I took a short break from the scrap metal and worked on the 54 a little.

I decided I'm going to start from scratch on the firewall recess and transmission tunnel. The 87 F350 transmission tunnel was a lot wider then I needed. The firewall recess I had was going to cause an issue with the pedals. Not to mention the cylinder heads were hitting and there was some header clearance issues.

So I'm going to buy some more diamond plate and build it all out of 16 gauge diamond plate steel.

So today I broke out my sawzall and hand jigsaw and cut out the firewall, the firewall recess and most of the transmission tunnel. I'm going to keep the 87 transmission inspection cover.

I've got plenty of room now!







I'm not going have the cash for the diamond plate until sometime next month. But once I get it I'm going to hit the cab hard and try to get the metal work done on it. I was going thru my metal stash and I found enough 2"x2" steel tube to build the box subframe and do the work on the rear cab mount crossmember. So once I get done with this load of scrap I'm going to build the crossmember and the box subframe and get those done and off the "To do list" ( more like a book instead of a list!! ) .

 

The truck looks good and you are making progress. Thanks for taking the time to post the pics and keep us up to date.

 

Thanks,

No new pictures, but this weekend I got all the templates made for the floor, firewall and firewall recess. I also pulled out a new chop saw I bought last fall and cut all the tubing for my front cab mount frame brackets, rear cab mount crossmember and all the crossmembers for my box subframe.

 

Well the city is on my case about having an non operating vehicle in my driveway so I need to get it out of sight for a while. I'm going to tear it down to the bare frame so I can pack away the separate parts in my garage. I'll pull out bits and pieces to work on when I get a chance.

Today I pulled the front clip and cab back off it. I'm going to start tearing down the chassis tomorrow.

 

Don't ya hate it when folks worry more about a project someone is working on more than the welfare of our society!

Mitch

 

Put it on the grass and tell them it's "ornamental"

P.S. You may have to put a hanging basket on the dome light !

 

Yep!






I don't think that would work. They complained about scrap metal I had on my trailers. I don't think throwing some in the grass would help!




Well I'm just about finished tearing down the 54. I still need to cut the U-bolts off of both differentials and pull a couple more brackets off the frame. I bet this looks much better to the city!! I think it might just take me 2-3 days to make enough room in the garage for the parts.

 

lots and lots of progress i see !!! check in on this every once in a while and have referred a couple of fella's wanting to do a 53-56 on a 4x4 chassis to this thread to give them an idea of what they're going to be in for . some seem to think it'll all be easy and it's not !!! welp keep up the good work ! as far as the nabes tell them to sod off ! i had a couple that for a bit complained , but i went out and made everything legal and noone could say anything as it was a registered vehicle ............................. also stuffed a lot of stuff in storage , in my garage , my unks place , and got rid of a lot . somehow they keep following me home .... got a 91 s10 sitting here now for the 5 speed and ..................................

 

Yea I was making some decent progress. I haven't done anything to it since the end of may. I did order a new original style ignition switch and a CNC 15" clutch pedal. I've got 3 vehicles I need to part out and cut up/scrap before I can do anything on the 54 again. So I'm guessing it will be early August at the soonest.

My project isn't the greatest one to judge for anyone wanting to do a chassis swap. There are others that have done a much simpler and cleaner swap then what I'm doing. Mine is more of the worse case scenario. Sometimes I think I must like to make things difficult.

 

I haven't done any work on the 54 since my last update. But I have picked up a few new parts.

First I ordered a new stock type ignition switch with keys and all the misc parts to mount it. I bought it from Midfifty's F100.







Next I ordered a 15" CNC clutch pedal assembly. I still need to order the brake pedal assembly once I get the spare $$. I was going to try and just modify the stock 84 F250 pedal assembly, power booster and clutch and brake master cylinders. But it was just going to be too much hassle to make it work and the booster/ master assembly took up way to much room. This is a similar kind of set up to what they run in Nascar except my master cylinders will be under the hood not under the dash. It's a manual brake setup but it uses two completely separate master cylinders with a balance bar. So there is no need for a proportioning valve.



Anyways here's the clutch pedal assembly I bought.







And the last part was my best score. It's the last of the gauges I needed. It's a 120 mph Autometer Sport Comp electric/programmable speedometer. I found it on ebay and won the auction. I got it for $86.00 including shipping. Summit Racing sells this for $200.00! And it was brand new in the sealed factory box. So I saved over $100.00 on it and now have all my gauges.

 

Just found and read this entire thread (I am usually in the SuperDuty forum).

I must say that I have never seen a more motivated or undaunted person when it comes to challenges on a project vehicle. I am amazed at how many changes you have made and the ways you come up with to overcome those challenges. My hat is off to you and reps are coming your way!

 

Thanks. I'm just stubborn.

 

8-10-2010: I got a few more parts for my Birthday.



My dad gave me the cab driver side front cowl patch panel.







One of my brothers gave me a whole pile of little misc. parts/hardware I needed for the cab from Mid-Fifty's.






And today I got my mock up Vintage Air heater-A/C unit that I ordered. I didn't really want to spend the cash on this. But I can't afford to buy the actual A/C unit right now and I want to make sure this will fit when I build the new firewall/floor set up. I don't want to finish up the metal work and then find out later the A/C unit won't fit and have to redo it again. So I figured it would be best to get this and when I no longer need I'll throw it on Ebay and get some of my cash back.







Right now I've got so much other crap to get done I have no idea when I'll get a chance to work on the 54 again. So I'm just collecting parts I need, as I get some spare cash, until then.

 

Awesome thread! Subscribed!!!

 

Thanks.