The Candy Van - 1982 Econoline E100

We installed the seats as well.  We still need to track down some seat covers. 

They bolted up with only a little modification.  I had to slot the rear holes in the Ford bracket and use a new bolt through the track of the Astro seat.  I also had to cut a small piece of the front corners of the Ford bracket.  If I ever wanted to return to stock, it would be very simple.

The new seats sit a little higher, which makes the clutch much easier to operate.  Its more of a kitchen chair seating position.  Being able to recline back a bit is nice.  This was definitely a good upgrade.

While we were working on it I kep looking at my Jeep wheels and tires.  I had the bright idea to see if they would fit "good enough" for the rally.

The back would actually work ok.  The sliding door kissed the sidewall when opening but it was do-able.

The front was another story.  As long as we went straight it would be ok.  The jack is compressing the suspension to check clearance.

It didn't take much steering input to get a rub at the front and the back.  If I didnt really care about the van a sawzall would give me the clearance but I dont want to cut metal.  I will just have to keep rocking the dog dish hubcaps.

I hit up NAPA and CarQuest looking for the screw in dust caps and came up empty handed.  I would need to buy the whole king pin kit.  I decided to try a different junkyard than I normally hit.  They seem like they keep vehicles around a long time so I thought they might have a pre-91 Ford or two.  They had 2 vans and a couple RVs.  Very little was left that would be of any use to me but I was able to snag a few dust covers.  They need a LONG soak in degreaser.  

Tonight I learned that E250s and E100s have different sized king pin dust caps.  The wrench size is the same (7/8 so I thought it would be good) but the screw side looks to be a 1/4 inch different to my calibrated eyeball.  Maybe 1 inch vs 1 1/4 inch.  Unfortunately the local parts store doesn't have a dust cap shrinker tool available and I can't find one in a Snap-on catalog.   

logdog said:

While we were working on it I kep looking at my Jeep wheels and tires.  I had the bright idea to see if they would fit "good enough" for the rally.

The back would actually work ok.  The sliding door kissed the sidewall when opening but it was do-able.

 

The front was another story.  As long as we went straight it would be ok.  The jack is compressing the suspension to check clearance.

 

It didn't take much steering input to get a rub at the front and the back.  If I didnt really care about the van a sawzall would give me the clearance but I dont want to cut metal.  I will just have to keep rocking the dog dish hubcaps.

You should go with the "big and little" look that was prevailant some time when I was growing up.  Keep the meats out back, skinnies up front.

In reply to Indy-Guy :

If I ever replace the wheels with Cragers, that is something I have thought about.

I took it out to the Hammer Store for its first drive on the new shocks.  They made such a huge difference!!

It went from being an elephant on roller skates carrying a pallet of unsecured strawberry Jello on it's back to a Miata piloted by a svelte jungle cat.  I can only imagine what a sway bar would do!

We found a king pin rebuild kit as an Amazon warehouse deal for 20 bucks that *should* come with 4 of the correctly sized screw in dust caps.  It should be here Tuesday.  Fingers crossed!

Another addition this weekend was a set of the swanky stainless steel vent visors that were so popular back in the day.  I found them at the junkyard and they only charged me a couple bucks for them.

Mmmmmmmmmmm!

This great fun!

Awesome!

P.s. those wheels with some sticky shorter rubber is the sex!

I say keep the stock wheels on it! Mess with tires all you want but I am loving the base spec look of this thing. I think the color and just the fact that it still exists in this condition sets it apart quite enough. My .02 as a guy who took a nice Dodge van and slammed it so hard it barely functions by normal standards. 

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

That "turbine" style of wheel is my favorite for 70s-80s boxy American trucks/vans/4x4s.  I was happy to find a set for the Jeep local and cheap last winter.  

In reply to Vigo :

The stock wheels will stay for quite a while  We will be ordering tires soon and I am going to stick with the 235/75/15s that are on it.  Its not the stock size but they are cheap and readily available.  

Not a lot of picture taking took place over the last couple days but I did replace the radiator that was leaking.  The "heavy duty w/AC one was cheaper by a large margin and we scored an Amazon warehouse deal for like 40 bucks.  I also replaced the radiator and heater hoses with ones from the AC Delco line of service parts. So it now has GM hoses, GM seats, and a Honda lighter.  I am trying to make an AMC!

