All Small Six Which cylinder head?

[Otto]

Fired up the engine this afternoon; it ran well while still on the jackstands. I couldn’t really prove it, but it just seems happier. We have winter weather forecast for the next week straight so test drives will have to wait. Stoked to see how much better the engine performs on the road.

This is what I’m working on. If you see us tooling around, give a wave.

 

[awasson]

Fired up the engine this afternoon; it ran well while still on the jackstands. I couldn’t really prove it, but it just seems happier. We have winter weather forecast for the next week straight so test drives will have to wait. Stoked to see how much better the engine performs on the road.

This is what I’m working on. If you see us tooling around, give a wave.

View attachment 24773

That’s a really nice ride! About 20 years ago, my brother in law had one of those in 2-tone blue without the pop-top. It was a great and unique van. The steering was pretty light considering it wasn’t power assisted. I liked it. You’ll have to report back when you’ve had a chance to do some driving. It seems to be coming along really nicely.

We got our first dump of snow up here over the last 4 or 5 days with another big dump last night. The rest of the week is forecasted to be below freezing but clear until the weekend when we’ve got more snow coming. All in all, it’s still been a pretty mild winter.

 

[TrickSix]

Nice ride! Did you make the camper conversion? I had a high-school buddy with an old Econoline van, had many good times riding around in that. I wish I'd been along when he got pulled over for smuggling machine guns though. Full-on felony stop with multiple police cars and even a few FBI agents. What a rush! But his van only vaguely matched the description of the guys they were after. They were so apologetic when they saw their mistake they didn't even confiscate the only contraband they found, a bag of weed and open bottle of tequila.

 

[Otto]

Thanks guys, the camper top was part of an aftermarket conversion done back in the day- sort of an OG "vanlife" scene. All of the big three automakers's vans received this treatment with pop-tops of some sort and camper accoutrements. The Fords were badged "Travelwagons" which is what I have. The camper stuff was gone when I bought it, with only the top and the hammock remaining of the original camper package.

I think it is a hoot to drive and now that it runs even better, I'm really looking forward to "traveling" it around.

 

[Kritas]

I grew up in a neighborhood with a band called The Candy Shoestring. The brothers who formed the nucleus of the band had an Econoline that they painted in paisley. It was effin great!

 

[funkaholik]

with only the top and the hammock remaining

I feel like the hammock is all you need!

 

[Otto]

I grew up in a neighborhood with a band called The Candy Shoestring. The brothers who formed the nucleus of the band had an Econoline that they painted in paisley. It was effin great!

It seems almost every time I drive the van somewhere, someone will accost me and has a story about how they owned one, or their family had one or they used one at a job or knew someone that had one. People really dig the van- I don't know what it is, but I understand.

I feel like the hammock is all you need!

If I only could fit in it! and get in and out of it. They were marketed as sleeping six people...

 

[Frank]

and get in and out of it. They were marketed as sleeping six people...

First-hand historical info: in that van's day, the mental condition of the young people using them produced trouble getting in and out, and 6 or more people piled in like sardines asleep was not a problem cause it couldn't be helped.

Ancient history for me personally, thanks be to God.

 

[TrickSix]

There was one aspect of my aforementioned buddy's van that I found particularly interesting, if by interesting you mean a cross between exciting and terrifying. And that was being first in line at a railroad crossing. With that cab completely forward design, you could wind up right in close to the train cars wizzing by, especially when he'd creep up a little to increase the pucker factor...

 

[Otto]

There was one aspect of my aforementioned buddy's van that I found particularly interesting, if by interesting you mean a cross between exciting and terrifying. And that was being first in line at a railroad crossing. With that cab completely forward design, you could wind up right in close to the train cars wizzing by, especially when he'd creep up a little to increase the pucker factor...

Yeah, that's what makes it interesting- your feet are right behind the headlights! Don't think that thought doesn't go through my head every single time the van is driven on public roads.
It does seem to make me more alert and a more proactively defensive driver.

