Ford E350 Extended Van

YOu have the Triton...bunch of valves in it. Has it spit out spark plugs yet? I understand that its pretty prone to do this, particularly right after a tune up. Seems the plugs on the right bank need to be torqued EXACTLY else they get launched right out of their holes.

If I get this..Im gonna use it for my heavy hauler. Sitting in the drivers seat..looking backwards..makes me feel like Im sitting on the end of a lane in the bowling alley..and looking out the window at the rear view mirror..now I know how the guys standing on the bow of the Enterprise feel looking aft...geeeze...

99% of my driving is hiway. Some oilfield fleet mechanic buddies seem to think they can boost up the mileage a bit, but she aint never gonna be my "Run to the 711 for a Slurpie" vehicle....

Whats with the shocks? Based on my memory..looked just like any other van..shocks not struts. Pretty simple stuff, Ive done a gazzillion times before. How DO you test the shocks on a 1 ton? I dont think even my big old body gonna make that thing bounce up and down much, no matter how hard I jump up and down on the bumpers....

I figure if I cant afford to drive it....if I can get it cheap enough..I can at least break even and I an sell it to 21 Guatamalans to live in.

And it does have a fridge in it...chuckle...nice Magic Chef fridge built into the oak cabinetry (most of which has to come out..damnit)

Now I need to find a phone company van internal rack and drawer setup somewhere. Sigh..I knew I shouldnt have thrown all 7 of em away 15 yrs ago.....

Gunner

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Lazarus Long

I have a '98 Club Wagon 15 passenger (E-350) 5.6 Triton and it is my favorite vehicle ever! Handles and drives wonderfully! I have a set of Goodyear Wranglers you can have, they have another 20k or so on them, probably not worth the freight. I got new LT commercial tires for $100 ea on eBay. You're back to 12-14 mpg city 15-17 HW. Have Sears put good shocks on, you DON'T want to do it yourself. I had to rebuild the trany when the torque converter exploded. I got it from the US Navy 2 years ago with 27k on it. It was never titled and never left the base, I'll bet it shifted millions of times. Put a grand in it and sell it for 3-5k or better. I paid 10K for mine.

I'll pass this on to my bud that does my car mechanical for me, he's going to do a tune-up next week and go over everything for my Canadian trip. The shocks are such a motherfucher to do that when I took it to Sears during a shock sale, I overheard one of the mechanics say: "Shit, these things are a bitch!". Three guys took over an hour to do 4 shocks. One was cutting the rears off with a 3' long air chisel, they are hard to get to I guess. I like the feel of new, good shocks so I replace them every 3 to 4 years.

The right mirror is very deceiving, I've cut-off a few people REAL good until I got used to it. The wheel base isn't as long as it seems, it's about the same as my mid-sized Dodge that this replaced. I have hauled

1,700 lb pallets full of brush blocks from the Amish mill 60 miles away. It handles better and gets better mileage loaded like this...go figure. For fishing trips, we can fit ALL our ever-increasing load of stuff and travel in spacious luxury and the AC is ice-cold, rear AC too.

At least the company fills my 36 gal tank at >$100/fill-up, it lasts me > 2 weeks.

Sounds like a lot of money and effort for a van that's almost 20 years old and sat for 9 years.

Why not dig out an old copy of Consumer's Reports on vehicles first? I seem to remember that Ford has has a LOT of electrical problems. Do you put a dollar value on your time to get this vehicle back to life? If you don't, and you aren't worried about future reliability issues, and you wanted a rusty project to do anyway, go ahead. I see in your future: Gas Tank Brake lines, wheel cylinders and probably master cylinder Calipers (or drums, etc) Water pump Poor grounds all over the place leading to loss of taillights, headlights, etc. Bad switches Parts places having to order parts more and more often Body rust and noisy body Windows turning cloudy

Do you want to ask why I can say these things?

Pete Stanaitis

--------------------

Gunner wrote:

On Mon, 02 Jul 2007 02:51:22 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner quickly quoth:

E350? That's a

It shouldn't have been crunchy at all. MMO is my favorite loosener.

Ditto the Ford engineers who put the 260 V-8 in the Mustang.

NOT a good omen. Most blow like that due to a blown head gasket.

Typical.

My bendix stuck on my F-150 on Friday so I pulled it, dropped it, it unstuck, I reinstalld it, and it got me back to the AutoZone. Total elapsed time for 2 R&Rs plus paperwork and a garage sale: 1 hour. (I love Fords.) where I replaced it with the third "lifetime guaranteed" starter in a year and a half. DuraWon'tLast, by A.Z.

That's the first thing I do in a restart. Fresh oil and filter, top off with water, and roll her over a dozen times before lighting her up.

