Firstly, best of luck with your help. You've been a fantastic resource and I wish you nothing but the best. I know the feeling with plastic, especially from an 81 - everything feels like it wants to shatter. Parts are hard to find. I saw a 1991 on bring a trailer that had two gas tanks and was mint (also had a v8) with an automatic but the price went too high for my tastes. A 1991 would be cooler as it seems there are more parts for that year but I'll make do with the 81. We'll see. I like problems that don't necessarily have a text book answer... fabrication is fun, until it becomes annoying.

Thanks for the information on this; if we're comparing EFI to a Carb then EFI Should win hands-down; a carb is really a controlled fuel leak that needs constant tinkering, while EFI should regulate itself and provide more power and a better experience.
With that said, I appreciate your input on this. Really, I'd like to keep the 6 cylinder that's in there but DARN is it slow!

Right now I've been working on my garage into making it a nice place to work, I basically gutted it and I'm starting to run new electricity, finally. I found out late that the outside wall was never insulated, so... I'm doing that. Between insulating the garage door, installing a new exterior door (there was a door in/out the garage but it was NOT an exterior door with insulation) and insulating the ceiling, it's getting a lot better. Eventually I'll be purchasing a mini-split to provide heat in the winter and cold in the summer, I purchased a side mount garage door opener as I'm installing recessed lights and want to keep the ceiling as clear as possible (not possible with the garage door track, but alas, it will be better in the end.)

I really hope to begin working on the truck again soon, I have the floor pans for the cabin and some metal for the rear end as well as a new fender for the right side (finding one for the left is... UGH) so the body should be coming together quite nicely. I have a 4 speed in there now but definitely plan on switching to a 5 speed, I'm debating between the 5MODR2 and I think the ZF is a choice that should be heavier duty. I haven't decided yet.

I'd like to fix the floors get the 5 speed in and get the heat/AC working as it should, most of the AC parts I bought were for the 88-91 model years so that should be fun fitting it in the 81, but I figure it should be close enough - worst case I have to make new holes from the cabin through the firewall and patch them up?

 

My 4.9 runs different every time you start it, as far as gutless, I leave the hospital pedal on the floor to just get 25 MPH, EFI is not worth the problems it causes. There is more cash in this nightmare than you can buy a stroked v8 complete with carb, distributor, and exhaust manifolds. Seen many dual tank vans dirt cheap, switch issues that the owner is just done messing with. There has been many parts vans around here, basket cases with so much dents and rust they are good for only parts, been sitting 10 years or more. The 302 is plentiful and a direct swap for a 4.9, the 351W is even better tho, and the 4.9 is not good on gas either, so there really is no real reason to keep one. If your van is a dark color, do look at the smoked signal replacements for the marker lights, they look pretty good against gray. Pickup truck guys have sequential tail lights, which will fit in the rear of the 76 to 90 body, costly tho.

 

You going to get the generic dynomat material and cover all the steel panels inside, I wish I had done my walls with it, I did put it inside my doors, along with reflective bubble wrap insulation.
Be careful with your backup lights, I believe I had to get on Bronco Graveyard to replace one of mine, that was the only place with them, mine was missing on the drivers side, the rest of the bulb holders are available at the parts stores. There is no license plate light housings being made, mine was mangled, put an aluminum sheet to fill the hole and an LED bar aimed at my plate.

 

@maples01 I have dynamat sitting inside ready to apply, this is project car #2 and I've done the dynamat on 75% of the other car. With all the bare metal in the truck, you can bet I'll be going with dynamat, probably some type of foam layering, and something asthetically pleasing (not sure what) over the insulation. It'll be solid, less noisy, and it'll look decent too (so I hope!)

I actually found a NOS license plate holder on craigslist and had the guy ship it to me, I think I paid about $80. The rest of the holders are in good shape. All the lights work except the dash lights (which I may re-run, I'm not 100% positive - I've already replaced the rheostat for the headlights and can confirm those work but the only two things electrically that aren't working are the cigarette lighter (simple enough...) and the dash lights - oddly enough the dome light works, I purchased switches for the dome light for the doors, and as much as the annoying buzzing from having the ignition key in bothered me as a child, I definitely need to have one as it's more of a nostalgic feature. I do plan on installing a nice big screen navigation unit as well as a backup camera and some speakers in the door; I'm debating auto locks and auto windows as well (hand crank windows are nostalgic, but I've gotten so used to the convenience). Basically I'm taking anything that was improved in the mid generation update (84? 88 in some places?) and applying it to this truck. It's going to be a restomod of things I want to improve, and things I want to keep old school. I wish I could find a cluster with a tacometer that moves all the gauges to one "column" (let's say there are 3 major columns, left side, speedometer, right side) but that may be a pipe dream.

