Hello again,
Thought I'd give an update on where we are on the 53 IH. We scored a dually rearend from Craigs list. Charlie, the seller, was an awesome guy with extensive knowledge on Fords. Rear was in a 2000 Ford E350 ambulance. It was a direct bolt in from the 2000 frame to the 2002 frame. Same spring perches and drive shaft. Charlie let us swap the hubs and tires from the front included in the price! We put our diff and front hubs back in the ambulance.
Ya gotta love Ford engineer's approach to things. Keeping things simple and rugged makes things adaptable to other uses. Take a look at the pics and you will see what I mean.

Here is Charlie taking the ambulance to our barn so we could swap the rears.



Notice the radiator mount? It's from the van. We have cut the ends to match the frame and utilized the top mount also to hold the radiator. Once the mount system is complete I will post more pics.




Power brake booster worked great!






Pulled the brake pedal setup from the van. Also a great fit.

 

Looking forward to seeing the finished product. Nice job and good luck.

 

Going to be nice when done!