Not So Subtle E350 Shuttle - 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

sakurama

Adventurer
When I bought it the mechanic that went over it ran the VIN and found the tranny was replaced at 120,000 miles so it should be in pretty good shape. Painted or not I'm not sure but MG is picking it up today and it's going in tomorrow. But I managed to escape for a few hours last night and meet up with Josh and see the work he was doing to get the front end in.

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Stock brackets were removed by grinding the rivet heads and then chiseling them off then grinding the remainder.

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Getting these brackets off allowed room to attack the pitman arm - the lever that translates the steering box to the wheels. Now, most of you guys are hard core car nuts. I'm not. I've owned my pickup for 14 years and have never done a thing to it. I have no interest in working on my truck because I'm a motorcycle guy. I have a full machine shop in my garage so that I can work on motorcycles. Trucks are for transporting motorcycles. Therefore I've never learned about the mechanics of a front end. The van however is my gateway to trying to learn about it and if you've ever looked at my Garage Journal thread you'll know I like figuring things out. I'm trying to learn the various names of the parts and what they do. I found this...scratch! I made this photo below and hopefully it helps some of you who, like me, might not know what a tie rod is and were afraid to ask.

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Josh had already installed the rear mounts for the lower control arms which fit perfectly and require no welding. The next thing to do was to clear the way for the drag link mount which is on the floor between Josh and the shop towels in the photo below.

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Grinding is to photographers what catnip is to cats. Sparks! It's like the 4th of July in the shop! And it will be the 4th of July in only a few days. Remember when I said we had only two weeks to get this done? I forgot that we were counting this week which it turns out is over. My wife reminded me we're supposed to leave next Saturday and I explained that that might not be happening. We don't have a front axle at the moment and that might make the trip a bit more tricky. Details...

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The cross member's front edge is clearanced to allow space to put the bracket that will hold the track bar but also to give space to the pumpkin (the differential housing) of the new Dana 60 front axle. The Dana 60 and the Sterling are what are used in the newer F250's but they got much larger brakes starting in 2016 so tracking down these newer axles is going to give me a 1999 looking van with a solid and dependable (but noisy!) 7.3 diesel but with all the modern running gear of the latest F250 Super Duty. A pretty great combo I think.

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The control arms keep the axle from moving fore or aft. The track bar keeps the axle from moving laterally. In a leaf suspension the leaf springs do the job of the lower control arms to hold the axle in place for and aft. The drag link attaches to the pitman arm and translates steering input to the right wheel. The tie rod takes the steering input from the right side knuckle and "ties" it to the left side. I'm only figuring this out as I explain here and I'm getting my information from this pretty good article.

I would really suggest reading that whole thing if you're not well versed in whats going on beneath the floor pan of your van or truck. That bracket that Josh is installing is one of the reasons that MG's system works so much better than anything out there. It keeps the drag link and the track bar parallel over their movement and works to prevent "bump steer" which is when forces other than those from the steering input affect your steering. You know, like when you're in a lifted truck and hit a bump and suddenly you're going a different direction. Not good.

This might be a good place for Michael (of MG Metalworks for anyone just joining the party) to jump in and give a better explanation but know that he's spent a huge amount of time designing this system to be easy to install and to work better than anything else out there. It's something I'm really looking forward to experiencing in the next week or so.

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As MG was looking for my front axle he happened to stumble across this - a 2015 Sterling with electronic locker. I have a full floating rear axle with disks which is pretty desirable but Michael made a compelling case for this rear axle. I was going to have to put spacers on mine and this one has even larger brakes so there you go - I'm putting this in. If you're interested in my old axle get in touch with either me or MG.

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Those calipers are about the size of a loaf of bread - big. Between the front and rear this is going to be a van that has no trouble stopping. Next up is installing the transmission.

Gregor
 
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sakurama

Adventurer
What gearing are you planning on for the 35s?

The new Sterling axle is 3.73 which is a bit low for the 35's but I'm going to try it out before regearing and see what I think. I haven't updated the thread to mention it yet but while the van was at Vision Diesel I had them put a 6-position Hydra tuner in and it really woke the van up.

1-Stock- Optimized for any modifications but meant for stock power
2-Hi-Idle: 1100rpm idle for charging, jump starting, winches, cold mornings etc
3-Heavy Tow- 40hp over stock
4-Light Tow/Econoy- 60hp over stock
5-Daily Driver- 80hp over stock
6-Performance- 120hp over stock

I've been running the van in position 4 which is considered the "economy" setting and it has way more power than it did, has far more power for passing and is just over all a lot more crisp and awake. I've only used it in position 5 a couple of times and only once tried 6 which was just silly spinning the tires up instantly. With this tuner I'm going to see how it works with the 3.73's and the 35's and if I want to gear down I'll do that at a later date when I've got a better idea of how the van works.

