has anyone swapped in a lokar or other automatic shifter?, tranny shifter etc. Options

[usmc2112]

I have a 1973 quadravan with 302 and c-4 automatic

today I finally got my steering box in and can actually steer now. I celebrated by moving it around the yard which was actually pretty scary seeing that the tranny linkage felt horrible. I decoded the vin on my van and it originally came with a manual tranny 3 on the tree. the standard steering column was kept and the automatic tranny linkage was grafted onto that column. Well, if I hit the shifter with my knee it will pop out of gear or refuse to shift. Quite honestly it was so sloppy it scared the hell out of me. has nayone here tried to swap in a lokar style shifter with a solid linkage?? they have the kits set up where the shifter could be floor mounted anywhere and it seems like a much better setup than the one i have now. dopes anyone know of any other options like swapping in the column from an automatic van from the same year or another year??? please someobody give me advice

[Mrtoni]

Might want to check the numbers again. All my quadravan literature states that they were only available with automatics. Matt in Reno

I have a 1973 quadravan with 302 and c-4 automatic

today I finally got my steering box in and can actually steer now. I celebrated by moving it around the yard which was actually pretty scary seeing that the tranny linkage felt horrible. I decoded the vin on my van and it originally came with a manual tranny 3 on the tree. the standard steering column was kept and the automatic tranny linkage was grafted onto that column. Well, if I hit the shifter with my knee it will pop out of gear or refuse to shift. Quite honestly it was so sloppy it scared the hell out of me. has nayone here tried to swap in a lokar style shifter with a solid linkage?? they have the kits set up where the shifter could be floor mounted anywhere and it seems like a much better setup than the one i have now. dopes anyone know of any other options like swapping in the column from an automatic van from the same year or another year??? please someobody give me advice

[usmc2112]

better yet.....here is the vin breakdown....tell me if you see anything wrong. I got his information form a veteran ford parts man. the fact of the matter is I have a quadravan, it has an automatic, and it has a manual shift steering column. it is black, but the vin says it's white, but it is almost 40 years old, and underneath the black paint is white, and if you lift the shifter up on the column(like your shifting into reverse with a "three on the tree" ) it pops out of gear. the vin also says it has a nine inche rear, but by golly it sure looks like a dana 60 to me. and I am asking about swapping a better shifter into it. IF you know any way to do this or have any advice on doing so or know of a better option I would like to hear it. Thanks.

E14 = E100 Regular Van

A = 240 1V I-6.

H = Lorain OH Assembly Plant

P09285 = 1972.

123" Wheelbase

M = Wimbledon White

E140 = E100 Regular Van / 4300 lbs. GVWR

22 = Light Blue & Medium Blue Vinyl

C = Ford Type 3.03 3 Speed Manual all Syncromesh Transmission.

12 = Ford 9" Rear Axle / 3.70-1 / non Limited Slip / 3,050 lbs. Rear Axle Capacity.

GVW 4300: 4,300 lbs. Gross Vehicle Weight Rating

109 HP @ 4,000 RPM

22 = Charlotte NC Ford District Sales Office, where the original selling dealer ordered the vehicle from.

[econobaja]

The best thing to do is to go to the Wreaking Yard and find a E100 200 or 300 that is originally a 302 Automatic and remove the whole steering column and associated hardware and be done with it. The floor shift idea is for the Birds.

Greg

[vango]

If you do decide to use a floor shifter for your van, lokar would be your best chioce, you will most likely have to call and check if the application you need is somthing they make. I know the owners, Debbie and Skip , both of them are hot rodders and will often do whatever they can to help. Lokar makes a really quality product so it shouldnt be to hard to make it work. Did you buy the black primer 4x4 in NC ?

[Roger]

I may have missed something in the discussions about the quadravans,, but I thought they were all E300s. If your VIN says it's a 100,, then the 4wd was put together by a previous owner. Not that this helps with your problem.

[usmc2112]

If you do decide to use a floor shifter for your van, lokar would be your best chioce, you will most likely have to call and check if the application you need is somthing they make. I know the owners, Debbie and Skip , both of them are hot rodders and will often do whatever they can to help. Lokar makes a really quality product so it shouldnt be to hard to make it work. Did you buy the black primer 4x4 in NC ?

yes unfortunatly I did buy the black primer in NC.

[n2ri]

doubt it is any factory or pathfinder Quadravan 4x4. need to finish the conversion by starting with the column swap as Greg said. as for any other problems you will have I do not know what to tell you, as I have no idea who done the conversion or how poorly it was done. I would not take it on the highway though if the yard was that scary. I bet the frame is too weak also as it was only designed as a half ton and it probably don't have the extra frame rails support or front suspension the Quadravans had. hope you did not give much for it.

Mitch

[n2ri]

All 2nd gen Quadravans came with E300, 302, c4 auto, power steering (not the ford type with pistons on axle) also should have some type of sticker (74 on) or emblem that says it is a Pathfinder conversion or Quadravan unless they have been taken off sometime.
with some under side pictures I can tell if any Pathfinder items may be on it, but it looks like someone just swapped out parts from an old Quadravan to a different van maybe. and they may have not known what all to swap.

Mitch

[n2ri]

OH... Never mind, I just saw your post about which van you have. I got into an argument with that guy when I emailed him a question on ebay. that thing is some race car mechanics nightmare of a 4x4 van. not even close to Quadravan material as he stated in so many words.

good luck

Mitch

[71eco]

Check out this post: http://econolines.ipbhost.com/index.php?sh...shifter+linkage

may give you an idea of what can be done with a shifter cable

[usmc2112]

Ok, we both agree that the flat black van in a nascar mechanics project. Could somebody please, please, please send me some pics of the underside of your quadvan so i can compare it to what I got? that Way I will know if it is quadvan hardware under a e100 or an e100 body on the quadvan frame. this would really help me out.


Sent pictures to Gordon of quadravan and he said it looked like a quadvan conversion kit or somebody placed a e100 on a quadvan frame. Some of the work is pretty butch, that I'm not going to debate.

So somebody please send me pics of a quad van undercarriage!

Scott