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Been visiting the site for years. I'm a DIY guy on my fifth Ford.
Grew up in 65 F250 4x4, and have owned a 65 F250 Camper Special, 63 F-100 Unibody on a 65 f250 4x4 chassis, and an 85 f250 6.9idi 4x4.
Needless to say, I've spent plenty of time on the site keeping those rigs running.
My current Ford is a 1981 E150 4x4 conversion.
It's a former BLM service vehicle that was subsequently owned by a BLM employee and used for a rafting rig.
We use it as an all around adventure/camping/work/do everything van.
The interior is pretty muchbuilt out with swivel front seats and removable second row from an early 2000's Eurovan, a retrofitted Decked drawer system, and a 200W solar/100AH house power system.
I'm midway through a 302/c6 to 351W/ZF5 swap/conversion and rust repair on the driver footwell.
The new motor is a rebuilt 79 block with Edelbrock heads, RV cam, and Ford Racing intake, with a Edelbrock 1906 AVS2 carb.
I'm about to dive into setting up the accessory drive and am hitting a wall on brackets, but I'll throw up a stand alone post for that.
Here's a pic where she sits waiting for me to finish welding in the floor so I can start the reassembly.
Welcome to the forums. That van is a beauty! One day when I have a place to work on stuff I want to get something classy like that and trick it all out!
Nice 4x4 E-Series for scrambling around New Mexico !
In my experience of Ford engines, I also do like the 351W.
Below is a link to my scrambler E-Series 250 this is my creational home-brew 4x4 conversion done in 1993.
I have been going through a 27-year do-over, and started underneath with removal of fuel tanks, which allowed me to pressure wash, scrub w/ emery cloth and wire brush or sandblasting in difficult areas, the full underside and chassis. Sandblasting is so messy !
The Van was my wife's daily driver for 8-years then 2-years daughter's driving in high school, then retired to mothballs in 2004.
I fought numerous challenges from August 2020 to October 2021. Was a long journey solving gremlins, and finally have the engine running nicely (a 385 series 429 balanced).
Your van has the same stance as mine. I purchased the front axle assembly from a wrecked '78 Chevy 4x4 van by chance for mine. A note for wanna-be's: the Chevy conversions used a Ford pickup front axle assembly w/ AcDelco disc calipers !
My first van conversion to 4x4 was a '75 club wagon with 351W, and I really did like the power and towing capabilities w/ 4:10 gears.
Gearing is a curse as pulling a 26-ft trailer with 3:50 gears sucks in mountainous terrain. The 4:10 gears are wonderful, BUT, really do suffer on the Interstate.
Both fuel tanks in my '78 were galvanized and surprisingly clean inside so pressure washed up good with degreaser !
Everything beneath was meticulously cleaned and resealed with new paint. Well worth the effort.
For the Ford Van peeps, below is a sampler of the undercarriage and body:
Above photo: the belly (aux) tank is not in place in this shot. It resides behind the NP2045 transfer case.
Maybe this will motivate someone to clean and repaint the underside of their Van for mental wellness.
Hope all goes well with your accessory bracketry search.
Wow cool rig. I hope the underside of my van looks that clean someday!
I'm looking to install a second tank on ours to get a little more range.
It is the first thorough Cleaning underside since I've owned it.
Give the guys a phone call @ FillerneckSupply.com for assistance.
You will see in my Thread linked that I had to lengthen the float arms on the new fuel sending units.
I really couldn't find sender's for Van specific, and ordered for F250 pickup units.
If you have a buddy with a mig welder, use it to zap the welds quickly for steel nails to the stainless float arms.
I tried oxy / acet but the stainless would oxygenate and turn to slag. Peeping on a welding forum for hand welding stainless, a guy chimed in and said we must use an Argon gas mix.
With steel wool, emery cloth and wire brush your underside should clean up rather well.
Enjoy, and thanks for sharing your Van
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