Project Shamu F-350 is a Marvel of Fabrication Skills
F-350 started its life with 280,000 hard miles with an asphalt company, but today, it is a work of art.
The advantage to modifying something like a 1996 Ford F-350 is that there is a relatively broad aftermarket with upgrades available in just about every area of the truck. In other words, to perform most upgrades to a mid-1990s F-Series, you don’t need to be a master fabricator, but as “Lt. Dan1” shows us in his Project Shamu build thread, being an expert with metal crafting can lead to a very impressive F-350.
The 1996 F-350 shown here has undergone a pretty substantial remodel in recent years. After putting together a 132-page thread on a diesel-specific site, the OP put together a build thread here on Ford-Trucks. If you are a fan of custom fabrication work, there might not be a more impressive thread on this forum.
Project Shamu F-350 Introduction
When the OP first introduced us to his 1996 Ford F-350, he shared the story of the truck, what it looked like when he got the truck and what it looked like in its current state when the thread was posted.
Hey guys, I got recommended to start posting my build over here as well, I have a very long, drawn out (132-page) build thread on PSN, but seems theres a lot more traffic here as well, so here goes. I would post a link to that thread if others want to see it/if thats okay? (Idk if theres any “rules” against that, for whatever reason?)
I bought it in August of 2014, it was originally owned by an Asphalt company for the first 280,000 miles, then sold to the PO, where he put another 40,000 on it, and I bought it. I have since put another 60,000 miles on it, and a way too much money…
Heres when I bought it, and had detailed it a bit. It had some messed up paint around the headlights, but a surprisingly straight body, and the PO had redone all the seats/headliner so the interior was in very good shape as well. When I bought it, it was completely stock, down to the OG Downpipe and all.
The images above show the F-350 in its modified state at the start of the thread while the image below shows the truck when the OP bought it.
After the introduction, the Project Shamu thread goes on for 14 pages with many, many images. The OP changes some items multiple times, including different iterations of the custom flatbed, along with swapping different differentials in and out over the years. There is also an engine build at one point, followed by performance upgrades a few years later. Ultimately, the star of this thread is the amazing fabrication work done by the OP over the years.
Engine Failure
The first major job discussed in the Project Shamu F-350 thread is an engine swap. The OP had made some changes early on, but eventually, the original engine failed altogether.
After the billet wheel install, I didn’t notice much, and if anything, I felt the motor “slowing down” for some reason, had some issues that I couldn’t understand, then one day while out testing to see if the HPOP could hold pressure and determine the health of the HPOP, the truck started misfiring, and BELLOWING white smoke. Uh oh.
Pulled over, popped the hood. No coolant in the reservoir. Pulled dipstick, 6 quarts or so high on oil. Also noticed pin hole in radiator that had been leaking coolant on top of the motor for a while.
And the tear down begins to find out what happened…
The motor build was an extremely long drawn out process, one that took over a year. I’m going to try and summarize it best I can.
So once I towed the truck back to my shop, I figured it was a blown head gasket, and because i’m an idiot and didnt check compression or a leak down or anything, I went straight to work pulling the driver side head off to check the gasket. Got the head off, and the gasket was in perfect shape! So I had my fingers crossed it was the passenger side head! (These heads were no joke!!! Weighing in at around 200lbs, pulling them off with the motor in the truck was damn near impossible with 3 people!!!
No dice. Got both heads off and saw both head gaskets were in good shape… I did get to see that all 8 cylinders still had a beautiful crosshatch in them still, and the motor cranked over fairly easily and freely. Awesome to see at 350,000 miles.
He shared many pictures and lots of details of both the engine failure and the new engine build. He also upgraded the exhaust and the fuel system.
Fabrication Galore
Once the OP talks about the new engine build, he begins talking about his first custom flatbed design. He started with an image, laser cut the metal and formed various pieces on a press brake. He also did a whole lot of gorgeous welding, including adding the hitch mount.
As time went on, the OP added a headache rack, storage boxes and lights, leading to what appears to be a store-bought flatbed.
Next, the OP acquired a new-to-him differential. After rebuilding it, he fabricated custom mounts, followed by making custom lift blocks and custom spring mounts. He also made a custom pitman arm to help address some steering angle issues and over time, the OP revised some of his custom pieces to improve their function.
Eventually, the OP started on another version of the flatbed. His goal was to design something that he could replicate and offer to other people. Also, having designed and built the earlier version, the OP was able to use what he learned from that build to perfect the newer flatbed design. He would also add custom side steps and one of the more recent upgrades is a custom-reinforced rear differential.
If you are a fan of custom fabrication, this Project Shamu F-350 build thread should help you kill plenty of time on a slow work day.
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