Hello and new to me '96 E350 SMB 4x4

[Marco W]

Hi all,

I'm a longtime lurker/forum guest and SMB noob who finally took the plunge and bought a secondhand rig. I want to thank everyone on this forum for all of their wisdom and experience, which helped to educate me so that I knew what I was looking at, and in making updates and repairs in the few months that I've owned it.

My SMB is a '96 E350 EB with a Quigley conversion, the penthouse top, and a thirsty 460 V8 gas motor. It's mostly stock but with lights, solar, an aftermarket winch, an auxiliary gas tank, and Aluminess spare tire carrier, plus some other bits. I'll get into some of those things in later posts or threads. It's riding on 33" Cooper AT3s that probably have another 5 years life in them unless I wear them out sooner.

The van has about 93K miles on it and overall is in pretty good shape for a 25-year old vehicle, but it is due for some regular maintenance, some of which I've already gotten into (again, later posts). I am grateful to the prior owners for keeping the original SMB owner's manual intact and with the van.

I have some modest plans to "edit" this van to better meet my specific needs, but I will be taking a pretty light touch -- no interior gut and rebuild here. I expect to be more of a user and a driver, and less of a builder. But I am open to ideas and suggestions for how to improve the vehicle or address known issues. And there are some 90's era bits and pieces that I plan to delete.

So, thanks again for all of the knowledge that is collected in this forum. I hope that I can contribute to it in some small way.

[simplesez]

Welcome! I had a 96 with the 460 as well. Great easy to service powerplant.

[marret]

Cool. Congrats and welcome.

[basssears]

Welcome. Roll a 1994 with the 460 ourselves so similar rig, been beyond pleased with it for the last 20 years!!!

[86Scotty]

I had a 95 with a 460. You will love everything about it but the 'thirst' problem.

I'm curious if your 96 has an OBD2 port under the dash? 1996 was the first year for OBD2 but not for every vehicle I've learned. Anyway, just curious.

Welcome!

[Marco W]

Originally Posted by 86Scotty

I'm curious if your 96 has an OBD2 port under the dash? 1996 was the first year for OBD2 but not for every vehicle I've learned. Anyway, just curious.

I think it does have a port under there... somewhere! The van was built in '95 and SMB completed it in '96. The immediate PO had an OBD2 reader that was in the van, which makes me think it has a port. But a different prior owner (previous to the immediate PO) was some sort of serious audiophile and installed a remarkable amount of accessory wiring in the driver footwell and elsewhere in the van. It is quite a rat's nest in there! I *think* the OBD port is under the dash and just below the steering column to the right (above but between the brake and gas pedal) but that might be some other sort of data port or connector. I'll figure it out pretty soon... once I pull a bunch of that extraneous wiring out of the way.

[NRL]

Originally Posted by basssears

Welcome. Roll a 1994 with the 460 ourselves so similar rig, been beyond pleased with it for the last 20 years!!!

96 460 Quigley 4x4 Sportsmobile for like 10+ years.



It is well maintained by me and still going strong. No Big Issues so far.