Its a 1985, with a 300 I6 and a 3 speed (manual or automatic i dont know yet), mid 100K miles, new brakes, new-ish tires, and the body is in decent shape for 500 bucks.

How bad should the mileage be? (guesstimates please )

I know the 300 is a strong engine, but how the heck do you get it out of the van (in case it needs rebuilt). Im assuming its a pain in the butt, but I wanna know beforehand.

Also, what trannys would bolt up to the 300 to give an overdrive (maybe). I know there is a 4 speed in the 75-91's, but not sure if it would bolt up.


Thanks in advance.

 

Mine got 16mpg all day long and pulled like a tractor.
Just slow on take off. Put 304000 miles on her before the body fell apart. It sat in a field for five years til a friend pulled the engine and tranny (out the front) and put it in a Ranger pickup. He flushed the fluids and she started right up.

 

My 87 124"wb was getting around 15-16mpg before my dually axle swap, 12-14 after. Not sure about your slow take off, i could burn my duallies with that thing. I once beat a stock super charged cougar off the line by about 1.5 van lengths before he over took me with top end- the torque on the 300 is plentiful (guess i do have the 4.6l, bone stock, might make up for the pep, idk..)

The 300 has the same bolt pattern as the 351 so most anything will swap, except flywheels as i understand. The 300 is internally balanced where as the v8s are externally. The AOD can be swapped, but from what i read you need to be careful with setting up the TV cable so you don't burn it up. (not a tranny expert, please correct me some one if i'm wrong..)

If heard of both dismantling the front end and removing from the front, but also pulling it from the doghouse.. kinds depends on skill and time.

 

Had an '85 Club Wagon XLT w/I-6 & C6 for many years. I agonized over finding a '92 & up w/I-6 when it was time to replace it. Gave up when I found a '92 Chateau w/302 that was just too good to pass up. Kept '85 on road to sell, so I had many chances to swap back & forth from the '85 carb 6cyl 3 spd TO a FI 302 w/AOD.

Still prefer the straight 6 & constantly keep an eye out for one to restore. My '85 only got 15-16 mpg economy, scarcely better than the 302. While economy was within 1-2 mpg, they differed greatly passing out on the 2 lanes & towing. The V8 advantage was impressively more than the 302 V 300 cu in might suggest. I would still prefer an I-6 w/FI.

I nearly bought an E100 w/4 on the floor, but heard the tranny & clutch were in the Museum of Short Lived Phenomenon. The C6 is legendary for reliabilty. The AOD is not. IMO you might be better off w/C6 & swapping a taller ring & pinion, OR just taller tires, to stretch MPG. Might consider switching to 16".

I've only seen Econoline motors pulled out the front using lift arm. They're surprisingly wide open when the grille, AC condensor, radiator & it's support are out of the way. FI models may need their cast aluminum intake plenum removed for clearance.

 

Take off the grille, hood/rad support, lower grille pan, remove radiator and then lift engine straight up and out with a wheeled engine crane with a boom.

A 4 speed will bolt right up but you may have to modify the drive shaft. If the new truck is an automatic....you're going to need all the clutch stuff.

 

I have an '85 short, 300, 4 speed OD. The van uses the iron cased, side-shifted top-loader looking trans, a bit stronger than the aluminum cased SROD or top-shifted units from cars and PU trucks. It might be a direct swap, as my '65 Mustang was a direct swap from the Ford top-loading 303 three speed (same design as yours) to a top loader 4 speed.

IF automatic, an AOD from '88-93 is the best bet for an OD trans. They can be beefed up as well.

You can also put a ZF in there, but it comes through the doghouse, so I decided to scratch that idea. A T5 will work too, you need one with 3.35 first and steel bearing retainer (Cobra Mustang and certain other models), and adaptor ($150), move the cross member, short drive shaft and away you go....

If you do have a manual, you have a hydraulic clutch. With the vehicle secured via e-brake or blocks, and engine off, pull back the floor mat or carpet and gaze upon the master cylinder bolted to the floor just above and to the left of the accelerator. Work the clutch by hand and watch for floor flex. This can cause shifting issues as it soaks up travel in the clutch system, causing too little motion at the clutch pressure plate and a lack of disengagement. You'll have to cut your own reinforcement, but you'll see how it works.

MPGs: 11 worst in short trip city, 19 best highway in lead-footed driving. I have 3.50 gears and 31-10.50x15s, a combo that produces doggy performance.

$500? 1/10th of what I paid in 1991 for mine with 78000 miles on it....

Also, look for a little rust behind the rr wheel, they all are vulnerable there.

 

Hello All!

I am hoping someone can help me. When I close the sliding door on the side and lock it, I can still open it with the outside handle. I took the door panel off and felt the rods and lock mechanism and all seems to be connected and moving the way they should but why am I still able to open it? Anyone have a diagram of the lock and rods so maybe I can see what is going on? Or any experience with this problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank You,

David G

 

If your van is equipped with the 4.9l 300ci six you're gonna have a handful! First, remove the; hood, horizontal radiator support, fan shroud, radiator, grille, and lower wind deflector (below the grille). This wind deflector seems to be easily removable but be careful because there's two nut/bolts in the lower corners where it attaches to the left/right fenders. NOW strip off the air cleaner, carberator, vacuum lines, throttle cable assy. and all frontal belt driven accessories. (Alternator, power steering pump , air pump for the emmissions equipment, water pump & fan, disributor, plug wires, and exhaust pipe at the collector. There may be one or two things I'm forgetting but my project had been four weeks in duration as I could only break from work on Sundays. Now a word on engine cranes, if you can obtain one via borrow or rental your gonna want the lowest height crane obtainable on account of the terribly short clearance there is going to be between the valve cover and the cowling in the moter nacelle. I cannot stress this enough, BE PATIENT this will be a pecker to remove and install. With a conventional height crane I had to resort to raising the rear axle 1 foot and the front end 1 foot to provide adequate clearance for the boom of the crane. This is primarily due to the higher profile of the 300 six in comparison with V-8's Good luck man. If you would like additional info my email is kokkola at earthlink.net

 

With regard to the slider door, these dang things need to be aligned very carefully. Knowing how finiky they are, I always go with the conventional side doors on the vans I've bought over the years.

 

On my old '81, it was equipped with a 3+1 RUG/RAB overdrive with the shifter coming out of the floor, like a pickup truck, these RUG/RABs were side loader transmissions rather than the top loading T18's T-19s.