Thanks for reading.

February and March have been busy and haven't had much time to dedicate to the LBB. The spring hanger flip 'failure" kinda took the wind out of my sails too. I did pick up a compatible coupling shaft for $100 to mate with the TKO. Lastly, one of my tenants moved out so there is work to do to prep the property to go on ad... and I have a full-time job.

However, Fatman's axle flip kit and a rear fuel tank from MTS are waiting in the wings so stay tuned!!!

 

Right on will be looking forward to hearing how that axle flip goes as I have a build in the works myself.

 

Good Luck! Just started a 1967 F100 ranger myself.

 

Just read the entire thing. Lots of good information. The Tremec + FE marriage had me laughing hard. I think you have too much time on yours hands! Hahaha. Excellent tips about aligning body panels before removal. I'll definitely keep that in mind. One thing though, is that if your engine isn't overheating you don't actually need VHT paint, but there's nothing wrong with using it anyway. In the summer I want to pull my engine and clean up the bay exactly like you did. I love clean engine bays so much. By the way, thank you for not using chrome. I hate chrome engines. For the switches, I would just bend some brake lines.

I know it's not easy to do a build thread as you go, so on behalf of everyone, thank you!

What happened with the user that needed posts deleted? I missed it.

Good build!

 

Thanks for reading and yallz are welcome for the tips and tricks... I may as well share my experience cuz it's not doing anyone else any good just sitting in my mental file bank. The FE + TKO marriage.. glad you got a kick out of the ceremony. I was laughing while I was typing it..

The VHT will withstand hot temps and should last a long time. It'll be ready if it ever overheats. There is not that much of a price differential so why not!

I don't wanna spend my time polishing anything except for maybe the air cleaner housing.

'Dunno who that troll was but he was outta AZ and used the ID "HiHo Silver" and a similar avatar. The dirtbag dropped in out of the blue and started talking about his Bronco. I politely asked him to post elsewhere about is rig and he went off cussing and stuff. The moderators took care of his azz and deleted the cross-talk posts. Moving on....

Got some work done on the LBB! .. dropped the rear axle, removed the leaf springs, and front hangers (now de-rusting in the vat). Cut out the remnants of a weld-on tow hitch that I couldn't reach due to the leaf springs. 'Tested the C-notch brackets and..... read the instructions. It should be easy. BUT before doing so, the rearmost crossmember has got to come out to install the rear-mounted fuel tank from MTS... it'll also require cutting out a hole or notch in the frame for its filler tube... need to do homework on that.

I am resisting the urge to clean up the rear end housing.... it's driving me nuts cuz it's soooo nasty looking.

This is gonna take a while (given the rental needs some work) so in the meantime parts will be cycled through the electrolysis vat and refinished.

 

Luck? Hmmmm. I appreciate the thought but it's not luck.....

It's .....a vision, setting goals, research, planning, and implementation.

 

I know what you mean about working on a rental house. Been there, done that. Thankfully, most of the work has been completed. Mending a fence next week that someone drove through, but other than that it doesn't need too much anymore.

Anyway, trucks. Do you have an estimate on when you might be finished? I'm sure everyone is wanting to see this thing driving.

 

Yeah man, I have three rental homes... it can be a headache.

Finish? Like the saying goes, it's never finished. But driveable? Well, the rental thing threw a wrench into the timing. Lemme think about that... this year for sure but I'm not sure which month. I'd like it to be July or earlier. In the end, it's done when it is.

 

Three rentals? Jeez. Pays the bills but it's a pain.

Anyway, keep us posted as always. Fast or slow we'll be watching.

 

10-4.

...what bills? The renters will be funding a Ferrari F355.. that is if I ever find one to my liking. Spyder, Gallo yellow, 6-speed.

Hehehehe...

 

Hey HIO. Finally got through your whole thread. Fantastic stuff. It is becoming an invaluable resource. Thanks again for taking your time to share your journey.

I did recently purchase a 68 short flare side, 360 and 3 on the tree. Was thinking top loader 4 speed, but after reading about your project, I'm now pretty sure it needs to be a TKO 5 speed.

Mine does not appear to have the removable transmission cover like I was expecting. Do you know if that was specific to granny 4 speed models? Was it something that came along post '68? Any idea if I could simply cut my transmission hump out and add the removable cover? My 76 from years past had it.

The truck is almost rock stock, and (as mentioned in another earlier post) I want to keep it looking that way, so I'm hoping to find a way to adapt a non-granny 4 (now 5) speed to it while maintaining as muck of the original look as possible. Do you know the correct dimension from back of bell housing to center of shifter for a NP 435? Considering the front shifter mount option for a TKO (if I can find a kit..)

Thanks and keep up he great work!

 

Cool.. glad the info I'm posting is useful.

Dunno about the trans cover..I deduce that all manual trucks and 4x4s would have an access panel. I'm pretty sure that a non-access panel cab can have its hole cut for a shifter/trans cover... the OEM lid is humongous IMO. I'll get you a measurement of the NP435 this PM.

Btw, I went with a rear-shift TKO cuz I'm not that tall and, as you may have already read, planning on going with bucket seats.

 

Thank you Sir. I think I'm gonna dig your bucket seats. I've still got a couple of younguns at home and end up with both of them in the cab with me from time to time, so I still need the bench for a few more years.

 

Here you go....

It's 4.5 inches from the front face of the NP435 to the shift tower's centerline...

... Excluding the tailshaft yoke, it's only 16 inches from the front face to the rear face of the trans case.

 

Thanks a ton HIO. Looks like the front shift option will be workable. Appreciate the help.