Gregor
 

SpeedWobbles

New member
Yeah Gregor! Awesome pics and impressive write up. Stoked to see the Van transform. I'll try to swing by your place to check it out before your trip. If not safe travels!
 

motion

New member
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Pro.

Gregor, invest in a EGT/Pyrometer gauge if you're gonna play with the tuner and tow in the mountains.
 

sakurama

Adventurer
Gregor, invest in a EGT/Pyrometer gauge if you're gonna play with the tuner and tow in the mountains.

I would really like to do that but I'm not sure where to start. I have seen the small digital gauges but I tend to like analog and would actually like to have a pod on the dash or on the A-pillar for a few of them but I'm not sure what are the best ones. Trans? Boost? EGT? and for EGT where are you reading? After the turbo? Before? Suggestions welcome.

Gregor
 

sakurama

Adventurer
If you've checked my signature you'll find it's a rabbit hole of build threads. I can't help myself - I like to build and prefer to find things I don't know how to do and then figure them out. My entire career has been built biting off more than I can chew and then chewing like hell to figure it out. That said I'm really glad that I'm not doing this in my driveway. While it is certainly possible having the lifts and tools to handle this stuff is pretty key. I'm learning a lot.

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So one thing I'm going to try to do - no promises - is a short time lapse of the build. I'm trying something new and seeing how it turns out. But for the most part I'm shooting with my Sony's and trying to keep up.

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Yesterday the transmission came back and it's now silver. Or pretty close. The new output shaft and end piece allow the transmission to be mated to the transfer case - that's the not silver bit at the end.

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It's hard for me to believe but on their first builds MG used to just dead lift the tranny up into place while Josh tried to start the bolts. Beastmode indeed. Josh and MG now use a proper tranny lift which makes life a lot more pleasant.

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One of the parts replaced was the pitman arm. MG uses all newer Ford parts and the beauty of his kit is that his brackets and parts are all non wear items and the rest are standard Ford so an MG van can be serviced by anyone familiar with an F250 which is pretty much anyone. There's a lot to be said for smart design.

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After the tranny was mounted in place it was time to mount the transfer case. As you probably know this takes the power from the back of the transmission and splits it into two sending motive force to the front and back via their own driveshafts. This here is the front facing part so the disk on the right is sending force up to the front. I can now see why the pumpkin in front is offset.

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The transmission is held by a U-joint supplied cross member but the transfer case is levered off the back of the transmission. It seems to me like a lot of weight to hang off there but then most of this entire van build is beyond my comprehension as far as weight goes. I think pretty much every part weighs more than a motorcycle.

Next up - rear axle...

Gregor
 
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brianjwilson

Some sort of lost...
Great photos! That transmission lift sure looks handy. MG man handled the transfer case on my van while I threaded a couple bolts. That looks waaaaay better. Josh's shop would spoil anyone who is used to working on things in the driveway. After working on my van at his place, the LAST thing I want to do is crawl around on the ground in my sloped driveway and work on it.

I'm sure you'll love the whole setup. I'll have to stop in and check it our again, if it's still around when I'm back from work.
 

sakurama

Adventurer
Great photos!

I'm sure you'll love the whole setup. I'll have to stop in and check it our again, if it's still around when I'm back from work.

Thanks, it's fun to shoot the process. Build threads are a place for me to experiment with my photos without having to please a client. Like personal work. I enjoy it.

I am at once super excited and also a bit nervous. It is going to be so much bigger! Like way bigger. Like 9" taller which on paper sounds like no big deal but when you actually walk up to and get into a van like this - it's ginormous.

Next week will be busy. I'd love to meet if you stop by. The new axle is supposed to show up on Wednesday. Fingers crossed...

Gregor
 

motion

New member
Suggestions welcome.

There are a lot of options out there in gauges which means to me that what appeals to me doesn't necessarily appeal to the next guy though I prefer a needle to a number. I like an Autometer sport comp as it is a classic design to behold with a black face, red needle and white markings to match your dash. Autometer have a large array of models for most measuring tasks and they have your three desired gauges in either 2-1/16" and 2-5/8".

I would EGT before the turbo. I would prefer to either build an A-pillar pod or find/build a dash pod. We're talking about Gregor here, so I'm assuming you'd build something. :costumed-smiley-007

I've followed your postings on ADV and Garage Journal for years now and will be following you soon with a van build using a similar approach. Eager to see how yours turns out!
 

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