International Harvester Metro...

So a friend of mine has had a van very much like this one for some time.

(no side pipe, but the truck is almost in the same condition)

His goal is to sell coffee out of it. It's got a pretty decrepid Ford Straight 6 under the engine cover, and it turns and stops about as bad as it runs. Which is to say that it does, but with some adventure.

He's got someone lined up for the body part- some repair, mostly sanding, and a lot of flat surfaces to paint. I quickly thought of more retro-rod ish. Not a V8, but maybe a late I-6 with a 4 speed trans, and include the axles, if they can be made to fit. The basic truck is more than strong enough for this- it's fairly small, and isn't going to carry too much weight. So we are going to look for an E or F series with a straight 6...

Dream on. As long as you post your dreams and ideas.

I love the way those look.

Friend of a friend bought one around here not too long ago for the same purpose. I was called in as the local expert to "check out the transmission and crap".

Sweet old IH !

(But then I have a rather perverted longing for a Divco milk truck)

Awesome. I guess there is a market for selling coffee out of a truck up there? Its just tacos and greasy burgers down here.

Small Diesel with a 5 speed. Diesel is only a few cents more than gas (at least here it is) and the addt'l mileage you'd get will pay for itself.

Drivetrain from a newer Colorado?

Needs more laker

My first thought would be a wrecked Sprinter as a donor. But if you want to keep it with a blue oval donor it's hard to argue with a 300 six. Will an AOD bolt up behind one?

I know where a good running 250 in a '69 Mustang is, and will become available in a couple weeks. It's a little bit of a hike from where you are though.

Can't you find a stray Ecoboost kicking around the office?

Hilarious recommendations on the diesels...I guess you guys have never priced any? You could buy an entire step van for what a used one costs.

Yes, Ford 300 six will be bulletproof and is plentiful in trucks old enough to be donors for a few hundred bucks. However, it's not a small engine. The one that's in there may be the old 'small' six like the Falcons and Econolines used. Do not, under any circumstances, buy a Ford V6 in a full size truck; they are utter crap. I'd also suggest a 4.0 Jeep (fuel injection!).

ddavidv wrote: Hilarious recommendations on the diesels...I guess you guys have never priced any? You could buy an entire step van for what a used one costs.

Hey it's not my money.

How will cooling work while he's idling to run the accessories?

Coffee is what he does- has been a roaster for a long time, and he sells at the store, other stores, and farmers markets. He has a pedal cart that he can sell out of, and a trailer that he'll start with on this. There are other food vendors that sell out of trucks around here, too.

I'm not really forced to be a blue oval engine, but you can understand that I'm a little biased. Diesel isn't really part of the equation, even though he asked- it's more about budget vs. emissions, which I do take into account, since I know he won't want to live out of the truck much if he stinks and has headaches. Which is why I'm more focused on a modern, fuel injected, powertrain.

As for the actual swap, I have considered a Ranger- for this purpose, they would be perfectly fine, dwight- it's not as if the truck is going to spend hours on the road. BUT- and this is the important part- the easiest swap appears to be an E-series, or a Sprinter type van. Where the driver is more next to the engine than behind it. It would be a lot easier to do a basic frame swap for that to work.

Ironically, engine space isn't much of a concern, in my eyes- the engine cover is flat sheet metal- which is really easy to change.

One other "caveat" which isn't serious- but the wiki pages suggest that the original engine was a V8.... So I'm going to keep a V8 E150 as an option. But the current truck does sound cool with a straight 6.

Cooling- if I go with a modern chassis swap, cooling isn't an issue. The systems are designed to pull a BUNCH of air, since they are to be capable of towing uphill on a hot day in the desert. What I'm far more concerned about is power, on the electrical side of things.

(I don't want to even consider a ecoboost swap... chills up my spine for the work needed)

I'm hoping to take a look under it and take measurements this weekend. The whole chassis swap would be the safest, since it would bring modern brakes along with the powertrain. We'll see.

BMW S52 + 6 speed!

How bad is the chassis that it has now? If its decent just swap in engine and trans of your choice, for its intended use a ranger drive train would probably work nicely, but a 300 I6 & AOD would be ok too. The I6 through the side pipe would sound sweet though.

If the chassis has problems and can't be saved, find out which of the possible donners has the closest matching wheelbase and work with that.

In reply to HappyAndy:

Dunno- hopefully, I'll get a good look at it this weekend. I know it will be more than just an engine/trans swap- he's complaining of engine speed on the highgway, so a axle swap should be done, too. And the brakes seem to be pretty scary- but they may be able to be rebuilt.

BTW Your friends van will be improved 1000% by adding a side pipe like the one in the pic.

Ranger 4cyl? Owned one, I wouldn't count on it to move that van more than through a parking lot. Though probably rated with more HP than the Metro had stock, if you change the rear gearing so it can go more than 45 I don't think the twin plug, glorified Pinto engine from a Ranger will make you happy (not to mention the weak-ass Mazda trans they are typically bolted to). Go with real truck parts.

In reply to ddavidv:

IF (and that's a big IF) I got a ranger 4 cyl, it would be a modern 2.3, and it would do a reasonable job at moving this van- much like it's sister the 2.0 does for the transit connect. But that's not what we are looking for.

And I'm ok with a F150 V6, if one was available in the right price.

But, I think we are going for more E-series parts, since more of the chassis can move over- driving position is a lot closer the Metro (next to the engine)- cooling package is more set for that space, etc.

HappyAndy wrote: BTW Your friends van will be improved 1000% by adding a side pipe like the one in the pic.

May discourage the walk-ups for coffee :)

alfadriver wrote: In reply to ddavidv: And I'm ok with a F150 V6, if one was available in the right price.

Do you know about those? I wouldn't take one for free, they are so bad.

ddavidv wrote:

alfadriver wrote: In reply to ddavidv: And I'm ok with a F150 V6, if one was available in the right price.

Do you know about those? I wouldn't take one for free, they are so bad.

Bad is relative. To be better than the engine in the current truck, it would only need to just run.

That, and a friend had a v6 F150 for years- even trailered a car down to Florida for me once. He never had problems. They may not be perfect, but they are not totally worthless.

the answer is:

express/savana donor.

because LS engine.

forget blue oval stuff.

How much driving is it going to have to do? Will it travel to a spot and park there for a week, or is he going to be like a mobile lunch wagon and on the road constantly?

In reply to Keith:

I would guess more in between. He wants to have a real second tool to have mobile (and grid free) espresso, which should mean he's going to various events.

Realistically, at the moment, I'm going to make sure he does the brakes, bushings, and tune the engine better. The powertrain swap is more a cool idea if he wants to swing it, and use is high enough.