HillBillyRV Build Thread - 87 Ford E350 Quadravan Pathfinder Conversion

[jacobconroy]

here is a hightop version https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/boomer-the-quadravan-4x4-camper.94723/
a net search will get you great info. on these trucks. Luckly they are not in the unitaium category when it come$ to upgrading them it seems.

Thanks. I've been looking around for a high top. Can't decide if I'd rather have a high top or popup. I'll probably take whichever I find locally. Part of the reason I bought the van is to stop messing around with my Jeep RTT....so a popup might be the best option for me.

 

[jacobconroy]

A little progress. Found a set of four 8-lug, 17 inch wheels and Toyo MTs for a screaming deal on CL. After sitting around for a couple of weeks I decided to move the Toyos to the Jeep (never, ever volunteer to do your own bead-lock work) and move the Jeep's KM2s to the van. Decided to have the cheap CL chrome plated aluminum wheels powder coated during the swap. Here is the old girl today:



I'll have to spend a day pulling the wheels back off and rattle-canning the hubs...but I think she looks much better. That tired old 460 can sure tell that the tires are 2 inches taller. Still goes down the road though.

I think we are going to do the roof next (so that I can start installing the FrontRunner Slimline II roof rack, awning, table mount, James Baroud RTT, etc.). Does anyone have an opinion on color? We are thinking Raptor liner (or equivalent). Maybe Desert Sand on top and black around the base?

Or, easier to stick with blue?

 

[Bikersmurf]

Regarding exhaust, I couldn’t be happier with the Walker Quiet Flow SS exhaust that I used on my Fj40 with a SBC. Mine is a “stock” replacement for a ‘70 Chevelle with either single or dual exhaust. If you want quiet it would be hard to beat. When the secondaries open up on the highway, all you here is the roar into the carb. I feel the flow through a 2” single is plenty for the 350 with an RV cam and Edelbrock 600 CFM carb. The routing was so tight I didn’t want to go bigger.

Your van is a different beast so you should have no problems with larger pipes. Since you have a SWB Jeep you’ll likely know how crowded it can get under a shorty 4x4 when you add air tanks, an extra fuel tank, a bigger motor, skid plates, etc. Since I don’t drag race, I only care about lower end performance so the 2” fit the bill and it was affordable enough that it ever was damaged I’d not shed a tear.

 

[Bikersmurf]

Blue would be my choice... although lighter colours would be cooler in the summer.

 

[Mwilliamshs]

White roof. Yours is high enough few will ever see it and it'll reflect a lot more heat that way

 

[jacobconroy]

I went camping last night in the Jeep. Final trip. The drive back was white-knuckled terror due to bad roads and all the weight on the roof.

So, I started pulling gear out of the Jeep when I got home and moving it over to the van. Time to commit. Front Runner sent me a list of parts that I will need to extend my Slimline II rack to 109 inches. I'll order then at the end of the month and start working on brackets to mount it.

Then, the RTT, awning, and table will have a home in the van. The Jeep Kitchen is also in the van now, but I need to bolt it in tomorrow. Still have some wiring to remove from the Jeep for the National Luna Battery Pack and NOCO charger...then they will be transferred to the van.

For a bed, I removed the mattress, both down quilts and all the pillows from my James Baroud RTT and put them in the van. RTT was moved to the Subaru today. I think I will be ready to go van-camping in about two weeks.

After that, I think I will build the raised, gas-shock storage/bed platform, then work on installing the Propex heater. The best part is that I'll get my Topliss Jeep back!

There will be some pics tomorrow, but they aren't likely to be sexy.

 

[Raul]

I think we are going to do the roof next (so that I can start installing the FrontRunner Slimline II roof rack, awning, table mount, James Baroud RTT, etc.). Does anyone have an opinion on color? We are thinking Raptor liner (or equivalent). Maybe Desert Sand on top and black around the base?

Or, easier to stick with blue?

Silver roof and silver rocker panels. I do not like chrome in general, but the silver bottom will match with your chrome bumpers. My old van was a Chateau green/silver and I painted the roof silver.

 

[Mwilliamshs]

...The best part is that I'll get my Topliss Jeep back...

What's "Topliss"?

 

[jacobconroy]

What's "Topliss"?

Ha! That's the vanity plate on the Jeep. Somebody else had already taken the correct spelling of it. Rumor has it that she is a stripper in Helena.

