| Date | Type | Mileage | Title / Description | $ Amount |
| 04/21/12 | Miscellaneous | | Another parts truck
I just couldn't help myself. I found another parts truck and decided to get it.
After some measuring and more figuring I found out I was going to be a little short on the roof material for my cab extension. Now the actually roof sheet metal isn't a big deal that would be easy enough to make out of flat sheet metal. The problem was going to be the rain gutter area.
So I've been watching for another cheap cab. Well this 54 F100 popped up for sale. I didn't really want another whole truck so I skipped over the ad. Well over the next couple weeks I kept going back and forth on whether I should go check it out. Finally I called him and set up a time to look at it last Saturday.
I got to the guys shop and wasn't expecting a whole lot. The truck looked pretty horrible in the picture in the ad. It looked pretty rough and had four flat tires. One of the previous owners had heated up the leaf springs with a torch to lower the truck. So there is a bend on each end of each spring. But the more I looked at the truck the better it looked. First off this truck is solid!! This wasn't a Minnesota truck. It came from Texas. The only rust thru on the whole truck are the cab corners ( both front and rear ) and the usual spot on the rear fenders where the running boards meet them. There is damage on a few panels but over all there is more good then bad.
There was no engine, transmission, instrument cluster, tailgate, hood and no title ( bill of sale only ) . He was asking $700.00 but I got it for $600.00. I gave him a down payment last Saturday and picked it up today. And I should be able to make most of that back by selling the parts I'm not going to use.
So I'm going to strip it down and part it out. I plan to keep the cab shell, rear fenders ( maybe the whole box ) , and the bare frame ( if I can find room for it ) . I'm thinking I might just use the whole box sides on my 54 instead of making new ones. They are solid and mostly straight. I'll need to make a wider front panel and tailgate. But using these box sides will save me a few hundred dollars.
But to keep the city off my case I rented a storage spot to keep it at until I can get the 78 stripped down.
| 600.00 |
| 01/17/12 | Miscellaneous | | More parts
1-17-2012: Got a couple more parts today. I ordered them last week.
I ordered the outer lower door skin patches for the rear doors from Midfifty F100 Parts.
They showed up in good shape. The one patch has one little spot were there is a minor wrinkle/ding. But overall they look good.
This will probably be it for buying parts for a while until I get some more cash.
| 108.00 |
| 01/14/12 | Miscellaneous | | F500 Front fenders and a 240
Well a today I went on a little trip to pick up some more parts.
I found a guy that had an almost rust free South Dakota 55 F500 front clip ( No hood and he wanted to keep the grille ) . The fenders are in really nice shape. They each have a small crack by where the running boards mount and the one has a small dent in an area that's going to be simple to fix. It was a 300 mile round trip to get the front clip. But I got the front clip for $100!:-jammin That's less then what a single fender was selling for.
I figure I can sell the rest of the front clip parts, since I don't need them. I should be able to get a little more then I paid for the front clip out of the rest of the parts. Which means free fenders!!
I've also been looking for a 240 inline 6 for a while. I found a complete 69 240 and it was on the way to where I had to go for the front clip. | 300.00 |
| 12/05/11 | Miscellaneous | | More Parts
Well it's been a while but I've got a small update. No I haven't changed my mind again!!!
Everything is packed away for the winter but I've been trying to get some parts. I ordered both cab corners and the lower front driver side door post( with hinge pocket ) .
I wasn't sure my plan for using the front door post with the hinge pockets, from the spare cab, on the opposite sides in the back would work. I was concerned the contours of the front and rear would be different enough to cause a problem. But I checked it out with the new parts and it looks like it's going to work out great. There are just a couple minor adjustments needed and it should be good to go.
I'm going to try and get some more parts and supplies over the winter. Then I'll start working on the cab next spring ( I hope ) . | 102.50 |
| 08/17/11 | Miscellaneous | | Picked up another pair of doors.
I went on a little 150 mile road trip and picked up the last pair of doors I need. The one is a little rougher then I thought it was. But they should both be workable. So now I have 6 doors. That should be enough for one truck.
| 150.00 |
| 08/13/11 | Modification | | Picked up another cab and doors
Well today I hauled home some more junk!
