Going from 6 to 8 cylinders, 1960's vans.

I am in Alaska and planning to take on a 1960's project van, either a Ford, Chevy, or Dodge. My question is this... how difficult is it to swap out a 6 cylinder for a V-8? I will be diving down the Al-Can occasionally and will be towing a small trailer. I really want to deck out my ride, so I want the V-8 for the hill climbing.

Any suggestions or comments?

Also, I am sure I will have to beef up the suspension... air ride? Hydraulic?

Tires, want wide rear tires, but need studded for winter. Anyone know who makes the widest studded tires? I am a good welder so I am planning to reconstruct the wheel wells and chop the rear end.

Welcome retro-vanner. There is a lot of info here at VV and I would suggest...start reading all the posts and that should answer a lot of your questions. There are so many different ways to go depending on what kind you want to do up. Some have V-8's alreading in them and most have 6 cyl some have great torque for hill climbing. Some are standard and some in automatic trans. Use the search feature. type in V-8 and see what post are there regarding that motor and so on. If you still need answers, you have definitely come to the right place. A lot of great people here who know all there is to no about ford, chevy, and dodge 60's vans and trucks. Good luck on your venture and when a van finds you be sure to post lots of pics...lol.

Welcome to VV!!!! Since your open to any make, Dodge's and Chevy's came with V8's only 2nd gen's on the Chevy's (67-70) That would save you some cash.

Welcome to VIntage-Vans!!! I to would suggest that you find one that already has a V8 in it like G-Man said it will save you a lot of time & money. If you want to build an engine the way you want it you will already have everything that you need to swap them out. You will also want a heavy duty built transmission for towing to. I think that some people use the 700r4's built for towing but you can have a turbo 350 built to tow to. My local transmission shop wants around $1500 to rebuild my turbo 350 build for heavy towing.

welcome to v.v.!!! I agree with the guys above. I did the engine swap on a dodge. there is a lot of small things that you don't think about , Try searching engine swap, On a dodge you need to change about everything. engine , alt , starter, rad, rad hoses shroud, fan,and spacer ,gas peddle linkage, motor mounts, and motor mount brackets, distributor,coil, carb , air cleaner,and maybe the rear gears depending on what you would have, And this doesn't even get into the tranny, I'm sure i'm missing a bunch of things. If i did it again i would try to find that had a v-8 in even if the motor was bad, then just install a fresh v-8. I can't speak for the ford and chevys maybe they have more partsthat can be reused. and i'm sure they will chime in.

Welcome!
For camping and towing with no preferences, I'd look into a Dodge or Chevy long wheelbase V8 auto.
Nothing wrong with others, but even as a welder, you know it's easier to bolt in than to fab. The long Fords have the same WB as the shorts, so it's not as friendly on towing.
As for tires, it snows here in AZ but I bet you have more knowledge than me on studded tires!
Just keep an eye out in your area and try to find the best match to start from.
If you really want an adventure, shop the lower 48 and drive it back!

dix is right, I'm doing a V8 swap is a 64 van, alot of small things that cost some cash to make work