04 E350 EB Build Thread

[kbeefy]

I guess since I finally got a van I'll start a thread.


Wife and I wanted something a little bigger than our Vanagon Syncro.
We tried a '78 GMC 26' Class A and it wasn't really for us.


Van pickings have been pretty slim around here, and I'm pretty picky.
Found a 2004 E350 Extended work van with a 6.0 powerstroke and 91k miles.
I decided to go for it, even though I really wanted a standard length van and windows. I had been having a hard time finding an affordable 6.0 that didn't have 300k on it.

Ran and drove good, but it's a base model and didn't have cruise.
I picked up a steering wheel on Ebay and a new clockspring from Ford.

Install went fine, but I still don't have cruise. There are mixed reviews online about whether or not programing has to be done to enable cruise. I guess this one needs some programing. I'm going to see if Forscan or my snap on scanner can do anything.


My vanagon has a pop top and I really like it, so I picked up this pop top to retrofit onto my van.

The people I bought the top from also included these captains seats w/ swivel bases.

Unfortunately the bases are for an 82. I haven't looked into what it will take to make them work, more on that later.


I wound up buying an E150 at auction cheap...

I was planning on swapping the side and rear doors from it onto my van to add some windows. I also put an ad on Marketplace offering to swap my solid doors for someones windowed ones. I've had a fair response from that ad so it looks like I'll just fix the Auction van and sell it. It needs a rear differential and I've found one on a parts van I plan on picking up this week.





I picked up this truck as a donor for a 4x4 conversion.

I'm now having second thoughts about doing the 4x4 conversion... in 12 years I don't think I used 4x on my syncro more than 2 times. It is a heck of a lot more manuverable than an E350 will ever be, but I have lots of 4x4 vehicles for wheeling.


I'm now thinking about doing a posi/selectable rear locker and a rear winch instead of 4x4. I'm also thinking about a weldtec 2wd lift.

 

[kbeefy]

I plan on building out the interior similar to a SMB EB-30.
I'm taking some inspiration from @86Scotty and hope I can make something at least half as nice as his van. Carpentry and finish work is not my strong suit.


So far I have a nice sink and faucet, water pump, water pressure accumulator.
200aH LiPo battery, DC-DC charger, 2000w Inverter, and 75A AC charger.
4x 100w solar panels, MPPT charge controller, battery monitor.
A take out 'rollover' couch from an RV. A Fiama F45 Awning.


I still need to buy a bunch of interior building supplies, a water tank, Truckfridge TF130, and a toilet.


I'm going to have to sell a vehicle or two to fund further purchases, so this might be a slow build. Plus we just got a puppy a couple days ago so I'm busy chasing her around and house-training for the next week at least.


Other pictures just because....

 

[h.grenade]

Cant wait to see the build! The first post looks like it's missing a bunch of images - just a heads up.

 

[kbeefy]

Thanks, I need to find a better image host than google.

 

[h.grenade]

You can upload them here to your own album and then link them to the post.

 

[BCam]

You can upload them here to your own album and then link them to the post.

Click on the User CP in the toolbar and then go to Pictures and Albums. From there you can create an album or albums and upload photos. You can then copy image URLs to your post. It takes a little practice but you'll figure it out.

 

[kbeefy]

You can upload them here to your own album and then link them to the post.

Click on the User CP in the toolbar and then go to Pictures and Albums. From there you can create an album or albums and upload photos. You can then copy image URLs to your post. It takes a little practice but you'll figure it out.

Thanks! Found it. Now, how do you Edit posts on here? I can't find a button for it.... weird.

 

[kbeefy]

Maybe you can't Edit the initial post....

I guess since I finally got a van I'll start a thread.


Wife and I wanted something a little bigger than our Vanagon Syncro.
We tried a '78 GMC 26' Class A and it wasn't really for us.


Van pickings have been pretty slim around here, and I'm pretty picky.
Found a 2004 E350 Extended work van with a 6.0 powerstroke and 91k miles.
I decided to go for it, even though I really wanted a standard length van and windows. I had been having a hard time finding an affordable 6.0 that didn't have 300k on it.

Ran and drove good, but it's a base model and didn't have cruise.
I picked up a steering wheel on Ebay and a new clockspring from Ford.

Install went fine, but I still don't have cruise. There are mixed reviews online about whether or not programing has to be done to enable cruise. I guess this one needs some programing. I'm going to see if Forscan or my snap on scanner can do anything.


My vanagon has a pop top and I really like it, so I picked up this pop top to retrofit onto my van.

The people I bought the top from also included these captains seats w/ swivel bases.

Unfortunately the bases are for an 82. I haven't looked into what it will take to make them work, more on that later.


I wound up buying an E150 at auction cheap...

I was planning on swapping the side and rear doors from it onto my van to add some windows. I also put an ad on Marketplace offering to swap my solid doors for someones windowed ones. I've had a fair response from that ad so it looks like I'll just fix the Auction van and sell it. It needs a rear differential and I've found one on a parts van I plan on picking up this week.





I picked up this truck as a donor for a 4x4 conversion.

