My backyard build (56K warning)

[dude772]

Man that engine is SHINY! Looking good though.

I think its mostly the way the light hits it.

 

[red85]

Looking really good so far. I've done a few V8 Ranger conversions and you're going about it the right way. A clean clear frame is nice to work with. Nothing in your way and no rust falling on your head! I'll have to check out your truck next time I'm up your way. There's a good wrecking yard close to you that I've been meaning to check out...

 

[dude772]

There's a good wrecking yard close to you that I've been meaning to check out...

.... Well dont keep it to yourself!!! where is it!? hahaha

Took some pictures of the little progress because i like to add lots of pictures, cause im the kind of person the just scrolls threw a build and looks at the pictures

P.S.
I'm aware theres still minor holes to be patched up, but I ran out of supplies tonight while I was trying to put on more bedliner on the firewall. So back to the parts store in the morning before work, then tune up on my brothers neon. Then back to work on the truck.

Also found a guy who will re-gear my axles free and show me how to do it i thought that was awesome. Its been rainy lately so I havn't been able to do anything with the frame or front axle. I'm very disapointed about that actually. Its basically the only thing holding me back now. Because after tomorrow (or the next time im able to work on the truck) I will be able to start putting the interior back together.

And i ordered my intake spacer kit last nite so that should be in soonish. Another 70$ into this money pit of a truck! lol

Anyway time for sleep. another busy day of oil changes ahead of me lol.

 

[dude772]

k, all the holes are repaired now. Cab is intact. All the welds have been covered with urethane, any overlaping metal has been sealed with urethane. Everythings been wire wheeled, primed and painted with truck bedliner then touched up with semi gloss tremclad.

This cab is ready for the frame!!!

Now I need to co-ordinate how im going to go about doing this. I need the frame under the cab in such a way that I can put the engine/transmission on the frame, then put the cab on the frame, then fabricate the front suspension.

.... this is going to be tricky moving the frame around without a front suspension after the engines on there....

Well time to start looking for a 4x4 AOD


oh and P.S.

If anyone cares to see... heres the rest of the firewall coated in bedliner...

 

[dude772]

ok... so a little bit of an update... Got the shop cleared out enough that i can squeeze the frame back in and under the cab. Took a hell of alot of cleaning and sorting and work but I got it there. That took the best part of the week. Then after that I tossed a pair of tires on the rear axle and knocked the axle stand out of the frozen ground with a big hammer.

After that, in the ice and snow me and my buddy Matt picked up the front end of the frame and carried it from its resting place to half way back to the shop. We only went half way because theres still the matter of his dads chevette in the way thats in the middle of getting brake lines. So hopefully tomorrow or tuesday, If all goes well i should be able to add a few pictures of the frame under the cab.

But ive still made zero progress on the dana 44, I'm procrastinating on that MAJORLY!!


Everything said and done... I think that I had a pretty productive weekend considering the temperature, the ice and snow.

 

[dude772]

K got out again today, had a half day at work so I did what anyone would do... worked on the truck in the ice and snow...

This is after we put some tires on the frame and moved it towards the shop

The cab as it sat before the frame was put back under.

And later that night after it was wheeled under the cab

To get the frame in and under the cab we had to take those tires off and put bare rims on go at about a 45 degree angle to the cab, clear one stand then drag the ass end over and clear the next stand then straighten it out and put it back and line it all up. I just wish I could have taken a video of how goofy it was.

This weekend im going to repair the cab mounts on the frame they are getting pretty thin. This is assuming that we have more mig gas by then, apparently we are having troubles getting some:S. Then im going to put the 31s on the back again to get the frame closer to the cab. Probably will also put the tires on ramps or something. And just a really tall axle stand under the front. I'm getting pretty excited.

 

[Sunk]

Ooh sweet, progress!

 

[dude772]

tonight got the 31s on my 86 grand marquis rims to put on the back to get the frame up off the ground, the front i lifted up to the top of the axle stand. The frame is now approx a foot away from the body.

