OK Now to plan C Ford Cutaway van

[Jim_Rockford]

OK , he Barth didnt work out,  only reinforced my belief that even the best made RVs are complete garbage,and the stepvan didnt work out, mainly because it wasnt in as near as good of shape as I hoped it would be and I didnt have a space where I could work on it, Having to drive 3 hours everytime I went to try and get it running got old really got old quick , and th pop up also reinforced My belief that commercial made campers are total junk.  I happened upon a good deal that my buddies current GF has which is a 1998 Ford E350 cutaway van . 5.4, A4od and a 4.10 geared rear end  is has a bulletproof drive train.  Its has been well maintained and I believe its more than likely had a new engine and trans installed at some point, It drove to the spot where it currently sits. 12 ft long 8 ft wide box with of all things NO rear door but has a factory installed side man door with steps on the inside and a pass through from the cab to the box with a sliding door that latches, It was an electrical utility truck of some sort and has a couple of interior florescent I believe lights inside and 2 roof vents one with a dual squirrel cage blower.  Its got 370k on the dash, Drivers seat is in good shape so I suspects its mostly highway miles. Inside the box is currently used for storage so I couldn't get any real good pics of the inside.  Needs tires and a battery and I will run. hope to get back over to check it out, its about an hour away from whee I currently live.

   

   

   

    

    

Photos edited to smaller size by moderator.

 

[Doubleone]

Wow! Huge pics, loading slooow... Looks like its been sitting for a while. Nice sized box but paint looks worked on the outside, also what's up with the interior ceiling (tree strike?). For a conversion, I think no roll-up on the back is a bonus. You have a blank canvas to put windows wherever you want. 370k is really high but could be doable if the price is extremely right. Just be prepared to put $$$$ into it. Best to have a good mechanic check it out and give an assessment.

 

[Jim_Rockford]

I am a good mechanic..lol the ceiling is from one of the roof vents being blown off and the paneling getting wet. It's just cheap Masonite paneling . Hope to try and get it running if the weather will break. Had to help my body move from his apartment into his new house he just had built today. Weather is shit for a while after today and I'm trying to find a new job .

 

[Doubleone]

Sounds like you closed the deal on the van... Congratulations! It's a total blank canvas, I'm interested to see what you can do with it. Please post some build pics as you go...

 

[Jim_Rockford]

Will do I have a youtube channel I post on but it's gonna be a bit as I'm waiting on a call back for a job with Honeywell for the cash. Then I'm also looking at getting 3/4 of an acre from my brother and trying to build a shop so I can use it as a base .and the frigging weather needs to break if it's not freezing it's frigging raining . I'm so over winter I hate it.

 

[Jim_Rockford]

Ok folks had some time the other week to get the cleaned out gas tank back in and the new starter installed and tried to get it running, did it?
Watch and find out.


Also ordered 6 tread wright all terrains to install and fedex dropped the ball and only delivered 5 so I'm waiting on tread wright to send me another one.

 

[Doubleone]

Great to hear your making progress.  Looking forward to the house build.  BTW, I really missed the VW micro-bus and especially the half naked chicks...  Please remember to include those in the future videos...  JK LOL!   

 

[Gr8ful]

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do mine. 1993 Ford E350 diesel cutaway ambulance 80,000 actual miles, last full year of the 7.3 IDI diesel, Horton body. No rust, no blowby, always maintained by a small fire dept as the 2nd unit or spare. 8'x12' insulated, wired body, front & rear heat & air, power everything works & looks like new. New tires & batteries & 250 amp altenator last year. I love this thing & all stainless & alum diamond plate! Best diesel Ford ever used & no computer. Has a digital monitor that tells rpm, temp, volts, amps putting out, built in vacuum pump & air comp. Set the parking brake & it doubles the rpm to charge faster. Complete hidden roll cage 12" OC, these are the safest & best buit RV types on the road. Side door behind the passenger door & dual rear door. One locker door outside behind the drivers door & all the other storage is inside Including 2 Lockers .I'll be taking good storage out. Seats 6 leagally. Horton sent 50+ pages of build sheets so I know where all the wiring goes. I have a diesel 5kw heater to install, A charging limitor that lets the alt charge all the batteries but only discharges the the house batteries. Here's a link with the engine data. Enjoy yours, sounds like you did very well. Congrads!
https://autowise.com/ford-diesel-engine-history/ Later is Better: If you have a choice, select the newest-model Ford IDI you can find, with the ’93 to ’94 years being best. You’ll get a better glow plug controller (D), serpentine belt system, and the turbo engine comes with stronger connecting rods. The 7.3L is desired more than the 6.9L because it has larger, ½-inch head bolts instead of 7⁄16-inch versions.