I'm now having second thoughts about doing the 4x4 conversion... in 12 years I don't think I used 4x on my syncro more than 2 times. It is a heck of a lot more maneuverable than an E350 will ever be, but I have lots of 4x4 vehicles for wheeling.


I'm now thinking about doing a posi/selectable rear locker and a rear winch instead of 4x4. I'm also thinking about a weldtec 2wd lift.

 

[boywonder]

A lift, locker and winch goes a long way......


What's wrong with the truck? ...it looks pretty nice.....

 

[kbeefy]

A lift, locker and winch goes a long way......


What's wrong with the truck? ...it looks pretty nice.....

My thoughts exactly. And I think I would appreciate the ride vs 4x4.

Truck has no compresion on #1. Leakdown thru crankcase.

Eventually I'll pull the engine and replace a piston or the whole engine, but I have other projects I can make money on for less work at the moment.

 

[h.grenade]

A picture is worth 1000 words I have never seen a hard-sided pop top like that - was it someone's DIY?

 

[kbeefy]

A picture is worth 1000 words I have never seen a hard-sided pop top like that - was it someone's DIY?

No, it was made by a company here in Washington in the 70s and 80's.


Chefs Tops, or something like that. They are not in business anymore.
This particular top was actually listed for sale on this forum.


https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/f14/van-pop-top-for-sale-port-angeles-wa-31997.html

 

[JWA-SMB]

The cruise control for your 2004 will require a certain factory installed chassis wiring plug and the appropriate year clockwork servo that attaches to the throttle body. It wasn't until 2005 the PCM-based Vehicle Speed Control feature was available.

 

[kbeefy]

The cruise control for your 2004 will require a certain factory installed chassis wiring plug and the appropriate year clockwork servo that attaches to the throttle body. It wasn't until 2005 the PCM-based Vehicle Speed Control feature was available.

Diesel, no Throttle body. All powerstrokes are drive by wire, so the cruise is pcm controlled.

 

[JWA-SMB]

Diesel, no Throttle body. All powerstrokes are drive by wire, so the cruise is pcm controlled.

Doh---completely my bad for missing that fuel detail---sorry for butting in with my bum hardware misinformation!

Can you use Forscan or something similar to enable VSC in your van's PCM?

 

[kbeefy]

Doh---completely my bad for missing that fuel detail---sorry for butting in with my bum hardware misinformation!

Can you use Forscan or something similar to enable VSC in your van's PCM?

I hope so, but I've been busy working on a few other rigs. It's near the top of my list whenever I make room in the shop.

I have Forscan and a SnapOn Verus Pro. If neither of those work it's either a trip to ford (75 miles each way) or maybe buy a license from Forscan and give it a go.

 

[kbeefy]

Well, I sold my Syncro Vanagon. Guess it's time to start spending money.


I bought a S&B 35g wheelwell fresh water tank, a cassette toilet, a Kuuma water heater, a knockoff TF130 fridge because truckfridge seems to be out of stock, an Automatic Transfer switch, an undersink water filter and drinking water faucet and a few woodworking tools I've been coveting.


Shop is still filled up with projects so I can' start working yet. It's getting closer thou....

 

[kikisadventures]

Will the dealer just enable the cruise control if you ask them? or do you have to make something up?

 

[kbeefy]

They should be able to enable it if you ask. I'm sure they will charge an hour labor, unless you have a friend with access to an IDS system, or whatever ford is using these days.

 

[kbeefy]

Well, the van wound up inside and I hooked up Forscan. I am inexperienced, and probably doing more than one thing wrong.


There were only a few coding options available. I spent half the day trying to decipher the hex codes and couldn't find anything relevant to a 2004 E350. If it was a 2011 F150 it would have been easy.


In theory, it's possible, but without knowing which line to edit its mostly impossible. I gave up, I'll be taking it to the dealer. The only thing I may have changed is the seat belt dinger.


So I dug into another issue that came up, hard start cold. #1,3,5, & #7 Glow plugs had codes. Thats all the passenger side bank. Seems like an odd coincidence. I pulled the doghouse and went looking for the glow plug controller. Fortunately I found it on the back of the drivers valve cover, way better than if it was on the front of the pass valve cover like the pickups. I started pulling the controller to swap out with a known good one off one of my trucks, when I noticed the main power wire was partially pulled out of the plug on one of the connectors. After a little more investigation I realized it couldn't make contact inside the plug, and this would certainly disable 1/2 of the glow plugs.


Access is pretty limited, as with everything on the top of a van motor. I did manage to force the wire into the connector and make contact with some very long double jointed needle nose pliers. After reassembling everything the codes for #1,3&5 were gone, but #7 remained. I figured thats good progress, 7 of 8 is way better than 4 of 8. I'll let future me deal with #7.


So, the reason the van was inside was that I was trying to trade my solid barn doors to someone with windowed barn doors. After 6 weeks of flakes that never followed thru, I finally found someone that would commit. So, I pulled the side doors and took them to town to swap. The doors I got were not quite as nice as mine, and were 6 years older so the plain white didn't quite match. Eh... maybe future me can fix that as well.


Doors are still filthy in this pic, they
're not actually as bad as they look. Since I'm planning on doing a rocker accent I'm not to worried about anything below the body line.