Greetings,

I am putting together some ideas for a project and I have a few baseline questions. I'm targeting a '77 Tradesman so most of my questions should lead to as close to a '77 as possible.

Were there any standard length Tradesman vans that were factory 4x4?

Regarding the frame under a '77 Tradesman, what was the span of years that frame was used?

Has anyone seen or heard of a modern Hemi in these old vans? I believe some were big block equipped, so that indicates a decent amount of room to play with.

Thanks.

 

I can only speak about the HEMI swap. You can get a factory HEMI that comes with its own PCM.
It will cost about 7k if I remember correctly.
If I have money to burn, I may do this to my van

Gas Monkey did a swap like this when they built the "Shart Cat" LOL

 

If i remember correctly it's the one they couldn't get to run and had to bring in outside help. Modern hemi's have been put in all kind of vehicles, Problem is the incorporation of new to old(wiring mainly).

 

I'd definitely go with a stand alone system, if I could incorporate all related systems from a donor truck into the van. Heck I was kinda even thinking of putting the truck dash assembly and everything in the van anyway.

My main concern is, is there enough room in the van for the Hemi? I would assume it's bigger than the big blocks, but I just don't know for sure.