Rebuild progress all in one thread

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 5:29 pm

some more progress on the floor reconstruction:

The base plate at the front of the seat... Not bad for just a bench vise and a hammer, eh?

Mating it up to the doghouse cover... Notice I got the other side of the doghouse welded in, and the top of the doghouse welded (relatively) smooth. It'll need a thin skin of body filler or better yet, lead, to fill it in and make it perfectly smooth.

The T case in its final place, it fits GREAT! I need to build a mount for it...

This is what I have in mind. It'll bolt to the inside of the frame channels on each side...

the seat plate all bent up, and the flange folded up to spot weld to the seat base. Again, all hand formed...

Test fitting in the truck:

Floorpan all tacked together. I know, my welding leaves somthing to be desired... thank god they make sanding flapper wheels!

I'll cut all the original metal out of the underside once I get it welded up to prevent dirt from filling it and rusting it out...

Test fit in the truck:

Still need to patch that small hole... no big deal:

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:25 pm

More work done tonight... Took a break from the tedious sheetmetal work and did some structural work on the trans mount:

Started off with the floorpan though... welded the back side, and cut out the excess metal. Now its all seam welded and no dirt or salt can get into the seams.

3"X1/4" plate to make the trans mount brackets:

Assembling them:

The brackets happen to run into the reinforcing plates where the frame curves up at the front. 3 of the 4 holes sit on that bracket... one does not...

Starting to assemble the cross mount:

Fitting it to the frame:

Whew! It's CLOSE!

Cross piece tacked on... Have to finish the other side. I also have to break the tacks free and put compression sleeves inside for the bolts to squeeze on the tube:

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 2:56 pm

Had today off since its good friday, so I got some more work done on the Trans mount. Got it in and it stiffened the frame up ALOT. I actually think I'll make another similar to it to go behind the T case, and infront of the lage factory crossmember to stiffen it more yet. I could grab the cab mount before and yank on it and get some torsional flex in the frame C channel, but, not any more...

Bottom of the mount:

Lined up nice:

drivers side mount:

Bolted in:

Clears everything nicely:

before putting the cab back on:

Cab back on... angle finder on the intake says its on 0* plane

Still fits:

I realize the left side mount isnt sitting down. The engine shifted left to right, and I've got about 5* of slope to the passengers side that will get fixed when I bolt the engine mount in permanently

Almost completely in the frame:

monkeymissile · Post by **monkeymissile** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 5:35 am

Josh,
I've been following this thread and am very impressed with your fabrication skills as well as your documenting efforts. Evidently you don't need very much sleep! Anyway, this project is definitely a source of inspiration for me for when I finally get a shop space to work on my truck. Thanks and looking forward to the next post.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 6:31 pm

Monkey,

Thanks for the kind words, its nice to hear!

More work done... most of what I did isnt immediately noticeable. I pulled the engine and cab off, and then started removing all the old fuel and brake lines and associated brackets. I then reinforced the spring relocation bracket on the right front spring, as I noticed when I tore the truck down that the bracket it is bolted to had actually bent slightly, so, I welded in a brace at a 90* angle, and poured a few more beads in for added strength. the original welds were marginal, at best, and, it showed with the bracket being tweaked slightly. It won't move now though!

oh, ignore the haze... its from welding... the camera flash makes it look alot worse then it is...

Cut the battery box out of the old cab before putting it on the curb with a "free"sign on it... The original cab was full of rust except for under the batter box. Ironically, my new cab is rust free, except at the battery box, so, I'll cut the floor out of my new cab, and weld in the battery box from my old one:

Engine out:

added the cornerpiece...

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:09 pm

new update:

Havent done alot lately, but, starter working last night on the stainless steel headers. Bough 4 feet of 2"X1/2" bar stock, cut ti down to two equal lengths, and started cutting ports... Now, keep in mind, that, these are hand made in 1/2" thick 304 stainless. They are definately not perfect, but, for hand made, they aren't bad. I couldnt get them made for less that $150 each in 1/2" SS, so, I did it myself...

