i am posting this in case anyone would like to ask questions or get pix or solicit opinions about costs, difficulty in doing, or value in doing. it is not meant as a list of "accomplishments" altho' it certainly has been a p-i-t-a to complete some of them... some are old upgrades so they are well tested, some are new upgrades and untested. as i have not yet finished a few of the things on the list, the van is still in the driveway looking to get back on the road so taking pix before reassembly might provide more insight than after it's together.

i really do love my van


*water/meth injection w/ 5 gal tank - system by Labonte Racing

*new alum rad from '02 excursion- same width but 8" taller so i cut out the core support and built a new one

*5 new cooling fans (3x9" + 2x16") for the rad plus i fabbed a new fan bracket

*moved the external engine and tranny filters onto frame rail under body - used to be on frame next to the front bumper

*moved the oil/trans coolers under body on frame rail and fan cooled them with thermstatic control on the fan - used to be in front of the rad

*added an e4od o/d controller

*installed ~12 warning lites (i used led's) etc into the instrument cluster - most are set up to dim when the lites come on. these are for additional functions over and above ford systems

* PIAA driving lites integrated into the front valence above bumper

*Hella fog lites mounted below bumper - not sure whether i will integrate them into the airdam...

*Hella headlamps H4 bulbs i believe... w/ relays for full supply voltage

*VDO tach in dash right side next to air vent

*custom steering linkage 1.5" DOM tubing and carbon fiber heim joints

*wrapped the thorley headers

*ported the upper manifold for 61mm BBK t-body

*bored out inlet side of BBK t-body (51mm) to match outlet side (61mm)

*installed k&n f350 air filter from FIPKit and fabbed inlet tubing to place filter in factory battery location drivers side- inlet tubing obsolete now as t-body got bored out (so no mounting flange for tubing) and now i need larger tubing and need to add an airbox at t-body - looking for someone to turn a set of stub stacks to go inside airbox...

*relocated factory battery to pass side using ambulance battery tray kit

*rear main seal replacement

*rebuilt front suspension - replaced all ball joints and installed poly bushings

*replaced front swaybar with larger addco bar

*moved the rear sway bar brackets up 2" and welded them in place (stupid addco design needed fixing)

*added airbags in the rear with compressor and dual gauges and set up the system for individual bag control from the front seat - also redid the incorrectly manufactured upper bag mount

*replaced the two front seats with completely o/h seats from a ford bronco II - they have everything but heated seat option

*took out the two 3 person bench seats and installed a pair of aerostar high backed w/ dual armrest seats done to match the front seats

*added thermal insulation to floor and roof inner

*new jute padding w/ thermal barrier on one side

*new carpeting

*dual 200A alternators - each feeding seperate battery systems - one for the car and one for stereo and video

*seperate voltmeter for elec system #2 in a steering pod gaugeholder from f350 superduty

*water/oil/trans gauges in pillar pod - oil and trans each have yellow led to indicate cooler fan has come on, water has thre for the 9" fans

*dakota digital fan controller running the two 16" fans - two stage mode, temp sender located in radiator outlet along with temp sender for pillar pod gauge. (this way i can see the temp differential between inlet and outlet as the factory gauge is still installed and has been calibrated)

*i am sure there is more - can you say wiring?? - but this is all my brain has in it right now...

neil in san marcos

 

neil,

Did you remove tranny to fix seal or was it the oil pan? Did you replace the oil pan?

john

 

jack up motor, block up high as poss, drop pan, drop oil pump, slide pan and pump out from under engine, remove rear main cap, replace seal. reassemble, add oil, make sacrifice to god of rear main seals and oil pan gaskets, fire it up.

neil