I mounted up the grille. I had to trim out the back side of the grille to clear the intercooler but it seems to fit alright

 

The original bench seats are long gone and the buckets and rear bench that were in this truck got scooped for my mud truck. I wanted shoulder belts all the way around so I ended up trading a couple hours labor for the seats from a early 2000s Super Duty extended cab.

After a bunch of cutting and welding on the mounts here's the fronts
t

I wanted to use the rear from the Super Duty also but it was too wide and the rear door window cranks wouldn't have cleared. So the rear seat was stolen back from the mud truck. Its from a 90s Aerostar van. I fabbed up mounts for the rear shoulder belts from the Super Duty



I'm pretty happy with how the seating turned out. I feel good about having shoulder belts for my family and 4 adults should fit comfortably in the cab

 

That brings us up to date. I finished welding the front seat frames yesterday and painted them.

Next on the list:
-install hood latch, cable etc with release in cab
-install clutch slave cylinder, hydroboost master cylinder, throttle cable in firewall
-start repairing rusted cab corners, front cab mounts, and door corners
-install towing mirrors from newer truck

Other plans:
-paint body(possibly rat rod look)
-undercoat cab and spray liner floor inside
-custom flat deck and front bumper
-turbo upgrade
-homemade exhaust brake
-airbag 3 link rear suspension
-methanol/water injection
-etc....

I'm doing all the work myself and keeping the budget very limited but it's a lot of fun

 

Good job on the seating. Nice to know about the aerostar seat fitting.

 

Very impressive build man, nice job!!

 

Thanks! I did have to cut and modify the base but the width works well

 

Thanks for the compliments!

 

Finished the hood latch today, hopefully keep the lowlifes out a bit

 

Interesting idea here. This build is certainly different. I'm usually a Ford in a Ford kinda guy but I enjoy seeing different builds. Hope the bed mounts on there with little hassle.

 

Thanks for looking! I do agree with the Ford in a Ford thing, and if this was an F100 it would definitely be a Ford engine.

I want to be able to hook up to a 10,000lb trailer and drive thousands if miles if I like. And for that purpose a diesel is the way to go. Few would argue that a 12V Cummins is the easiest and most reliable diesel swap for a pickup.

The bed will be a fully custom flat deck and it will be cool...

 

great build , that hood latch is sweet ! sure beats a chain and padlock

 

Cummins is an engine supplier. one that ford and others have used.
For diesel, cummins is the best choice.

 

Thanks man! I had somebody pop my hood and steal my battery in the past. I wasn't a big fan of that. Although they did leave another older battery in it's place...

I'd rather people just stayed out of this engine bay

 

Yep! Although if people want to hate on the Dodge chassis I guess that's fair game!

 

Well it's been awhile since I've updated this thread. I've been busy repairing rust for the last month or so. I cut out and replaced both cab corners, the inner panel behind the corners, the front cab mounts and miscellaneous other rust. Here's a few pics

Cab corner before


Cab corner after


Passenger side B pillar before


After


Front cab mount before


Cab mounts after


There were a bunch of other minor repairs to the floor pans etc. Then I sandblasted the underside of the cab


Now I'm ready to prime and undercoat the cab