Finally got my driveline in and mocked up. Still working on clearance issues with the water-to-oil cooling unit on the side of the block (interferes with the steering box) and the steering column itself, as well as some possible spacing issues between the bottom of the cab and the top of the transmission & transfer case.

Just wanted to share, and figured folks here would get a kick out of the project.

New driveline: Ford/IH 'Navistar' 6.9L Diesel, Borg-Warner T-19 4-speed manual, B-W 1345 transfer case

Driveline in the frame.


Close up of the area around the steering box.

 

wow, that's alotta motor! Looks like it pushes back the tcase mount back behind the crossmember. Any above shots of that?

 

Yeah, it shifts the mount back a couple inches. I have to add in a new crossmember, but I also had to cut into the rearmost crossmember behind the cab to clear the driveshaft. The plan is to add another two members (including the t-case support) on the underside of the frame. I 'lucked out' that the engine crossmember the PO welded in for his 292 swap fits my 6.9 and puts it in *almost* the right place. The shifter is about an inch and a half behind where the stock one goes, but the front fan probably can't move that much forward without interference. At least everything looked like it would clear the firewall when I did the measurements.

Standing on the passenger tire looking down/back


Straight down from the passenger side running board. The new crossmember needs to go around where the piece of wood ends.

 

Wow. I had put a 400 and 2wd T19 on my F1 frame and the trans mount sat above the original crossmember. I guess it goes to show how bigger the 6.9 is over the flattie and 400 v8! Neat swap.

That said, I would expect the shifter to be fairly close, but back further from stock. My shifter ended up really close to stock, slightly forward, but the shifter stick needed to be bent back abit to clear the dash.

 

I second that what Havi said. Should be pretty cool once you get details worked out.

 

WOW! Thats all I can say!

 

I said another, but only because I know of only one other one that is going to an old Ford truck. My son has a '53 F-100 and he also has a running '86 F-250 with a 6.9. It probably has the same tranny and transfer case you have. We have been discussing the way to go about the project for some time. Current plans call for putting the '53 cab on the rolling '86 chassis with drive train in tact.

The 6.9 is tame by comparrison to the newer generations of Ford diesels but is never the less a low end torque monster. We just don't want to trust the old frame to handle it. Of course there are width considerations to deal with but we think using the wider front fenders of the '53 to '56 F-600 will cover it. He is also thinking of going to dual wheels in the rear so a special bed would have to be built anyway.

Hopefully you will keep us posted on this project. It will be interesting to see how you adapt the frame to handle the diesel and what you do to beef it up so it will handle the the torque. You will defilitely have to beef up the front suspension because that 6.9 is way heavier than the old flat head V-8.

Later Man...

 

Awesome to hear I'm not the only diesel loony here

I thought about sticking everything on the F250 frame, but figured sticking in the new driveline will be a little easier. That, and I like (in a wierd way) the original steering & brakes on the '49. I had originally bought and fixed up a '79 F700 that I was going to stick the '49 cab and stuff on, but I ended up not doing for that very reason (and the F700 was gas with an autotragic).

The 6.9 doesn't seem to load up the suspension much (the frame only lowered 1/2 an inch when I dropped in the whole driveline), so I don't think I'm going to have to worry about the suspension too much. I'll reconsider that decision if/when it runs.

 

Could always swap in F7/8 springs/suspension if it seems too risky? Atleast on the F7/8 they were 1/2" wider springs, bigger bushings, hangers, etc... and optional in other ways on F5's/F6's/COE's. So where there's a will, there's a way. Do you have the 2" wide springs now, or 2.25"?

 

Knowing how I am, I'd end up with a whole F8 project going that route. Which isn't to say that isn't something I'd rule out....

I'll measure the springs when I get home, and reply back. Either way, I'm not planning to operate the truck @ max GVWR (in fact, I'm trying to reduce GVWR, at least on paper). It's just a Sunday truck writ large...

 

Holy crap. Did you dig that engine out of your local carp pond or something? That has a lot of mud, corrosion, etc. on it.

 

Mostly mud and crap, not so much corrosion. Bought at auction from the city of Redding, CA... who used the donor truck in their local landfill. I will eventually powerwash that stuff off. Eventually.