Anyone put a '78 front end on a 80's Econoline? E-350

[mbolton1990]

So I just picked up a '86 IDI E-350 Camper van and love it, but I really like the '78 van front end (round headlights) has anyone retrofitted these to fit one of the newer front ends?

I googled it and nothing came up,but the hood/body appears the same,I'm thinking worst case you'd have to swap core supports out,but honestly I don't know.

What says you OB?

 

[mbolton1990]

Vehicle in question
(because any thread without pics sucks!)

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And front end in question

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[The Warden]

Welcome aboard!

Never having taken the front end apart on a van, it almost looks like it's just a matter of replacing the grille, the hardware immediately behind the grille (headlight buckets, etc), and the lower panel that houses the turn signals on the older vans. It looks like the quarter panels and the hood are identical, which will save you quite a bit of grief.

If you can get your hands on an '78 van, I have a feeling it'll be pretty straightforward...for that matter, you could put the '86 hardware on the '78 and re-sell it

I would strongly advise against replacing the core support; the core support is considerably different between g@$ trucks and diesel trucks; I'm pretty sure the same holds true for the Econoline. The difference is to accommodate the larger diesel radiator. If it turns out that the core support is significantly different in terms of mounting points for the grille, headlights, etc, I would either take the time to modify the '78 core support to hold the diesel radiator, or forgo the swap.

I hope this helps a bit...good luck! BTW, that van looks nice...any chance of some interior shots?

 

[mbolton1990]

I appreciate it,and see that's the thing. There's a entire gasser '78 I have access to for cheap!
I'm gonna give it a go unless someone chimes in here and there's some huge problem (really doubt it,these things are pretty simple thats why we love them after all isn't it )

Thanks for the welcome,here's some more pics (love those plush seats)
These are the pics I took when I first bought it so it's a bit dirty,I've cleaned up the interior since and have taken the extra seats out along with the bed frame.
I'll get some more interior pics tomorrow, the PO's wife made this window covers haha she did a good job.

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I should give a little background on the van,I bought it a week ago in SC for $800. The PO said he took it to mechanic that said it needed a new rebuilt injection pump at the tune of ~$1200.. I took his word on it,and was expecting to put a new IP on.. However, the next morning with the doghouse off I noticed there wasn't a fuel leak at all, I put my hand underneath the IP and it was dry as a bone but I did notice a oil leak coming from the driver side valve cover. I tightened up the valve cover bolts (they were finger tight) and that stopped the leak! Score, and then she made the drive back down to FL just fine. It has 160k miles,and the interior is basically perfect. When the PO bought the van 13 years ago from the second owner the factory plastic was still covering the rear carpet! It still looks new. Someone must have garaged it at some point,but the paint is pretty shot. All in all, I'm really happy with it the 6.9 engine sounds fantastic and shifts through the gears great. It wanders down the road a little bit, but I was going to grease up the front end sometime this week to see if that'll help. I plan on taking it cross country eventually, the van has already gone to CA and back a few times,so with some work she'll be good for it again I think!

 

[mbolton1990]

Figured I should update this,I did the swap!
I got all the front end bits I needed off the donor van for $100,guy was really cool we chatted for a few hours about cars.

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I think it looks alot better,that was right after I did the swap I've adjusted the headlights a bit more and put the other wiper on now (painted them silver to make them period correct)

All in all,the swap was more difficult than what I expected. I had to use a grinder to modify my core support quite a bit so they'd work, physically the headlights sit about 1-1/2" lower than the originals which means you've got to cut alot. I have 2 screws with nuts holding the headlight buckets in place and they're also using the 1/2" front fender bolt as a mounting point. If anyone is really interested on how I did it I could take some pics. They're not going anywhere! Also decided it'd be a good time to ditch the sealed beams and go for some C4 conversion bulbs, the Autopal (Indian-made) ones do the job at the tune of $45.

 

[riotwarrior]

Looks great....now look into LED headlihhts for even better lighting ...safer....with less amp draw...

 

[Kizer]

Great job! Looks real good.

 

[mbolton1990]

Thanks guys!
Now if i could get a Dana 60 under the front end..