I went ahead and installed my new oil pan tonight. I like to take my time and make sure I get a perfect seal on oil pans.







I slowly torqued the bolts down in several steps, ending with my torque wrench at 18 ft lbs.

 

I started working on the boxed section of the frame where the 1979 F250/350 4x4 power steering box will mount. I started out by drilling out 1" by 1/4" wall tubing to the correct bolt diameter (slightly over 9/16) using a friends lathe. The lathe worked awesome.



Then I used the lathe to bevel the edges in preparation for welding.



Then I drilled out the plate that I already formed to the frame in the correct locations for the steering box bolts to fit the tubing I just drilled and beveled. One side of the tubing will be welded to the plate and and the other side to the frame. This should make the boxed portion of the frame where the steering box connects extra strong which is important when you are running big tires.

 

Nice work your doing gotta love them lathes and mills I just used square box tubing and a 5" piece of c channel to make my 79 power steering box bolt up to the frame your right must have them gussets in there with big tires even with small tires I'd still use gussets to keep the frame from sandwiching together around the bolts. Any idea on a completion date yet?

 

Completion date? Never? My hope is to have the motor installed and the steering done. And the cab on the frame by mid next month.

I still need to do the following when that is done:

Clutch
Trans mount
5 gear nut fix
Advanced adapters adapter to NP205
1410 yoke on NP205
Mount NP205
Drive lines
Rear springs
Rebuild front axle with locker and 488 gears
Electrical
Fuel tank
Radiator & inter cooler
Body & Paint
Steering column
Interior
On board air

 

Awesome write up--I literally spent three hours at work tonight reading the entire thread and looking at the pictures. Pretty excited (and it looks like the rest of the forum is too) to see the rest of the build.

 

This is my first 4x4 build, so I am learning as I go. Luckily, I have a good friend who is a 4x4 and mechanical specialist who answers my questions and points me in the right direction. Hopefully my write up can be beneficial to others and they don't have to make the mistakes I do and can improve on what I am doing. I know a write up like this would have helped me a bunch just to give ideas and information .

On to the progress . Finished up mounting the plate for the '79 Ford power steering box. BE CERTAIN TO TACK THE BOLT ALIGNMENT TUBING IN PLACE WITH THE POWER STEERING BOX INSTALLED AND BOLTED. Do whatever it takes to get a good tack on the tubing so everything will line up later. I didn't do this and I ended up being a little off. No harm done, just extra headaches to get everything to line up.

I went ahead and drilled holes through the other side of the frame with the bolt alignment tubing acting as my guide. Then I welded the old stock holes up and ground them smooth.



Then I welded the bolt alignment tubing to the boxing plate and ground the welds smooth.



I went ahead and filled the gap on the cross member with a piece of scrap steel and welded everything up.







And there you have it! I didn't mount the box yet because I am out of paint, but I will have it on there shortly and finish up the steering in a week or so.

The good news is, that I installed the motor tonight and everything lined up nicely. I finished late and it was too dark to get good pictures, but I will take better ones tomorrow. For now here is a teaser



Pretty soon this thing is going to start looking like a truck again

 

 

There is nothing that says I am proud to be an American louder than seeing some Detroit steel come together. Happy 4th















Plenty of clearance around the firewall and the trans will be sitting in a nice spot

 

And I even got it to fit into the garage

 

Not gonna lie, I am excited to see this come together. Gonna be so freakin sweet!

 

Jesus said, "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?" I didn't follow His advice, so I have to figure this out one piece at a time. Some day this beast will be done, but that day is not tomorrow.

I did get the bushings made for the polyurethane cab mounts today though. I couldn't find a aftermarket hardware kit for these, so I had to make my own with the lathe. You can by hardware and mounts as a complete kit through LMC, but since I already had the polyurethane ones - this was my best option.

I started with 1/4" wall 1" DOM tubing cut to the appropriate length. Then I used the lathe to shave away the appropriate material and bored out the hole for the bolt to the appropriate size. I went with a 1/2" bolt hole for the radiator mount and 9/16 for the cab mounts.

 

It's amazing how everything is fitting together so nicely. The exhaust down pipe from the donor Dodge dropped in like it was made for it.

 

Here is a sneak peek at the ride hight of my truck with the custom lift. If I had to do it over again, I would use the 4" Superduty springs instead of the 6" to make it a little lower to the ground. Oh, well - BIG trucks are fun too.

You will have to add 4" to the over all lift and imagine 8" taller tires.







After sizing up the bed and making sure everything lined up as expected. I took the bed back off and welded up the cross members on the rear half of the frame. I went ahead and left a 28" X 28" space in the rear for the gas tank. One thing to remember before welding your cross members permanently in place is to make sure your frame rails are equal hight of the ground, and that the frame measurements match when you measure in a "X" pattern over the length of the frame. Everything has to be lined up perfect. I had to place the jack on the passenger rear side mount and press up a half inch to get it in the right spot since the springs are for mock up purposes only and will be replaced with the correct ones soon.

 

great pics....awesome project

 

Power steering box & pitman arm installed







I used a Chevy tie rod end instead of a heim joint to save a inch or so on spring travel clearances. I had to take the pitman arm to a machine shop and have the hole tapered for the chevy tie rod. I ordered the tie rod and weld bung from parts mike.