FAT CAT
meaty beaty big & bouncy
- Joined
- July 19, 2004
- Messages
- 686
- Reaction score
- 1
- City, State
- Baja California
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 99 XLT
I was close to getting a Suburban, but I always wanted a 4x4 van & When I saw this one on Ebay, located in LA, with a Buy It Now price of $900.00 I hit the button fast!
I went up to get it & put in a new battery, fuel pump, air filter, and changed out some of the fuel line... It fired right up & drove down to MX without a problem
It's a 78 E350 with the 460 engine a 3 speed C6 trans. It was converted to 4x4 using a Dana 44 on Soft ride springs and a 205 transfer case. There is a Dana 60 in the rear.
It had 31" tires on it, but my buddy had some old 36" military tires for the 16.5 rims & I had to try them! they fit great without rubbing & made the transmission shift smother & I still feel huge amounts of power from the engine, so I'm going to keep 'em.
I'm going to make a 4 person settee in the back with table that folds down to make a bed. Then in front of that, I'm going to build an enclosed toilet using a Portable toilet. Across from that will be a place for the mini fridge and storage. Going forward will be a bench seat, then the driver and pass seat.
Up on top I'm putting a 3/4 length roof rack with lights. There will be a ladder in the back to climb up there... In front of the roof rack, I'm going to mount a solar panel to recharge the House battery that runs the fridge.
I'm going to look for a diesel engine to swap in, but If I don't find one for a good price, I'll rebuild this engine and trans & have a great Baja camper & sometimes tow vehicle for the Explorer.
I went up to get it & put in a new battery, fuel pump, air filter, and changed out some of the fuel line... It fired right up & drove down to MX without a problem
It's a 78 E350 with the 460 engine a 3 speed C6 trans. It was converted to 4x4 using a Dana 44 on Soft ride springs and a 205 transfer case. There is a Dana 60 in the rear.
It had 31" tires on it, but my buddy had some old 36" military tires for the 16.5 rims & I had to try them! they fit great without rubbing & made the transmission shift smother & I still feel huge amounts of power from the engine, so I'm going to keep 'em.
I'm going to make a 4 person settee in the back with table that folds down to make a bed. Then in front of that, I'm going to build an enclosed toilet using a Portable toilet. Across from that will be a place for the mini fridge and storage. Going forward will be a bench seat, then the driver and pass seat.
Up on top I'm putting a 3/4 length roof rack with lights. There will be a ladder in the back to climb up there... In front of the roof rack, I'm going to mount a solar panel to recharge the House battery that runs the fridge.
I'm going to look for a diesel engine to swap in, but If I don't find one for a good price, I'll rebuild this engine and trans & have a great Baja camper & sometimes tow vehicle for the Explorer.
Now that its done, I'll take a bunch of pictures out in Jacume this weekend & then sort through the build up picts. and put up the SAS registry.
