I thought my projects get expensive!!! That's a fortune!!!!

 

It always is expensive paving new ground. Why so many people stuff Chevy 350's in everything under the sun.

 

So finally getting back to this. Got enough money together to have custom radius arms made by Pacific Fabrication using weld in EMF Joints. I think they are called their Terminator Joints. Basically picture the Carli Arms with custom offsets to account for the '74 having a 4" narrower frame width. Also was able to recently finally pull the 6.7 Cummins and Power Steering out of the '07 Ram. Picked up the 6.0 ZF 6 Speed from Santa Clara Truck rebuilt and a fresh Atlas II from Advanced Adapters. Got the front horns plated too. Had to roll the front section to clear the PS Box. Integrating as much of the factory plates to strengthen things up. Cut out the Ford cross member and worked it in. On the passenger side that just left the 2 verticals to weld into the plate. On the driver side there was a rear plate that originally tied into the factory cross member that was very beefy so I integrated that as well after cutting about 1" off the ear. Package is long at 88" from the front of the fan to the tail shaft of the Atlas.

 

Looks pretty awesome. Will this be moving along good now? Did you ever finish the ranger's up? What adapter plate are you using for the engine/trans combo?

 

Why didn't you use the F450 chassis and shorten it up, then drop the '74's body on it?

 

No , darn company that has the axles is lagging!
Yes this will be moving along until I get it all to a rolling chassis, then off to Jefferson State Diesel for the P-Pump Conversion.

California Registration goes by the frame not the body. I think it's the same for Federal, not 100% on that, so to stay non emissions necessary I had to use the older frame. I prefer the older frames anyways as it gives my the freedom to modify it as I choose and comes out lighter in the end. A lot more fun making the drive train fit the late body and frames. Allows me to weld and be really creative.

 

Got the driver side perch mount welded in tonight. Super excited to get it back on it's own weight as a roller again. Dropped the perched down 2 3/8". Late model frame doesn't step up as much as a SD. Going to have to integrate some bump, but not in the stock locations under the frame. Driver side was the tighter fit so I knocked it out first.

 

Late night but got the passenger side done. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to throw the stock coils in. Sunday power train goes in for motor mounts, trans crossmember, track bar, and she is rolling.

 

Cool build! Thanks for sharing.

 

Man I could have thrown those bitches in last night. lol Just didn't want to run the lift at 11 PM and wake the neighbors. Finally got her on no jack stands. Straight and tight just like a Super Duty. Sits about 1.5-2" above the jack stands. Jack stand height was higher than what I wanted to begin with. That's why I dropped the perches down as tight as the driver side would allow due to the cast housing. Allowed me to get it 2 3/8 lower. With the power train in that should put it 3-4" down from here. Perfect with stock coils in. They are nice and soft too with 180k miles on them. Buddy will be putting the motor mounts back on the block tomorrow while I'm at work and I measured for the shorter bolts to pick them up from Fastenal on my way home tomorrow. If everything goes well we might be able to sling the power train in place tomorrow night. That'd put me building the frame side motor mounts, frame trac bar bracket, and cross member this weekend to have it a full roller. That'll be really close to going to Jefferson State for the P-Pump Conversion. Would just need to get the Intercooler and radiator in to tow it up there. I'm sure I will run into some firewall clearance though that I'll need to clear. Might take a couple extra day. Oh crap I forgot the brakes and clutch linkage. Shooting for the end of the year to go up there anyways. I better make a list:
Brakes
Clutch
Motor Mounts
Cross member
Trac Bar Bracket
Drag Link
Drive Lines
Finish Boxing Frame
Fuel Tank
Intercooler
Radiator
Control arms
Clearance Firewall
Clearance Install Grill


And thanks for the motivation.

 

Looking pretty good.

 

Thanks man, I'm like a kid before goes into Disney Land, but the trip is still 2-3 months away. lol

 

This is a neat project. Would love to have the shop to build something like this.

 

Damn! Thats one hell of a project! Keep up the good work!

 

Now we are getting somewhere. Got the motor shoed in. Tightest spots are upper center firewall (expected), power steering box, and exhaust. Motor is pushed all the way back to the heater core. Set the motor down on the frame for a brief moment. Ride height is going to be perfect.


Trans clearance is good. I was almost able to leave the tunnel untouched.



Great front driveline angle and clearance.



Plenty of clearance around the Atlas



All clear!



That is a ton of room under the hold



Sucker is tucked in low. Clearance under looks factory.