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Archive for the ‘4x4 Van’ Category

The next conversion … making the lift a big more manageable, replacing the 460 for a 300 inline 6, replacing the C6 with a 4 speed (4th = OD) Ford manual and replacing the mated NP205 for a divorced NP205 including a new 8 inch drive shaft between the trans and the transfer case.

In order to keep an eye on everything, I have pulled together relevant gauges. Pictured here:

Stock 1977 Ford gauges
VDO RPM gauge (right of steering column)
Engine vacuum gauge (bottom left)
VDO Oil pressure gauge (right of stock gauges)
VDO voltage gauge (right of oil pressure gauge)
Edelbrock fuel mixture gauge (below oil and voltage gauges)

The steering column still has the automatic gear lever which does nothing. The four speed shift lever is pictured and mates with the transmission through the floor to the right of the driver side seat.

Freshly painted NP205 from a junked 1977 F250 with a Henderson Driveline customer constructed 8 inch drive shaft. The mount is the frame cut from the F250 and extended with tubular (cubed) steal to fit the wider van frame:

Freshly painted NP205 from a junked 1977 F250 with a Henderson Driveline customer constructed 8 inch drive shaft. The mount is the frame cut from the F250 and extended with tubular (cubed) steal to fit the wider van frame:

Home made mounting frame for the Ford 4 speed transmission. The regular van frane support and mount angle the output shaft of the transmission too high making the angles of the U joints on the 8 inch drive shaft too severe. Hence, dropping the rear of the transmission a few inches made everything line up nicely.

The ti rod pictured is the standard Dana 60 … I just bolted the steering stabilizer mount to the ti rod and painted everything nice and black:

Shot of the rear front leaf spring mount. The mount is a fabrication of the original twin i beam suspension mounts to hold a spring instead. The springs are replacements for a 1977 F250 with a few of the smallest leaves removed to weaken the spring a bit so it is less bouncy and match the height of the rear lift:

Another shot of the rear front leaf spring mount. The mount is a fabrication of the original twin i beam suspension mounts to hold a spring instead. The springs are replacements for a 1977 F250 with a few of the smallest leaves removed to weaken the spring a bit so it is less bouncy and match the height of the rear lift:

The rear Dana 60 fresh from Dynatrac. Nothing like a custom made, 35 spline Dana 60 with 4.56 gears and a Dana limited slip differential arriving in a big crate to just bolt in and drive away:

Replaced the stock intake and exhaust manifold with Clifford Performance water warmed 4 barrel aluminum intake and stock cast iron exhaust manifolds from a 1996 Ford F150. I tried the Clifford headers but they robbed too much low end torch and increased the high end. They also were extremely loud. Thus, for everyday driving, they just didn’t work for me. Now if I was racing and keeping the RPMs at 3000-4000 regularly, then those headers would be a must have.

The carburator is an Edelbrock Performer 205 with a manual choke. In order to everything to work together, I needed to adjust the timing, change the rods and jets and add a 4 core radiator to keep things cool … stock cooling just couldn’t keep up anymore:

The rear Dana 60 (again) fresh from Dynatrac. Nothing like a custom made, 35 spline Dana 60 with 4.56 gears and a Dana limited slip differential arriving in a big crate to just bolt in and drive away:

Van in mid conversion. Note the white passenger door … picked up from Madden Truck Parts on Brookpart in Parma, OH after bouncing off a dump truck on I90 at about 50 mph due to a weak steering ball joint:

Cleaned up and freshly painted front reverse rotation Dana 60 with my custom steering setup. The engine cross member needed to be cut to allow the axle differential housing to move freely with the rest of the suspension. The the thick black hose is the return for the cooling system and the thin black hose is the return for the power steering fluid:

Front axle hub on the drivers side. Added the coil spring mount in order to act as a secure shock mount. Rancho RS5000 shock on each side: