Building La Tortuga: 1983 Ford-Collins E350 4x4 ShortBus

KeyserSoSay

Adventurer
Hello to all, I've been lurking here for years now, and slowly working myself into position to "join the club". I've had a very specific vehicle in mind (and lacked the budget of many here to point my finger at it and make it mine), and it seems I've finally found the basis to start my build. I'd seen this rig around and parked in a yard in my general area, and always had a crush on it- about 10 days ago I drove by and noticed it was parked at the road with a "for-sale" sign in the window and I about had a coronar-y-gasm. It's been mine for about 5 days and the pictured condition is as it arrives to me.
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This is a 1983 Ford-Collins 4x4 E350 19 passenger school bus. There are probably many here that know much more about the history of Collins 4x4 van conversions than I, but from what I can glean and from my initial inspection of the rig it appears to be a well planned and executed conversion. it has a 351w-C6-NP205 with Dana44Front and Dana60 rear axels. it has about 160K original miles, and about 5K on a freshly rebuilt and bored out engine with new Holly 4-barrel and intake. It has 9.0x16 (36")military (skinny) tires on narrow steel rims, and despite the previous owners minimal fiddling, is basically still a virgin steel box inside.
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She may seem a little low budget and redneck at first glance, but- like I told my wife - hold your judgment on that until the last page, she's a pretty sound and sturdy rig for her age.
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What I lack in instantaneous funding, I make up for in fabrication skills, tools, skilled friends with bigger tools, design eloquence, and gumption. current projects are rebuilding a Ramsey 15K winch, replacing power steering gearbox and while I'm at it pump, lines, and the steering dampener. I'm also seriously contemplating replacing the carburetor with a FITech EFI. Then rear fender wells will be replaced (the only rust rot I can find). Then a full underbody clean-up and body and shackle rubber replacement. Then custom bumpers with dual spare tire swing-arms, and a tag-axle rollers in the rear (whole lot of overhang in the back, a rolling bumper in the back, and probably locker in the front differential is called for). I plan a pop-top with a 14ft Jon boat mounted integrally, Raptor lined head to toe., Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc..................
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Anyway, I look forward to your help and thoughts as this build and thread progress.
 

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KeyserSoSay

Adventurer
Looks a great project! What are your plans for the interior?

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Thanks!

I plan an expedition camper, but also very much want and expect to go with a custom built pop-top penthouse to house a bed (hoping to figure out how to make it integrate into an inverted jon boat which will become the ever present cap on this rig), so I'm not looking to commit to much in the interior just yet until I get the exterior and running gear expedition ready. I'm a bit of a "prepper" and am happy with a utilitarian rig (think rubber and rhino over carpet and fabric) and my wife sells at farmers and crafts markets on weekends during the summer, so I also want the cab to simply be able to haul stuff. With that in mind, I'm looking to install imbedded T-Rails in the floors, walls, and (what will be left of the ) ceiling so that whatever get's installed in the van will be in easily removable modules that can be mounted via T-rail compression nuts.
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I'm also aware that when I read this post in a few years, I may very well laugh at this and how much the project has gone in a different direction, as I've seen so many other build threads here that have done so.
 

dar395

Adventurer
Only the mind can hold you back if you allow it to, Redneck or not this project will become a part of you. The funny thing is as to talk about all of the build threads here and how they somewhat grab you in to thinking in another direction I as most of us can relate as it is truly all in our minds as we approach the project or the bare canvas of the build.

While down on a trip in the southern states we had a meet up with another van, Jim. I can't find the *!@#* chip with the pictures this morning but I'll post them when it is found for a better understanding of his van.

I as most of us pick up an idea here and there in our own builds, but what Jim has done in his van puts most of the ones I've seen to shame in many ways. Jim's entire interior build is out of reclaimed pallets, not only was he able to reclaim the woods but his skills to burnish the woods and then using rubbing oils for the staining made the interior as fine of a creation as a palace of sorts. With woods in pallets some being outta sort with the main stream as cottonwood which is light when dry and strong, and then elm when oiled gives a rich tone, this may be an approach to use "earthly reclaimed" as your theme with this being a great selling point to the wife (Gotta sell her an idea to get free labor)!