 

[Otto]

I took the van for a test drive over the weekend after opening up the intake manifold and the exhaust pipe. The van seemed to run well, but it was difficult to determine if it made more power or was faster without some quantification. It was impressive from 2-4K rpm and got the van down the road better than it ever has. Still surprised it’s only 200 cubic inches.
I saw some 16s on the AFR meter so when I got the van home, I upsized the main jets to the 160 size- up one step. Guess that is an indication of flow improvement if it was lean. Ran out of time to test drive it again, so it got an oil change from the break-in oil.
Think I’ll leave the jetting where it is for now and re-evaluate when warmer weather comes around. The van doesn’t usually get driven during the colder months and summer is when most of the driving happens. After getting the speedometer accurate, we’ll see if it can obtain my goal of achieving 20 mpg with it.

 

[Frank]

Sounds great. If summer is your normal driving, don't jet it any richer now. Exactly when did you see the 16:1? 1)At light low rpm throttle. 2) heavy throttle at low rpm or 3) steady cruising at highway speed?

 

[Otto]

I don't intend to do any more jetting. Driving it this summer should tell if it's close and if not, I'll futz with it then. The 16s on the meter were when I was driving on flat roads at a steady speed. Also saw them when driving home climbing a slight grade also at a steady speed (~45mph). The foot-to-the-floor and the idle numbers were pretty much as before.

Never really liked driving it before as it wouldn't take more than 1/2 throttle- now I can see driving it a lot more. It's fun now! And the throttle response is far better! Plus, I trust it a bit more now that the little 1bbl is gone; never liked it.

 

[drag-200stang]

I did not like the one barrel either so I got two more so they could buddy up.

 

[Otto]

I did not like the one barrel either so I got two more so they could buddy up.

Yes, the more barrels the merrier!

The carb project feels like it’s at 95%, and when summer rolls around I’ll reevaluate. I’m super happy with how the engine runs now. I’ve read a lot about how other members have had their engine’s distributor re-curved and I’m curious about that and would appreciate some feedback from those who have had this done. I’ve had this done to another vehicle and couldn’t tell the difference afterwards so it felt like a waste of money. The van currently has a DSll distributor, an HEI module and a TFI coil which all seem to work well. The engine is mostly stock as is the distributor, so I’m curious what the benefit would be of having this work performed.

 

[funkaholik]

@Otto There is a member here, Bill @wsa111 who recurves DSII distributors. He has ads in the vendor section or you can contact his username. I believe he will custom-tailor your curve to work best with your specific engine mods, vehicle weight, axle ratio, etc.

I think the stock advance is pretty lazy and that moving the 'all-in" point to a lower RPM will help performance. I'm not an expert, though - talk to Bill

 

[funkaholik]

By the way, every time this page loads and I see the photo of your van at the top, it makes me smile. What an awesome vehicle.

 

[wsa111]

@Otto There is a member here, Bill @wsa111 who recurves DSII distributors. He has ads in the vendor section or you can contact his username. I believe he will custom-tailor your curve to work best with your specific engine mods, vehicle weight, axle ratio, etc.

I think the stock advance is pretty lazy and that moving the 'all-in" point to a lower RPM will help performance. I'm not an expert, though - talk to Bill

See my DS11's in the for sale section of this forum in the small six section. amblerrace@live.com if you are interested in my Distributors. Leave your name & phone number. Thanks Bill wsa111.

 

[Otto]

By the way, every time this page loads and I see the photo of your van at the top, it makes me smile. What an awesome vehicle.

Thank you for that! It seems to have that effect on many people, including me. I've always been fascinated by these old vans.

 

[funkaholik]

Thank you for that! It seems to have that effect on many people, including me. I've always been fascinated by these old vans.

The only thing that would make my smile bigger is if it was painted like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Do.

But don't do that.