in that pic it looks like the trans mount bolts have nuts in there as washers or something???

 

yeah - I'm having a hard time finding bolts small/short enough, so I used what I have and spaced them out with washers and nuts. It's only temporary though.

That poly tranny mount/bushing I ended up using only allows for VERY short bolts - ie 7/16-14 bolts at like 1/2" MAYBE 3/4" long. I haven't had time to make it to the GOOD local hardware store that will have these in grdae 8.

Also the actual cross member is in without washers, etc. as I haven't gotten those nuts/bolts in grade 8 yet either.

 

do you ever go to McFadendales (sp?) ?

 

that would be the "good" hardware store I was referring to. They are only open to noon on saturday and closed Sundays, so I missed them this weekend. It's hard to make it up there during work hours as well and I'm not sure how soon I can get there.

Luckily Ace hardware close by has a good selection of grade 8's - and there is another local guy that has some stuff. Amaizingly though - hardly anybody stock 7/16 bolts. Of course they say there are rarely used, but it seems EVERYTHING I have done on this truck so far needs um...

 

All my frame stuff ive drilled out to 1/2".

 

What frame stuff have you drilled Dave?

I thought about doing that on the motor mounts bolts and where they go through the boxed section of frame - but the 7/16" bolts are rated at a high enough strength to hold up.

The only bolts I've messed with so far are on the tranny mount and motor mounts - but they're all 7/16.

 

like all my spring hangers and such. Even my shackle mounts use them. see i have to box the front frame rails on my truck cause they are open. then ill have to fab up the mounts. I cant bolt them on like you did to the factory holes.

 

That's what I thought Dave - but figured I'd ask. I will most likely go up to 1/2" on all the spring hangers, etc. when I get to that point on the truck, but it will be a bit. I do plan (hope) to powdercoat the frame - so all rivets will come out of the frame at that point and will be replaced by grade 8 bolts.


Not many updates and no pics for now. I have getting the parts to fix the KDP since I have the motor torn down this far anyways. Besides that I have been looking at throttle linkage and also re-doing the water lines since I went to a manual tranny and will no longer be running the heat exchanger on the side of the motor.

I am having a little trouble with the throttle linkage and figuring it out. My motor didn't come with the throttle cable, so I'm not sure how that hooks up.

 

I had a meeting that ran late on Wednesday night - so no work. Last night was spent wrestling with this stupid fender mount piece and trying to get it off. I had to get something to powdercoat for a buddy and he gets a deal, so I figured I'd throw a couple of pieces of mine in there too to rake in on his low cost.

I tried to get these dang things off, but one of the captive nuts was spinning so I had to cut the *******. I now have to get the remainder of the bolt out tonight and then tack weld the thing.

I did get these parts off and my tranny mount out and to powder. Dropped um off at 8:30 and picked um up at 2:30

Part to come off for powder. You can see someone before my tried drilling a hole and inserting something to keep the nut from spinning. It apparently didn't work. I tried it with a screw driver and no luck


so that **stard met the cutting disk



Parts back from powder - the long piece is the thing I made for a buddy...

 

I had the exact same thing happen when I partially restored my highboy ... it sucks.

 

Whats the downpipe out of?.....Hey... Quit typing replies and get back to work.

 

Long answer...
The downpipe was something I grabbed before I even got the P-pump motor. It was a 4" pipe that was out of some kit that a guy didn't use. It is for the P-pump motors and the guy had it listed for $55 shipped and it was new. Most of the 4" downpipes I saw listed were used and $100 or so + shipping, so I just grabbed it and was going to modify it to fit my VE motor. It kinda worked out well that I got the P-pump motor and needed a downpipe. This one fits pretty dange well in the Ford


Short answer...
Not positive. I got it from a guy on Dodge Cummins Diesel Forum I'm pretty sure it's part of an aftermarket exhaust for a 94-98 truck.

 

And here we are again at another "weekend update" Once again I am sad to say - not a ton got done. The dang Santa Ana winds were really up again so it made it hard to work. I got a little bit of random whatnot done though - so at least I feel I made a little progress.

1st thing I messed with this weekend was some rust. I had never painted the rust I found in the rear, pass. door with zero-rust (great stuff!), so I went at it this weekend. That lead to some digging in the bubbles above the drip rail, which lead to some unhappiness... Time for bodywork






I also did the "Killer Dowel Pin" fix this weekend, so here's some pics of that

Front cover off


My way of keeping the bolts in order so they go back in the right spot. I just mimic the outline of what the bold come out of...


The KDP - slightly back out


Tab I made to hold the KDP and the slightly longer bolt


Front cover back on and all shiny!



Here is how I re-rounted the water lines for the motor. Since I went from auto (which has a built in heat exchanger to cool the tranny) to manual I had to eliminate the water lines going to the exchanger. A few cuts on the stock piping, then hit um with the bead roller, re-arrange some of the stock rubber hoses, add 1 edel clamp and wallaa - looks like it came that way

 

AAARRRGGHHH cancer. Not an easy fix. I had to cut out and weld a new front roof corner in mine, not much fun chasing a soft spot around your roof all weekend long. I used to live in San Diego, and always enjoyed those warm winds in the fall, takes me back.

 

Yeah - the rust pisses me off because the PO just bondoed over it. It then spread UNDER the stupid bondo as water was trapped. Once I get the motor wrapped I will be welding in patch panels.

As for the winds - they are nice at times - especially for surfing. They just suck when you are trying to work or weld outside and they are blowing at 20+ mph all day.