not to butt in here but on my 87 b150 the voltage regulator is directly behind the winshield wiper motor on upper firewall...hope this helps

Yup, that is one place it could be. I have seen them all over.

Install complete! It's running pretty darn good too. Thanks guys!

Yet another question: I went to set the timing and figured I could shine my light up from underneath the van because there is a marker mounted there however I could not see my mark on the damper. There doesn't seem to be a way to shine the light down from the top as the power steering pump blocks view. I must being doing it wrong!

Congratulations!

There should be a secondary timing tab down on the bottom of the vibration damper. I know Chrysler started putting one there on the vans and some trucks in the early 80s. I used to have an 83 B150 tht had a 318 and it had two timing tabs. You have to pretty much lay on the ground to see the marks. You might have to clean road grime off of it to see the marks. The timing mark on the damper also probably needs to be cleaned up.

I did clean things up and there seems to be four marks (grooves/slots) equally spaced around the damper. 3 of them are slotted half way through the width of the damper. 1 of them is slotted all the way through the width of the damper (this one has numbers etched-in before and after the slot like a ruler.) When I shine the timing light on the damper from underneath the van at idol, none of these marks are even close to 0 or 10 on the marker. It looks like there's another marker mounted on top but you simply can't see it or shine a light at it.

Yes. Those four marks are for the magnetic pickup system Chrysler was using in the 70s and 80s. See thse tubes that are on the timing tabs? Those were for the magnetic pickups that dealerships used on their timing lights and diagnostic machines. Everyone else just uses a timing light.

The top timing tab was the one used on trucks and cars where you could see the tab from the top. THe ower tab is mainly a van thing due to the short nose of the van.

If it isn't immediatly obvious which timing mark on the damper is the one you use to find TDC on the #1 cylinder, then you are going to have to use a piston stop tool to find TDC manually. Part of the problem is the four timing marks, part of the problem is the fact that the timing marks are on the outer ring of the vibration damper that is bonded to the inner ring and the vulcanized rubber that holds the outer ring on can degrade over time and allow the out ring to slip. When the outer ring slips it no longer accurately indicates TDC. The only thing to do then is find TDC manually usuing a piston stop tool. It isn't hard, but you have ot know how to do it right.

(1) remove plug from cylinder 1
(1.5) remove the valve cover over cuylinder 1 and rotate the crank while watching the valves. Rotate the crank until you see the intake valve on piston 1 open and then close. This ensures you are on the compression stroke.
(2) install the piston stop tool
(3) rotate crank clockwise by hand until piston contacts the piston stop tool.
(4) make a line on the damper at the TDC mark on the timing tab
(5) rotate the crank counterclockwise until piston contacts piston stop tool
(6) mark a line on the damper at the TDC mark on the timing tab.
(7) TDC on the crank is halfway between the two marks you made on the damper. Don't be surprised if true TDC does not line up with the mark cast into the damper. Make a new mark at true TDC on your damper.
(8) rotate the crank clockwise until the true TDC mark you made on the damper lines up with TDC on the timing tab. Congratulations. Your motor is now at true TDC on the compression stroke of the #1 piston.
(9) disconnect vacuum advance hose and plug it
(10 ) reinstall the plug in #1, along with the #1 plug wire
(11) start engine and use the timing light to set your base timing a specified.

Done.

I'll do it! I got the beefed up cap, rotor, wires. What kind of plugs do you recommend?

I like NGK plugs.

I set the timing. The van is sputtering and lurching (kind of like jerking if you were to pop the clutch) at low speed coming out of first and second gear. I don't think this is a timing problem. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the vacuum system. Disconnecting certain vac lines from the carb effect this problem. Though, only improving it slightly. It runs best after disconnecting several of them.

Is it possible to illiminate any of these? Just plug them?

If it ran good before adjusting timing, I would start diagnosing by looking at the timing.

Are you positive you were using the correct timing mark? Are you positive you had the timing light clipped onto the spark plug wire for the #1 cylinder? Are you using a "dial back" timing light? if so, are you sure it was set to zero? You set the base timing to 10-12 BTDC, right? Not ATDC? Are all plug wires connected to the cap and plugs?

The vacuum hoses you still need to leav attached to the carb are the PCV, the heated air intake, the EGR, the bowl vent, the cannister purge, and the distributor vacum advance. What else is hooked up to the carb still?