1965 Ford Econoline After months of planning, organizing, delays and setbacks, it all came down to the big motor swap this weekend... and it all sort of fell apart. :roll: First, the property I was going to do the swap on got sold, so I relocated to my alley, then I didn't get the motor prepped in time, parts didn't arrive, and one of my helpers had a vetinary emergency. Fellow Chrome Czars and owners of Hot Rod Chassis & Cycle, Ray Gun and Django were going to come by and drop off my freshly built 3.50 Posi Loc 9" rear end and mount it up, but hearing that I was in a bit of a pickle, they came by early and got grimey on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon to help me out. Thanks Guys!! My fiance, Elizabeth, made sandwiches for everyone before leaving for work, but we were so busy that we never had a chance to eat them! As they were leaving, my friend Matt returned from an out-of-town wedding to help me finish buttoning up the motor... a 1989 Lincoln 302 HO v8. From about 10-2 I disconnected things and got ready for the transplant. The rustbucket and it's new heart. Here's the tired old 170ci inline 6. It ran pretty good, but it leaked oil like a sieve, the distributor kept going out of whack, the carb needed a rebuild, the exhaust was shooting fire... and I had this 302 v8 laying around... Plenty of room to work in the van with all the seats out. The dog box is removed and Raygun is trying to figure out how there could be so much oil, grease and HAIR on one motor. It is a 60s van, afterall. Almost ready to come out. We were going to drop it down, but it kept hitting the crossmember or steering arm... and when pulling it up, the arm hit the ceiling. Kevin had the bright idea to turn that tall 6 on it side and pull it through the floor. Guess what... it fit! Here are the 2 crossmembers side by side. the nasty one is for the 170 and will give you a clue as to what the underside of the van looks like. The other is a 240ci inline 6 crossmember I found in a junkyard. The v8 should bolt right on, or will with some slight modifications. I borrowed a plastic mock SBF from Chris50 which should make everything go a lot easier Here's the 170 3-speed. It weighs a LOT. Notice the Econoline-only trans mount on TOP of the trans Here's the 170 out of the van Matt came by to talk on his phone... oh yeah, he helped, too! Here you can see Elizabeth's 51 and the van squeezed into the garage, and a sneak peak at the new motor. It will have an Edelbrock Performer intake and carb and vintage Cragar long tube headers from a Gen II Econoline... if they fit. Here's a pile of parts I probably won't be using for the van and my big GAY distributor... which I replaced with an even bigger, gayer distributor This coming weekend the 302 MUST go in because my 59 has to go back into the garage...
Sure looks like FUN! All you'll need next is a big brown great dane and you'll be ready to drive around looking for a MYSTERY to solve.
Groovy van, Dude!!! Throw in a chain link steering wheel, lotsa Fun Fur, some murals, a CB, 8-track player and a set of those "Keep On Truckin" mudflaps and you will rule all when the next Van-In hits town!!
I love the little Econolines! Cool vans! Wam Bam Thank you Van is the BEST name ever for a classic pimp van like that!!! LOL!!!
"classic pimp"...so, you've seen my neighborhood? Everyone wants to know why I would paint the motor white... why not?! it's already dirty and I haven't installed it yet! The headers are white, too. This thing will be a camper, Hot Rod Huckster hauler, car part hauler, motorcycle hauler, bicycle hauler, dog hauler, and ...ass hauler
LOL! Word on the street is you own that neighborhood! Yeah! Nobody will mess with you once the Wam Bam Van is up and haulin' ass!
open initial fireup it will spout out a bellowing "rock and roll" instead of the usual exhaust note. (then it will proceed to throwup and do a line of coke off of some wacked out groopie's boob) That van rocks.
This is actually an older post. A lot of things have happened since I posted this! But funny you should bring this post up today. After over a year of procrastinating and family obligations (more family that procrastinating), some friends are coming over to help me wire it and get the last bits done to make it driveable... and make it to the Hunnert Car Heads Up drag race in 2 weeks! Wiring has been the big hurdle for me, but I have a Rebel-Wire rear-mount kit and some friends who know how to wire. Tomorrow I should be able to bleed the brakes, and re-install the water pump, then hopefully take a little drive around the block. Before the race I need to replace a lot of rubber fuel line, fab up dog box sides, un-stick a rusted rear shock bolt... and... that outta do it! Not sure about the Pileup yet. It will depend on a lot of things. My wife wants to bring her Morris... which means I will have to bring the kids in the 59... but I'm sure I could find someone with an unfinished project willing to drive an over-powered death machine for me.
2007. Jeez. This project has been dragging on too long! Then again, with twin toddlers, things happen a little slower in the garage. Here's another post from 2008-2009 with updates http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=289346&page=2&highlight=econoline and some more somewhere mid-2009 I finished my exhaust. Yes, they're all "live". This is the driver's side, which is considerably more complex than the passenger side due to clutch fork/cable/shift rod alley Hopefully I can post video of it running soon!
That transmssion crossmember you got out of a van with a 240 is very rare. The 240 was only offered in the last year of the flatnose Econolines and darn few were made with it.
Nope. It was offered from 65-67. Technically, there is not transmission crossmember. The 240 trans hangs from the floor just like the smaller 6 trans. In fact, it just bolted right up to my van and it used to be a 170. You can bolt the mount from a smaller 6 trans to a 240 trans. The engine crossmember was essentially the same from 65-67, but the actual engine mounts were in slightly different positions depending on which engine the truck had. 61-64 had a totally different, sheet metal engine crossmember. You may be thinking of the dual MC. That was only avaiable in 1967, the last year for the 1st generation Econolines,
Got it about 80% wired over the weekend thanks to 1LowTrk, TigerMark, and Kansas! Now I have a water pump problem. I think I was sold the wrong pump. Should be an easy fix.
I read Fiance and thought to myself... WTH???? I thought you were married Man this is an "Old Post"... but a goodie!!!
I still have it, but have been working on fixing it after some major drag racing carnage. I twisted the driveshaft in 2 and nearly ripped the rearend out of the frame, but now everything is reinforced along with some other improvements, but I'm still working on rust repair
That cool. I'm looking to make some Zoomies for my E100. How do yo like the ones you made? Check out my build See below for link. You got any picks you can post of your ride now?
"Well let's go surfin' now everybody's learnin' how, come on a surfari with me . . ." The van is going to be tits.
You guys dredged up a very old thread. This one is more current with reports of driving, etc. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...hank-you-van-econoline-is-on-the-road.521698/ This is what my driveshaft looked like after drag racing. Street driving was fine. new drive shaft But this is the kind of rust I'm dealing with. It's mostly fixed now. I just need time to finish it. I'll do a build update later this Spring
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