I looked into exhaust, EFI again, and I'd like to run exhaust headers with 2.5" clearance (dual exhaust) so the truck can breathe better. I've heard of excellent gains. I've also heard of gains on a 2bbl carb, or even a 4bbl carb, although I need to do more research. I'm just doing as much reading as I can and when I actually purchase things I'll be re-reading... I need to keep my OCD in check as I already have a room filled with parts ready to install. I need to take it easy, slow down, and focus on one job at a time... like running LEDs in the cluster so I can get it off my work bench and get it back into the van. We'll see; the garage is coming along nicely - in order to adjust the exterior lights of the porch and garage I had to open the outlet box (3 gang) near the entrance to my house; inside I found 7 wires and a switch that seemingly did nothing.

Well, with an oscillating tool and making my walls look like a finely aged swiss, I found that it went to the basement and was just sitting by itself, wire-nutted in a junction box. Boy that pissed me off, but that leaves 6 wires (I need to add two for the garage lights (1) and porch light (1) - both are motion sensored but having the switch to reset them every now and then is a very solid idea as sometimes the motion sensing can get wonky.

So that's been my life. I work third shift, wake up around 22:30PM, usually work until 09:00AM, and work on my house until 12:00 and fall asleep sometime between 12:30 and 14:30 - any later than that and it just makes life suck. I'm getting too old and my body doesn't bounce back like it used to (I'll be 40 next year) so I need to be a little more patient with myself. Sneezing and throwing out my back is something I thought I'd never do but it happens and takes a few days for it to go away... so need to stay careful, work smart (and hard) and focus on one task at a time. Don't worry - when I start working on the truck I promise you'll be the first one to know about it, with pictures. I know I promised you pictures of the LED lighting on the cluster and I will deliver, I promise! (reminds me I need my soldering iron back from my buddy...)

As always, please be well @maples01 , take care of yourself (sounds like you do) and keep on rocking. I always appreciate your posts!

 

I used the green foam board insulation I got from Lowes in my 73, put the reflective backed bubble wrap between it and the wall, was pretty warm inside, my 89 has the fiberglass mess, I refuse to pull anymore of the previous idiots crap out, just covered it all with tongue and groove pine, he put 1/2" staples in the luan to hold the carpet on, shot from the back, so the sharp ends were hiding in the carpet, got cut every time I touched the walls. Even covered its still pretty loud inside, wondering if not putting mat on the floor could be the contributor to all the noise, walls and ceiling are covered. If you want to make room for the future put a 1" PVC pipe in the wall to run wire later if needed, just leave an access panel.
I rattle canned my van dark gray, couldn't stand the off white, primer and rust, think it took about 12 cans to cover it all, roof is still white, can't reach it.
There is a one barrel to 2 barrel adapter for putting a 2100 Autolite on, seen some happy guys with it, the Offenhauser is pretty expensive, $700.

 

Definitely cover any long stretches of metal - you don't need to cover the whole panel, but I would (just because)

The former owner of my truck put up masonite and it was bad; they cut decent studs to mount it to but they too used fiberglass insulation... half of which was wet... so that got chucked.

I removed everything from the truck to inspect the body the best I could - foam board isn't a bad idea, but there are better options for sound deadening - cork board works VERY well, and so does egg crate foam. For the bare metal I'd go with Dynamat or an alternative (really it's just a sheet of rubber with some very sticky glue and foil on the outside, this is a good start and will prevent rattles and little noises - if you insulate a door and close the door after applying the dynamat, close the door before you apply it, and close the door after - you'll notice a huge difference! I'd opt to do as much as I could reach, including the inside of the door as well.

At this point the next step on the truck (when I finally get there, the garage is finally getting closer - I'm mounting boxes for electrical all over the damn place so I always have an outlet) is to remove the 4 speed transmission, install the new floor boards and do the body work, purchase a 5MODR2, cut holes for that, install that and get it running. I'd also like to install the new radiator and heating controls (it came with the basic heating controls, no vent pointing out - either defrost or feet) so I need to figure out the vacuum connections; I bought all the duct from a '91 and the one thing I'm curious about is the fresh air doors on my 81 - per the FSM, you had those doors or you didn't, depending on which mechanism your truck came with.

I also want to do the big 4 upgrade to 1/0 wire to improve the horrible ground and connections to the alternator, furthermore an upgraded alternator is on the list as well.

