Hi guys, I'm new to posting but have enjoyed reading a lot of posts on this forum. I finally got a chance to take pictures of my project. I'm in Vail, AZ which is close to Tucson, AZ.

Basically I'm trying to make a truck that me, my fiance and family can tow 6-10K, drive on a regular basis, be very reliable and get great mileage. I'm not looking for a lot of power, the engine has the HTT compressor wheel and housing, 4" exhaust and a custom fuel pin. I'm happy with its performance and I was getting ~21 mpg in the 93 2wd without a lockup converter. I'm hoping the conversion to manual and the gear vendors will allow similar mileage even with the added weight. I also really need 4wd since our move to Vail, I can't tow a trailer up a steep hill on our driveway without full throttle smokey launches. It will be nice to be able to click into 4 low and cruise up the driveway.

Here is the truck as I purchased it, 460 gasser, almost 200K miles, 4.10 gears. I picked it up for $3500 in Phoenix, but it had a gear vendors installed in it. Just clean enough to use on a regular basis.



First order is to cut the frame down. I can't stand how long these trucks are for daily driving. I'm going to shorten the bed and frame 20" to make the bed the same as most chevy short bed.









Welding prep to get full penetration...








Plate welded in opposite direction as initial cut, rosette welded opposite sides of cut, but left sides unwelded.

 

Out with that nasty old 460 and e40d, the thing got 10 mpg driving back from phoenix, haha





The NV4500 I got a killer deal on, $650 and it came with engine plate, flywheel, shifter, starter and all hardware. Came out of a 2002, but it was 2wd. Although I'm running a divorced t-case, I am putting a gear vendors on the back of the NV4500 so I need the trans as short as possible. The idea is that I can use the gearvendors in low range to combat the weak link of backing up a hill causing the clutch to burn up in the gear vendors. This way in low range the gear vendors has 1/2 the load versus being mounted after the t-case...





Old 2wd shaft and new 4wd shaft with updated split thrust washer to fix the 5th gear problem... Permanently I hope...



Fretting of old 5th gear trying to work it's way off...



Cast iron tailhousing from standard transmission, I checked bearing for center it was dead on.

 

Preload set right at .002











Gear vendors disassembled, **** thing has pitted gears in the annulus, going to have to get a rebuilt one... Still way cheaper than buying a new unit.



Gear vendors rebuilt unit installed, I had to drill and tap the adapter myself so the unit would sit flat, wasn't too bad though.



Valair 13" clutch, I hope it lasts for a long time. I'm not going to be very hard on it.



Time to get that Cummins out, poor old dodge, I loved that truck but it just doesn't fit the bill anymore. At least it's heart will go with me many more places.

 

So I pulled the oil pan off to re-seal it and found a busted plastic piston cooling squirter. Got some billet aluminum ones on the way, but the crank has to come out. Bummer, gonna set me back a week.



Time to start working on the motor mounts. I used ones from a 24 valve on accident- the holes are cast back further on those engines so these are far forward on the 12 valve. It actually ended up working really well, putting the mounts right in the middle of the crossmember. It was a lot more work but I like how they turned out. The p/s pump is really close but it does clear.









Gusseting while trying to stay clear of a/c compressor







Engine and dynamat installed, going to have to come back out to fix oil nozzle but I have to keep moving forward...



Meanwhile finishing up helping a customer restore a 1974 FJ40 TLC. Had the truck down to the frame, powdercoated just about everything steel, rebuilt the entire drivetrain- most all mechanical work I did. I don't do body work though!

 

Time to mount the transmission. Many many thanks to Ballistic Fabrication - Manufacturers of Precision Offroad Fabrication Supplies for the laser cut parts. The crossmember was for a superduty that I cut up and modified. Great guys, Allen the engineer can do just about anything you want for a reasonable price.













Trans looks like it was meant to fit in there!



Time to mount up the divorced 205, I will be taking everything back out to finish welding and rebuild the 205. Also that pesky oil nozzle keeps haunting me...

 

Laser cut frame plates, beautiful stuff.











Pilot shaft will be ~8.5" long! Rear driveshaft 45", front 62. haha.



Strange place for a T-case.



I had to ditch the front tank, so I got the spectra FD26 I believe, the 38 gallon one for the rear that allows the spare tire to be used. I had to make a new pickup, return and modify the sending unit quite a bit.

 

Monsterous tig weld, haha



Turbo flipped, waiting on a spacer and a rebuild kit. Going to rebuild everything I can afford to do, trying to make this a low maintenance truck...



I was able to just heat up and bend/twist the drain pipe a few times to get it so it workes with the flipped turbo. I have some softwall oil hose on the way to connect the 2...



I pulled the dodge engine last friday (10 days ago), progress seems to be happening quickly! I have to get this thing out of my shop because I have more landcruisers on the way, they will slow progress down substantially. One is getting a Mercedes 6 cylinder turbo diesel, the other already has a brazillian 4 cylinder IHC engine.

The rest are just pics that my fiance or I took over the last couple weeks...

Sensors for the ferd:



Adjusting valves:



5th gear nut tool that ballistic is going to copy so guys like us don't have to spend $50 on a cheap plasma cut POS.

 

Really nice work!!!

I like that year ford and with the shortbed and cummins it is going to be a great machine!!!

 

Thanks! I hope it does everything I want well. It's not getting big tires or anything like that. It should look like a stock F350 aside from the short bed

 

Great write up! Looking forward to seeing it all shortened up!

 

super clean build! amazed the 460 got 10 mpg WITH a gear vendors... omg.

Great truck for the family, OBS fords will have parts for the next 50 years, unlike first gen dodges.

 

Thanks guys, I'm totally overwhelmed by the project and work right now it's great to have some positive reinforcement. I am hoping it turns out well, we're hoping to drive it to Alaska or the northeast next summer

 

Looks great! Are you gonna try too shorten the bed you have or try to find a normal shortbed in that body style?

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk 2

 

I'm cutting it down to a 74" chevy short bed. The width and cab angle is the same so I can run a shell off any old chevy short bed. Ford never made a 74" bed, their short bed was 83" for this generation.

 

I made some more progress, I had a couple customers cars come in that slowed things down but still moving forward. Motivation is lacking at times, I need a **** vacation from wrenching...

I rebuilt the starter, vacuum pump, turbo and re-sealed the p/s pump. I sealed what I could on the p/s pump but a special puller is needed to remove the drive dog/hub and I don't see anyone that sells it. I think most just buy a rebuilt pump but I'd rather do it myself. I have trust issues, haha













Tore the NP205 down and ordered the bearings and seals needed to rebuild that.





Replaced the body mounts with Poly ones, I hope I don't regret it... The OEM ones were really blow out and new Ford ones were ~$500, at cost + 10%! These were $50 so I'll try it. If you do this, make a puller out of some 3" exhaust tube, I don't know how else you could do it.. Lots online about how to, even the poly instructions had a note on it...