Well I've been around this forum for quite a while and after looking around I figured id start a thread since I have seen quite a few Cummins swaps into these old dents and a handful of 4wd conversions but I am doing it all in one. Sorry ahead of time for the long story to follow this paragraph. I'll post plenty of pictures supporting the build and would love to answer questions or take criticism (constructive or otherwise).

So in March of 1973 My grandfather bought this truck new off the lot for the purpose of hauling a 12' Cab over to take trips to Mexico and the south west US. He had to up his buddy who had just a month before bought a new 73 F250 2wd with a 390. Anyways, fast forward about 4-5 years with trips to Mexico, trips to Disneyland, Hunting, and plenty of trailers and tractors towed. My grandpa didn't use the truck much and decided to give it to my Great-Grandpa who always overworked his 1/2 tons and 3/4 tons. He got ahold of it and the truck moved to Trail, Oregon and lived up there until my Great-Grandma passed away and he moved back to Redding, California. He then gave it to my Great-Aunt around 1984 and it stayed on the property working until 1993 when it was parked for no-real reason besides needing tires and a tuneup. So over the years it sat until 2005 when I was a dumb kid and rolled my super clean 1978 F250 Ranger Explorer D60F&R and all the goodies. (still makes me sick). So this truck was given to me and I was going to use it for the cab and front end to swap onto my frame and rebuild my truck. I was gonna scrap the rest but never really got around to it (had a kid, driving truck etc). Didn't finish rebuilding the other either and slowly parts got sold and stolen and given away. So I was outback of the shop at the ranch and seen it sitting there on blocks and thought you know I have enough good parts around here to build a truck up and show my 6 year old son how to turn wrenches so that's where we start.

What I decided to build was going to be a 1973 F350 Super Camper Special 4wd with a 5.9L Cummins, A518, NP205, GM D44, Dana 70. This was just the parts I had available sitting around from another swap I did into a GMC years back and since sold the truck. The project will take some detours and change some plans as you will see below.

Here she is when I brought it home and got it in the shop trying to get the cab off (17 years young btw) haha


Here is when I got it onto my 78's Chassis.


Did some painting work to prevent rust. My lil brother and I posing like dorks

 

Here it sits back on its original frame behind my shop after I pulled it out of the weeds.


Loading it on the gooseneck to take it to my house so I can work on it as I get the time.


Since the GM Dana 44 I had was the same width essentially as the frame I figured easy swap once I stripped the frame down to bare rails.


Figured Id use Superduty Front leaf springs since they are readily available and cheap. Got the pair of 4in rough country's for $60 from the local dismantler.


Bought the Leaf Spring bolts from Ford and dang did that hurt! Also were on national back order for a few weeks

 

got the spring hangers installed and now for the plates that will eventually be the foundation for everything I have in store


Decided to get some C-channel or the front behind the bumper to help spread the load of the leafs equally in the front end


Got it bolted and welded in place and got the bumper on for me to feel accomplished haha


Robbing shackle hangers off an old mud truck I had in the barn yard. Nice being able to walk out back and have a few trucks to pick and pull stuff you need. Keeps everything as factory as possible

 

Got the shackle hangers in place. Now for some cleanup, new bushings, and proper hardware (on back order)



Here is my motor im using 1990 Build date 5.9L VE pump Cummins. approx. 350k on it and absolutely no blowby. Came from a truck my grandpa bought new also.



Contacted a guy on Pirate and he was looking to trade a A518 2wd Engine plate to driveshaft for a NV4500 2wd Engine plate to driveline. Done deal drove an hour and met him and swapped strait across. My A518 was freshly rebuilt but I figured this is the direction I wanted to go for fuel mileage and towing.



Got the engine hanging from a cherry picker. Showing here is my '06 5.9L exhaust manifold ($40) and my HX35 upgrade (free from work).

 

Time to start build engine mounts


So at this point I realized that the GM front axle wasn't going to work with out some transmission tunnel and firewall changes and I didn't wanna reinvent the entire truck. So I went on Craigslist and came up with a Dana 44 HP in Cottonwood, Ca (1hr50mins to the north) so off we went. Piled into my buddies 03 6.0 and 2hrs later I got a 1978 Dana 44 HP with 3.54's for $400.00 had a destroyed tie rod bar. But it was the only one around within a 3 hr drive and at a decent price. (dana 44HP's go for $500-1000 and Dana 60 HP 78-79's go for $1200-2000) so I figured it was in my price range. Some DOM tubing and some new tie rods and it was good to go. After building the tie rod and deciding to go with 3.73's I rebuilt the entire axle with everything new, and I mean everything! Decided while im in this far now is a good time to make up my mind about steering. Which I chose to go crossover and found a nice raised arm for $75. I was hoping I had enough lift to do so and it wound up perfect. At this point im into the axle about $1500 now but I know exactly what it is. My dad set up the ring and pinion for me so that saved a few hundred bucks.

Now the pictures will continue.



New Tires!! used wheels that need some polishing. Went with BFG A/T 35x12.50r16.5's for $778.00 delivered to my door. Month later price went up to $1100. Got em just in time!


Ahh that's better!!

 

Got the motor mounts figured out finally!


Working on the steering!


Best $19.99 I ever spent on buying that lil Drill Press!


Got the steering box mounted and frame cut and shortened height wise and boxed


Feeling like im getting somewhere finally!

 

Got it out of the shop for the first time in 2 months. Steering all works as it should and motor mounts are in.






My cousin (guy) doing some welding on the steering


Checking the Engine Cross member for clearance before welding it in place


All welded in place!

 

Engine cross member is made of 2x3x1/4 on the uprights and 2x4x1/4 on the lower bar. Most everything I have done, exc motor mounts to block, has been 1/4. Very stout since the frame on these trucks are around 1/4 thick as well.




Good clearance to oil pan.. 1" approx.


This brings me up to tonight. Please feel free to ask any questions or recommendations. I enjoy the "why in the world would you do that?" questions.

Overall, this has been a very enjoyable project and has turned out much better than the old GMC I did a swap into. I have the funds to do things the correct ways which helps a lot! But this is a unique build I figured I would share and see what others thought about it. I always see the 2wd to 4wd conversion questions come up and let me tell you its a job!! Doable but very time consuming!

Thanks for checking out my build thread!

 

Nice work! I also like that you did the 4wd conversion on a SCS. They are goofy looking, but neat.

 

Interesting build, I like it. I'll definitely be following this one. Great work so far!

 

Looking good.Can't wait to see the progress

 

Looks good. Gotta say we sure have a lot of cummins swaps going on at the moment.

 

Thanks for the compliments guys! I'm working on the front shocks tonight and will post some pictures when I get home.

Yeah, there is quite a few cummins swaps going on right now. Its a winning combination. Although if I had the funds I'd have rather swapped in a 6.0 and torque shift. But instead I'm an average paid guy and went the budget minded direction. Even tho the wife doesn't consider it budget minded haha

 

I'm definitely not on the budget minded side. I don't want to play the ehh I'll upgrade later game with most of my truck. So far I've compromised on the intake horn, and a single turbo instead of twins and that's it.

 

what frame did you use did you convert the scs frame to 4wd or 4x4 and mount the cab & bed?