You'd be lucky to get twice that price for her on the market in good condition. Then again, vans in LoCal sell for a premium for hauling large family (lebenty seben cousins, etc.), aren't they, señor?

Cha CHING!

No fun. Actually, -nothing- on a van's drivetrain is fun to work on.

I sure wouldn't drive her to HelLA before using her around town for a month.

Doesn't CA still allow the previously registered owner to declare a non-op for the interim?

You did?!?

If you do buy it, just pretty her up (leave the rest to the new owner) and sell her to get money for the real truck you need.

Good luck keeping gas in it. And remember that the dogleg look from behind is normal, it's not really a bent frame.

I wouldn't consider it as a long-distance traveler, Gunner. I'd Pass. YMMV.

-- Seen on a bumper sticker: ARM THE HOMELESS

It sounds like you would have to replace anything that had to do with water. All hoses, all gaskets, thermostat (and possibly the housing), water pump for sure, you already mention the heater core, freeze plugs . . .everything you can get to without major disassembly.

You'll need to run a LOT more than one gallon of gas through it. :-) Since it has been sitting for a long time it is also possible that things like the valve seals may have dried out and cracked, or just shrunk. tailpipe may look clean after it warms up but if you leave it set for an hour or so and then start it again, is there a choking clouds of blue smoke?

About that roofing tar, my dad was a diesel mechanic for many many years and he did something that always made me move a few miles away when he did it. To clean out the engine of all "roofing tar" he would replace a quart or two of the oil with diesel fuel and idle the engine for 10-15 minutes before draining. He never had one blow up on him so take this for what it's worth. I cetainly am NOT recommending this.

Check and see how much work it is going to be to replace that heater core. Some of the engineers have decided that the heater cores NEVER fail and so when they do they are a real PITA to replace. That could be why it was never fixed in the first place.

I think that is conservative. VERY conservative.

See my earlier comment about cleaning the oil. Since the tranny gasket is leaking, I'd make sure to pull the pan and see what is in there. Could be another reason why it was parked in the first place. That could be a really expensive thing to repair.

While you are replacing the heater and radiator hoses, you may as well replace all of the vacuum hoses too. And belts.

Sounds like you have already bought it, or at least convinced yourself that you are going to. My experience with vehicles like this is the drunken neurotic. It will nickel($50) and dime($100) you to insanity. Maybe even a pile of nickels and dimes.

See earlier comment re: valve seals, etc.

I'd stay well clear of it.

It may be. Though the same can be said about a Logan 14 rescued from a dusty corner

Gunner

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Lazarus Long

Please do.

I should mention that this van has lived its entire life in Southern California, far far away from the ocean. Ive more rust on my Gorton mill table than this van has anywhere visible.

Gunner

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Lazarus Long

On Mon, 02 Jul 2007 18:31:45 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner quickly quoth:

Hah! Tools are MUCH more forgiving about sitting for long periods. There are hundreds fewer parts in them, too.

- Metaphors Be With You -

And they are not slapped together quite as carelessly. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

I uploaded some pictures. Nothing from the inside as of yet.

I do NOT like the FLICKR interface. Yahoo is shutting down their Photos section and suggested migrating to Flickr..a Yahoo subsidiary.

It sucks

Gunner

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Lazarus Long

On Tue, 03 Jul 2007 07:08:03 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner quickly quoth:

David and Goliath pic, wot? She's one stretchy suckah, ain't she? Looks surprisingly clean.

Most online pic farms suck.

- Metaphors Be With You -

Run, do not walk, away from this one. The gas bill alone will look like a mortgage.

-Carl

AOD or E4OD transmission?

Experience speaking here. E4OD transmission is ridiculously expensive to repair/rebuild, ~$2000. (And they shift like a pot o' mush even when they're brand new)

Figure on spending _at least_ $1000, for new hoses, seals, gaskets, etc, etc. Make sure the brake and fuel lines aren't rusted out. There's more money if they are.

Good luck, Guy, but the worst thing that can be done to a vehicle outside of wrecking it or torching it is to let it sit.

Inside and out she IS clean and neat. The paint is slightly oxidized, but thats it.

Never been pressure washed either..all the labels and decals are on/in the engine compartment and hoses and the few graphics on the hull are clear and crisp.

Hence my interest. If she were the usual beat up van..it would have been a non issue.

Gunner

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Lazarus Long

Google has one???? THANKS!!!

Gunner

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Lazarus Long

But a work vehicle is a different situation. If it's a labor of love, OK. I've come to the conclusion that restoring vehicles is a rich or single man's game. You might want to join triple A and call it a personal vehicle if you end up driving it. For parts,

is pretty competitive, even with the shipping.