Saturday morning I got up early to make sure I finished up all the tacking I had left to do. All I had to do was tack the smaller pieces under the notch plates. Then I took the frame over to the shop for the final welding. To begin with the welder thought he was going to be working on the frame the size of a s10 chassis, so when he saw me pull up with this giant thing he was very surprised. It took a very long 2 hours for him to weld it all. It wasn't a straight 2 hours either, we were taking breaks to prevent warping and to also let the machine cool off. He even let me help with prepping the different areas prier to him welding to keep my costs down. He said that those have definitely been the largest notches that he's ever done. After it was all done he took numerous pictures of them to show the size comparison.
I found this gem on my letgo app the other day. It was listed as a 1990 F350 for $800. After I start looking at the truck I realize it is not the F350 as advertised. Instead I got lucky and it is a Ford Super Duty. 7.3L IDI, automatic transmission, 2WD, 1ton Dually axle. We switch out some dead batteries with some boat batteries. The truck started on its 3rd try. Let's just say that I bought it. I am going to use all of the drivetrain for my project truck. Then the rest is going to be either scrapped or parted out.
I'm definitely hoping it goes as well as I am thinking it will. The frame that I already started on is in a lot better shape than this 1990 one. Believe it or not the Vermont frame is a lot less rusty than the 1990 from New York. That and the 1990 frame is cracked in a couple spots in the rear.
Before tear down of the 1990 I am making sure I fix all the little gremlins first. Power steering wasn't working so great when I bought it. It was acting more like manual steering. So I added some power steering fluid and luckily that seemed to have fixed it. Now I just want to run some diesel injector cleaner through then engine for a while to see if the smoking dies down some.
Last night I sprayed down all the bolts and nuts that hold in the rear differential and drive shaft. After my son went to bed I went back out for a little bit. I broke my T45 socket on the driveshaft bolts, so I moved on to the rear shocks and sway bar links. By then I got frustrated with the mosquitoes and went inside for the night.
Today I am borrowing a T45 socket from one of the technicians that I work with. I also ordered a new air filter, fuel filter, and oil filter from my fellow parts personal over at Sanders Ford. I am hoping to at least have the driveshaft completely taken out tonight as long as the bugs stay away.
I am still in the process of taking apart the 1990. I've been volun-told to go to the beach almost every weekend since I have gotten the truck to my house. With beach season coming to an end, hopefully I can make more progress soon. I have all of the wiring, gauge cluster and switches undone from the interior. I was under the truck the other night getting ready for separating the transmission from the engine and found that the front of the cab is sitting directly on the frame. I found a spot where it is pinching the parking brake cable and some wiring. Looks like I am either going to have to find a solid area and jack the cab off the frame and put a 2x4 under it or cut holes in the floorboard to get to some of the 19mm bolts for the transmission. Other than that, all I need to do is find some time.
I successfully lifted the cab from the frame. All four cab corners are all rotted out. Put some 2x4's in between the frame and the cab to give me the space that should be there. I was able to get the 4 torque converter nuts off in the first try. Only one made me work for it. I have ordered and received 4 new torque converter nuts. My plan is to drain it either this evening or tomorrow evening. Then Saturday morning I plan to remove the transmission from the truck as long as it doesn't downpour on me. Is there anything that I should be watching out for when removing this transmission???
On scrap trucks I usually lifted the trans out. If the front clip is off it shouldn't be to much trouble to just roll the cab backwards on to its back and use an engine hoist to lift out the trans. Of course I'm getting to old to crawl around under trucks if I don't have to.
I'm going to give it a go at taking the engine and transmission out the normal way tonight. If that doesn't work I'm going to do it the way you suggested Bill. I'm hoping that I don't have to though since the cab is in pretty nice shape and I don't want to cause any further damage to it that what it already has. I'm trying to part it out to local people.
Taking the engine and transmission out through the top was a success. My wife and I only got caught up a couple of times on the engine cross member. I am really good about putting bolts back into holes after I remove a part so I don't miss place them. This time that is what actually got caught. One of the bolts that hold the starter into the bell housing is what was stopping me from making forward progress. Once I freed that from the cross member it came out pretty easy. Then my wife made me laugh by trying to push the engine hoist holding the monster of an engine and transmission combo up hill on our sloped drive way. I'll give it to her at least she tried.
My goal for this weekend is to get the engine and transmission separated. I'll put the transmission on a couple of wheel dollies that way I can move it in and out of my garage easier. Then lift the engine up and attach it to my engine stand. After that I may clean both depending if I have enough free time.
I haven't given up, just got tied up with life. I have everything removed from the donor truck. That includes the front suspension & steering, the engine, transmission, driveshaft, and rear axle assy. I finally have a empty driveway again for the time being. The wife wants me to pressure wash the driveway and let it be nice for a month or so before I bring the other frame back out front. Before I go too much further I have to finish up cutting off the old unwanted brackets from the frame. I have already ordered a 44" parallel 4 link kit for the rear suspension.
The 4 link rear suspension parts finally came in on March 14th. The links are 44" center to center. I'm debating on whether to paint them when the frame gets painted or get them powder coated after I get the brackets all welded.
Tonight I am hoping to be able to raise the frame up enough to sit it down on the rear axle and front axle. This way I can easily move it to and from my back yard with out much assistance at all. Once I get that done I plan on moving to into the driveway again to get all my measurements right for installing the rear suspension. I really hope all this gets done tonight but I am not going to hold my breath.
I also realized that I forgot to order the pan hard bar.
My wife and son just got back from a trip to Vermont. I finally have the paperwork for the truck getting handled. Hopefully I get that back soon. I had all the paperwork ready to go and then we were hit with having my son and a hurricane within a couple months of each other and the paper work got lost until recently. I just hope they don't have any issues. So far just from talking to the dmv in Vermont they seem pretty easy to deal with.
To keep everybody up to date on the slow progress. I ordered and received the pan hard bar kit that I ordered from NFAMUS METAL. In even better news. I have received my antique license plate from Vermont. That was biggest worry in this whole project. And now that it is resolved I can fully focus on the building part. Hopefully I'll have more updates soon. But for now that is it.
I successfully lifted the cab from the frame. All four cab corners are all rotted out. Put some 2x4's in between the frame and the cab to give me the space that should be there. I was able to get the 4 torque converter nuts off in the first try. Only one made me work for it. I have ordered and received 4 new torque converter nuts. My plan is to drain it either this evening or tomorrow evening. Then Saturday morning I plan to remove the transmission from the truck as long as it doesn't downpour on me. Is there anything that I should be watching out for when removing this transmission???
Once I freed that from the cross member it came out pretty easy. Then my wife made me laugh by trying to push the engine hoist holding the monster of an engine and transmission combo up hill on our sloped drive way. I'll give it to her at least she tried. 