Hello again from Finland.
I have been trying to work on my new project every chance (not too many) I got last winter. And I thought that I might share some of it. If someone has good ideas etc. Anyway this is what it looked like when I got it home from Michigan. I bought the car from Eaton Rapids, MI. If somenone knows anything about this cars history, I would be very happy. I bought this car from brothers, whose father bought this car as a project for himself. Father has passed away and the sons decided to sell the project.


First I had to figure out what kind of driveline I was going to use. The original flathead six was out of the question, cause gas is about 1.6 euros/litre ( about 8 bucks for gallon). That is why I decided to use a diesel. the next problem was to find a small potential diesel that would have some power, good torgue ang good mileage.

 

After several candidates I decided to use Mitsubishi`s 3.3TD from a light truck that has about the same total weight 14000lbs. The engine is quite small 4 cylinder turbodiesel, 117 horsepower and 279Nm torque (about 206ft/lbs I think) Smal numbers for V8 guys but this is a good choice I think, cause I would like to drive this truck with a reasonable cost all year. So I ended up byuing a whole truck that I had chop to get the parts I needed.

 

Some of you might think that why not use the -88 Mitsubishi`s frame and driveline and just change the COE cab to it. That came to my mind but I did not like the idea that my title says -88 Mitsubishi. And one reason is finnish legislation, that would make it hard to use a 50`s cab in late 80`s vehicle. Safety issues etc. Other reason is that these Mitsu frames are often rusted badly, so they would need a lot of work. So I decided to go with the original frame and cab and change/ modify the following:
- Engine and transmission
- Front axle that has power steering
- Rear axle
- All the suspension
- All the brakes of course

 

Taking things apart is allways fun and fast to do First came of the engine and then I took off the front axle.

 

Then I had to make some new attachments to join the new front axle to the COE frame:
The rear shackles come to these

 

With these "modern" axles I can now use 16" wheels, that are much easier to get good tyres, I got rid off the 20" widowmakers, and the whole car came much closer to ground, which is important for the looks

 

Next job was to squeeze in the new engine and tranny. It was suppose to be a small engine but somehow there is newer enough room to just bolt it in there!!! No room for the turbo, generator, fuel filters, fan, and many other things. They all have to be relocated or modified. But of course when you use entirely different drivetrain, there is lot of modifying to do.




The whole middle floor has to be made a little bit higher, cause I wanted to leave some room for the suspension trave. I do not want to be hitting the oilpan with the front axle.



I will post some more pics when I get a change to sit on the computer again.

Sami

 

Wow!! Cool project. This will be fun to watch.

 

Keep us posted your coe will be nice

 

Great to see another COE project......have fun building!

 

That is a fantastic project and it looks like you are having a great time with it. Well done! I think your engine choice is a very good one, too. While you may think the power is low, it's far more than the stock 6 cylinder engine had, at 95 hp and 180 ft. lbs. torque. It'll be good for what you're going to be doing with it. And besides, you can always increase the turbo boost.

 

Eaton rapids michigan, I live 10mins away from there, and the cole you have ive seen in person... Wow such a very small world....

 

Following this one. Very interesting build, and engine choice. What body will the truck run? How will the truck be used?

 

I have a vision that it is going to be a open bed car hauler with a tilting bed. I have a drawing somewhere that I could show...hot rod flatz rust brown and beige grill...and mostly I am going to use the truck for hauling my own stuff from a to b and to go to work etc. but the idea of a car hauler came from my friend who needed a transportation for this:

 

After getting the front axle in place it was time to get rid off the rear axle and line the new rear leafs with the front. I bought a laser liner to help the job and I think I got it in a few millimetres accuracy. I think that it is important to get the rear axle lined up with the front kingpins as well as possible, and the rest is adjusted with the 4 wheel alignment.