Hey fellas,

Looking at a 77 F350 camper special, the body/interior are mint, considering putting this on a 76/77 highboy frame (narrow) with divorced transfer case for a cummins swap. I have the frame, cummins and nv4500, np205 etc.

Have read a ton about the swaps so I have an idea of what is involved in that. My main question is regarding the cab/box from the camper special on the highboy frame. The caper special has a 140" wheelbase. Will this affect the position of the rear axle in the wheel well when I put the box on the highboy frame?

I realize I could research more but I'm going to look at the camper special tonight after work and dont have time to do hours of research. Your .02 is appreciated.

Im just concerned that it might be tough to put that box on the highboy frame and make it look alright. Wondering if I'd either have to shift the axle forward or back and have a new driveshaft made, or have a 2" gap between the back of the cab and the front of the box. Anybody provide any insight here?

Thanks

 

Has anyone done a swap like this? Any comments?

 

You will need to relocate the rear axle.

I saw a nice conversion a few yrs ago on eBay.

 

Sounds like you have a SUPER Camper special with the extended (140") wheelbase. That means your high boy box wont fit without major modifications.

 

For reference, the F100-250 standard cab long box trucks have a 133" wheel base, so 7 inches shorter than your F350.

 

F350's on the 140" wheelbase (all 2WD) have their Dana 70 rear axle set back further than the High Boys 8' bed on the 133" wheelbase Dana 60 rear axle.

1973/76 Stylesides have exposed fuel caps, 1977/79 Stylesides have fuel doors.

33 1/2" width between the inner frame rails behind the cab: 1973/77 F250 4WD (High Boys); 1973/79 F350's on the 140" wheelbase; 1973/79 F350 Cab & Chassis.

F350's on the 140" wheelbase: 1973/76 Super Camper Special; 1973/79 Trailer Special; 1977/79 Camper Special. Ford dropped 'Super' after 1976.

 

Thanks fellas, I really appreciate it! If this deal goes through I'll post pictures. I looked at the truck and made an offer a little lower than what the seller was thinking. My primary concern was the interior windshield weatherstripping above the visors shows quite a bit of corrosion. Also the headliner is rock hard and bubbled, headliner chrome trim is severely corroded.

Kinda weird as the rest of the truck is relatively rust free. I dunno what could be blamed for the severity and location of the corrosion. A friend mentioned he has seen this before from mice of all things, evidently the urine can be highly acid. He also said that most trucks from the coast seem to rust from the top down?

 

Have seen that on the rust thing - mouse p!$$ is pretty corrosive in itself, and if the valley between the inner and outer shells was already full of nest, and coastal humidity to boot, perfect storm..... and the top down rust is true, rather than road salt flying up from the bottom, their salt is coming in with the rain.

I've seen one 4x4 SCS (obviously a build, of course), probably the same one somethingclever saw. It would seem like a 7" stretch on a highboy frame would work fine, but I've never looked close at the contours of an SCS, hard to say how it would fit with the filler necks, spare compartment, cross members, etc. Wonder if, since you have to cut it anyhow, you could just graft the rear half of the SCS to the front half of the highboy, adding in 7" when you make your cut? only be 1 splice that way, and then you know the rear suspension would match up with your Dana 70........ The cabs should be the same, other than the center floorpan, simple swap if you still have the highboy cab.

 

It sounds like the way to go might be to keep the camper special the way it is and mount a cross member for the NP205, put the front axle in, driveshafts and knock my hole in the cab floor for shifters. I didnt realize that the F350 frame was the same width as the highboys, that makes putting the highboy cross member in pretty "easy".

I dont mind the look of the longer frame/box. Hadnt thought about that until the above poster mentioned the same frame width.

 

The front of the frame is what gets you - 2wd's are quite a bit different. I think it's been decided that it's easier to graft on a 4x4 frontend.

 

Ah, good point, then maybe graft the front portion of frame as mentioned..

We'll see, I could be spitballing here, all depends on if the guy sells the truck or takes my offer. I would prefer if it was a regular box rather than the camper special, but interested because its in my backyard and cleaner than average for our area. Otherwise I'll just keep looking. The next truck I buy will be completed and done right, I'll likely have it forever (everyone says that I know) but Im serious, so I have time to wait.

Like I said, I've got the majority of what I need, the rest I have time to find. A clean 2wd body and box with racetrack chrome, a chasis for the divorced transfer case, and some other little misc stuff. The 2wd dodge with cummins, nv4500 etc is IMO the largest piece of it and Im driving that right now.

Side note, I had a brand new 2015 LTZ that had AFM and I hated it, I decided to get back to my roots and go back to a 12v and want to put it in the 73-79 ford. Friends think Im crazy but I just didnt get excited about the LTZ with every option including sunroof, I get more excited about the 12v in a Ford. Call me old fashioned....

 

So how do you intend to deal with the difference in wheel base? Cause the wheel well openings are not the same.