In ours we did a drive for free approach, not cutting corners but it was an easy approach and made us not only enjoy the hunt for the funding with out taking a dime out of the bank, but we taught ourselves how easy it is in the USA to live the good life.

and we all might have a little Red-neck in us as we hit the forest roads just to sleep for free!

Enjoy the bus and build!:wings:
 

KeyserSoSay

Adventurer
Just curious, but are you planning on doing anything about the departure angle?

I'm not sure what can be done about the departure angle short of cutting off the back of the bus. It's already running on 36" tires, so going any taller seems a poor solution.

I do have some specific plans for the rear bumper that I hope will mitigate the length a bit. For one, I plan on installing a receiver tube hitch up high in the bumper, and creating a 3-point drop hitch for towing duties, so that there will be nothing hanging down from the bumper when I'm not towing.

For two, my rear bumper design will include a tag-axle roller system that I've used to good effect moving long trailers (heavy equipment and 5th wheel trailers) in off road conditions. This should be more effective with lockers installed in the front axle, and I'm confident I can squeeze this rig through a tight enough spot that it might leave the rear wheels hanging. I've actually found some 10" solid tire rollers that I think will work well for this, and purchased 16 of them from harbor freight for about $9 apiece. I'll ultimately be posting my bumper design in this thread as I fine tune the design and build it, but here is a pic of the bumper roller wheels which should give a quick idea of what the departure contact surface of the rear bumper will look like. These take a 5/8" hardened shaft, and I only expect them to actually have to roll a cumulative distance of a few feet a year

Obviously, this van is too long to do too much hard-core rock crawling with, but it will certainly not be relegated to the KOA either.

I'm open to any input on this.
 

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KeyserSoSay

Adventurer
I'll also have a 15k Ramsey on the front, so there is a built-in back-up plan.:rappel:
 

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KeyserSoSay

Adventurer
Ok, so I started a build thread, so I feel obligated to actually thread some build. In truth, I live at 7000ft on the shadow side of a mountain, and I don't have an indoor shop big enough to fit my huge Tortuga van in, so I don't expect there will be much building going on until about mid March (when October's snow finally melts). I'll be creating a little indoor/outdoor shop off the side of my garage that will house the build going forward after that (pics to follow)

In the meantime, I did purchase all of the materials to rebuild my Ramsey 15k winch, and figured I should throw up some of that progress here in the thread. I got the winch for free, but have invested about $550 into the rebuild including 3/0 wire and new 7/16" cable. Still a bargain I think for such a tool.

The solenoids are all identical, but there is a right and wrong way to mount them (see pics). I built new contact straps out of 14guage copper, which is about twice as thick as the OEM, and I've seem more than a couple of folks post this is a good idea. I'll be divorcing the solenoid control panel from the winch, and will be placing it inside a pelican box that I've had sitting in my shop for about 5 years. I recognize that there is the potential for these solenoids to generate heat while in use, but the box does have a door- and I think this is a much better solution for the other 99.9% of the time when the winch is not in use.

Not exactly sure where the control box will mount yet, will cross that bridge as I build my front bumper which is going to be a little unconventional as it is. I plan on storage for 2-3 Spector/Jerry cans in either side of the front bumper, and subsequently plan to move my headlights and turn signals forward into the front of the bumper. Many hard-core off-roaders may cringe at the idea of such a large bumper out front, but look again at the pics of this van- my approach angle is the least of my worries, and I won't be taking the front anyplace the back can't handle anyway. Also, before I create too much panic, I plan to haul mostly water up front and not haul gasoline around in traffic as I understand the general concern in that.

I have a roll of 35ft of 3/0 wire and some solder-on copper connectors on order to complete the wiring to the winch and the battery. I also have some 1/2" rubber grommet seals that will seal the wires in and out of my control box.

Also, and this may seem just goofy to some- but I have on order some coyote brown heat-shrink in 1/2" and 1-1/2" that I'll use to to cover the exposed wires, and the larger heat shrink will be used to bundle them into a single large cable for asthetics and orginizations sake. I think this will turn out awesome, and I bet others may like the idea once they see it as heat shrink is pretty cheap and comes in many colors for a custom look. (The 1/2" cost me $20 for a 100ft roll and comes in a dozen or so colors)

I welcome input and comments on these very preliminary plans, and plan to try and continue to post up most of my projects BEFORE I execute them in the hopes I can be saved from mistakes and misdirection from the collective wisdom here.
 

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