I know what you are doing it sucks to be working out side thats what got me so be hind on my 54. But i am still colecting parts for the truck so its not to bad off.

 

maybe i'm getting old , but even in my garage , with a salamander and a propane heater that was known to run you out of an even bigger garage , it's been so dain cold most of the time this winter that i haven't hardly done a thing , and like you with a driveway build ............. I WANT SPRING TO GET HERE QUICK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I actually prefer the cold over the summer heat. But atleast in a garage you are out of the wind. And you can heat a garage. And you can work after dark too. I think it annoy's the neighbors when I drag out the flood lights!

I want spring to get here now!! But then I can complain about the rain!

 

2-23-09: Well due to the long winter with not being able to work on my truck and way too much time to think about it I decided to change my plans slightly.

I wanted to upgrade the diffs in my 78 chassis to a D60 front/Sterling 10.25" rear. But it just didn't make much sense with the cost of the D60 front diff for the 78-79 F250/F350. So I decided the wise choice would be to get a newer chassis. Well after a lot of searching I found a 87 F350 4x4 regular cab truck that had the gearing ( 3.54 ) and the differentials I wanted. And it cost the same for the whole truck as it would have cost for just the Dana 60 front diff for the 78 chassis. And it also has a 460 with a 4spd transmission. The engine supposedly had a bottom end noise.

Here's another twist to the plans. I'm going to pick up a cheap 1980 or newer F250 4x4 and swap in all the F350 4x4 suspension and drivetrain. Now you might be thinking why would I do this. Mainly because the F350 cost $70.00+ a year more to register where I live then the F250. And I don't see any reason to spend more money every year just to run 1 ton license plates and F350 emblems. I plan to spend $300 or less on the F250 and I'll make a good chunk of that back by parting out the rest of the truck that I'm not going to use.

I also decided not to run a 300. I really like the 300 but to make the power I want it would cost way too much money for me right now. I can make the power I want with a mild V8. So I'm going to give up some leg room and make the larger firewall recess to fit the V8. If I can get this 460 running good without dumping a lot of cash into it I'll use the 460 otherwise I'll be running a 351W.

Anyways here's some shots of my new donor truck. Yes all 4 tires are flat and everything is packed with mud!







Here's the 460. A little mud never hurt anyone!





And here's a shot of my poor cab that I never got in my garage before winter!

 

Well today I changed the tires on the F350. It looks a little better now. And hopefully it will roll a lot easier now!








I also borrowed a battery out of one of the minivans in the background. :toothless Of coarse it was just about dead so I put it in the 4x4 and threw the battery charger on it. After a few hours I decided to try and start the truck. It turned over and over and over but didn't start. Then I remembered this is a carbed engine! I've been driving a fuel injected truck way too long! So I pumped the gas a couple times turned it over and it popped a couple times. Pumped the gas a couple more times and it started up.

The guy I bought it from said the engine had a noise coming from the bottom end of the motor. But lucky no rod knocks. There is a light ticking but it's either an exhaust leak or something dealing with the air injection. The guy removed the air pumps but didn't remove or plug anything else after he removed the air pumps.

Now the bad news. It does run a little rough. So it will need some fresh gas, a tune up and a carb rebuild. And the alternator is toast. But so far no major oil leaks and not much smoke ( only a little when you really stomp on it ) . Not bad for sitting for a year.


Here's a shot of the interior. Someone was having too much fun in a mud hole!

 

I've been looking for a pair of these for a while but they aren't the easiest to find. I just won them on epay for $13.00.
They are in good condition but have some pitting. but all the mounting studs are ok. So now I'll finally have the 54 F250 hood emblems.

 

As always a great fine, you might of gotten more out of it than the seller though he had sold it for.
Still I think/guess those aweful cold winters yuo northern's have are tough on the old brain freeze. Its given you too much time to think.
Looking forward to seeing & hearing more from you adventure.

Mitch

 

If you watch my build progress you definitely won't get bored!

 

Good job on the emblems thats going to make it look good. Keep up the good work.

 

Great build thread im subscibin to it and thanks for takin the time to document it so well.

 

Well I found the newer chassis donor for the 54. Today I ran and picked up this 84 F250 4x4. This thing is a beast!

It has the 351W V8 I wanted, 4spd transmission, 3.54 geared rear with limited slip. The engine also has an Edelbrock Performer 4V intake, Edelbrock 4V carb, Edelbrock chrome air cleaner( very rusty ), A MSD 6A ignition box, full length headers and some cheap chrome valvecovers (which are leaking badly ) . It also has a pair of chrome air horns!

It runs good, great power, sounds good and drives good. I'm very happy with this truck. I just wish it was a regular cab instead of the extended cab. The 54 is going to have a long wheel base.

I'm going to swap in the Dana 60 front diff from my 87 F350 and the NP205 transfercase from my 78 F250 chassis.

Anyways here's a few pics. The first two are just after I bought it and got it loaded on the trailer. It was a tight fit on my trailer with those 12.5" wide tires.





And here's a front shot just after I got home. The picture is a little dark, because it was getting dark.

 

Thats a nice find

 

Yea I think so. The only downer is now I need an 11 foot bed/box instead of a 9' one.

I found a really nice 11' utility box off a F550 but after buying this truck I'm broke again.

 

You better start selling some of those parts you aren't going to use.

 

Yep I've already started to list stuff.