New Acquisition - Quadravan

[spencyg]

After purchasing all of the necessary items to convert my '93 E350 diesel van to 4WD, I just stumbled across (and ended up purchasing) a sweet '86 E350 w/ a Quadravan conversion. It also has a Falcon camper conversion and only has 61k miles on the odometer. I couldn't believe my eyes when I drove by. I stopped immediately and bought it on the spot. The van was owned by a 96 year old lady who used to use it for travel within the state. The garage that was selling it for her has done the service on the van for the last 10 years, so a good chunk of the maintenance history is known already. The only downside to this machine is it has the Dana 44 front end instead of the 60. I'll run it as-is for now, and eventually will probably do a 60 conversion. I just jumped ahead like 6 months in the progress toward our trip across North and Central America!!

Are there any specific items that I should be addressing with this beast? I'm not too familiar with the Quadravan conversion other than the fact that it was a Pathfinder product...

Spence

[BigAl]

You should really know better.... PICS??:)

[spencyg]

I'll get some pictures up tonight...promise:)

Spence

[RoundOut]

What? No pics yet? Anxiously awaiting them.

[jkam]

Gordon at http://www.pathfinder-vans.com/ took over when Pathfinder went under.
He purchased most of the remaining inventory and is a very good source for information.

My Chevy Pathfinder also has the Dana 44, I haven't had any issues with it.
While not as heavy duty as the 60, for my needs it has worked out fine.
I'm not into hard core adventures, I just want to be able to get to some out of the way places.

Good luck with the new van, I'm going to miss mine when it sells.

[spencyg]

Well, still no pictures but I did take it for a 25 mile jaunt at lunch. The van rides very well, though I think I'll upgrade/replace much of the rubber in the front suspension. While I'm at it I'll also freshen up tie rods, etc. It looks like a small lift will be easily accomplished, and I should be able to fit 285 75's with some cutting. I also don't plan on doing hardcore wheeling with this rig...I just want to not feel limited by the terrain.

Spence

[jeff@work]

Sounds like an awesome find! Congrats! I look forward to seeing the pictures.

[ujoint]

I had a Pathfinder once upon a time, and I had 285's on it. You'll have to trim the rear of the front fenders & that's it. I bought a bushing kit from Gordon as well, and he has all of the steering parts also. I could never find all of the proper steering parts through the auto parts store I worked @. Save the time & get everything from Gordon. -------- The only downfall of the Pathfinder is the limited suspension travel, rear dana 61 axles (hard to get replacement/performance parts) and the sometimes shoddy work when converted. Be careful around the steering box, make sure there aren't any cracks, and gusset it if you plan to swap to a single trac bar.

[spencyg]

Excellent. I surmised that 285's weren't much of a stretch for the stock configuration. I may do the single trac bar right off. I've bought enough time by purchasing a completed unit that some of the "finer points" can be addressed. I'm also going to upgrade the shocks to remote Bilstein 7100's, do the custom winch bumpers, a lightweight roof basket, and modify the interior to suit our needs. Sorry, I didn't get back to the van this evening before dark. Tomorrow....

Spence

[spencyg]

OK...so here is a nighttime crappy picture of our new Quadravan camper. It isn't all that "sexy" in terms on aesthetics, but functionally it is a thing of beauty. I can easily stand up inside (6'-0), there is an upper double bed, bathroom, kitchenette, etc. The truck was owned by a very old couple since it was new, and I honestly believe they #1 never slept in it, and #2 never put it in 4WD. The frame is immaculate (thats saying something up here in Maine) as is the body. Man...am I excited!!



Spence

[spencyg]

Here are a few more daylight pics. I did some digging and I think it actually has an NP205 T-Case and 3.55 gears. Totally awesome!

Spence

[Tucson T4R]

Looks pretty fun.....post up some inside pics when you get a chance. Maybe while your sitting there inside it sipping a beer this evening dreaming about where your going to take it first. :shakin:

[\\'anderer]

Nice find! and a diesel too!?

yes post some inside pic's please. I am always looking for ideas for my 79 pathfinder.

