Once upon a time Stant was top-line USA made with a tremendous reputation for quality. No doubt they're now made "off shore" so quality is a concept or fairly tale, far from reality sadly.

 

I bought the autozone knock off, it seemed to work fine, was disappointing, but this is just the way things are, nothing is as good as it once was, I am surprised the hoses didn't blow off, those clamps really held, I used to make those at Tridon years ago, I had lots of them that were made at our plant here in the USA, I had replaced those on the van with black oxide clamps, looked much better.

 

LocksmithFL, I really like your heater core supply mod. When I replaced whole system like AnnaLeigh I saw that heater blender door was always letting hot air through. I already was tired of messing with it so I just bypasses heater core with a loop. Curious where you put the valve because doesn't the heater core have a return line that always needs flow - or is it ok to just block off inlet. If the answer is yes, I think I'll just put in a hand-actuated valve in there like a garden faucet thing.

I think blender door issue might be related to hissing sound I hear coming from under dash. Have to fish around in there.

Wanted to share a radiator I think I will test out in my van when the time comes.
https://www.radiatorexpress.com/prod...222000/1117314

Thinking out loud here, but on separate note, I think I may redo the whole vacuum line system. Have a crap load to learn before hand though because I don't understand anything about the evap emissions, brake booster, MAP, etc. I will try and collect things I learn and post for reference. EDIT: pretty good info here still working through it https://www.fullsizebronco.com/threa...rubber.192382/



Jobs in que (target completion date this time next year)
-redo exterior lights
-new silicone vacuum lines
-fuel tank selector valve, rear fuel pump sender unit, fuel lines replacements
-water pump and radiator

 

I don't think having a shut off valve has any negative consequences. Now that I have the correct radiator, my temp stays normal whether I have flow through the heater core or not. And people have been bypassing their heater cores for decades with no issues. Of my two heater core hoses, one of them had a T to send heat to the rear. All the metal lines going to the rear heat were rusted out so it was capped off. I put the valve in place of the T.

Vacuum lines can be intimidating but if you do them one at a time, it's not so bad. Follow a single line end to end, replace it and move on to the next. Your engine will thank you for it.

 

Glad to hear your rig is running cool, sure is hot here in South Florida ain't it but, we are almost through another summer. Thanks for vacuum line strategy. I ordered the tubing.

 

I'd love to put a heater cutout on to increase the ac, it should have came from the factory that way.
Vacuum lines aren't difficult, I've replaced them in the past, its just irritating when who know it should work, yet doesn't, either I've bought 2 bad valves, or there is a leak somewhere inside the van, I have got to get out my vacuum pump and test it, but right now I've my hands full with my 89, repairing rust, when I'm not on it, I'm too tired to fix the other.
I saw a video of a guy who optimized his ac by cleaning the condenser, spray with window cleaner first, after 30 minutes he sprayed the foam cleaner by frost king into the condenser, I think it takes an hour, then rinse it, it gets out all the filth that impedes maximum cooling, I swear he got more than 10 degrees improvement.

 

Wow that's just insane 2 bad valves, what are your symptoms? Rust sure does feel like a priority whenever it appears - you working on the frame or body? Gotta recommend UPOL anticorrosive epoxy primer for rust - truly freakin awesome stuff.

I know that vacuum cannister under the evaporator housing over the wheel well isn't connected in my van. If it's rusty I'm going to have to deal with that first, can't have nasty cannister juju running through my vacuum lines. (I have 10 year old can of POR15 motorcycle tank sealer laying around that I can pour in there after a quick acid bath).

 

I have copied everyones fix for the ac to defrost, I have my vacuum canister under the dash on the passenger side, it continues to go to defrost, doesn't even have to be wide open throttle either, my 73 didn't drop vacuum as much as the 5.4 in this 99 E350, I don't use the AC much due to being irritated by the constant switching.
Windshield leaks bad in my 89, floor is gone around the doghouse, had I known, I'd not have told dad to get it, doghouse has an entire tube of sealer around it, previous owners attempt to seal it up, I use naval jelly, wire wheel, and once its cleaned up, I use paint designed for rusty metal, have fiberglassed quite a bit in the rear, due to the doghouse requiring a lip to seal against, I had to buy floor pans, if it wasn't that bad, I would have laid down fiberglass. Worst part, glass shop can't get here till the 20th, means more rain on the surface inside that I'm trying to clean up, the padding Ford put under the vinyl floor, it soaks up water and holds it on the metal till it is no more, the passenger seat has a plate under it, no access beneath it, nook a 2' breaker bar to remove the bolts, other than breaking one. I need to clean up the spring hanger in the rear, need something to remove the loose rust tho.

 

You have 3 vans! Meastro!
But the doghouse floor wow that is a situation... and windshield leaks, that sucks. I remember my first econoline was an 89 - the floor in that area had a huge hole in it. (I got for 400 dollars and spent a few months living in there as a student on college campus - man I loved it.)

 

Its a shorty with only 70,000 miles on the 300/6 and C6, a combo good for 300,000 miles, the body, not so much it seems, I hope I can do the floor right, so it will last, but we will see, hope to glue and screw it down, or use rivets instead of screws, almost scared to pull the doghouse, afraid what I'll see, but the replacement panels should correct it, have to transfer the seat base holes to the new pan, drivers side not so much trouble, I have a 6 way power seat for transfers from my wheelchair, it requires different holes as it is near 3' long, after repairing the rear, I put down a large sheet of rather thick diamond plate aluminum down mid van, so I don't have trouble rolling around on all the dips in the cargo floor area, I prefer it flat. I am about to seal the rear doors shut, so mad it keeps leaking, new gaskets, doors adjusted to near perfect position, aligning perfectly with the body, my mattress has a plastic tarp on it, that leak has me furious, understand why many seal off the rear, no door, or gull wing so there is no middle seam to leak. I believe the leaking is costing me more than what the van did, and it was beyond its worth, knowing how bad the floor was, he got over twice what he should have, but it is what it is, when buying a used van, lift the carpet/floor and look under both front and rear.

 

Beware Autozone will sell you the wrong blower motor to your heater, I needed one that had a socket made into the housing to plug in the power to it, what I got had wires, I will not cut my factory wiring to tap this crap on, I had to look up a truck to get the right one to show up, stupid universal Chinese junk.

 

Thats great combo, and body will last as long as you want it too. Worst case you can make it a cutaway truck and put a nice box on the back.

 

Nah, its just the rear doors, if I were a welder, I'd buy sheet steel, bend and weld it on the back completely closing it in, no leak, no problem, I put a bed back there, no entering from the rear possible now, hung my spare tire on the door, looks good on a shorty, tho putting it under the van is likely the best option, I want to figure out how to put a fuel tank under mine to extend the range in the future, that tiny 16 gallon tank mid van sux.

 

Tried buying a new Motorcraft radiator from RockAuto. They sent me 3 radiators, every one of them was damaged when received. I decided that it was impossible to ship one without it being damaged and was about to go to the dealer when Google gave me a number for a local shop 1-800-Radiator. Called them up and they had one in stock, new for $225. Took the old one with me to match it up. the owner was there and knew his stuff. Took it home and installed it, ran it all summer in Fort Myers, Florida without ever breaking above the normal range. Can't get a better test than the heat and humidity down here. Turns out they are nation wide at radiator.com. Don't know what your local would be like, but I'll be going back to mine whenever I need a radiator, heater core, or evaporator. Just passing it on. Don't forget to change those crazy hose configurations while you've got everything apart.

 

Radiator shop here, he can rebuild them, but covid cut supply, so he has trouble getting cores to build radiators.