I found a cab I can cut up for my extended cab project. And this ones in bad enough shape I can cut it up without feeling guilty.:-X04 The guy I bought it from was going to swap it onto a Ranger chassis but gave up on the project. He already did a lot of the cutting so that saves me some work. He cut most of the floor and all of the firewall out of the cab.
It does have some rust. I'm going to have replace the cab corners and the lower door jambs.
I also got a pair of doors. The passenger side is pretty nice.
The driver side has been stripped to the bare metal and needs some rust repair to the lower door skin and inner structure. And it has some damage to the door skin higher up the door. I'll get some better pics of the doors once I unload them out of my van.
I also got a box of parts from the cab and door.
| 425.00 |
| 07/19/11 | Modification | | Extended cab
after some more thinking ( yes I know that is dangerous for me! ) I have come to the conclusion that I'm not going to change the wheel base of the 78 F150 4x4. I've been looking over the frame on the 78. Sliding the axle forward just wasn't going to work. Due to the rear kick up and it's formed notches for shock clearance. So that would leave actually cutting out a chunk of the center of the frame. Since I don't have a welder that would handle welding the frame together I would have to buy or rent a bigger welder or pay someone else to weld the frame. And then I would still need to have the rear driveshaft shortened and correct the pinion angle on the rear diff. So that's what helped me decide to keep the wheelbase the way it is.
So that means I will have to make the body fit the frame. Instead of just making it a long box, I decided to make a change that will make the truck more comfortable to drive. I'm going to make it an extended cab. That will give me some more leg room and more clearance for my fat gut! Plus I'll also have more room for storage and speakers!
I figure I can find another 53-55 cab and some rusty 53-55 doors fairly reasonable. It's going to take quite a bit of sheet metal work but I can handle that. And I'm pretty sure I can do it without having to change much of any of the floor work I've already got done. This will definitely be a one of kind truck! | 0.00 |
| 06/18/11 | Miscellaneous | | Another donor truck
Well here's a little update. I bought another donor truck!!! Back in April I decided to go back to a 300 inline 6. I sold my 351W shortly after. The 300 is one of my favorite engines and it will give me a little more driver side leg room.
I've been looking for a donor truck to get a good engine for it. I found a few and the deals fell thru. Yesterday I found one and today I went and checked it out. It looked good to me and I bought it and hauled it home.
I think I've got a damn good deal on this. It's a 1978 Ford F150 Ranger XLT Lariat 4x4. It has a 300, NP435 4spd, NP205 transfercase, 9" rear ( 3.50 gears ) and D44 front. It's got some rust, but the chassis is solid and it runs and drives. It does have some minor issues like a low brake pedal, clutch linkage needs adjusting, there are also plenty of oil leaks. It started right up and ran decent. Good power, no smoke or bad noises. But it does need a little carb work and could use a tune up.
The guy I bought it from and his son decided to scuff and black out all the trim.  I like the look but it ruined a lot of straight trim that I could have made some cash on selling.:-arrgh Now it's just more scrap. They also removed and tossed the lower body trim and used bedliner on the lower portion of the body.
Oh yea, I paid $500 for it!
Since I've got my diesel for towing I'm seriously thinking about using the entire chassis from this truck for the 54. I'll slide the rear diff forward 23", have the rear driveshaft shortened and call it good.
This truck has everything I want and it's driveable. So instead of having to make a new transmission crossmember, make new rear frame crossmembers, mess with trying to work around the front leaf springs, I can just use this chassis. The coil spring front suspension will make fitting the front clip tons easier.
So I'm starting over again on the chassis! My plan on this one is to just leave it together, get plates and insurance on it. I'll drive it around and figure out any issues it might have and fix them as I can. Once I get the 54 cab and front clip buttoned up and done I will pull the body off the 78. Then I can move the rear diff/suspension forward, clean everything up and paint it all. I plan to replace the suspension bushings, shocks, brake pads and shoes and fix any leaks ( plenty of them ) .
