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    Van?

    Any of you guys ever own or work on a 80's vintage 351 econoline?

    Would it be impossible to do things like troubleshoot vacuum leaks, sensor/wire failures, etc?

    how about servicing intake/vc gaskets?

    How hard to address the standard 1980s sbf stuff that needs attention after 30+ years.

    also, carb vs injection... which would be more reliable and easier to work on/troubleshoot on a van?

    only interested in reliablity, i don't care about performance, i'm slow... just can't have roadside dramas... thanks for any help
    96 MGM
    sigpic
    Cruisin up and down the road...

    #2
    The doghouse comes out and makes working on top and sides of the engine reasonable. Intake and valve covers are okay. The front is still a pain. Timing chain, water pump, etc.

    I’d look for an EFI version for reliability/drivability. A carb’d one you could service without opening the hood though lol.
    1990 Country Squire - weekend cruiser, next project
    1988 Crown Vic LTD Wagon - waiting in the wings

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      #3
      Oh yeah the timing chain. the vans probably got those plastic gears too...? what year did that stop. can the timing chain be replaced without dropping the motor or front end? thans for the help
      96 MGM
      sigpic
      Cruisin up and down the road...

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        #4
        What he said. Anything on top is actually pretty simple since you can get to the back of it. Arguably easier than a car, though having to haul parts out through the interior kinda blows. Front of it, PITA.

        The plastic mostly stopped in the cars around 1986 with some random recurrences through the end of the 80s at least. Don't know about trucks.

        Shouldn't have to drop the motor, but you may have to pull the grille and radiator for access. The timing cover has to come off and you'll need to get access to all of that.

        Definitely EFI. Late carb stuff with the miles of vacuum hose and the computer controls are a nightmare. Other option would be early enough to be fully non-electronic with no emissions BS. We had a 1987 F250 where I used to work, that thing had so much bullshit on the engine it was just impossible. It was really messed up too, it shot fireballs out of the tailpipe and ran generally like garbage. I finally got tired of it not being useful and ripped all that crap off. Ran like a watch from that point on, but there was a box full of vacuum hoses and other nonsense that I pulled. It was a yard truck and it just needed to move boats around the property but its very difficult to make use of it when it stalls trying to pull things up the ramp.
        86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
        5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

        91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

        1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

        Originally posted by phayzer5
        I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

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          #5
          I know you said it's a yard truck but... all the stuff you removed to make it run... would that kill the cruise control in a road going vehicle of the same vintage? thank u
          96 MGM
          sigpic
          Cruisin up and down the road...

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            #6
            Depends what you remove. I don't see why you couldn't keep the cruise, its one vacuum hose. I removed the two smog pumps, their plumbing, and the vacuum stuff associated with the pumps and the EGR. I left the climate control and brake booster lines, I don't honestly remember if that truck even had cruise. I wouldn't have removed it if I did. I know it ran a ton better. I actually had to drive it 45 minutes home the day I de-smogged it. Boss left while I was getting a shower and locked my keys in the shop. The yard truck was tagged and such, so it made it's first highway trip in who knows how long and it did a fine job of it. The last time I had driven that thing down the road it sounded like a bunch of hicks doing a drive-by with all the popping and banging that was going on. That was ~45 mph on a country road, I ran it home at 70 mph on the interstate. I tested the 4bbl a few times too, and it did work. Didn't pick up speed, but it made the right noises from under the hood.
            86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
            5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

            91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

            1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

            Originally posted by phayzer5
            I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

            Comment


              #7
              Did someone convert that '87 F250 to a carpitator? Thought '87 and up was all EFI... Buuut GM did weird things the first two years of their redesign, you could get a carb if the truck was a certain GVWR or higher I think.
              1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
              1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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                #8
                Factory 4bbl, F250 HD. I think 87 was the end of the road for the carb, and it was only on the higher GVWR models. It didn't have cats either, but it had two smog pumps. NFC what the purpose of that was other than to make it run bad.
                86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                Originally posted by phayzer5
                I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                Comment


                  #9
                  Wow.. When buying new, why would anyone want a carb over EFI?

                  I'd bet the two smog pumpers was to dilute tailpipe emissions down to an acceptable level for that GVWR.. I remember that '88 GMC 454 we had had a 4bbl intake with a Rochester to TBI adaptor plate on it from the factory for a configuration similar to yours should a buyer want it..
                  1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                  1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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                    #10
                    EFI possibly wasn't an option on that particular engine/truck/GVWR combo. Dunno, I just had to deal with it for work purposes and I needed it running well enough to be useful.
                    86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                    5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                    91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                    1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                    Originally posted by phayzer5
                    I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Possibly not, although I can't see why. Which doesn't matter since that's my opinion and not fact.
                      1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                      1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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                        #12
                        I'm pretty sure all 351s were still carb'd in '87.

                        On an EFI 351 in a van, the #1 spark plug can't be accessed without dismantling something. I was told to remove an engine mount and lower the engine slightly for clearance, but I have to imagine there's a less crappy way to do it than that. I never got around to changing it before the van got sold.
                        1985 LTD Crown Victoria
                        1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
                        1996 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4, 360

                        Past: 1995 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor

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                          #13
                          Yeah the alternator needs to be unbolted or you can go in through the wheel well with several extensions. Sucks either way.
                          2020 Volvo XC90 T6 Momentum (Ice White / Blonde)
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                          1989 Grand Marquis LS (Cabernet/Grey), 1989 Lincoln Town Car SS (White/Blue), 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis Ultimate (White/Black)

                          Originally posted by Lincolnmania
                          if its got tits or tires it's bound to give you trouble

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Stocker View Post
                            I'm pretty sure all 351s were still carb'd in '87...
                            The advertisements and sales literature I've seen says otherwise. For '87, Ford boasted that (at least for F-Series trucks) that all engines were EFI and reiterated throughout the engine choice pages stuff like "gone are the days of hard starts when cold or hot." or "Advanced engine management technology keeps your engine running like new for longer" type propaganda. This isn't to dispute that perhaps above a certain GVWR that you couldn't get a carb, as I know they were available on early GM's. But I have seen GM sales literature which confirmed the availability of those along with HP/TQ ratings.
                            1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                            1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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                              #15
                              The '87 brochure I found touts EFI for the 300 and 302, and a "big free-breathing 4-barrel Holley carburetor" on the 351:
                              http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/brochure...age=13&scan=19

                              Maybe it was a mid-year change then... the specs table in that brochure says nothing about 5-speed manual transmissions, but I recall my grandfather's '87 diesel having a 5-speed.
                              1985 LTD Crown Victoria
                              1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
                              1996 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4, 360

                              Past: 1995 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor

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