Trailer is sitting outside empty and ready for the cab!

Tomorow is the day the cab goes off for body work, and then we'll decide how to proceed with paint (IE "nice" paint job or "AWESOME" paint job)

I had a thought today too. The F600 thats sitting around has a 5 speed. Need to find out what model it is, but perhaps a 5 speed and a 3.55 rear gear would be a good combo both for power and mileage....

 

i think that clarks were the fairly common 5 speeds. i pulled one out of a 53 that was direct drive but with a first gear that down in something like the sevens. would work really good in a tonner, and probably with an even taller rear gear.

as for the paint job, my personal favorites are the "plain" jobs that have had alot of prep and attention to detail in panel gaps and whatnot.

 

The '77 F600 had a NP435 factory, but at some point after buying it my grandfather put a different 5 speed in. He doesn't know what it was, but it was a bolt in swap with a NP435 except having the driveshaft shortened....

Even without overdrive, I think it'd be better to have a 5 speed and a 3.55 rear than a 4 speed and a 4.10 rear....

 

Todays progress!

This is about the time our "we'll just unbolt it, lift it up, and carry it to the trailer" dreams popped. Reality is a PITA.



SOO glad I grabbed the til-trailer for this. It weights twice what the trailer I was going to use weights, so I'd rather have towed the other. At this point, I was SOO glad I brought the tilt... we just slid it right under the frame...



Thats about all I can take off the truck now... The tranny is going to be gone through, but aside from that, it can only go back together from here!



Loaded and ready to hit the body shop.... Still haven't tackled the "how do we get it on when we get it back" problem....



Also got the call today that everything will be back tomorrow from the balancer. Had to get a new-new harmonic balancer, apparently the Dorman I orderd (which was the correct balancer) didn't have a big enough hole in it for the crank. The balancer said he could put it on, but it would crack. Says he sees that alot lately with Dorman balancers, and had me go get a Pioneer for 2wice the price.... Ahh....

Machinist has me convinced that it's a good idea to have him go through and port/polish the heads. Not the cheapest thing, but I think it'll give us alot of bang-for the buck. We'll see what Grandpa thinks... There are always aluminum heads too, but then we're getting crazy...

 

i'd get a quote for the heads before you dive in, including milling, a valve job, valve guides and seals. its usually only a couple bucks difference from going to aluminums. a clean up wouldn't be too bad though.

seeing how much it looks like that chebbies squatting, i can see why you would want the ford on the road! w/o an overhead or a tractor w/ loader. my best suggestion would be two extra guys!

im interested in what 5 speed your grandpa put in the 77. I cant remember what that clark was like as far as a bellhousing goes. is the f600 still around? we might need some pictures...

I am personally a fan of a direct drive tranny with a low first gear. my bronco has an np435 & 3.55's and when i get the dual range into it switching to the low side will be like having 4.30's. but with 3.55's and 33's to cruise with (and 8 forward gears) I also have a doug nash 4+1 for my capri that has a low 1st and a direct drive, so 3.00's will launch like 3.73's but cruise like the 3.00's. i don't like how most overdrives are weaker, plus overdrive is usually noisier along with being less efficient. however getting a setup like that is difficult to find.

on that note i have an nv4500 and a t5 (for the falcon) sitting in the shop to someday get installed. i guess you can't always have your cake and eat it too.

your making great progress though! i can't wait to see what the cab looks like when it gets back!

 

The machine shop I use wasn't too bad on price. Already got a quote. I bring him ALOT of stuff, and I go out of my way to take it there.


As much as I hate that truck (I really do) it's a great machine. That trailer empty is ~3800 pounds, and enough tongue weight that I can't lift it. That Chevy tows surprisingly well, just a bit gutless when loaded (has 350/4L80E/4.11s)

The F600 is still around. I want to get it running asap. Need to figure out how to get a front tire off, so I can get the tube replaced and air it up...

Whaddya waiting for? Just go outside and POP, it's in I'm doing a head gasket on a '03 Camry tomorrow, so yours sounds like a piece of cake

Yeah, I'm trying to keep up the appearances of progress... Feels like we've done so little... I'm going to get the brake lines replaced in no time now, and get the motor built and installed, all before the cab gets back...

I guess we should expect the cab in 2-3 weeks...

 

lol, i'd love to, but i won't be home to where i can work on any of em until december! so for now im just gonna dream and cheer on everybody elses projects

besides, i got enough parts saved up for my stuff to keep me busy for the next year...

 

I use my engine hoist for cab removal/installation. It works great, but I take the doors off. The hardest part is getting the hook centered for balance on the cargo straps. Not sure how you would do that on gravel though...

 

how about lifting the cab from the front and rolling the chassis out from under it? if the cherry picker would reach... I swapped the engine in my capri with some roll out plastic floor mats on sand (ahh, college days...)

 

Body shops response- no one thing on the cab is unfixable, but there are so many rust spots that we'd be better off starting with a new cab. So today we'll start hunting...

 

that really sucks man.

 

It's not bad, he just thinks if we can find a cab that's a little better to begin with, we can save money. Our cab can be saved, and we were aware of the rust (that's why we sent it to him) but we will be better off with another cab.

For example, our new cab might have a windshield, and we were going to have to pay through the nose for a new window...

 

That has been my theory on regular cab trucks for a while now. They are so prevalent, that it is better to just look for good ones. Crew cabs, on the other hand...

 

You might want to try budget auto wrecking in auburn. I have no idea on what their prices would be for one, but the last time I was there they had a couple of trucks that looked pretty solid. And if they don't have one, go back a week or two later, they get new stuff all the time!

Sam

 

tell me about it, it took forever to keep my dad from sending the 79 crew he has to the scrapper.