OK.
I just wanted to know when the Stafford "Open Air Garage" will open for buisness.

 

Henry,


For you, it's always open!!! BTW, thanks again for the hook-up on the Ranger! We picked it up this past Sunday and brought it home. Now for the planning........

Back to the original topic, what all do you need done and when do you want to do it?

 

I think we should start with something easy, say like, completely swapping the body and bed from my truck onto the frame of that 79 frame the 460 will be donated from!!! Just kidding of course.
But, seriously speaking, I think the first item of buisness would be to put on the new cab mount rubber pads that I bought about six months ago. And if that goes well, I have in my possession a new steering coupler, aka rag joint, that I would like to do also. Just a few little things to start with. LOL Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm......................... While I thinking about things I could also get into removing the in cab gas tank and replacing it with a tank behind the rear axle, body work and painting, a built 302, new rims....................... I could go on and on if I had room to type everything, the list grows the more I think.
Lets try the cab mounts first. I'll pick a weekend in December and we'll see if it works.

Congrats on getting the Ranger home finally.

 

Well, that may not be too hard of a venture!! I have someone that might want the frame after I pull the motor/trans/rear end, and I know that my Uncle wants the hood and cab to swap out with his stuff. If the other guy ends up not needing the frame, it will go to scrap unles you want it. I will be complete with all the suspension/steering parts up front and the springs/hangers in the rear. We are saving the rest of the front clip for you if you want it. I know we talked about the inner fenders, but wasn't sure if you wanted the fenders and the rest of the front clip parts too. The rest of the stuff should be fairly easy and can be done over several weekends, as I know this is your daily driver and we don't want to put you out of a vehicle while it gets worked on!

Can we try for something in January? Remember all of us like to go out and look for Bambi's family and try to work out dinner plans with em. This way we can be available for Saturdays and Sundays, and not just Sundays

 

Yes. January is fine. Don't want to get in the way of ya'lls dinner plans. As far as the daily driver goes, we do have a second vehicle you haven't seen as the "BOSS" won't let me drive it to the bogs. I have been forbidden to put any mud on it or in it! However, it is a mud bogger by heritage. 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with Quadratrac. Sadly, it's more of a luxury car than bogger as it's loaded with bells and whistle's. ( SIGH ) But I digress. I must admit I've been thinking about the full swap really hard, but as usual, finances is always the drawback of all my ideas. Lot's of ideas, just no money. All I need is the inner fenders. You can part out the rest of the truck as you need to. However, if the frame isn't taken, maybe we can work something out. BTW, is it power and disc brakes on the front? That would be perfect, too, provided we could transfer my motor, trans, ( 302 with C4 ) and all related driveline parts to it also. I wonder? What does a rear axle and driveshaft for a 73 thru 79 go for these days? Limited slip with 350 ratio possibly? Hmmm.............. Here I go again&^%$#!!! More ideas than money !
( I'd have to get the rear axle because it's wider. Width changed when they widened the frame. You probably know that already. My Bad. )

edit: There have been posts here where some of the guys have done this swap. And, they report it's well worth doing. At least, that's what I've read. Just a matter of relocating cab and bed mounts to fit wider frames mount locations.

 

Not sure about the power steering, but I am almost postivie it is disk brakes as there is a vacuum booster that was in the way when I pulled the steering column. As for the frame, it's yours if you want it. I talked with the guy that was interested in it and he is looking for a complete 4wd long bed to swap his stuff into, so he is passing on the 2wd frame. If you get a plan together and figure what all is needed for a swap, i'm sure we can help you out. The only thing is it will take a few days to get everything swapped over, so not sure on your time line and such. Also, if you do go that route, you probably want the frame a little earlier so you can sand and paint it as well as check all the steering/suspension parts. Also, we will be using a 4wd c-6 tranny, so the 2wd has a c-6 already in it, if you can find a big block to put in front of it......

