The Candy Van - 1982 Econoline E100

logdog said:

That's simultaneously amazing and terrifying !

In reply to Indy-Guy :

Driving through the ice last night was a little fun!

So much brown!

In reply to logdog :

RegularCarReviews would looooove that photo.

This 1958 Renault van was outside a storage facility.   While we were taking pics the owner came up and chatted with us a bit.  He thought the rally was really cool and loved our Vanadillo stickers.

I'm scrolling through these pics pretty rapidly before I realize that other people don't live in this state and the archetypes of small town decay might not be all that familiar to others as they are to me. Sadly I missed the MSR event (but i was very productive and got a lot of work done that weekend which im thrilled about), but im really glad you are out there doing this so i can vicariously see what it's all about. 

That renault van is friggin sweet. 

A few more pics from the Rally....

A summary of The World Tour of Texas-

6042 Miles driven over 8 days

32 Fuel stops

412.17 Gallons of fuel bought

Most expensive gas was $2.75 in Waymart PA

Cheapest gas was $2.09 in Orange TX

Worst - 10.62mpg

Best- 17.38 mpg

Trip Average - 14.679 mpg

We learned the rear doors get splattered in oil blowby if you try and do 70mph for more than just passing.  65mph max is the happy spot.

Wow...that's a roadtrip!  Very cool.

In reply to ClemSparks :

Now that we have done 2, I firmly believe a Lemons Rally in a vehicle that forces you to slow down is good for the soul.  

We still have a few stickers we couldn't pawn off during the rally.  If you want one PM me your address and I will mail it out.  These are the Honus Wagners of Logdog Motorsports memorabilia!  

logdog said:

We still have a few stickers we couldn't pawn off during the rally.  If you want one PM me your address and I will mail it out.  These are the Honus Wagners of Logdog Motorsports memorabilia!  

 

Hold a sticker for me. I'll send a PM when I'm on the laptop

In reply to Indy-Guy :

I set one aside for you and will keep an eye on my email.

Just throwing out a couple ideas for discussion-

Now that we have done a couple Rallys, and intend on doing more long road trips, the limitations of a speed/1 Barrel carb drivetrain are becoming apparent.  Its ok-ish for when we are local.  Although we often find 2nd gear too low and 3rd too high for climbing the local mountains.  But on trips measured in 1000s of miles its frustrating having a top speed of 65.  I don't have a tach but using an online calculator it looks like we are spinning 2100+ RPM at 65.  With an overdrive like the M5OD from an F150 has it would drop to 1600+.  Doing 75 with the overdrive would still be only 1800+RPM.

You can really feel the restriction of the tiny carb at higher speeds as well.  I know that was basically the only carb Ford put on the 300 but it was a different time when Hagar couldn't drive 55.  By the mid 80s they were all getting fuel injection and often overdrives (I know the C6 hung around for awhile).

One other issue is the mechanical linkage clutch isn't the smoothest operating thing and Mrs Logdog isn't a fan.  Ive replaced some bushing but the rods are showing wear and even if I did nothing else, I would likely work on switching to a hydraulic clutch.   I feel like its a ticking time bomb before something bends/breaks.

So on the way back from Texas we were discussing options and came up with the following.  Knowing rare doesn't always mean valuable, I don't feel bad about modifying things, but I will make sure to keep any removed parts in case I want to restore to original.  Its been awhile since I had a vehicle I didn't see myself getting rid of and this is one.

Option 1 - Do nothing and cross that bridge when something breaks

Option 2 - Leave the column shift 3 speed, 1 barrel carb, and switch to hydraulic clutch.

Option 3 - Leave the column shift 3 speed, convert to hydraulic clutch, swap intake, add 4 barrel or one of those Holly TBI kits, swap to later 2 piece exhaust manifolds and hope the extra horse power makes up for the gearing shortcomings.

Option 4 - Swap to 5 speed such as the M5OD from a 88+ F150, leave the 1 barrel

Option 5 -  Swap to 5 speed and do all the engine mods from Option 3.  

Option 6 - LS Swap!  likely with a NV3500 5 speed.  

Option 7 - Whatever we didn't think of.  4BT? Turbo the 300 I6? Miata 1.8? VR6? 460 with NOS? You name it.

Just crunching numbers in my head, I dont think the price difference between Options 5 and 6 would be too crazy.  But I do like the idea of  keeping the big straight 6.  

Notice swapping in an auto was never considered.

So how about it?  Lets pretend we are in a meeting with a whiteboard and seeing what sticks when we toss the spaghetti at the wall 

My '82 F-100 has a 300 that I mildly built with a home ported head, Clifford single plane intake, split exhaust manifolds from later EFI truck, and Comp 260h cam. Ran an Edelbrock 500cfm carb for a good while, now running Holley Atomic EFI (4 barrel TBI). I also swapped in a M5OD, the truck originally had a T18 (granny low, effectively drove like your three speed). 

I can't say all the engine work was really worth it, sure, it runs a bit stronger than stock, but an engine swap would've gone a lot further.  It does certainly breathe easier at mid to high rpm now, and runs better going down the highway. No gas mileage increase compared to the 1bbl that I could measure, though it's been a long time since I checked.

The 500cfm 4 barrel Edelbrock cruised OK and ran well at idle/low rpm (albeit pig rich) but I could never get it dialed in for good performance between part and full throttle. The 4 barrel Atomic EFI doesn't run as well as I would've hoped for a self tuning magic box either. It's far better at part to wide open, but sputters and runs like poop at low throttle opening, because it has far too much fuel injector for a small, low performance/low rpm engine. Even with the fuel pressure turned down far too low the computer can't tune the injectors low enough. I think I would go to something like a 2bbl Motorcraft carb, or the newer Holley Sniper 2bbl EFI. Maybe even something like a Weber 38/38 DGAS, I feel like this engine would prefer relatively small and high velocity intake flow with good mixture rather than gobs of volume.