I've wrecked SEVERAL drill bits... thankfully I have literally a pile of them, as when I worked at facilities at school, they were throwing out a whole bunch of them, so, I went dumpster diving. They are very old (WW2 era) bits, so, they only last for a few holes before snapping off, but, its better then nothing...

In Process:

Lifer · Post by **Lifer** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:05 am

Nice work on the stainless headers, so far.

Bet ya wished ya had a plasma cutter when cutting the ports out, though.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:42 pm

you have no idea how much wishing for a plasma cutter there was!

If I wasnt so cheap, I'd just go get them milled... as it is though, tehy only cost me $17.50 each...

monkeymissile · Post by **monkeymissile** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 4:07 pm

all hail the smoke wrench!

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:15 pm

so, debating between EFI and carb.... advantages to both, but, I am not sure which way to go...

Carb:

Pros:
Cheap(er)
easier to set up (initially)
less work overall

Cons:
Primative!
No spark control, no real fuel control
angle of operation limited
fuel mileage

EFI:

Pros:
Timing, fuel control almost infinite
much beter fuel mileage
better angle of operation
"set it and forget it"

cons:

Cost
initial setup

What I'd most likely do for EFI is Megasquirt 2, with EFI, and the ford EDIS distributorless ignition... run a crank trigger wheel, dual coil packs, and a set of delphi 65 lb/hr injectors... A lot of additional cost up front, but, I think the drivability and feul economy might pay for itself...

any thoughts?

Lifer · Post by **Lifer** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 3:30 am

What type of EFI would you have in mind? Direct injection (similar to diesel) or TBI (throttle body injection)? TBI is more common than carburetors these days, so adapting one to an M37 probably wouldn't be that difficult. If you could find out what existing stock setup would work best and then salvage one from a wrecked car/truck/van, it would significantly reduce the cash outlay, too.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:07 am

Lifer,

I'd probably do port injection... Throttle body is only marginally better than a carb, and direct injection is fantastic (I have it on my Mazdaspeed 6), but, requires high pressure lines, injectors, and heavy machine work to the heads. That would be a long term project... not saying it couldnt be done though...

I got my fuel pump (it happens to flow enough fuel for EFI), and aluminum intake for free, so, between those two parts alone, I'm $500 up on EFI, which is making it a much more attactive option. I'd love to be able to control spark mapping as well, which Megasquirt can do. It also eliminates the distributor all together, and the ignition boxes.

I'd retrofit a system off of a newer dodge truck if I wasn't going to turbo it. Problem with boosting it is the speed density system dodge uses gets twitchy under boost, and its difficult to reflash. The MEgasquirt is a complete DIY system, so, it takes some work up front, but, as a result, cost/ feature is much, much lower. If you scrounge around for certain parts, you can do megasquirt with complete fuel and timing controll for under a grand.

refit1701 · Post by **refit1701** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:46 am

Impressive, Josh. If I can muster 1/50th your skills when I start welding on mine (back to stock though) I will feel good.

That will be an impressive truck when you are finished.

W_A_Watson_II · Post by **W_A_Watson_II** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:45 pm

Don't do the Holley Pro-Jection! It's a hit or miss it either works or doesn't. I'm still working out the kinks in mine.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 4:41 pm

no new update, other than to say I'm still working on those damn stainless flanges, and, my credit card bill went from $450 to paid off to $450 at light speed, lol... I got paid, paid it off, and then bought the turbo flanges, the oil line fittings, and the weld fittings, all in a matter of 20 mintes lol... but, I have all I need now to finish the headers and the turbo mounts. Now I just need the wastegates, and the second turbo, and the exhaust side/oiling will be all done. I need to decide if I'm going to do EFI or carb before I work on the intake side too much. I'm still leaning towards Megasquirt, with the EDIS ignition at this point.