Unless you drive it a lot it will take a lot of gas saving to cover the cost of a motor or trans swap. Use the money to buy a little car and use the van when you need a van.
That's pretty much what I've been doing. I have a 2000 S10 truck that's my daily driver...
Here's the thing, I live in a rural area on a Ranch, it's basically an off-grid community and the county doesn't come back here. I'm thinking of using the van to start a business and provide some sort of service out here but I'm not sure what... Trash pickup, water delivery, basic home maintenance etc... I'd like to be able to squeeze out as many mpg's out of it to make my business more profitable.
I can't make much money if most of my earnings go to fuel costs... For example, it's about 70 miles round trip when I go into town...
In general it'd be nice to get more mpg's but not if I'm going to spend more on a swap than I would paying for gas...
As mentioned before in one of my other threads, I have a 94' B250 that's basically a parts van at this point. It has a 4speed auto A518 tranny and apparently it'll be possible to swap the tranny and get better mpg's but I just rebuilt the tranny in my B300!
Ok, say I optimize the 360 and rebuild the tranny out of the 250. What optimizations can I make to the engine and what mods are necessary to install the tranny from the 250??
Would it really be worth all the work to swap tranny's though? How many more mpg's can I get with the tranny from the 250?
I think maybe fixing up the 360 will be the most viable option considering all the comments...
For now, I guess I'll just focus on what can be done with the 360 to make it more efficient...
Apparently my van has or had the ability to run on propane?? There's a sticker under the hood that mentions the fuel mixture process for propane in that motor...
Any thoughts on this?
