Oh yeah, I just got turned onto a '55 F-900 body, with vin, and hood emblems, so I may end up running this truck as a '55 F-900. Not quite sure yet though.

 

Hi joe thanks for getting back to me is it possible to cut the truck in half to widen the hole truck?The Biggest problem would be is to get a front windshield to fit the widened truck.keep on trucking.

 

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That would be way too much trouble. The easiest ways, are 1) get deep offset front wheels, or 2) flare the fenders. I'm going to be stretching the entire nose at the fender/hood line, but I'm also changing its height, and length. The hood will come down over the stock curve, and as it approaches the fender, it will flare out wider than stock.

 

Hi joe i was looking at your old pictures of the f-800 with the cat v8 did you have to chop the cab and fenders to make it fit it looked like it came from the factory that way?Or is the 900 just a much more massive truck.Keep on trucking

 

No Joe, I mounted it just like on the Ford trucks. The Cat was a shorter motor, so I was able to snug the cab right up to the motor. I also turned the front springs around, so I could get the axle further forward. It all fit perfectly, but that is not the case this time around. In order to fit the Detroit, and still have room in the cab for feet, I had to move the cab back, and raise it by stacking the middle from the F-600 frame I had on top of the LN-9000 frame. Moving it back, also allowed to place the shifter in the tranny cover opening, instead of in the middle of the front seat reinforcement area. There's about .75" of clearance between the cab, and the rear of the engine right now. Because of the height, and the length, I am having to build panels for the section between the cowl and front fenders, as well as make the hood taller. I could have chopped out the firewall, and mounted it all just like before, but I decided that if I'm gonna do a one off full on custom semi, that I am going to go all the way and make it look like a one off custom semi. The nose will be set down low over the front end, and the cab will be tall enough to look good in front of a sleeper. There will be chrome, and stainless, and nice shiny paint when all done.

 

any updates?

 

Hmmm, updates huh? Well, I have been working on it pretty steadily. Plans have been altered slightly, as its progressed, to accomodate the project as a whole. Progress has been slow, because of a VERY BUSY summer. After playing with numerous routes to tackle the longer motor, and such, I opted to stretch the cowl, and make a slightly different nose than most people do. So far, it's 99% recycled, and it's going to have a full tilt nose like on other tractors (Peterbilt, Kenworth, etc.). Right now, I have the primary, and secondary air tanks in, the air lines routed to the brake foot valve, the rear relay, and control valves, and am redoing the front line too. I will be installing the tank for the supply circuit tomorrow, as well as for the rear suspension. I still need to make the brackets for the right side step boards, and do some more welding on the interior, and the cowl. The wiring won't take long, and the fuel system is already in. I'm hoping to be able to actually start it, and maybe even move it around within the next two weeks. After it moves, I'll go back to finishing the nose, and will do body work over the winter.

 

How's the project going? Looks great so far.

 

Hi Ken.

This thread is 3 years old. And the Original Poster hasn't been on FTE for over a year...

 

I saw that. Thought maybe I missed something. Thanks.

 

Yeah, I'd like to know what happened to wmjoe1953. He contributed a lot to the bigger truck knowledge on this forum.

 

Anyone know if he ever got this truck running? Cool project. Hope so.