances when the spout plug is reinstalled.

 

Here she is. Ain't she a looker? 😂

 

Going to do new radiator and E-fan cause she did heat up a little going up the mountain to my house. Not much, but enough to do something about it. Radiator looks shabby with pleanty bent fins. E-fan seems to be a good upgrade saving weight and drag on the engine, also like how much it opens up the engine bay.

 

So my exhaust fabricator is saying to go from the 2.5" headers into a 3" y-pipe to muffler, then 2.5" out. I asked him why not just 3" all the way, and he said the engine needs the back pressure.

Is that true? I've heard this argument both ways, and I still don't know what's true.

 

No engines don't need backpressure which is just another name for flow restrictions, but bigger isn't always better either. The ideal exhaust system is a compromize between flow capacity at higher rpms and scavenging ability. at lower rpms, and of course noise level. Bigger tubing flows more but produces less scavenging at low rpms and is more likely to drone at cruising speed, and small tube scavenges better but has less total flow capacity. Given that this engine only makes a touch over 200hp there is no need for a large volume exhaust, a well built 2.5" system will work fine and well built means the bends reduce in diameter as little as possible. If your muffler shop uses a hydraulic compression bender try to minimize sharp bends as those crimp the tube more, the ideal is mendrel bends but most shops don't have that type of bender.

 

On my 96 I reused the stock Y pipe but replaced the cat with a 3" high flow unit, this transitions to a straight 3" pipe leading to a 3" Dynomax Super Turbo truck muffler. Tailpipe is a mandrel bent F150 piece either a Flowmaster or Magnaflow part. Works great, no drone at highway speeds, just enough sound to let you know it's there. I did all the work myself.

 

I'm having a hard time finding an upgrade radiator electric fan combo for the '96 E350 5.8l. Searching mostly shows me results for the corresponding year F series truck. Are they the same parts truck and van 5.8l?

 

The van radiator is a down flow, trucks are cross flow. The stock fan clutch does an excellent job, really no need to convert it to electric unless it just quit working. Mine rarely ever kicks on in my 96. Had a 95 E150 that the clutch went out, I replaced it with a low speed unit instead of the thermal. It did the job towing in 100+ heat in Nevada.