Well, I'm off and going at it again. After having to tear down my previous semi project, due to a failed motor, and extremely worn drive train, I'm on to part two. Same concept, just newer donor chassis/drivetrain, and more experience to help me get past the little issues.

First, a little about the donors:

Chassis donor is a 1980 Ford LN-9000, equipped with a 6-71 Detroit straight six diesel motor. This engine is supercharged, and equipped with Jake brakes. The tranny is a 9 speed Road-Ranger, with double reduction low/reverse gears. The rear end was a 5.29 geared Rockwell, on heavy service springs, but is now a late model Spicer with 3.73 gears from Peterbilt, equipped with "air-leaf" rear suspension.

The chassis/drivetrain donor:



The body/F-series donor, and failed 1st attempt:



The idea, on paper:

 

Joe,


Pretty cool concept! I would like to do a similar thing at some point.

The 6-71 (non-turbo?) is not a huge power-house.

They'll make respectable power if you add a turbocharger though. You might consider finding a 6V-92TA or even an 8V-71T on the used market. VERY NOISY (to people who think that's noise)

No DD is noisy to me though. That's "music" to a DD lover! If you carefully insulate the cab you can make it bearable though. The 1978 IHI Transtar Eagle (8v-92TA) I hauled crude oil with in the late 70's wasn't all that noisy at all.

Regards,


Rick

 

Nice to see you're back at it. I know the weather up this way has sucked royal gonads and kinda brought you down, but it's gettin better a little at a time. I like the new sketched idea, pretty tough lookin. And I'll second what Rick said, I love the sound of a screamin Detroit!

 

I paid $800 for the LN-9000, and we drove it home. It runs great, and everything functions, so I can be ok with a little less power, besides, I'm not going to be hauling heavy loads, and it has more power than the diesel pick-ups, so it should be ok. I sold the nose, and tanks to a FTE member. The cab is off, the remains of the flatbed are gone, and the rear diff is already swapped out for the 3.73 Peterbilt air-leaf axle I have.

 

Today, I pulled the front suspension out from under the truck. Like most L-Series trucks, it has the typically worn out rear spring hangers. I couldn't get the wheel nuts broke loose, but luckily, the Peterbilt axle uses the same parts as the Ford axle. I'll just swap the front hubs/drums off the Ford axle onto the Pete axle, so that I can keep the aluminum 22.5 wheels. I'll get the local tire shop to break them loose at a later time. I threw the doors on the cab as well, and took some measurements for building the nose assembly.

The Pete axle, under the truck, but not yet mounted (it was getting late):





I forgot, I also got the radiator pulled off yesterday, and the fan hub turned over so I can run the stock fan blade, and a slightly smaller radiator:

 

There's NOTHING like the sound of a Deee'troit!!!


They don't take much radiator. Since a 2-stroke exchanges a LOT of fresh air, they don't generate a lot of rejected heat!

 

Now this is what I'm talking about!! Can't wait to see her on the road.

 

That's what I was figuring. Factor in the blower forcing air through the entire block, along with that HUGE clutch fan, and it's a 2-stroke, I can't see any problem with reducing the radiator size. Also, I'm parting ways with the copper/brass/steel hunk that was in it, and replacing it with a late model Ford Super Duty P-Stroke radiator. It's a 4-row aluminum cored radiator. Since aluminum disipates heat more efficiently, I think I should be ok.

Oh, and you are right. That is why I opted for a Detroit equipped truck. After cruising You-Tube listening to, and watching various different commercial trucks, the Jake equipped Detroit seemed to be the best sounding. It also seemed the most logical "could have been" choice if the truck came this way originally

 

looking good Joe.

I got my package of goodies on tuesday.


Thanks again.

Keep the momentum going.

 

I am subscribing. Looking forward to seeing this progress.

Paul

 

Awesome! Thanks again Tom. I'm still keeping your crew cab link for future reference. This one won't be a 4 door, but I retained parts of the junker '56 cab I had for future cab stretch use.

 

Joe, Glad to see you working on part two. The detroit will sound great.

I look forward to your updates!

 

It hasn't changed much in the last week, except getting the nose loosely assembled, and cutting one of the hoods in half. I got distracted by better than average weather that permitted me to finally make progress on redoing our front yard. I did pick up some usable scraps from the body shop department at work, so I'll have plenty of good metal to make panels, and such as needed. I did realize, also, that this truck will be approx. 95% recycled, so I think that should out weigh the fact that it will get poor mileage. Maybe the greenies over in the Portland won't give me the finger in this truck, like they did in my '01 Dodge dually. Ha, who am I kiddin. I couldn't care less how many fingers they hold up! lol.

 

Hi joe its nice to see you back at work on the big trucks again.How are you going to fit all that stuff under the hood of the ford?Will the front tires fit in the wheel wells it looks awfully wide.Joe whats the widest front end that you can fit under the old big jobs.Keep posting picks of the big build.

 

Hey Joe, thanks. The front end is getting stretched, and widened. The front needs to be widened 3-4" on each side, and I am extending the cowl with a removable panel. I'm also making the hood taller. I played with putting the cab right over the frame, like I did on the tandem axle chassis, but it's not tall enough when compared to other commercial trucks (Peterbilts, Kenworths, etc.). The end game will be a taller, and longer nose that will tilt forward. As for the axle widths, I'm not 100% sure what the front axle track width is stock. I can measure the Peterbilt axle, and then you can figure that any axle needs to be about 6-8" narrower.