ME's Van

[STINEY]

Love vans. Had an '89 E350 with 351 on EEC-IV, that thing basically thought it was a mustang as far as the computer went.

Check the Radius Arm Bushing. The big rubber thingy on the back of the radius arm. Replace it. Yes, even if it looks good. Replace it faster if it looks even slightly questionable. And try to use a quality (read expensive) part, the cheapies will fail within 10,000 miles.

Ford considered those a comsumable item, on par with tires and brakes. Helps the "herding cats" steering handling effect tremendously.

Nice score!

[DanStokes]

Thanks for the tip - I'll take a look. Dave's guys might have done them when the did the ball joints - I didn't check 'cause I didn't know about this issue. Ours handles pretty well given what it is, being tall and everything.

Dan

[milner351]

Dan - as you know your biggest enemy with this highway cruiser is the aerodynamics - van's are horrible for aerodynamics - but they sure are comfy!

Those Running boards will help - try putting a fairing in front of the vertical wall at the front of the rear tires - to direct the air out and around the rear tire.
Stay away from mudflaps behind the rear tires - or keep them short and inside the profile of the tires.
Seal the airways from the grille into the radiator - you don't want air going around the rad, you want it to go through it.... and only as much as you need.
Block off part of the grille, put an extension on the "chin spoiler" under the bumper, lower it, and put the sidewall rated limit air pressure in the tires.

All that combined might get you a couple MPG :-)

Your best bang for the buck is to not driver 75-80mph. :-)

[STINEY]

Been spending time in the wind tunnel at work testing vans John?

[milner351]

I know a guy

[Russell]

Access to a wind tunnel would be sweeeeet!

[DanStokes]

Thanks John! We usually drive 72-73ish so no issue there. The running boards have a deflector right before the rear wheelwells so hopefully that'll help.

On to the latest (hopefully) improvement, grab handles. There warn't none which seems weird.


That one on the A pillar was WAY more effort than it should have been - drill the plastic to the bolt centers of the handle, transfer that to the A pillar metal, drill and set the nutserts, mount the handle - simple, right? Nope, fought me all the way. The handle for the side door was a piece of cake - drill thru the overhead cabinet wood and thru-bolt the handle.

BTW - I harvested the handles from a Toyota SUV thingie. Another great PnP score. The color is a tad too gray but not terrible. Evidently, Toyota and Ford did not coordinate on their interior colors.

One more chore done. I think tomorrow will be the back-up camera, an internet score. The hood also needs painted and the paint is sitting in the shop waiting. I think the hood is some sort of plastic and gets full engine heat as well as UV so it's pretty toasty.

Dan

[Deaf Bob]

I like A pillar handles!
Yukon has a dash or over door handles to use.. Not that ergodynamic, to me at least...
I saved a few off of old freightliners.. Those are great!

[Russell]

For some reason I was thinking chrome handle on the outside I like to call those "oh poopy handles"

[DanStokes]

Today's victory - windshield washers! It only took 2 days! It was barely piddling out on the windshield so I started with the concept that the pump was pooping out. After a couple of trips to the parts store I got one with the right electrical connectors but still the same issue. Let me add at this point that getting the washer bottle out is a genuine PITA on these - it's hidden under the battery so it has to come out along with its tray and the screws for the bottle are hopelessly buried. And keep in mind that the heat index was 110F or so. After bashing my head against the wall for a few hours I decided to replace all the hoses thinking it wasn't likely but was something I could cross off the list. When I pulled the hoses for the nozzles out of the cowl area I found that the "Y" was completely deteriorated! Joy and happiness!! Swapped them out and all is well! Not pic-worthy but a victory nonetheless.

Dan

[Deaf Bob]

Savor the sweet victories!

[Huskinhano]

So, when does the turbo come?

[Russell]

I sure it would still be a ton of work but a coyote 5.0 swap in this would come close to doubling your power.

[DanStokes]

You guys are FUNNY! I'm talking about making the washers work and y'all have me doing an engine swap. Not that it wouldn't be sweet.......

Dan

[Russell]

That is one of Bangshift's greatest skills, encouraging scope creaper and spending money!