I tried to replace the direct drive mechanical fan with an electric one I had but there isn't enough clearance between the radiator and water pump.  Im going to keep my eyes open for a fan with a clutch from a similar vintage.

The dust cap drama is over.  The kit contained 4 caps that were the right size.  I have a few spares now.

I realized the ignition switch would turn without a key.  So I replaced the lock cylinder to bring it up to the security standards of 1982 (although I fully realize the transmission is enough to keep most joy riders away.  Im not a lock master, but I noticed the old lock was missing a brass plate the new one had on the side.  Maybe somebody modified it on purpose?

Darn, now I can’t come joyride your van.

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

Darn, now I can’t come joyride your van.

I will mail you a key so you can joyride whenever you want.

Ever since I fixed the dash lights, the temp gauge has been inop.  I figured I must have knocked something loose when I had the cluster out so I dug back into it tonight.

First thing I found was a ground wire with a broken pin lock.   It was partially backed out but since all the other gauges and lighting worked I didn't think it was the only culprit.  It wasn't this far out when I found it, I pulled it back for dramatic effect.  I taped it to the wire next to it to hold it in place.

The signal wire for the temp sensor had a broken pin.  

The connector is brittle and the pin lock on the signal wire broke when I removed it.  Since this is an old vehicle with big pins, I was able to solder it back together.  It would be a little harder on a modern micro pin for a CAN line.  It looks like a better solder job in real life.  I swear!  

All fixered

Like the ground wire, the signal wire got taped up to keep in in place without the lock.  Part of me wants to find a new connector but I know its best to let it be as long as it works.

Such simple times....

It works!  Proof I am in the "normal" range!

One of the perks of visiting my in-laws during the holidays is a trip to the greatest store in Maine, Mardens.  They sell closeout/salvage merchandise although they seem to be getting upscale as there is less smoke damaged stuff these days .

During the Thanksgiving trip I picked up 2 boxes of flooring for 10 bucks.  It should be more than enough for the Candy Van. We were thinking of getting vinyl planks but the price on this was too good to pass up.  

In reply to logdog :

I should have bought it when I saw it.

Mardens is great, and there theme is some what acurite,  when your there and you see it you should buy it because it may not be there when you go back. Was at the Sandford ME store a couple weeks ago, and they had farm implement paint, 15 bucks a gallon, various brands and colors. I passed, but have been thinking I should have picked up a gallon even though I dont have a need for it. 

Nice work on the connector/terminal repair. I can imagine it being pretty satisfying to have a passable repair on something like that since all the newer stuff is so tiny that even when you can 'repair it' it seems too half-ass to feel good about. 

I think that flooring is gonna look pretty good in there!

lrrs said:

In reply to logdog :

I should have bought it when I saw it.

Mardens is great, and there theme is some what acurite,  when your there and you see it you should buy it because it may not be there when you go back. Was at the Sandford ME store a couple weeks ago, and they had farm implement paint, 15 bucks a gallon, various brands and colors. I passed, but have been thinking I should have picked up a gallon even though I dont have a need for it. 

I was much further north at the Stinkin' Lincoln store.  It really is amazing some of the stuff you can find in there.

Vigo said:

Nice work on the connector/terminal repair. I can imagine it being pretty satisfying to have a passable repair on something like that since all the newer stuff is so tiny that even when you can 'repair it' it seems too half-ass to feel good about. 

I think that flooring is gonna look pretty good in there!

If it was a 2016 I would have had to track down a replacement pin for sure.  Just pulling the pin from a modern connector can be a pain, even with the correct factory tool.  Of course a modern connector the same size as that one would have 52 wires in it!

This update is a little late as we did the work last weekend, but I was able to check a couple things off the to-do list.

The cap and rotor were a little funky.

The plug bodies looked like they had been in there for awhile.  A couple came out pretty hard.  I used my plug chaser and everything went back together with no issues.

This thing desperately needs some cleanup under the hood but that will have to wait until some time after the rally.

The big job was getting some insulation board in the back.  I still have a couple little spots to touch up but its pretty much done.  I need to decide if I want to do mirrors, classic paneling, shag carper, or basic plywood on the walls.