I forgot to post a pic. I removed the makeshift battery box that was up front and fabbed one for the back. It works great and the cables that were up front are now cleaned up and hidden.

Finally got the fiberglass clip attached. Arms were fabbed for the front. They attach to the frame using polyurethane bushings. I made some brackets that attach to the cab on one end and to the steel mounts I epoxied to the clip on the other end.

I’ve been dreading it for a long, long time but I finally got started on the hidden hinges for the passenger door. It’s been quite a while since I did the drivers side. I put in a lot of time on it today and still not finished. Hopefully 2 more hours on Monday will finish it up. Then I’ll start on the bear claw latches.

Major hurdle overcome today. Still need to repair some rot in the door and finish some trim work on the jambs but I now have hidden hinges on both doors. Hopefully I’ll get to work on the latches this next weekend.

I only got a couple hours to work on the truck this weekend. I did some studying on how I’m going to use the factory door handles and assembly to work with the bearclaw latches. I think I’ve got it figured out in my mind so I went ahead and got the latch fabbed in. I’ll work on the striker bolt and handle assembly Monday.

Sometimes it’s the little victories that really motivate me. I wanted to integrate the bearclaw latches with the factory opener assembly so a little figuring and a little fabbing produced this. Still have to replace door hinge bushings but this works like a champ!

Man having a down week at work really helps with getting things accomplished. I just finished fabbing some seat mounts and I had to alter one of the front legs on each seat. I just got them installed, hooked up the power and ground and I now have power leather seats! I’ll try to get pics tomorrow.

I went back and forth between getting a bench seat and using what I already had. I ended up using the bucket seats that were free! I had to add 2” taller mounting blocks for the rear. I also added 1/8” plate for the front. I love the way they fit and although there isn’t a lot of room in these small cabs for adjustment the ability I have with these power seats is great.

Thank you. No they’re actually out of an ‘06 Freestyle which is my wife’s daily driver. We had a massive failure of the notorious CVT in it several years ago. Instead of replacing the transmission for $6500 I bought a wrecked ‘08 Taurus X and completely gutted the Freestyle and turned it into a Taurus X. So I saved the seats knowing I could use them for my truck.

Thank you so much for the kind words. Yes it’s really amazing how much she’s changed even though she still has those beautiful eyes.

Man do I hate going backwards on projects. For some reason it appears the new carrier bearings in the 9” rear are shot. I really wish now that I would’ve done the explorer rear conversion. Oh well, I’m gonna replace the bearings, try again to set the carrier bearing preload using the adjusters and see what happens. Also going to order a high amp relay and fan controller to get my electric fan operational.

After replacing the carrier bearings I still had some noise although not as much. I added some shims to the pinion housing per Ford390gashog and it’s totally quiet now. Thank you fellow Ford Enthusiast!!