Well that is this years plans. At least until I change my mind again. | 500.00 |
| 05/28/11 | Miscellaneous | | Update: Front bumper
5-28-2011: It's been a while since I've last updated this. I've been busy with lots of other stuff. So I haven't done any work on the 54. But I do have a couple minor updates. #1 I sold the 351W in April. I've decided to go back to my original engine plan. Which was a built up 300 inline 6. And #2 is a couple weeks ago I bought a truck front bumper from a place that builds fire trucks. I'm going to have to modify it so it's closer to what I wanted. But for the $50.00 it cost I couldn't pass on it. It's a foot tall and 1/4" thick. So it's a nice heavy bumper. I'm going to cut the bends off it and widen the center section with the pieces I cut off. I basically want a flat bumper. I wanted a bigger version of the stock 54 style bumper. But after I modify this one it will be close enough and should look pretty good. | 0.00 |
| 08/10/10 | Miscellaneous | | Birthday gifts and a bought another part.
8-10-2010: I got a few more parts for my Birthday.
My dad gave me the cab driverside front cowl patch panel.
One of my brothers gave me a whole pile of little misc. parts/hardware I needed for the cab from Mid-Fifty's.
And today I got my mock up Vintage Air heater-A/C unit that I ordered. I didn't really want to spend the cash on this. But I can't afford to buy the actual A/C unit right now and I want to make sure this will fit when I build the new firewall/floor set up. I don't want to finish up the metal work and then find out later the A/C unit won't fit and have to redo it again. So I figured it would be best to get this and when I no longer need I'll throw it on Ebay and get some of my cash back.
| 59.90 |
| 05/08/10 | Modification | | Firewall and transmission tunnel work.
I took a short break from the scrap metal and worked on the 54 a little.
I decided I'm going to start from scratch on the firewall recess and transmission tunnel. The 87 F350 transmission tunnel was a lot wider then I needed. The firewall recess I had was going to cause an issue with the pedals. Not to mention the cylinder heads were hitting and there was some header clearance issues.
So I'm going to buy some more diamond plate and build it all out of 16 gauge diamond plate steel.
So today I broke out my sawzall and hand jigsaw and cut out the firewall, the firewall recess and most of the transmission tunnel. I'm going to keep the 87 transmission inspection cover.
I've got plenty of room now! =))
I'm not going have the cash for the diamond plate until sometime next month. But once I get it I'm going to hit the cab hard and try to get the metal work done on it. I was going thru my metal stash and I found enough 2"x2" steel tube to build the box subframe and do the work on the rear cab mount crossmember. So once I get done with this load of scrap I'm going to build the crossmember and the box subframe and get those done and off the "To do list" ( more like a book instead of a list!! =)) ) . | 0.00 |
| 04/21/10 | Miscellaneous | | More box mock up, rear fenders and tailgate
Today I dug out the rear fenders and put them on. I put some blocks under the front of the box to raise it. And I put a 2"x2" under the rear halves to support the sides. It's sitting too high right now. I'm going to mount it a couple inches lower.
I don't really like the short stake pockets right above the fenders on a shorter box. They will be removed.
Then I cut down the rear frame rails some more. I still left about 3" extra on the frame rails. Then I moved on to the rear box section. The rear box panel doesn't have cutouts for the frame rails. This panel actually drops over the end of the frame. Mine was pretty damaged so I cut out the panel so I could set it over the frame. I'm going to be making a new panel for it when I get that far. After I cut out the panel I set the rear box section up in place. I used a tie down strap to hold it in place. The rear section is sitting about 2" farther forward then it will. So the box is 2" too short right now.
The rear fenders are going to need some work. The passenger side is pretty decent. It just needs the usual lower front patch where the running boards meet the fender. The driver side fender is thrashed. The spare tire well is rusted thru ( going to close of the spare well anyways ) . And the whole front section of the fender is rusted and thin. I still don't know if I"m going to fix it or try to find a better F250 fender.
I decided something was missing so I also dug out the tailgate and put it on ( just with the chain latches not hinges ) .
