A100 Refresh

So i decided to repair/change a few things on my truck that i didn't care for when i bought it, and it kind of got carried away.



it started out as fixing a leaking header and some wiring

then before i new it. i had the 340 out and the replacement selected

when i was crawling around i noticed some questionable body work that was done so i proceeded to strip the truck down. Removing box liner and under coating is the worst.

some of the questionable body work i was talking about

So where are you going to find room for the radiator, since the Viper engine is longer ? Or are you going to shift everything toward the back a few inches ??

That's some serious business!

I do plan on moving it back a couple inches, to make room for a electric fan and to route the intake. the viper engine isn't a lot longer than a inline 6 and not a lot wider then a v8. Probably easier to fit then a hemi. the 48re bell housing is huge and i will have to cut the back of the cab for that.

Nice!

SWEET!!! That little truck will be able to fly ! Hopefully, you are also considering a suspension upgrade that will make that beast easier to handle. Keep us posted on your progress as often as possible.

nothing special chassis wise, rebuild everything and add disc brakes, small tub in the back. my vision for the truck is a cruiser era street/strip type stance big tires on back and skinny on front with a slight rake. don't intend to use it for high speed stuff some 0-60 type burst and maybe the odd smoke show. I shortened the Trans using a tail section from a 4x4 to help keep some drive shaft length

Before i sent it to the media blasters i cut out all the obvious rust and lowered down the counter weight, not sure if the vans have these.

When you dig into a project, you really DIG into a Project!!! Thanks for letting us watch! My Econo van has the counterweight as well.

Never paid attention to the counterweight, but, if you have one, and Vanny has one in his E, then I assume my van has one, too. The Ford and Dodge are very similar in many ways.

Like you, I wanted to build a cruiser with a lower stance, but, didn't enjoy the "buckboard wagon" ride of the stock suspension. We went with a Mustang II type IFS in front, 4-link in the rear, with coil-over shocks in all four corners. There's a lot of fabrication work, and it's not a cheap way to go, but, I'm hoping the expense will be worth it when I get it back on the road in the next few weeks. The power steering will be a big help, too. We also pulled the tired slant 6, and replaced it with a mildly built '77 marine 318, and added a '92 A518 overdrive tranny. There's not much of a driveshaft left...it's only about 10-1/2 inches long.

[quote="slant6charlie"]Never paid attention to the counterweight, but, if you have one, and Vanny has one in his E, then I assume my van has one, too.  The Ford and Dodge are very similar in many ways.

Like you, I wanted to build a cruiser with a lower stance, but, didn't enjoy the "buckboard wagon" ride of the stock suspension.  We went with a Mustang II type IFS in front, 4-link in the rear, with coil-over shocks in all four corners.  There's a lot of fabrication work, and it's not a cheap way to go, but, I'm hoping the expense will be worth it when I get it back on the road in the next few weeks. The power steering will be a big help, too. We also pulled the tired slant 6, and replaced it with a mildly built '77 marine 318, and added a '92 A518 overdrive tranny.  There's not much of a driveshaft left...it's only about 10-1/2 inches long.


i would be interested to see your build, do you have thread or a link?

I would be very interested in your Mustang II IFS setup. Did you use a kit or fabricate it yourself? Pictures would be nice!

We purchased a custom kit from a hot rod fabricator out there on the west coast. It needed to be a little bit wider than any of the standard kits that are readily available. In the end, my fabricator wished we had bought one of the standard kits, and performed the necessary mods himself. It would have saved time, money, and aggravation.

Right now, the only pics I have are on my phone, and they're not that good. I should have some better pictures of the completed van in the next two or three weeks. I will attempt to post a few of them for you then.

Do you have info on the fabricator? Name, location, or possibly a phone number or a website?

I would not recommend the guy we used out there. If we had it to do all over again, we would go with No Limit Engineering in Dandridge, TN. You can do a web search and find them quite easily.

Right on!

Called No Limit in Tennessee. They have nothing for our trucks or vans. Ours have a unibody type of construction and don't lend themselves to this type of modification. I would still be interested to see how you did yours and will patiently wait for pictures and input. Thanks, Steve.

Nobody has a kit specifically for the A100 vans. They have to be custom made, due to the longer width. If I remember correctly, the longest width available by any of the standard suppliers out there is 60 inches, and, I believe our vans require one that needs to be 63 inches. My fabricator in Fort Worth says No Limit will make special orders for him, so, perhaps they will only make those for shops that are in the business of doing this kind of thing, instead of dealing with the general public. Can't say that I would blame them, if that is truly the case.

And, while the integrated frames on our unibodied vans weren't designed for this type of modification, it doesn't mean that it can't be done, it just isn't very common...yet. The process requires a lot of measuring, cutting and welding, a lot of patience, and, it is very costly. The first one I saw was on an early Econoline at a local hot rod shop. It was the van that inspired me to pursue this mod for my own van, and so far, I haven't regretted it. I'll know more, once I have back on the road, and drive it for awhile.

I understand the front suspension from a crown Victoria is a complete assembly that unbolts from the frame rails. might be a possibility for the rodding crowd over a mustang II setup. I have a friend that is installing one on a sweptline pickup. frame rails on a d-series is wider than our a's and he only trimmed the original rails slightly to set it in place.keep in mind the steering shaft would an interesting setup on our a-series vehicles.

The steering setup for sure is the biggest hurdle. If someone could figure that out, it would be great for all vans/pickups, not just our A 100's/108's.

Maybe someday it will happen...when enough vintage van owners make the application desirable, and profitable enough for the after-market manufacturers. The Dodge A's and Ford E's are so similar in design, it would be nice if someone would make a kit that would fit either one. But, that may only be wishful thinkin'...

I for one am wishing. I'm also thinking it can be done. All it will take is for someone to figure it out and people will line up for a kit to be available. I'm not ready to give up.