I finished stripping all the overland gear from the Jeep this weekend. She is indeed Topliss again. This weekend I will start to install some of the parts in the Van. Gonna start with the Jeep Kitchen and move on to the NL battery system. Probably the NOCO charger too. It won't be pretty, but I want to use it "ad hoc" until spring before I start to build cabinetry, etc.

 

[jacobconroy]

The battery system from the Jeep was installed today. I took a few pictures.

I decided to mount the NOCO charger to the side of the National Luna Battery Pack:


Shot some screws through it to mark the locations:


Then bolted it up with 10/24 1 inch stainless bolts (which will clear the battery when installed):


I got the darned thing a little crooked, but I can live with it:

 

[jacobconroy]

Then it was time to install it. I picked a location that will be under the bed/couch...when the cabinetry is done. Drilled a hole through the floor and spent an hour snaking wired through the frame and body:


After some careful thinking, I drilled a hole from the inside of the van to make sure that the shore power port would miss the reinforcement on the inside:


Next I drilled the 2 inch hole from the outside and installed the NOCO shore-power jack:


Installed the whole mess and sealed up the hole through the floor with silecone:


Damn I wish that charger wasn't crooked.

 

[jacobconroy]

I ran the National Luna 6 GG wires up to the battery. But, I had run them to length in the Jeep...saved the extra. The van needs the extra, so I had some splicing to do. I use butt connectors to hold the wires in line, solder them heavily, heat-shrink them, then cover the entire wire with wire loom:




After finishing up the wire runs under the rig, and into the engine compartment....test run!


Everything works!

 

[jacobconroy]

Oh, and last weekend I installed the Jeep Kitchen in the van. Just temporary. Once I get the parts and build the cabinetry to use a Snow Peak IGT, Snow Peak stove, and
Snow Peak grill on a 48 inch of locking drawer slides, the Jeep Kitchen will be sold. Didn't get pictures of that yet, but I managed to Jury-Rig the propane tank to the spare tire holder (that is too small to hold my spare tire now). However, the tank is too heavy, and is bending the brackets as seen below. I'm now looking into a horizontal propane tank to mount below...RV-style. I can fit one up to 10 inches in diameter and up to 40 inches long. Hopefully that is about 10 gallons of propane, or 40-ish lbs.





Tomorrow I am going to tackle the trailer wiring to pull the Adventure Trailers Chaser. New 7-pin/4-pin plug, trailer brake, and if necessary, all new wiring. There will be a pic or two.

 

[Mwilliamshs]

Oh, and last weekend I installed the Jeep Kitchen in the van. Just temporary. Once I get the parts and build the cabinetry to use a Snow Peak IGT, Snow Peak stove, and
Snow Peak grill on a 48 inch of locking drawer slides, the Jeep Kitchen will be sold. Didn't get pictures of that yet, but I managed to Jury-Rig the propane tank to the spare tire holder (that is too small to hold my spare tire now). However, the tank is too heavy, and is bending the brackets as seen below. I'm now looking into a horizontal propane tank to mount below...RV-style. I can fit one up to 10 inches in diameter and up to 40 inches long. Hopefully that is about 10 gallons of propane, or 40-ish lbs.

View attachment 472989

View attachment 472990

Tomorrow I am going to tackle the trailer wiring to pull the Adventure Trailers Chaser. New 7-pin/4-pin plug, trailer brake, and if necessary, all new wiring. There will be a pic or two.

Keep in mind a propane tank can only be filled 80%. A 10 gallon tank holds 8 gallons of lpg max.

 

[jacobconroy]

Last weekend I installed most of the trailer wiring. There were two 7-pin jacks under the rear bumper, but they were hobbled together with wire nuts and silicone. I didn't even check to see if they worked. After removing them, I talked my brother-in-law into cutting the template for my new Pollack 7/4-pin jack in the chrome bumper (he wanted to know if his plasma cutter would ruin the chrome, and I told him he was welcome to play Dr. with the van).

As you can see, plasma cutters and chrome work just fine:


I repaired the hillbilly wiring job, and solder-tapped three 15 amp fuse holders into the existing wiring. As alway, everything is crimped, soldered, wire-shrunk, and loomed (or sometimes taped).

Then it was time to do the crappy part, running a new line from the battery to the rear bumper with a 12 gage brake wire, and two 8 gage wired for power and ground to the battery:


I didn't get many pictures, but the new run is all done and fused: