Hello, I am kid poor.

[skoronesa]

I recently got a 2006 E-250 from work, 113K, no mechanical issues, hole above the exhaust, left side door sticks. I also have a 2014 E-250 for work. I rattle canned it black.

I don't have a welder, or a garage, but I do my own oil changes, brakes, starters, alternators, and other simple stuff even if it means laying in the mud. I know a good deal about electronics/electrical but not anything specific to vehicles. I have a small work shed and am resisting the urge to fill my new van with tools. I am the drain snaking guy for a large residential Plumbing/HVAC company. I am going for a heating license but end up doing tons of plumbing. I have 3 kids, luckily we got a house about 2years ago. Before that we were in a 2 bedroom apartment, with 3 kids!!! It was nuts.

My aspirations for this van are:
-Bench seat(s) in the back for the kids
-Brush guard(s) I want to have the front one removable on plow mounts
-Tow a pop up camper we will hopefully be getting
-Install 12,500lb winch I had bought for my cavalier(it's a long sad story)
-TIRES!!!! I want some treadwright retreads
-If I get my #1 wish, 4wd, but I doubt it.

 

[skoronesa]

Pic of the new(to me) van.

 

[Bbasso]

I didn't see a question... but good luck getting the van to meet your dreams.
Do a bunch of reading on this forum and others and maybe it will help you to make better or different decisions.

 

[arctictraveller]

I also have a 2014 E-250 for work. I rattle canned it black.I.

Wait....... You spray painted a 2014?

 

[skoronesa]

Wait....... You spray painted a 2014?

lolz, no. sorry I worded that badly. I sprayed the 2006. it had some rust above the tailpipe, bottom of side door, and one or two other lower edges. I mainly did it because it was easier than removing the old company lettering.

 

[marret]

Welcome and best wishes/much success getting your van how you want it. As Bbasso said and I'm sure you have seen, there is a lot of info on this forum.

 

[skoronesa]

I realize now that this forum is for a particular kind of conversion van modified by a particular company. If it's cool that I post my e-250 and the (probably grungy) things I do to it that would be cool too.

Well I can cross the first item off my list of wishes at the junk yard right now, waiting for the boss to get back. Brought some scrap to trade for bench seats. At first it looked bleak, just a couple double seats with one integrated belt. Lo and behold they have a newer e-350 modified into a transit bus. 10 double seats with lap belts!!!! Took me about an hour to unbolt and carry them all out.

The boss and I agreed on me taking 4 doubles and the brackets from four others as one side was mounted to the wall of the bus. I am waiting for him to get back from lunch to see if I can just take all the seats. They are "Freedman seating" brand and are mounted to unistrut frames which were bolted to unistrut on the floor and walls. They will be going in my e-250 basically the same way, not sure if one side will be wall or both floor mounted.

 

[skoronesa]

200$+ ~300$ worth of scrap and I got them all!

 

[carringb]

Congrats!

Keep an eye out at the wrecking yards. Lots of conversion vans have god parts, even though they mostly had poor build quality. But seats, table, even high-roofs are stuff you could re-purpose. If you are patient, you could probably snag some nice rear windows too.

Since you have kids, I definitely recommend trying to find a rear A/C unit. Most conversion vans used aftermarket A/C which will be a little easier to take apart and transfer than factory A/C. Just plan on replacing the expansion-valve or orifice tube, doing a full flush before connecting to your front system, and adding enough oil for the larger system.

 

[skoronesa]

Well I aint looking to do a high top unless I get some free ladder racks that would fit over it. The ac in it works really good, I figure I will just insulate it.

So get this, I am at the junkyard and one of my old shool buddies is there too, says the mechanics shop he works at has a converion van sitting with a rotted frame they use for storage. The engine/drivetrain only has 68k on it and it has a quigley 4x4 conversion! Now it's an e-350 5.4l and I have the 4.6l, my buddy thinks it will fit, any thoughts?

 

[rallypanam]

The engine/drivetrain only has 68k on it and it has a quigley 4x4 conversion! Now it's an e-350 5.4l and I have the 4.6l, my buddy thinks it will fit, any thoughts?

Score! It'll fit, both motor and Quigley 4x4, but it's a significant amount of work.. especially for a dad with three kids! Quigley welds on control arm mounts, so you'll need to cut those off donor van, but other than that it's bolt on.

 

[skoronesa]

Yeah, I personally won't be doing that swap. I would love too, but I have to limit myself to projects where the vehicle I am working on can still drive if I stop working. I figure a mechanic owns it, he can be the one to do the work

 

[skoronesa]

The hardest part of this whole thing so far was removing the shelving. I used an angle grinder to cut the heads off of the bolts going through the floor, 8 in all. Then the shelving was like rust welded in two spots and the floor mat was stuck to the bottom. I got angry. If anyone wants the shelving I took out and you live in new england pm me.

In hindsight the order in which I put the seats could have been better so that there were armrests between each seat. I may change this in the future but it's fine for now as it will have 3 carseats in the back. I am going to try to do cupholders made out of 3" pvc pipe. The seats came out of the donor bus really easily and they have almost no rust. Also, only 2 pieces of gum and no rips in the pleather, none! Ignore the seats facing backwards, I didn't feel like carrying them into the basement after I decided not to put them where the remaining shelf is. I will leave the last shelf unit for now to possibly hold a tv/monitor/laptop for long rides. The big hooks on the ends would be great for coats.

 

[skoronesa]

They will be off the wall a bit more and there will be padding behind/above them incase someone hits their head. I also planning on grabbing some 1/2" rubber mat we have at work for the floor. A couple sheetmetal patches, some flex seal and then the mat and the floor will be real nice and should quiet the road noise a bit. There will be cut outs in the mat for the low profile unistrut to get bolted to the floor. Then the extra gaps in the unistrut will get this rubber filler moulding I grabbed out of the donor bus.

So as of right now I just need to buy 20' of unistrut, spring nuts, and bolts. Then the seats will be usable!