wish i was young and had ths energy, good lick son.

 

LOL.. Dont feel bad, I am not that young, and I am reminded daily! I normally wouldnt have taken on such a huge project like this, but things are better prepared this go around! I am able to take my time with this project, so I dont have to race along and try to get things done! It also helps to have a couple younger hands around too.. LOL!

 

What a neat project!! it always helps when you start with a near complete donor vehicle!! I'm subscribing to see this project to its finish and seeing the truck on the road!
Great job!! and thanks for sharing!!

 

Supercab: Thanks! It does help out a lot, and then a person finds more things they need as they go! Sheesh! LOL!

As for the truck now.. Its getting there! I am in the process of trying to find a rear drive line for it. The hardest part is getting the specs on the rear drive line that I need. I tried mixing and matching what drivelines I have here, but no luck. Finding any in the salvage yard is a "no-go" as everything around here is parted already.

I got the filler neck issues for the rear tank taken care of, but the front one needs more tweaking. I had to remove the inner hose on the filler tube of the gas filler tubes while using the diesel filler necks. The filler tubes from the donor truck are not long enough as they were off of a SWB truck. There is a difference between the two! LOL! The front tank wants to pinch the filler tube, so I am trying to angle the hose and adjust as I go. Lots of raising the tank, checking, lowering the tank, adjusting, raising the tank.... and so on!

The 4-wheel drive works so far! Did some suspended tests once the transmission was installed, and all is good there! The D-60 dually hubs came in recently. Sadly they didnt come with the brake rotors, so I played around with various rotors I had laying around, and none fit.. What I did find however, was that the D-50 rotors will work with the D-60 hubs! Whew!

The only last task I am working on before the engine goes in.. Firewall moddification! With the 3" aftermarket DP, the clearance wont be there for it when the engine is dropped in. Now instead of beating the firewall in, I have opted to cut the firewall, and weld in sheet metal, with more spacing between the cab and the DP. I didnt want to have problems in the future of tight fitting parts or access.

I should have some more pics up in the near future.. I had a bit of a delay lately with getting anything done due to getting injured. One of my illustrious green mares went crazy, and after splitting my nugget open and dislocating my shoulder, I didnt have the use of my arm for a bit.

 

Back at doing some small things today.. having to wait until after dark with the heat doesnt help either..

I forgot one of the items on my check list I needed to do before I buttoned up the engine onto the chassis... DP spacing!!! I read here a while back that when the DP was replaced with a larger pipe, the clearance between the pipe and cab was an issue. After tear down, I stripped the firewall and coated it. I marked the area I needed to cut and bend, so I could weld together the firewall again with more clearance. Hence why I forgot.. I walked by it today and noticed my mark ups for it, LOL!

I hope to get that done soon, and provide some pics. I know I have seen some others in the past use a hammer and bang in the firewall to accomodate a larger DP, and I didnt want to have a bunch of crumple marks and instead opted for a clean finish..

 

Has to be said again, outstanding thread. Thank you for all the detailed updates. Interesting read and much appreciated.

 

Not a prob Lazy K!

Was back out there again tonight. I have to wait until late at night now days, as its been hitting 113 degrees lately, and in a shop where there is no AC, it gets kinda rough, LOL!

Anyways, had a snaffu with the 4x4 aspect tonight. I originally went out to work on the firewall some more, but got sidetracked with the 4-wheel drive part. I am burning a double ended candle now, LOL! The hubs from the D-60 have an inner wheel bearing discrepancy with fitment (D-50 inner wheel bearing is too small for a D-60), but have plans of action to take care of that.. Once I get some sleep, I will get the pics up!

 

looking great.
I hope you get it running.

 

Thank ya much..

Its still in progress, and I know I havent posted many updates as of recently. Been kind of busy with other things, and at a stand still with the project due to heat here (some days 113, inside the shop its hotter).

I have still been tinkering away with the firewall moddification for the 3" down pipe. Also fussing with the races on the hubs for the 4-wheel drive add on. I did however start on taking the panel off the floor board for the 4-wheel drive selector. Once I got so far along, I had to go hunt down the shifter selector in the bins of goodies I had. I plan to have some more real progress to post about, this week!

 

hey great work man i have just started research on a similar project and really think a lot of what you have and are going through will help me a lot. i my self don't know a lot about fords (fast learner) lol. always been more of a import guy got a rx7 project to finish before i can start on the expo. but as with any car truck what ever more power is always better lol. i got this crazy idea in my head that everyone tells me wont work but i want to drop a 6.0 or 7.3 powerstroke in my 98 expedition. i have plans to think it all through before i jump in and i think i will find me a whole donor truck seeing as there seem to always be odds and ends you dont think of right off the bat. i think my biggest problem with the expedition is going to be the weight of the transplant. i have plans to go and measure out a f250 on Saturday to really see how different they really are..... but i will stop hijacking your post now and just say once again great work and i am also looking forward to seeing it on the road. and what all i have to look forward to in my own projects in the future. i will share what i find when i find it lol. and if i can help i will.