I'm really starting to like the way it's looking. It actually looking more like a truck now instead of a just pile of parts. And it's taking a lot of restraint from me to not break out the rattle cans and spray the whole thing Ford blue right now. 
| 0.00 |
| 04/20/10 | Miscellaneous | | Started mocking up the box
I finished cutting up the box. I left it long because I knew all my cuts would be perfectly straight. =)) I've got plenty of extra length on each piece so I can clean up the cuts. I set the sides up on the frame to get an idea of what it will look like. The rear section of the box isn't on there so it's a little shorter then the box will end up.
The box is sitting a few inches lower then it will be sitting once it's mounted. But I've got an idea about what the truck is going to look like. I think I like it.
I'm going to be building a subframe out of 2" x 2" steel tubing that will sit under the box. That will give me a solid platform for the box floor and will make it easier to mount the box.
| 0.00 |
| 04/19/10 | Modification | | More mock up work and grille install
Today I pulled out my inner fender panels out and checked the fit. The front halves weren't too bad but the rear halves were a no go. So I marked them out and then cut them out with a jigsaw. I did another test fit and they were pretty good. there one spot on each of them that still needs a little attention. I'll fabricate the new rear halves once the cab is mounted and finished. Then I bolted them in place.
The little problem with the passenger side is an aftermarket steering stabilizer bracket. I just pried the inner fender panel out out to clear it for now.
The driverside had a little problem around the steering box. I hammered it out of the way for now. I'm going to have to cut it out and fabricate a little to go around the box.
Next I bolted in the front valance and then bolted in the grille. The truck now has it's fangs!
Then I started to cut down the box. I need to cut 8" out of the front half and 10" out of the rear half. I made 3 cuts and then decided to clean up and call it quits for the day.
| 0.00 |
| 04/18/10 | Modification | | Trimmed front frame rails.
Today I started by pulling the hood, front valance, air deflectors and radiator mount back out.
Next I pulled out Mr. Super Sawzall and lopped off the front frame horns. :wtf: And that took care of my little clearance issue. I'm going to weld some 10 gauge plate over the end of the frames. I'm also adding a crossmember to the top of the frame that will have the radiator mount built in and will give me a solid platform for the front frame extensions.
Next I reinstalled the radiator mount and air deflectors to check the frame clearance. No problems, plenty of room now! I ran out of day light so I didn't get the valance thrown back on.
| 0.00 |
| 04/17/10 | Miscellaneous | | More mock up
Today I started by lifting the cab 2". I had to put some blocks under the rear jack stands.
I also moved it forward. The cab and front clip are now sitting where they will be mounted on the chassis.
I did run into a few minor issues.
The first problem is a clearance issue with the front frame horns. I had the valance and air deflectors sitting on top of the frame yesterday. Doing that caused the front clip to sit a little nose high. But when I moved the cab forward it moved the air deflectors past the end of the frame. So I'm going to have to trim the frame horns a little to make some clearance.
The second minor issue is the driver side cylinder head is hitting part of the firewall recess/transmission tunnel. But it's nothing major.
The third problem was the passenger side of the firewall recess needs to be slightly reshaped and extended to clear a header tube.
The fourth problem was due to a lack of thinking on my part. When I made the crossmember/floor support on the cab ( under the floor ) I forgot to check and make sure the there was enough room for the 78 F250 mount frame crossmember. But luckily I can get enough clearance by adding a 1" spacer block between the cab and the rear body mounts. My description is probably confusing but I'll show more details when I get to fabricating the rest of the frame crossmember.
| 0.00 |
| 04/16/10 | Miscellaneous | | Front clip mock up
Today I dug out the F600 front fenders and all the other front clip parts I'll be using. After I got all the parts dug out I started bolting the parts on.
I started out bolting the back side of each fender to the cab while the front of the fenders were supported by a jack stand. Next I bolted in the hood latch panel. Then I bolted in the air deflectors and radiator mount as an assembly. The air deflectors are sitting right on the top of the frame. This means the cab is going to need to sit even higher. It was also pretty obvious just by looking at the front fenders that the cab would have to be moved farther forward. I did some measureing and it looks like I will be raising the cab 2" higher ( and leveling it ). And I will be moving it 2" forward. My firewal recess is going to be tight but I think it will work. The cab be lifted a little more is going to give me a little more clearance. Oh yea I also sat the 56 F250 hood.
