Definitely a very nice cab, with all the other work you have put into this project it will be nice to have a cab that won't require a ton of work to make as nice as the rest of the build

I’m definitely happy to take rust repair off the list of things to do!

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Well what do you all think, silver and black or silver and red? The silver and black is my old truck I did a long while back, and am leaning towards the same colour combination again, but the silver and red sure does look good!

If your body is nice, red/silver... shows it off.

If it's rougher and/or cut fenders, the black hides more. I know from experience!

That is a very good point, the black really does hide things well, and being the nature of the build with the modified dually fenders up front it may make even more sense aesthetically. Also, the one thing I really like about the black is being able to run a black wheel, gives a neat look when everything is black below, with the silver to contrast.

I encourage you to find some ratty fenders to experiment the flare idea with.

Here's my playing around with a 90's Chevy flare, and 2" axle push. Fenders would be garbage if it weren't for the flare covering the rust holes [laugh]





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100% will practice on a beat up fender first! Will have an old inner fender to play with too, to get it right. There will be a good deal of modifying going on to get the f550 spring towers to clear the inner fenders too.

Am feeling confident, but know it is going to be a bit of a pain to stuff 40”+ tires in there with out lifting. The batteries and air box will be finding different homes, batteries in a dry box under the flatbed, and the air cleaner…well I’ll save that idea for later, let’s just say much of this truck will have semi style influencing it.

Not much to update on, strained a ligament in my knee playing with the kids on the trampoline, so haven’t been able to do a lot.


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Slowly limped around enough to get a welding/torch cart put together though.

Will clear out the shop today and make a hanging rack to finished the last layer of urethane on all the parts. Will see how the knee goes, but maybe by the end of the week I will have all the chassis pieces painted and ready to assemble.

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Test hang to make sure it all fits and holds. Now to sand and spray.

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Man oh man that is going to be one nice ride when you are done with it

It is really satisfying to do a complete frame off restoration/restomod, even if it is a pain to work on parts you don’t want scratched or chipped. With any luck I’ll be able to keep everything looking good for a few years.

Also, this vehicle will need to be inspected because of the drivetrain swap, so if I bring them something that looks basically brand new, I don’t imagine I will have too many issues with registration. My main concern is having them change the weight ratings to reflect the new f550 drivetrain.

Really looking forward to getting the chassis rolling again, so I can bring it in the shop and start making the mounts for the cab to sit on. Did some measurements and found that everything to mount the cab will be very straight forward. Clearing the coil springs and mounting the front clip will likely take some work.

You may want to get that figured out soon.

For me, there's no way to simply adopt the f550 gvwr. I've conceded to still have the stock dodge vin and specs, and to avoid the inspection. I can license to higher weights regardless. If something ever came of an accident investigation, they'll find a capable f550 chassis that was up to task anyway.

This is a very good point, and I think I will save myself the hassle and just register it as the original truck, and license as needed.

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Rear axle finally back home.

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Before and after shot, took a lot of work to get here, and a lot more to go, but am really happy with the way things are turning out.

Next up is to get the Cummins in so I can figure out where the cab needs to go. But first I need to build a wheeled rotisserie for the cab so I can move it into the shop to lift it in the air. Have a couple engine stands I will use and modify to make the rotisserie. Will make future body work much easier too!