Found an AOD 4x4 transmission at the wreckers for $300 im going to pick up. And i will probably also get a rebuild kit for it because i dont really want to get a used transmission i know nothing at all about and slap it under my truck thats pretty much brand new. And i still need an electric shift transfer case.

And to make things easy on myself and the truck im going to try to make another pair of jackable highlift axle stands(upside down bumper jacks on home brew stands).

hoping to have the body on the frame by next wednesday? thats a goal, we will see how that goes.

 

[dude772]

Quick update... Cabs on the frame, the 3" body lift has been shaved down to a 2" lift. The interior floors been fully painted with the bedliner.

The engine crossmembers been re-welded to the frame(i cut it out and punched out the rivets when i was going to do a stock 4x4 conversion then changed my mind).

Things are coming together nicely. I will post pictures of my progress tomorrow, hopefully then i will have a mock-up engine sitting in the truck to check clearances and be able to fab up the headers.

Im still procrastinating on the dana 44... I'm unenthused about doing it cause that suckers heavy to unload from the explorer. But sooner or later it must get done. Im going to talk to the guys at bicknell racing products to see what they can do for me to help with the axle. As in making up some radius arms or re-splining the shafts.

 

[dude772]

Second update this week...

Found more holes just small ones i over-looked before cause i was rushing.... in the cowl on the drivers side, right in the corner. I took off the inspection plate and gobbed it up with fibreglass bondo, inside and out. If i missed that i would have been majorly pissed the first day it rained and i got my feet wet .

Got that all done and finished with, then i went to put the engine bay harness in... then thought to myself "self, youve spent countless hours making everything look nice and pretty and clean and tidey. Why the hell would you not clean up that nasty looking harness."

So i took the harness tossed it in the back of the explorer and called it a night at the shop. Went home and threw down an old blanket on the pool table and stared peeling back tape. So after christmas I've got to put the under hood harness in, fasten it down, pick up a 4x4 dash, and basically begin the "make it a truck again stage".

Heres pictures of this weeks progress...
P.S.
Sorry in advance for piss poor pictures... i keep taking them at night

 

[Black'03LevelII]

looks like it's coming together pretty good! keep up the good work man, the end result will be well worth it I'm sure.

 

[dude772]

Another little update.

Bought myself a new bed for the truck. best one i have seen in ontario, AND IT WAS AT THE WRECKERS!! the truck it came off had 174 000 km on it... damn thing was in better shape than mine! i dont know why people junk some of the cars i see.

Any way, picked it up for $125 and carted it home on the back of the f-150 upside down and on 2x4s strapped down to bed hooks in the 150.

Thats my buddys dad in the back being a clown.

 

[dude772]

update:
Thursday I dropped the mock-up block into the truck... not so easy to do with one person and no engine crane availibe. But i managed with a little grunt work. The motor mounts i used were the stock 4.0L rubber mounts with the dowls ground off. The brackets on the engine were the stock brackets from a 93 thunderbird. The right side lined up without any trouble at all.

The left side i had to slot the hole in the bracket because the stud i the rubber mount was not in the right spot. I just slotted the hole last night at work, so today im going to see how well its all going to line up. Then comes putting on the heads and finding out what headers are going to work. The options ive got to work with are the MustangII 302 headers, and the 93 thunderbird H.O stcck headers. Either one I use i can modify to make it work, i didn't buy either, so i wont feel bad if i need to cut or bend them a little. But so far everythings going just nicely.

The only prblems i see with the motor mounts is that the engine is located a little too far foward, im probably going to end up making a couple plates to move it back a bit. We will see how things go.

 

[PARKINGLOT]

that's sweet box for ontario. Looking good man!

 

[dude772]

ok... so the motor mounts worked perfectly!... and i was right, the engines located too far forward. So im making up templates for plates to set the engine back as far as possible. Im using quarter inch plate, if that proves not strong enough, ive also got some half inch(or more) stuff i can use, im kindda against using that cause it seems too thick for the stud on the mount to even go threw...