I didn't think I'd be able to bolt on the front valance because I knew the front frame rails were wider apart then the 54's. But I thought I'd give it try. And what do you know the front frame horns tucked nicely behind the front valance. This was a nice surprise in one way and means more work in another way. I thought for sure I would have to modify the front valance openings because of the wider frame. But since the frame is shorter in front I won't have to. But I am going to have to figure out a way to make some strong front frame extensions to mount the front bumper and support the weight of the entire front clip when I tilt it open ( the hinges I'm using have the pivot points in front of the front valance ) . I think I'm going to use some thick wall 2"x4" steel tubing to extend the front frame. Then I'll just add a sleeve on each for the tilt front pivot points. | 0.00 |
| 04/13/10 | Miscellaneous | | The cab is on
Well my youngest brother stopped by so I had him give me a hand lifting the cab on the chassis. I wasn't quite ready to put the cab on but I thought I better put it on while he was here.
I'm pretty sure the cab is close to were it will be located. But I won't know for sure until I get the front clip mounted on it. I might have to move it forward an inch or so.
| 0.00 |
| 04/04/10 | Modification | | Gauges
Today I took a break from the chassis. The cab just kept staring at me. I decided to finish the lay out work on the gauges and see what they look like.
I started by drilling three holes in the instrument panel for the turn signal and high beam indicators.
Next I drilled three holes in the top of the dash for the Tach ( two to mount it and one to run the wires thru ) .
After that I installed the tach, all the rest of the gauges except the speedometer ( don't have it yet, $200! :wtf: ) and the indicator lights.
I think it looks pretty good.
| 0.00 |
| 04/03/10 | Miscellaneous | | More transmssion crossmember work.
Didn't get a lot done. I figured out how I want to set up the transmission crossmember. I cut out some pieces from some old 78 F250 frame sections to use as 90 degree brackets. And I figured out the stock 78 transmission crossmember support braces will work simply by flipping them around and drilling new holes in the crossmember higher up. So I'll need to drill a total of 8 holes in the frame, 4 holes in the crossmember and 4 holes in the brackets I cut out.
I also had to dig something out of the garage so I decided to pull the cab back out.
| 0.00 |
| 03/31/10 | Miscellaneous | | Transmission and transfercase swap
Well today I pulled the T-18 transmission out of the chassis. I was hoping I could just pull the transmission mount off the T-18 transmission and bolt it onto my NP435/NP205 transmission and transfercase combo and drop it in. Boy was I wrong!!
It appears the NP205 transfercase is quite a bit narrower then the BW-1345 that was in the truck. The transfercase being narrower causes a few issues. First off the transmission mount in this truck was basically like two body mounts and a plate that bolts to the transmission. Well the front output yoke on the NP205 lands right on top of the left mount. Besides that I also have to work around the front driveshaft moving towards the center of the truck. I'll see how this works out when I get the new headers. So I'm going to have to figure out the mount and crossmember set up for this. Luckily I did keep the transmission crossmember out of the F250 that the NP435/Np205 came out of. So I'm hoping I can modify them or fabricate a new one to make something work.
I also need to work on the side support/mount that bolts to the transfer case and the frame.
It's a good thing I like to keep things simple or this would start to get complicated!! | 0.00 |
| 03/30/10 | Modification | | More chassis work
Today I started out but trying to break loose the bolts holding the receiver hitch to the frame section I cut off. After a lot of failed attempts and some words I won't repeat here. I decided to just cut the bolts with my small 4" grinder with a cut off wheel. That did the job and I was able to remove the hitch.
After I got the hitch out of the way I was able to get to the last two rivots holding the last crossmember in place. After I took care of the last two rivots I pulled the crossmember out. Then I took the grinder and cut off the last bolt on the other crossmember. Once that bolt was out of the way I was able to pull that crossmember out.
Next I moved the crossmember to the truck frame and set them in place. And big surprise they are going to need to modifications to work in the new locations. The rear most crossmember is going to need to be modified so I can mount it. And the other crossmember is too short for the frame rails. I plan to run a gas tank out of a fullsize Bronco. So I am going to leave these crossmembers until I can get the tank I'm going to run. This way I won't have to redo the crossmembers if the tanks dimensions are different.
