Today I managed to toy around with getting the Overdrive to fit around the Crossmembers and the Floorboard, I got the Bed off to get the Saddle tank off, and then I stripped off the old Exhaust and 2-Piece Driveshaft too. I managed to fit the O/D Unit get it to fit around the crossmember alright, I may just leave the support member where it is and hope for the best, one thing I'm not liking though is the top of the O/D unit looks to be hitting the bottom of the Floorboard just after the Transmission Access Plate... not what I wanted to see...

Now I'll be cutting open the floor to test fit the Transmission and see if I might have to move the Transmission Crossmember Forward at all before I make a decision as to what I need to do for the Floor.

Worst case scenarios; I dump the Transmission Crossmember flip and drop the Transmission more with a different Crossmember from say a 4x4 Crossmember I originally intended, or maybe doing a 1"-2" Body lift might be in order. Maybe make a Body Shim of some sort may work. Time will tell...












It was pretty hot outside today, and there was quite a bit of Rain that made this place a swamp... so I'm a bit behind. So as I was rolling around under the truck today Cabela (my dog) decided she would supervise. I'd imagine it was cooler under the truck so I didn't mind at all... but I'd swear she acts like SHE did all the work

 

Great looking dog. First thing the wife said.

 

Thanks, yeah she's a great Dog, a Mutt but she's all Herding and Cattle Dog, she's about the only thing that keeps me sane anymore...

Funny thing is she's Akbash, Blue Heeler, and Border Collie... so she doesn't know if she should go live within the Herd and Protect, or if she should be nipping at them and keeping them in line haha.

 

Ok, so it looks like I have alot of catching up to do on here.... I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to really do a good Write-up on what I've been getting done lately... so here goes...

First of all I managed to strip down the front-end of "Red" so I could access the Firewall better and also so I could manage to lift the T19 (Alot heavier than any NP435 I've had to put in a truck to date) into the truck instead of having to Bench Press it in. I got the O/D Unit all bolted up and slid the T19 right on in after cutting a rough hole for the Transmission access and to my surprise everything bolted up just fine and looks to have really good clearance to the Crossmembers and the Firewall. The one thing I did have to do is slide the Crossmember as far forward as I could on it's Mounting plates in order to get the Bellhousing to clear. It also looks as if the Rear Crossmember may not have to be moved either and will clear the Driveline/Yoke on the OD unit just fine...

So far so good and here are a few photos of the progress...

 

Now I bet you thought that getting the Trans and O/D unit in is all I've managed to do in all that time... hahaha nope...

Y'all will never believe it in a Million years (I didn't, that's for sure), but I managed to come across an Unmolested, perfectly working, in great condition... Ford Factory Garret Turbo System (I know for some that isn't a big deal but around here that's rare to come by in a Scrap Yard) so now I have a great System to start off with, and to use to Mock up not only My Turbo System but Bronco78IDI's Chassis Cab in case we decide later on to go Turbo.

So I checked the Turbo out and I have no shaft play, it free spins well and it looks to have a good Wastegate also. So so far so good, I didn't picture it here but I managed to get the Y Pipe and Exhaust Riser and all the Insulation too. I was really surprised because for a 1994 Contractor Truck it was in really good shape, had nearly no leaks or dirt built up on the motor, the body was really clean and it had a ZF5 with 4WD too... Why it made it to my local Scrap Yard I will never know, but I'm really happy that I came across it and happened to get back in time with Cash and Tools to grab it.

Here's some bad news though... I did all that work to make the 2WD Crossmember work for this build figuring that I was going to remain N/A for now, and sure as heck now that I have the Turbo and should put it on (and have all the stock Exhaust and Turbo Parts) the Turbo-Back Pipe runs right into the 2WD Crossmember... so I'm going to have to find a way to make a 4WD (Married Transfer Case) Crossmember work for me in an effort to still use Factory Ford Parts. So time to start another parts search, one day my Engine will get off the crate and into the Truck ...

Until then, lots of photos Below though

 

Did you ever check out the spindles or even the Ibeams for this?

 

I still need to do a Measure on the I-Beams for this but as of yesterday (I was in a rush and didn't take enough Pictures of my Measurements ect) I was at the Scrapyard and found an Early 1980s 2wd I-Beam Van and found that not only is the Kingpin Hole and Spindle size the same dimensions, but I think (I won't say for sure just yet, I want to see a few more things first) the I-Beams are the same past the Placement of the Steering Stops...

