Hi all...

Just thinking out loud here. It seems to me that the vans with the RH transmissions a swap to a old school carbed motor could be viable. Yes we would have to redo the dash gauges, but other than that, I dont see any other barriers.
I would just take some time to integrate the existing wiring harness into this scenario...
Id love to ditch the computer in my van and the cat :lol:

 

You could always retrofit it with an "Electronic Lean Burn" system. (:

 

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While driving in the van for 2700 miles I had a lot of time to think

So the AC system is vacuum operated. The transmission is hydraulic. The radio is old head unit style. The power windows, brakes and steering have no PCM/BCM communication. The speedometer is mechanical. The other systems, like the fuel system, distributor and charging system could easily convert.
I live in an area of no inspection and no sniffing.

I really don't think it would be hard to do. I would really be nice to eliminate the PCM and cat in our vans. They are the Achilles heel of them.

Realistically, the PCM only does motor control and charging regulation - nothing else. Our vans are very much unlike new cars and trucks where everything in tied into the PCM/BCM.

As for resale, I don't think it would really matter here

I think it could be done easily. When my V6 dies, I'm throwing in an old school 318

 

My complaint with the pcm system is that it controls a lot of the engine functions and is not under my control. Could I set it up for the way I want it to run, could it give me real feedback on sensor condition, distributor condition and function, it would be cool. But for me, it is a black box that does what it wants, no matter what I want. Carbs... I could jet, read the plugs, set up the timing the way I wanted, in short, the engine was under my control.

I had a slant 6 I built; aluminum manifold, 4brl, headers, MSD, port work, high lift cam c slight duration increase, ran it a couple of degrees advanced, cut the piston tops, cut the block top, shimmed the rockers, flex fan... That motor had more power and more torque, got better gas mileage, in short, would run circles around this 318 with all it's computer basura. And if there was a problem... I'd get out the wrenches and fix it!

IMO, the 318 has a flaw or 2 that need to be addressed anyway. For one, the stroke is too short, stroke the crank, bring it up to square bore, square stroke and it would be a new motor. Short stroke motors work best at high rpms, and who wants to turn high rpm's off a race track?

 

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