After I was done messing with the rear crossmembers I moved to the crossmember at the rear spring front mounts. I used a couple holes, left over from one of the crossmembers I removed, to locate the crossmember. I then sat it on top of the frame rails and marked the remaining four holes. Next I double checked the frame width to make sure I didn't need to pull the rails in. It was right on the mark. So I drilled out the holes. Then I moved the crossmember back to the underside of the top frame lip and bolted it in place. Once it was in place then I installed the two end braces.
I'm getting to the point where I don't have a lot left I can do on the chassis without buying some more parts. Which I don't have the spare cash to get right now. So I think it's just about time to move onto mocking up the body. Tomorrow I'm going to try and swap in my NP435 transmission and NP205 transfercase. Then I will be able to measure for the driveshafts and set the cab on to check floor and firewall clearance. | 0.00 |
| 03/27/10 | Modification | | more chassis work
Well today I got the rear spring front mounts located where I wanted them. I drilled out the holes and bolted them to the frame. While I was drilling out the holes I also enlarged the holes in the brackets so I could use 1/2" bolts.
The front top hole in the brackets sticks above the frame. I don't think it's really needed with the rest having 1/2" bolts but I'm to fab up some brackets that will bolt to the top of the frame and will bolt up to the spring mount bracket hole.
Most of the bolts I used in the brackets are grade 5. I will be replacing them with grade 8. The grade 5 is just for the mock up. I had them on hand.
Then of coarse it started raining!
| 0.00 |
| 03/26/10 | Modification | | More chassis work
Today I dropped out the rear gas tank, drilled out a few more rivots and then I cut off the end of the frame.
I left it around a 1' - 1 1/2' feet too long. I'll cut it down the rest of the way once I get the box cut down.
I'm hoping to get the spring mounts bolted to the frame and get the crossmembers installed over the weekend. After I get it all together I'm going to tear it all apart and clean everything up and paint it so it looks pretty. | 0.00 |
| 03/25/10 | Miscellaneous | | Chassis Work
I didn't get a whole lot done today. I started by dropping the front gas tank. Then I removed 10 more rivots and removed two more crossmembers ( I still have 10 more rivots to remove, I hate rivots!! ). After I got the crossmembers out of they way I rolled the rear diff forward. It looks like it should work out fine.
Man this thing looks short! | 0.00 |
| 02/12/10 | Miscellaneous | | Chassis plans
I changed my mind again on the chassis. Instead of cutting up the F250 chassis and having to weld it back together and ending up with a super rough riding daily driver I decided to find something a little lighter duty that had the right wheelbase. After a lot of searching I found the Ford 4x4 with the closest wheelbase that could be bought fairly cheap would be a four door Explorer. The stock F100 is a 110" wheelbase. The Explorer 4dr is 111.5". The Explorer has a 8.8" rear diff with 31 spline axles. I'm going to go with the first generation Explorer because it's a little stronger front suspension and front diff assembly and it's much easier to swap a 351W into the earlier chassis then it is the second generation. I will probably get a second generation Explorer rear diff and swap it in simply because they've got rear disc brakes and I can grab a complete rear diff for less then $200. The new plan is to get an early Explorer chassis and swap in the 351W out of my 84 F250. Swap in the NP435 4spd manual transmission and NP205 transfecase out of my old 78 F250. And swap out the Explorer's rear diff for the newer disc brake one. My only concern is the Explorer's front diff ( D35 TTB ) strength. But I figure I'll get it built and on the road and if I grenade the front diff I'll swap in a stronger one. | 0.00 |
| 12/07/09 | Miscellaneous | | Lay out for the chassis cut
Today I had some time to kill so I started to do a little lay out work on where I want to cut 45" out of the frame. This is a little more difficult then I was hoping for due to the kick ups in the frame. But after a little thinking I think I've got it worked out. I'm not going to cut it until next spring. | 0.00 |
| 11/30/09 | Miscellaneous | | The body is off the chassis
Yesterday I decided to take a break from the truck and watch a couple football games. Go Vikes!!
Today I started by pulling the wiper arms and cowl vent panel off.
