Iz's Bingo Bus/Tow Rig

I decided it was time to pass on the old E-350 and replace it with another.

So I picked this guy up on Saturday.

- 2001 E-350 7.3 PowerStroke (does not leak!!)
- Auxiliary air-conditioning/heat under the chassis
- 13 seater (including the driver) but I'll probably change up this combo.
- Air-powered side barn doors (by far the coolest part of the vehicle)
- Wide power side mirrors
- Padded interior walls (in case I go nuts.. oh wait)
- Luggage rack (will probably be removed)


Some exteriors:

Some interiors:

 

[IZwack]

Finally finished the compressor swap. The first time around, I had the lines going to the compressor backwards. So actually I was cooling down nature instead of the interior of the van.

Top of the compressor. I kept the most of the wires from the Explorer so I was able to clip off the Explorer's compressor connector and reuse it for the van.

Back of the compressor:

Modified/welded the fittings to accept a universal dryer from Napa ($15)

The old low-side port was so corroded from rust that the A/C manifold adapter thing couldnt get a tight seal on it. So I removed the valve cores (from the old and the new port), cleaned up the old port with a wire brush, welded on the new one, and reinstalled the valve core onto the new port:

And finally, since I havent uploaded any pics of it yet, the Chevy seats I swapped in a few months ago:

 

[BrooklynBay]

What kind of Chevy are those seats from?

 

[IZwack]

What kind of Chevy are those seats from?

2000 - 2006 Tahoe, and its cousins (Suburban, Denali, etc...)

 

[BrooklynBay]

Those seats look very clean. Did you get them from a wrecking yard or a private seller? The junkyards where I live don't save stuff like seats. They crush them down with the cars. Even if they wanted to sell them, they get covered in mud as soon as they enter the yards since these yards have no pavement. The only way to get clean seats is to get them as soon as they entered the yard.

 

[IZwack]

Got the pair from Ebay and they are quite the heavy. Removing/moving around just one is a workout (which must be done in order to remove the engine cover under the center dash and access the back of the engine).

 

[Nick26]

The first time around, I had the lines going to the compressor backwards. So actually I was cooling down nature instead of the interior of the van.

Trying to combat global warming? haha

 

[IZwack]

The batteries needed replacing - of which there are three - one under the hood and two on the side (in one front and one behind the rear passenger wheel). The two on the side are a PITA to remove so I replaced the "can"/tray doodad and instead of regular starting batteries (both were group-65s), I went with a pair of deep cycles (group-24). The one under the hood I kept as a regular starting battery.

I dont have pics of the new tray welded to the chassis but here it is before. There are two ratcheting handle thingies welded to the bottom which, with a strap going to the top, secures each battery to the tray.

I havent rewired the whole thing yet cauz I ran out of daylight but maybe on Tuesday or Wednesday I'll have some time to finish it up.

 

[AccordRanger]

2000 - 2006 Tahoe, and its cousins (Suburban, Denali, etc...)

Also Sierra and Silverado.

 

[Rick]

Nice work on the A/C modification

 

[IZwack]

Thanks!

I'm using the GPR (labelled "relay" in the schematic) from the 7.3L diesel as an isolator. If this GPR fails too early, then I'll switch over to the 200 amp model (Napa #ST36).

The relay had to go somewhere convenient so it was decided near the stairs will work. Plasma cutter made making a hole quick and cleaned it up with a file afterwards:

Box container thing:

The white thing is a two-piece PVC pipe thing I found at HomeDepot - its being used to keep the wire from rubbing against the sharp metal edge.


Got dark quick but I was able to paint and wire up (2 gauge)

The hole will get a cover at some point but I still need to wire up the driver part for the relay (switch and voltmeter).

 

[IZwack]

Switch panel made and installed:

Panel in action. The hard click when the switched is turned on and off is the solenoid closing and releasing.



So the next problem was: the van's rear heater is either On or Off without a thermostat to control the On/Off cycle. So after the engine has reached its operating temps, it can get uncomfortably warm in the back. So I bought this $8 12v thermostat kit:
http://www.electronix.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/8_45/products_id/10962

I flipped some of the parts to the underside of the PCB so it would be easier to install onto the van's control panel.

Top side of the PCB:

Bottom side (during testing):

I made a bracket to hold the PCB to the van's control panel but forgot to take a pic. But here is the front side with a blue knob installed to control the desired ambient temp:

Since the thermostat is supposed to control the back of the van, then naturally the sensor (a thermistor) had to go to the back. So I whipped up a housing for the thermistor from some plastic I found in the basement, a blank RadioShack proto PCB cut to shape, a RadioShack PC board terminal, and some high density polyurethane foam (looks like wood) to hold it all together. I salvaged a Molex 8981 connector from an old computer power supply and used it to separate the thermistor assembly from the (very long) wires which run up to the front control panel.

Pulled out from the housing:

And then it was time to pull down the corner panel from the van, epoxy down the thermistor housing to the back of the panel, and run the wires up to the front control panel. After the epoxy dried, a hole was cut into the fiberglass corner panel to allow ambient air to flow into the thermistor's housing.

Testing vid. The knob was first turned up to increase the desired ambient temp, which then closed the Heater circuit (as indicated by the LED turning on). A heat gun was used to blow warm air into the thermistor assembly's hole/housing and the thermostat circuit disengaged the Heater circuit (as indicated by the LED turning off).

 

[IZwack]

Per Maniak's request over chat:

 

[Maniak]

Per Maniak's request over chat:

Thanks Iz..

Hrm.. I guess there is some kind of reinforcement at the back of the seats where it connects to the body. That is what I couldn't see. The seats I have were already pulled from the "party bus".

~Mark

 

[Stic-o]

Hey Iz...Is it safer to ware two seatbelts?:

 

[IZwack]

hehe I know - I'll remove the stock one sometime.

 

[IZwack]

Last December I won this super fly aluminum D60 diff cover from E-bay for $10.60 - anodized (I think) in some gold color. And today was a ripe day to switch from Amsoil to RedLine gear oil (before winter arrives) so the new diff cover went on tsssuu..

An example of how dirty the fuel bowl filter gets after about 7 months:

The first filter I replaced right after I bought the van was about twice as dark.

 

[techieman33]

why go from amsoil to redline?

 

[IZwack]

Cauz I've heard of good (best) things about RedLine - some racers say its the next best thing to a custom oil blend. The Amsoil I put in about a year-ish ago also made a weird noise at like 55 - 60 mph. So I'm going to give this a whirl and see how it does. RedLine's 75w140 is also about $5 per quart cheaper than Mobil1's.

 

[Burns]

IZ where is that located on the 7.3? It may not be like my truck tho in the position.

 

[IZwack]

IZ where is that located on the 7.3? It may not be like my truck tho in the position.

Are you talking about the fuel bowl filter? If you are, the fuel bowl is the same for both van and truck. Its right on top of the engine, in front of the two intake tubes feeding each cylinder bank and behind the HPOP.

In the pic above, its the round thing with ribs spiraling from the center. It usually takes a 1/2" drive socket wrench to remove.