A hot rod from ZIL - now that's POWER! (55 photos + project description)

Do you remember how it all began...it was sung in one song)) So I decided to post the stages of a long journey, not all of them, selectively the key moments. My soul has always been for classic American cars. Among their obvious advantages, the colossal reliability of all units and assemblies stood out - what is needed to build a powerful...very powerful car. There were various options for "Americans", but they were all either prohibitively expensive or completely destroyed.

Here I want to say a huge thank you to Danila, the owner of the car pictured above, for selling it to me!

In the photo is a Ford E-250 (Econoline) - a classic American Full Size Van, almost 6 meters long and a little over 2 meters wide. The curb weight of the car is 2300 kg. The not modest load capacity predetermined a powerful side member frame, a durable automatic transmission, a rear axle, and a 4.2 liter engine. This car is not only a great gift for my birthday, but also a great basis for a project.

My donor is a car with a hard fate. After tuning the interior, very high-quality and expensive, this van's steering gear started leaking. A trip to the service...kind mechanics with the words "everything is ready"...a trip home, speed 140, a turn, the steering wheel turns freely from the wheels...braking, flying into a deep ditch, flipping and driving on the roof between pine and birch trees (it was winter...). It turned out that the "master" forgot to tighten the steering shaft mounting bolt.... )( )( )( )( How everything worked out, I still don't know...

When it came to transportation, they started calling tow trucks and no one could help except... the guys in a huge all-wheel drive KAMAZ! This was their first trip, they had just bought the car.

The body was warped, so it was dismantled fully

The frame is a little rusty

Preparing for disassembly and cleaning from rust

Before trying to stretch the Volga body, funny?

I bought a cabin from a polar drilling station from a geological exploration base, they knocked it down straight from a car (ZIL 131). The car had been working at the pole all its life since 1976, had double glazing with an alcohol layer, bars on the windows, fur insulation of the cabin and... a rotten bottom =) I even found ancient rusty ice grips in the cabin ;)

It's uncomfortable to sit in a ZIL, let alone ride it, especially with my height (1.89 m). The pedal assembly has been moved forward by 15 cm, it's much easier! If you move back you can cross your legs, but if you straighten your legs, for example, I can't reach the pedals))

The rear suspension was lowered by 6 cm by reworking the spring earrings. Now it's 130 cm of uniform height)

About the suspensions. It's impossible to make the car lower. The frame is really very bulky, the cabin is fixed at the lowest possible height. The front springs are cut into one and a half turns. At first they cut more and... the car lay on the bump stops (( Had to redo it. Such is the suspension kinematics that with this option the minimum permissible travel is preserved. With the rear part it is somewhat simpler, but I had to sweat. Firstly, it was very difficult to unscrew the bolts of the earrings that had rusted in the bushings. Secondly, I was just lucky that there was steel of the thickness necessary to maintain the strength. And one more thing - due to the long base and design features of the automatic transmission mount, the resulting ground clearance is minimal, with less I simply will not leave the garage, I will hang on my belly halfway to victory)))

As a result, the height of the ZIL is 1.90 m, the standard ZIL is 2.40, so the difference is no more and no less than half a meter) As for the wheels, we decided to leave these disks in front, but slightly widen the track with spacers, the tires will be 245/75/16, but in the back there will be welded tires and tires in the region of 295-315/70/R16. It should look good.

The exhaust is as simple as pie, two 63 pipes go into a 76mm can, the difference in length is made intentionally so that the sound is boo-boo)) The material is stainless steel, we don’t make it from anything else!

Dad said that I was tired of picking my car alone and made me a wonderful front one as a gift bumper) B compared to the stock 130m) The photo shows some difference in height))

One of the main stages of the project. The main reason is that I am building the car for myself, for pleasure. But with a long base, the negative still comes up (Well, it is a very clumsy car - to leave the garage, you need to make a lot of rearrangements between cars, columns, etc. This is not good.

The body is removed, the cardan, tank, lines are removed, the saw sharpened)

Oh my God!!! What have I done!!!! =)))

After changing the proportions, the car acquired a new look.

At first it may seem that almost all body elements and units can be found in landfills, but everything is not so simple... ) "From the geological exploration base I bought a cabin from a polar drilling station, removed directly from the car (ZIL 131). The car worked at the pole all its life since 1976, had double glazing with an alcohol layer, bars on the windows, fur insulation of the cabin and... rotten bottom =)"

"Radiator grille from the first ZIL 130 samples. I searched for a long time, there were no whole ones (either rotten or broken). In the end, purely by chance, I found a pretty dusty grille in one large auto store. How it got there - no one remembers..))"

The project can be divided into 3 stages: 1. Installation of the ZIL 130 cabin and its combination with FORD units 2. Manufacturing the body and developing the design (current stage) 3. Improvement dynamic qualities of the car up to outstanding even among modern sports cars

The rear wings are awaiting alteration, now the car resembles a push-pull )

Ford 4.2 engine. It was installed on mustangs, F series pickups and E series buses. It has great potential in tuning. Now its capacity is 200 hp (Euro 3, 4 catalysts), due to the modified release and tuning, the capacity for the first time will be about 250 hp, and the torque - about 400 Nm. In the future, the engine will undergo revision and will be forced.

What would you think if you were driving in the left lane at 120 km/h and saw this cabin in the rearview mirror flashing its headlights at you? ))

In the future, a chopper (not this one) will be transported in the back, the back was made to fit the motorcycle dimensions. This bike easily fits diagonally.

The Ford truck's aggregate base, with a gross weight of over 4000 kg, allows you not to worry about the strength characteristics of the suspension, the reliability of the transmission and brakes. After all, the car will be noticeably lighter than its ancestor))

There should be a bumper here, but the car was literally cut in half, shortened and put back together the other day. The bumper is waiting for its time )

A cabin heater from a Ford bus. Installation behind the cabin is due to the engine location and cabin space. It was not possible to place such a massive heater, and even with air conditioning, in the cabin and under the hood.

When driving such a machine, you immediately notice that there are only two pedals! ) The automatic transmission switch on the steering wheel adds to the feeling of an American car. The seats are from Ford, and will be re-upholstered in the car's color scheme (orange/black). The instruments will be original, and a bar and electronics are planned for the niche between the seats.

Dr.Broman - the father of the project) "I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my friends who help me with my project, and I would like to say a special thank you to my Father, Sergey aka Gorynych, Vyacheslav aka Mr.Hide and Alexander aka Bubble!"

to be continued... )