 

I wouldnt see why not, seriousely! I think that swapping out and dropping a powerstroke into an Expedition can be done. I wouldnt be surprised to find out that there are many platform similiarities between the two, and if not then fabrication shouldnt be a big challenge. The donor truck idea is the best, as you have stated as well.. too many odds and ends a person wouldnt consider until tear down. I was surprised to find myself chopping the gas cable off mine as the diesels use an electronic accellerator that runs off of sensors.. What do ya know! LOL! My biggest piece of advice to anyone taking on something different or fairly good sized.. Be creative! If it dont fit, find a way to make it happen!

My project had a small hold up lately, but is getting back on track. The danged fuel neck hoses were a complete pain in the butt! I had to take the inner sleeves out, and seal up the hoses to the tanks. With some minor cutting of the fuel tubes I had around, I was able to make them fit. The front tank was a huge issue as the fuel tube wanted to pinch against the box when the tank was squeazed in. Lots of test fitting and dropping the fuel tank, and I got it finally!

The 4-wheel drive has been the other hang up. I did find out D-60 dually hubs can be used on a D-50. I was worried at first as I was having a lot of slop between the bearing and the hub.. Come to find out, the races were removed from the D-60 hubs. No biggy, just didnt expect that. I found races at the parts house for $10 a piece, needing four of them, and putting new seals on, its coming together and finished!

I didnt want to drop the engine in until I got all the 4-wheel drive issues out of the way. Now that it is buttoning up, the engine should be going in this week or next, then its time to reconnect everything! I have a few parts to get as I go along.. Radiator and heater hoses (opted for new ones to be sure no leaks later), some new cables, new batteries (getting the highest CCA I can find around), and so on. I did pick up a trickle charger to mount in the engine compartment. This way I can not only plug in the heater, but the trickle if needed.

Rear drive line is off at the fab shop. For $145 I am getting the F-250 Ext Cab rear driveline lengthened to fit under my CC. Here's something strange.. If I wanted to use my original driveline, I could have it cut and balanced to fit for $155, or I could have the shorter one lengthened and balanced for $145..? Uh... Ok! More material needed to add to, yet its cheaper?? I really didnt ask, I was afraid to find out why! LOL! I am going to have some rear yoke issues to deal with when it comes back. These rear yoke U-Joint bolts do not like to let go one bit!!!! I did keep the yoke off the donor truck... Just in case! I still have to swap out rear gears to the 4.10's I took from the donor as well.

Exhaust.. Big challenge! Of course the kitty and muffler will be deleted, but still.. I have a 3"DP already (made firewall fabbrication to accomodate), but the rest was up in the air. I thought about a short pipe coming out before the rear wheels, but I dont like the ground clearance issues of a 4" piped hanging under the frame. I finally decided to go with stacks. I am not really impressed with the prices I am finding for the Y-pipes and under bed components. The stacks themselves I found for a great deal, but the rest is too expensive, so I have to do some planning for that.

My last biggest challenge, swapping out dashes and wiring inside the cab. Once those things come together, i will be on the road (after some new tires, lol). The tires I am picking up I got for a decent price..

I will have to do some measuring to see if I need spacers for the rear wheels as these are a little meatier. They will fit withou moddiciation to the suspension, and have a load range "E", so i can still put the weight to it!

Getting there..

 

Hope the project is still plugging along well for ya, I don't get much done is 120 degree heat either but I am still anxious to see your end result!!!

keep up the good work!!

 

awesome build, i would someday like to do similar so i love it. thanks mate its inspiring.

 

No problem! And I appreciate the keep up from everyone on this! It's an extra motivator to get it done!

The project is still going, even in the heat.. just slower! The back of the shop reaches some unbeilevable heat temps due to no ventilation, so work sessions are much shorter, with cool downs more frequently.

More work on the firewall with cutting and folding has been going on. I want to make sure I have plenty of space for the 3" DP, as well as future ability to get in there easily to work on something. The floor pan has a plate that is held in with 4 screws for the 4-wheel drive handle. The screws came out easy, but the factory seal (or foamy goo) isnt letting go of that plate very easily.

The 4-wheel drive add on has also played a hold up on the engine going in. While everything else is on under the the truck ready to bolt the engine up, the dually hubs were a huge hold up. The races had been removed from the hubs, and fighting with the parts stores on getting new ones had been a challenge. After getting the right races, I finally got all of them pressed in, test fitted, and finally repacked and sealed! Once I get the custom cut and fitted sheet metal sized in and welded onto the firewall, the engine will get dropped in!

I keep saying I will get some pics up, LOL, so i guess I better hurry up with that too!

 

As I had said I would, here is the work I have done so far with the firewall moddification. I made several measurements prior to cutting and bending, I dont think I have much further to go with it. It did sink back by just over an inch, and is not noticable in the cab..

Of course it will be cleaned up a lot more prior to the engine install! I hope to have it looking like it came from the factory like this!

I also got the bearings packed and seals installed.. finally this chapter is closed!

This has been the sight I have been waiting for!

(No worries, new rims after its all done! LOL)