The Clifford single plane intake is far too big for a street or truck engine, and this may be where most of my issues with the setup lie. Unfortunately there aren't many options. The Offenhauser single plane intake may be more street friendly. The Offenhauser "Dual Port" intake is hokey at best, and not recommended with TBI or a 2 barrel anyway.

For your purposes, the best bang for the buck may be in the split exhaust manifolds, with a good exhaust system, an Offy intake with smallish carb or TBI if you're feeling fancy. Skip the camshaft, I don't feel like it was worth it. 

The M5OD was definitely a worthy upgrade, aside from the overdrive, the 1-4 gear split is much more friendly to the narrow powerband of the 300 than a 3 speed. Overdrive is certainly nice on the highway, but in my truck (30" tires, 3.25 rear end gear) anything below 65 or 70 and it's lugging too low to use 5th. In my case, the overall length of the trans was the same as the T18, and the slip yoke spline was the same, so it swapped in using the original driveshaft, and the original crossmember slid back on the frame a few inches. The M5OD uses an internal/concentric hydraulic slave cylinder, so that gets you part way to a hydraulic clutch conversion. In the truck it was an easy swap, the firewall was already marked/punched for the master cylinder as it was optional on some combinations. Not sure it's as easy in the van, I doubt the hydraulic clutch was optional there. In the truck pedal box there was a large compression spring for pedal return with the manual clutch, I deemed this probably unnecessary and removed it, this certainly made the pedal lighter as well. 

*edit: It does look like the van was available with a 5 speed and hydraulic clutch in the same era that it was available in the F-Series. So the master cylinder is available, but it's hard to say if your firewall has the correct knock-outs in place.

In reply to newrider3 :

Thats awesome feedback.  The split EFI manifolds are likely going to happen.  My exhaust is held together with flex pipe and prayers.  I figured it would be time to upgrade since it 100% needs replaced.  

The 2 barrel Sniper kit was in my radar.  I had been eyeballing it for our CJ5 but didnt really think about it for this.  It makes sense though.  I know the inline 6s Ive put 2100 Motorcrafts on worked well.

Im glad to hear the M5OD was worth it.  I have started looking around to price them and see how easy they will be to find.  

Lots to think about.....

I like where this is going.  

I had an ~'92 F150 with the fuel injected 300 and loved that engine.  Mine had a one-year-only non-overdrive transmission (it was a 4x4 truck too).  I'm looking forward to owning another something with the 4.9/300 straight six in them.

Side note on the 4.9/300:  I was in a conversation with a Ford tech at a dealership the other day.  He said when they did cash for clunkers, they had to pour something (they called "liquid glass") in the crank case and run them until they quit.  He said the 4.9/300 engines outlasted ALL the other engines.  It took them a long time to die.  

If I had your van, I'd definitely consider doing some sort of fuel injection.  I love carburetors too, but I bet as much as you're driving it, fuel injection would be a worthwhile project to take on.

Option #5

 I'm at the beginning of my own LS swap.

IMO straight 6 is more unique and in character for the van than a V8 swap.

But I’m not the one who has to live with it and drive it up hills.

logdog said:

Just crunching numbers in my head, I dont think the price difference between Options 5 and 6 would be too crazy. 

Maybe I'm seriously out of touch but I don't think the price of these two options would be in the same ballpark.  Every time I start putting pen to paper on an LS swap into something that didn't come with an LS...it starts to get depressing and then I decide I'd be better off to just go buy something that came with one.  This is coming from a guy who has a running/driving engine-donor Tahoe and no fewer than 6 project vehicles that it would "easily" swap into.  I still haven't decided it's the thing to do.

If GM LS truck-style Intake, Exhaust manifolds, and Accessory drive would fit in an Econoline...it might not be crazy expensive to swap.  But you're going to have cubic hours in it regardless.    Boy...it sure would SOUND good, though ;)

Option 7 - Option 5 plus a turbo. 

ClemSparks said:

logdog said:

Just crunching numbers in my head, I dont think the price difference between Options 5 and 6 would be too crazy. 

Maybe I'm seriously out of touch but I don't think the price of these two options would be in the same ballpark.  Every time I start putting pen to paper on an LS swap into something that didn't come with an LS...it starts to get depressing and then I decide I'd be better off to just go buy something that came with one.  This is coming from a guy who has a running/driving engine-donor Tahoe and no fewer than 6 project vehicles that it would "easily" swap into.  I still haven't decided it's the thing to do.

If GM LS truck-style Intake, Exhaust manifolds, and Accessory drive would fit in an Econoline...it might not be crazy expensive to swap.  But you're going to have cubic hours in it regardless.    Boy...it sure would SOUND good, though ;)

See... The problem is you are thinking about it logically.  You are thinking about all the pieces you need to make it work.  You gotta do automotive project math mental gymnastics until you get deep enough you have to keep going.  As you can see in the graphic below (I stole engine pricing from here )  Its CLEARLY cheaper to swap in a 5.3.  

ClemSparks said:

If I had your van, I'd definitely consider doing some sort of fuel injection.  I love carburetors too, but I bet as much as you're driving it, fuel injection would be a worthwhile project to take on.

Between the van and CJ5, I bet we are the only house in the county with two straight 6/1 barrel carb/3 speed manuals in the garage!