 

I think I missed too much of yalls conversation to be of much help, but in regards to the rear end you might want to consider the Sterling 8.8 found in every 1/2 ton and bronco from 1984(?) - 1996 And most if not all bronco rears were 3.55 gears and had factory limited slip. Same spring pad width as far as I know and they are a dime a dozen

And while you're looking for a rear, AOD trannies are pretty cheap and the OD might help some with gas topping $3 a gallon

 

Karl, message received. Great! As for as the frame goes, let me think about it for a while. I have a copy of NPD's catalogue and will scan it and get some ideas on what it will cost as far as front suspension parts could run. And thanks Steve for your input on the rear axle and AOD info. Will keep it in mind while pondering the possible swap. I guess I need to get some plans down on paper and decide what I'm going to do. Long story short, it would be after the first of the year until I would be able to take on any thing of this proportion, but, I now have a whole lot of food for thought. Time wise, there is no hurry. I would like to do this slowly so if there were any setbacks, it wouldn't hurt to much as my pockets only go so deep. I expect a Xmas bonus but I first would have to see how much it is and figure how far it would go after all the gifts are bought. One can spend a few hundred really quickly just in parts and shipping. There is also the local parts houses to consider. With it being a 79, parts should still be available without having to go through a mail order house, right? Plus, I could always go junk yard diving. It all comes down to $$$$$. And yes, I would want to sand and paint the frame as well as completing the necessary body work I still need to do, so the list already is going to be BIG! If I do the swap, I want to do it right. Besides, I don't want to show up at the bogs with a rusty and primer covered truck, now do I !!!

 

Alright. I've just been sitting here all morning thinking about everything and I've come to a decision. I've decided that under the circumstances, I'm going to leave everything as is. Karl, take the frame, inner fenders, etc. and haul them to the scrap metal yard. I'll be OK with what I got for now. I just don't have the resources for such a project. I appreciate the offer. However, I will take the help for the mounts as it is a project I can't do by myself. I think that we can do that in a day, at least I hope so. Just give me a holler when ready. Anytime after the new year should be good. Besides, I want to check on the Ranger anyway so that'll be a good excuse to come up. I just hope it won't be too cold to work then. This would have been a good project to do when I first bought the truck. I just didn't know then what I know now.

Hope all had a good Thanksgiving. Will check back later.

 

Henry,

We can do the mounts no problem. Heck, we can even swap in the inner fenders while we are at it, so that won't be too much of an issue. Plus the cost on that is pretty low (FREE PARTS!!!). I'll probably have the frame for a bit until my Uncle gets to to the roof swap on the cabs, so I can hold it if you decide to swap later.

We probably won't start on the Ranger until after the New Year, so you most likely won't see too much progress until Spring.

 

Henry,

Sitting here with Nick, we got to thinking. I know bad things happen when we think...


Anyways, Jeff is scrapping out an old 89 F-150 2wd with straight 6 and auto tranny. The rear 8.8 is in decent shape and I believe has 3.50 gears that I'm sure he'd make you a deal on!! Nick's gonna check to see if the tranny is an OD tranny as well, because the bell housing will bolt right up to your small block and give you a little better fuel milage in the process.

I think it's safe to say you have a bit (at least until after Bambi killing season) to look over options and figure what you want. Hey, we all need long term projects, mine is just trying to spend money on trucks with out my wife catching me......

 

LMAO! about the "wife" not catching you. Meanwhile, I guess I'll sit here and think too. thinking.......................................... .................................................. ..........................

Hold On ! I Have A Thought!!!

BTW, just FYI, I have the two piece drive shaft in my truck. Would that work in combination with the AOD and the rear? Wait a minute. Before I out think myself, I have a 9 inch rear and the 89 axle with 8.8 is wider that mine. Ford made the frame and axle wider starting in 73. Decisions, decisions......................................... ...( still thinking )

 

To wide? Cut the perches off and move them Just measure twice before you weld them back on

 

And Nick got a new to him tig welder that I want to try out.....

 

Move them? OK. So, that means if I wanted to I could do the AOD and rear swap.

HMMMM........................................... Still Thinking..............................