[spencyg]

I'll shoot some interior pics tomorrow as we weather the reminants of the hurricane that is barrelling through. We will be refitting much of the interior to suit our needs for the trip, but the stock interior is great if we were to be living the KOA dream:) Luckily, we're not.

Spence

[4Rescue]

So wich Diesel motor is in it? Nice Score BTW, now it needs some bigger tires and a new Paint Job...

[spencyg]

Its got the good old reliable and slightly doggy 6.9L International N/A. I love the motor regardless of its power output....so simple. One wire going to the glow plug controller, and thats it! 33's and a paint job are two of the items on the "list".

Spence

[ujoint]

looks nice, good find!!

[kcowyo]

Great find!

Yeah, the powder blue ain't sexy but you can work around it. Looks like a great way to travel to me.

Ditto on the interior pics request. :lurk:

[spencyg]

Here are a few interior pics. I've done a couple fuel efficiency runs and I have some work to do...I'm getting around 12MPG right now, and with the cost of diesel as it is, I'll be broke before long. I just ordered a small Holset turbo which I'll add remotely behind the engine next to the transmission. I'm hoping for only 7-10lbs of boost, but it should be enough to avoid flooring the pedal every time I want to go faster than 40 MPH. I expect the engine VE will improve a bit with this mod, hopefully bumping me up to around 15 MPG at least... :) I won't do better than that with a 3 speed auto transmission, but its got to get better than 12MPG. The fuel cost over 40k miles will be over $11,000!!!!!

Spence

[haven]

I think 15mpg will be just barely obtainable. Remember the gas engine 1980's camper vans were lucky to see 8 or 9 mpg. The "brick-on-brick" aerodynamic profile of your van will really work against you at highway speeds. Taller tires may actually help, since the turbo'd motor should have the torque to pull a higher gear.

Even with the mileage issue, you've got a winner with this van!

Chip Haven

[spencyg]

The Holset H1C turbo just showed up. The poor N/A 6.9L IDI is hurting for power, and once loaded for expedition, will be much worse. I'm not planning on pumping a whole lot of air through the engine with this upgrade, probably no more than 6-8 psi boost.

Spence

[dansvan]

Check out oilburners.net if you haven't allready. Wealth of info on that site.

[Joaquin Suave]

GREAT RIG MAN!! If i didn't have what i have. i'd own exactly what you've got!

a couple of questions...

What are the sports / hobbies that your planning on doing in Latin america?

Who are you going to be travelling with?

How do you camp? (ie: be constantly on the move, stationary for a few days, be stationary for over a week or weeks?)

Are you going to be running your "lights out" manufacturing cells by SAT link "real time" while your chasing waves in Central America?

[spencyg]

I'll be traveling with my wife, and our dog. We aren't really into any sports, and my hobbies usually require an equipped shop for support, so I'll have to pick up knitting or something along the way:) We'll be spending quite a bit of our time volunteering for various groups and org's along the way, so this will probably take up any time not used lounging about or exploring...

You too have an AWESOME rig Joaquin...love it!

Spence

[spencyg]

Nothing really to update on the van build. I've been acquiring parts left and right, but have been trying to bump out a few lingering projects before starting in on "Boomer". I've started doing some solid modeling of the front and rear bumpers, designing the electrical and plumbing system, etc. I'm building a hydraulic tube bender for a project which just came into the shop, so I'll have that at my disposal when it comes time to build rocker protection, roof cages, etc. I will add that the other morning it was 4 deg. F outside and the wind was howling. I wanted to move the van to clean up some snow, and figured it probably wasn't going to start easily on its own. I popped the hood to see if maybe there was a block heater installed, and sure enough, there was. I plugged the van in for about an hour, and it started effortlessly with 1 crank. Awesome. I then proceeded to idle right out of a 48"+ snowbank in 4Hi. :victory:

I hope to get some real progress pics come January.

Spence

[4Rescue]

I'm sorry to hear that you'r plans have been interupted by our dismal economy... But, as a wise man once said, "This too shall pass" and like you said, you've just got to roll with the punches. I hoipe you get everything sorted and that your business picks up mate, keep your head up.

Cheers

Dave