Next it was time to pull the windshield. This was fun! I didn't have the right tools for this so I used a heat gun and a couple putty knives. It took some effort but I got it out.
It was finally time to start cutting again. Hello Mr. Super Sawzall! I cut out the lower half of the B-pillars. Then I cut the C-pillars away from the rear panel.
Then I cut the windshield post.
After I got the roof out of the way I started cutting away the passenger side front door post/firewall area.
Once I got the firewall/cowl area cut down to a manageable size I pulled shifter boots and transmission inspection cover off the floor pan. Then I unbolted 3 of the 4 cab body mount bolts. I couldn't break the 4th body mount bolt loose so I had to cut it. Then it was finally time to lift the floor off the chassis!
| 0.00 |
| 11/28/09 | Miscellaneous | | More tear down
Today I started by removing the grille and and front trim pieces.
Then I pulled the front bumper.
Next I removed the front valance and core support.
Then I pulled the hood, front fenders and doors.
I was hoping to get the rest of the cab removed but I ran out of day light. So hopefully I'll get the rest of the cab cut off tomorrow. | 0.00 |
| 11/27/09 | Miscellaneous | | Continued tear down on 84 F250
I started today by removing the front seat backs and the rear seat.
Then I removed the rest of the rear interior trim panels. After that I removed the rear window. And then the rear side windows. Once I removed the rear windows I started cutting away more of of the cab. Both rear corners are completely cut away.
I still need to remove the windshield. Once I get it out I'll be able to cut up the rest of the cab. I'm hoping to get the rest of the body off tomorrow. | 0.00 |
| 20004 | Miscellaneous | | More parts & tools
Well it's been a while since I posted any updates. But that's because I still haven't done any work on the 54!
I did order 4 braided stainless steel StopFlex brakes hoses from Classic Tube. They are nice quality, good price and DOT approved. I only need to pick up 5 more and I'll have all the hoses for the brake and clutch systems.
And I also ordered something I've been needing for quite a while. I got a nice Lincoln Viking 3550 welding helmet with a couple magnifying cheater lenses. The quality is much better then my old cheapo northern tool one! I'm hoping my welding skills might improve if I can actually see what I'm doing!
And I plan to finally start pulling the body off the 78 F150 next week. Then I'll need to pick up some more metal and dig out the cab. Then I can get going on that. It will most likely be the end of this month beginning of May before I get to the cab. | 295.86 |
| 20003 | Modification | | Chassis
Well my plan to go with an explorer chassis isn't working out. I just don't have the spare cash to buy another donor vehicle.
So I'm going to just have to work with what I've got. I'm going to just use the 84 F250 4x4 chassis and shorten it.
I was going to cut 45" out of the chassis and weld it back together. But I've only got a 110V wire feed welder. And I just don't trust the welder or me to get the job done safely. Now I could pay someone else to do the welding or rent a larger welder. But that means spending money that I don't have. So I decided the best solution would be just do the work and move the axle forward and cut off the extra frame. To do this will me removing 62 rivots and around 20 bolts. So it will take some work to get done.
Today I started out by pulling the chassis off the trailer I had it on. Then I did some measuring to lay out were I'd be moving the axle to.
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| 20003 | Miscellaneous | | Removed a lot of rivots!
3-24-10: Today's progress: I went to work removing rivots. I started at the front most crossmember that I wanted to remove. I got it pulled and just kept working my way back. I got the rear diff and suspension all removed. I just need to unhook the brake line and it's ready to move forward. By the time I quit for the day I got 40 of the 62 rivots removed. The remainder are all in the rest of the cross members. I'm going to try and get the rest done tomorrow. I also need to get the gas tanks pulled. And if things go good I might cut the back of the frame off too. But I'm going to leave it a little longer then I need it for now. | 0.00 |
| 20003 | Modification | | More chassis work
Today I got the rear spring mount/shackle brackets into position, drilled the holes and bolted them to the frame. I then bolted the diff and rear suspension in. After that I drilled out 4 more rivots in some crossmember supports and removed them. I also started to remove the two crossmembers that are in the section of frame I cut off. I've got two rivots left and one rounded off bolt to remove before I can pull them out.
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| Total | 2,541.26 |
.JPG)