 

[Jim_Rockford]

Thanks but last thing I want is a high maintenance cost diesel and Damn near $4.00 a gallon fuel. Mine is a 5.4 E4od trans. The math just doesn't add up for going with an oil burner.

Doubleone I'll be sure to add the bus and half naked chick's in the next vid..lol

 

[wayne49]

Great to hear your making progress.  Looking forward to the house build.  BTW, I really missed the VW micro-bus and especially the half naked chicks...  Please remember to include those in the future videos...  JK LOL!   

Turn "safe search" off and image search "half naked chicks vw microbus".

 

[JD GUMBEE]

...a bulletproof drive train.

You are aware that the 5.4 is known as a motor to avoid, right?
They are anything but bulletproof.

 

[closeanuf]

A good friend of mine called me up the other day and said he should have listened to me when I warned him about the Ford 5.4.  I didn't say I told you so because I knew he had wasted a bunch of money on it.

 

[Doubleone]

"I'll be sure to add the bus and half naked chick's in the next vid..."

Looking forward to it! LOL!

 

[Doubleone]

"I'll be sure to add the bus and half naked chick's in the next vid..."

Looking forward to it!  But, I suppose to be politically correct and inclusive we should refer it as half-clothed chicks... LOL!   Respect and apologies, to them/others...   CIS male here... Just know you are beautiful and you are loved, exactly for who you are!

 

[B and C]

I must live under a rock. What the heck is a "CIS male"?

 

[Jim_Rockford]

You are aware that the 5.4 is known as a motor to avoid, right?
They are anything but bulletproof.

Well seeing as how this one has 374k on it and has never been opened Id says its pretty decent. I've worked on cars for the past 30 years and the 4.6-5.4 mod motors are among the most reliable but underpowered there is short of a small block chevy. they do have certain things that are commonly wrong for certain years  like the shitty plastic manifolds, cracking at the water crossover and shallow spark plug threads ion the 2 valve engines but  the problem with plugs blowing out  is caused by people changing the plugs and being scared to tighten them correctly , causing the plus to vibrate out and then blowing out. do the job correctly and there is no problems, 3 valve engines, well thats just shitty plug design, not the engines problem.

Went today and pulled it up onto the pavement and removed all 6 wheels and took them and had my tires mounted , got the rear drums freed up  now it rolls ..lol  and removed the bumper in preparation for installing the towbar to make its journey to Shelby  to get it into my shop.

      

Photos resized  by moderator.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

Well seeing as how this one has 374k on it and has never been opened Id says its pretty decent.

Your opening post said it may have a fresh motor at one point. (Very likely)
Then you say it has covered 300+K untouched. (Very UNlikely.)
(For your sake, pray it is not the latter.)

Best of luck to you.

 

[Jim_Rockford]

when I first looked at it I figured it had a replacement installed, after getting under it to install a new starter I could see the engine mounts have never been touched and the more I worked on it I could also see its never been touched. Plus the way it runs now after i got it running I can tell its tired. and it smokes at idle. so its ran the entire 374k and probably idled a million hours

 

[Gr8ful]

Im glad it's your's, Congrads!

 

[Jim_Rockford]

Well got I towed it home yesterday , 70 miles. what a drive..lol but its home now and i pulled the plugs and they where all in excess of .70  gap and that was platinums..lol they where worn slam out.  went to the junkyard today and got some good used boots and 8 motorcraft coils , and in swapping in the other 4 newer injectors and we will see how it runs from there.  least now I dont have to drive an hour + to work on it.