The engine has oil all over it and I think I'm going to drop it and port the heads and try for 300HP on it... we'll see! A turbo would be cool as hell but if I can pull it off naturally aspirated, I would like to. I'd consider adding a second gas tank, but that seems like a lot of work, but having two gas tanks sounds awesome as well. Not sure if it was done on the shorties... lastly, every piece of rubber under the truck is cracked and broken, so new mounts all the way around. It's a huge job when all is said and done, but I'm looking forward to emptying out my "sitting" room from being a "parts" room while my garage gets renovated.

 

I did a 3G alternator upgrade on my 73, 2 gauge wire everywhere, don't need larger, I run it to the rear, through a relay to a rear battery only connected when the engine was running, had my wheelchair lift and stereo system run through the rear battery, along with extra lighting, large case 3G is 130amp, used to be a build kit for more, but its no longer available from anywhere, I looked for it to get one built for my 89. Look for a running small block, the 4.9 is a bomb waiting to go off, be it cracking the head or blowing the head gasket, they are not the durable engines everyone thinks they are, I've witnessed my share of them throwing rods, my current one I'm pretty sure has a blown head gasket, if it would rev high enough I'd blow it up on purpose I'm so sick of it.
There is a relay by the passenger head lamp, its what powers the heater blower motor and not sure what all else, so if your heater don't work and you've checked the fuses, check there next, don't hot wire it, will burn out the blower motor.
I'm wanting one of those Chinese diesel heaters just for heat with the engine off, no AC, just not worth the headache of fixing all that mess, requires tearing out all the hoses and stuff to replace it with what uses the current refrigerant, my van had AC but has been hacked by the same fool who screwed everything else up before trading it off to the sucker who sold it to me.
Check you roof gutter, be sure its sealed good before closing up the inside, don't want leaks.

 

@maples01 Huh, interesting. I've heard good things about the 4.9, my father had an 89 extended with 2 fuel tanks - the switch worked just fine the whole time he owned it, that thing had about 300,000 miles on it and he got rid of it because he was afraid if he replaced the cracked exhaust manifold, the increase in pressure would cause the engine to die.

I'm planning on the 5MODR2 transmission over the ZF, I have no need for a granny gear and I don't plan on hauling a ton of stuff, so in terms of towing I really don't care much. The wheelchair lift - you definitely wired it correctly, when I upgraded my brother's car I used 1/0 and it fixed the bad grounding issue with the speakers I was having - that was a dang nightmare; I already have the wire so I'm just going to use it, although if I knew I could use 2, I would've!

Why don't you go with a kerosene heater? They are very clean and make a good amount of heat, in terms of the exhaust from it I think it's clean burning - I know my dad and I worked in an uninsulated garage and we used an old Sears one - I guess the hard part is finding a place to buy kerosene.

Thanks for the info on the roof gutter - the front under the bumpers are rotted and I bought metal to fix that, and the bumpers are pretty messed up, I purchased a replacement passenger side fender as there are pinholes all over it and am looking to do the same for the drivers side. I know the relay you are talking about - I know my electrical pretty well so I can promise you, I won't do anything stupid - electrical is way too dangerous...

Swapping the motor would be a project for another day. As far as pulling the 6 and upgrading it, I'd consider it, putting in a rebuilt 8 would be fun - I like the idea of the 6 as there is a TON of room in the engine bay to work on it, not sure how an 8 would deal with the 5 speed transmission. I'm 100% not going to an automatic though.

Hopefully I'll be able to work on it during the winter and pull it into the nice new garage. Hoping to finish the electrical today, or at least make some good progress with it. Everything is slow moving when you're working 8-12 hours a day (it depends!) and working the 3rd shift and trying to have a girlfriend who you see... yeesh. I feel like I don't nearly have enough time. I wish I could just quit my job, have enough money to do what I want whenever I want and live a low profile life... but isn't that what everyone wants?

As for the AC I'll be going with 134A, I believe the 81 came with R11 and there was R21 and 134A is so common it just makes the most sense. Not looking to freeze myself, just don't want to be sweating buckets in the summer - same for the heat, I just want it to be warm enough and with insulation hopefully the truck will be comfortable to drive. We'll see where it takes me.

 

I was talking about the little diesel heaters that truckers use in their cabs, go under the bed, never seen a small one that uses kerosene, they sure are cheap now that the Chinese copied the Webasto units.
There are tons of broken down 300s here, been looking for a swap in, they are no better than what I have, then all the people I talk with about repairs, they end up junking their trucks due to the engine being a money pit, if yours runs good, you are fortunate, these things will drain your bank account, the OBD1 no shops want to touch, too much scanning and testing, and you can still come up empty handed on whats wrong. The carburetor and HEI ignition is best, simple to repair, but the parts for the 300 are much higher, don't replace your camshaft, being flat tappet its gambling, many replacements are rounding off, not sure if its bad steel or poor heat treating, the v8's have a roller lifter setup cutting down on failures, not seen a way to put roller lifters in a inline.
I got on ebay and bought the wiring diagram book for my van to track down the previous owners hacking and repair it, its pretty good for finding how everything is fed, down to the wire color.