On my next trip to the yard I will be taking a few Measurements to figure out the Caster of the I-Beams and the total length, I might possibly test-fit while I am there too... but for the time being it looks as if the Outers/Spindles fit fine and the Brake Brackets look to be interchangeable between the two...

Total Pin Height on the I-Beam was 2 3/4" on both Beams, and the Diameter of the Pins were both 7/8" so this looks promising...

I do like the idea of moving my Steering up front as opposed to cutting the Pan like I have seen in other builds...

 

For future record... this is what I am attempting to try and avoid...

 

I have been way behind in posting lately... with Work and Beekeeping there's been alot going on around here on the Ranch, that and my main Truck (Chief Blackhawk) Decided to blow the Spider Gears in his 9" so I've been working on getting an ARB set up in the Carrier and that's been taking up alot of my spare time... so here is a few updates... stand by...

 

So I finally decided to just fit up the IDI in to the Engine Bay and check out all my clearances to the Firewall, Floor, Radiator, and Brake Booster... so Below will be a few photos of that, I found that with the 2wd Transmission Crossmember there will definitely be some issues with Turbo Fitment, I'll also have issues with the Cab Floor hitting the Turbo Downpipe (This is so much easier in a 4wd Chassis) so I'm going to resolve that all with a 1979 4wd Transmission Crossmember and a 1" Body Spacer (I loathe Body Lifts but I have no choice past Custom Floorboards and Carpet which I'd rather avoid and keep a stock appearance) so Currently I am fitting the 4wd Crossmember...

I fit the Air Cleaner Box and all the Turbo Piping and Glow Plug Harness to the Engine and it slipped in pretty easily if I do say so myself, I did have to bend the #2 Injector line (Originally N/A) to clear the Air Box, everything else bolted right up...












This is where I had to bend the #2 Injector Line to clear the Turbo Air Box...














I'll post the photos of the Motor going in on the next post as soon as they Upload...

 

Ok here are the photos of getting the Motor in... For now I have the engine sitting on the Frame with the Mount Plates for the Frame side just sitting against the Frame until I get the Transmission Crossmember figured out...

If the engine looks like it's hitting the Brake Master Cylinder in any of these photos it's because the truck wasn't sitting on level ground and was biased to the Driver's side...

 

So here are the "Issues" with fitting a Turbo IDI into a Dentside Truck (Especially true with Highboys and 2wds) It;s mostly just things to think about when trying to clear the piping more than anything else...


The Turbo Feed Pipe gets awful close into the Crossmember for the front Radius Arms on the 2wd, so moving the Motor forward is a MUST...

Here is the reason for me putting on the 1" Body Lift...

 

Build looks great so far!

Between the OD unit and the full turbo setup you seem to have amazing luck, what's your secret? haha

About lowering your trans mount. On my truck (78 2wd CCSB) I did a ZF5 swap and due to the MUCH taller case I was in a similar spot. On mine I removed the frame-xmember brackets entirely and set the crossmember on the frame directly, it was perfect for my needs and another option for you to look at.

 

Also the van spindles will work as long as the Kingpins are the same size, it's common for guys to do with 2wd prerunner lifted trucks so they can build "double swinger" steering setups that have equal length tie rods.

Not sure as to which year the van changed the length of the I-beams so you may or may not be able to use those, just measure (which you seem to be good about).

 

THANKS! Yeah lately it's been in the Higher 100s so I've been really lagging on getting anything done... I was starting to get scared that people weren't interested in IDI swaps anymore haha

Honestly I have NO idea whatsoever haha, usually I have the WORST luck, but with this project I've just been finding goodie after goodie...

Yea my good buddy Cory Pratt swapped out his NP435 on his 6.9L IDI (The 77.5 I posted in the beginning of this thread) and we had to trim down the Trans Mount on the 4wd Crossmmber to get it to clear the Floorpan, I was surprised it was so tall... one reason I'm sticking with the T19 (Originally I was going to go C6 since the truck was an Auto C6 from the Factory, but I'm more a Manual kinda Guy)...

Most of my issue is clearing the Factoy Turbo Downpipe more than the lowering the Trans itself... I haven't posted it up yet but yesterday I got the 4wd Crossmember slid into the frame and gave myself a pretty good idea of where I'm going to put it... but I want to look at a few more things before I commit to drilling the holes for it... But so far it looks like it wont drop or raise the Trans up any more than the original Crossmember would... And the Turbo pipe fits in there great... I'll post a picture of it below as a little preview.