 

@maples01 Gotcha regarding the diesel heater - as long as it's something that exhausts properly and keeps you warm then I'd say it accomplishes the task at hand.

Hmm. Maybe a V8 would be something worth looking at in my future - I suppose the only question would be, what parts would I need to replace to make them compatible with the V8?

I suppose anything can be a money pit, they did make that inline 6 for a long time and the overall impression I've seen of it is that they eat lots of fuel but are fairly reliable. I suppose every engine make has their lemons, some just are better than others - maybe the casting, maybe the original build, who knows?

 

I would love to have a big 300 st8 6 with an MO5d trans behind it. They weren't that bad on fuel IMO. My 68 E100 had the 250 - 6 with 3 on the tree. I used to haul our band equipment all over the place and it wasn't a pig on gas. I have this 90 E150 5.8L FI dual tanks I can drive less than 50 miles and it's using over half a tank of gas and I don't drive hard, I'm easy on takeoff and braking, but I bet I'm not doing much better than 8 - 10mpg

 

@Mike1 Wow, that's... rough. (The gas on the 5.7L). I like the dual gas tank setup, because my father's truck had it, and it just seems neat to be able to flip a level and boom, magic! Full tank! (yes, it's stupid, and yes, I'm stupid)

Garage re-assembly is coming along so I'm happy to report that, once the garage is set up I'll be SO happy to work on the truck.. but first, getting my brother's car back on the road - I have 3 cars and only one is drivable. I'd like it if that count increased in the positive direction

So yeah, I think that improving the 6 that I have or buying a used one from a junk yard and rebuilding it nicely would be cool. I think it would be unique having a 6 in there that produces nice power. We'll see though! I'm definitely ADHD and my mind leaps and jumps all over the damn place, just read my posts

When it comes to implementing changes on my projects, I prefer to trail my own path most of the time... until I change my mind and do something else. Fun. I'm not going anywhere, so I'll be happy to post updates when I actually have one!

 

Have you considered a T5 5-speed? I think the shifter location would be better compared the Mazda 5-speed or ZF. Guys have run into the issue of there's a brace in the floor behind the doghouse and it's right in the middle of where the shifter comes out on an NP435 or T18/19 4-speed. I want to say the shifter position is pretty close to the same. The T5s shifter is at the rear of the tailhousing. Plenty of junkyard Mustang doners out there and you can reuse your bellhousing/clutch linkage etc. May have to run a spacer due to longer input shafts depending on year. When the 3 on the tree finally ****s the bed in my '75 E150 I'll be going T5. It's a 300 six too.

 

@tdmoparguy I haven't - that sounds very interesting. How is the gearing on it? I'd like to be able to cruise the highway at a relatively low RPM without the engine going bananas and killing my hearing. What's the bolt up to the engine? I'm replacing the floorpans in the front "cabin" so there will be no holes at first, just holes for the chairs to bolt them back in... which considering the shape of the chairs I'd like to get new ones. The passenger one seemed way too close to the dash too so I'd like something more comfortable. I don't think I'll have a back seat.

I'm sort of... a shadetree mechanic and I can do most things, engine pulling and transmission pulling are new territory to me, but I'm not too concerned. The more customization that it requires; that concerns me. I suppose the saving grace here is having a manual already so I have the pedals and the linkages... but I'm open to any transmission, the MOD5R2 came with the 88-91 so I figured that would be the easy choice; the ZF is interesting but I don't want a granny gear, I don't plan on using the truck to haul anything heavy, so it's heavy duty usage is lost on me.

Look forward to your response. I apologize if my responses come at weird times, I work third shift and during the weekends I'm busy doing house stuff and trying to maintain a little bit of a social life

Thanks for chiming in, friend!

 

Mustang T-5 Transmission Swaps and Interchange
This will have a lot more information than I can remember off the top of my head.
That being said, the Mazda and ZF that you've been considering both have integrated bellhousings with hydraulic throwout bearings vs your SROD Toploader which uses a removable bellhousing and mechanical clutch linkage. The T5 should bolt right up to your current bellhousing which means you can use your existing linkage etc vs modifying everything to hydraulic.
I'm by no means and expert either. And I work weekend shift too, days.