Project Big Red

laserjock

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Well as promised, here is the start of my build thread. I thought I would start off with what the goals of the build are.

1. A reliable truck that could travel cross country in a moments notice.

2. A capable towing rig. Not looking to move mountains but a car hauler, small backhoe, RV should be no problem.

3. Needs to get reasonable fuel economy. I'm not looking for Prius numbers but reasonable. Probably only will get driven a couple thousand miles per year.

4. Reasonable power. My goal is around 500 ft lbs at the rear wheels. Not looking for a race horse.

5. I'd like to be about $12-13k all in for truck parts and any services I can't do myself.

6. Road worthy by fall, complete by next fall.

7. All the comforts of my 2001 truck.

8. Some custom touches. I have some things in mind but we will see.

So here is what I'm starting with:
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It's the truck in my sig. We are loosing the snow plow. That's enough to get started.
 
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laserjock

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The beginning.

Okay. I started tearing into the truck last night. The plow has got to go. Lots of grinding and -cuss later and the bracket came off.

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I started removing the wiring for the lights. This is where things start to get interesting. I know that there are electrical problems. Here is a sampling of what I have found so far.

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Okay. Few things going on here. Headlight harness has apparently been changed at some point. Probably melted down about the same time the pass side headlight bucket got melted down. No pic of that right now.

The genius that did the snow plow light the second time (yes second time) instead of using the existing wires and switch just pushed the old switch up into the dash and ran new wires poorly. The pic with the yellow wire was the power for it. That is a fuse and fusable link. Not real sure why you need both but oh well.

So the adventure begins. Off to find the solder and heat shrink.
 

laserjock

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Alright, got the headlight harness cleaned up today. Now I'm sitting here looking at the radiator thinking, replacement is in order. I've never seen the fins fall out of a radiator.

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I have a parts truck but I'm not sure of the condition of the radiator. You can see the core support is in bad shape. It's rusted in two near the mount on the passenger side. Next job is to decide which way I am going to proceed. Am I going front to back with the body work or just going to go whole hog and do it all at once.

All at once would include a dana 60 swap with a rear swap too to match the front and rear gears at 3.55.

:dunno
 

rattleonby

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Looks like you have a few things you have to take care of on that truck. The body looks pretty straight from the pics considering it plowed. I feel sorry for you for the birds nests in the dash for your wiring because of the lazy shmuck that ran it. As for the core support, axles and rad i'd do it all at once. I mean it is a project right? All in all looks like a nice rig to start with and hope you dont find too many more surprises with her. Like the 5 speed too!
 

laserjock

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Thanks guys. For this area, the body is actually pretty good. I'm all but positive the bed is not original to the truck but somebody got lucky and didn't have to paint one. The corrosion underneath it just isn't commiserate with the rest of the truck. It is definitely a project. I don't miss the old days of having to rush through something like this in a week because I needed to drive it to work the next Monday. I'm leaning towards prepping for the diff swaps and core support. I'm short on garage space right now so having a non-rolling vehicle is a problem. How hard would it be to bolt the ttb in place of the d60 on the donor? I can throw my rear diff under it to make it a roller after that swap easy enough but I'm not sure about the reverse. Thoughts?
 

junk

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The radiator from my 89 has fins that look like that. I'm putting in an aluminum radiator when I change. Probably from ebay, but I've heard so many good things about a Rodney red. I'm guessing the pocket book with make the final decision.

If the dana 50 is scrap after the swap weld the halves together so that it's a "solid axle" and bolt it in. Good enough for rolling around until it hits the scrap. I would probably unbolt the pivots and use some strap or angle.

Looks like a fun project.
 

laserjock

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That's a good idea. Hadn't thought of that. With the going rates of d50 ttb's its probably worth welding a piece of angle across it to hold it together until its scraped. Funny, you never see them going for a whole lot of money. :dunno

Before she gets scrapped I'll pull the hubs off but the rest is probably junk.

It's sad but yes the pocket book ususally has the final say in most matters.

I think I have read on here that the stock radiators don't like to be rodded and dipped. Can anyone confirm that? I need to look at the parts truck and see what condition the radiator is in. If it looks good, I may run it for the short term anyway until the engine work gets done. Probably will do the engine work last as that is not a requisite for getting on the road. Who knows. Might get a wild hair and tear it down the the bare frame. cookoo
 

laserjock

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If you believe Banks' web site, a sidewinder with nothing else will get you there. I'm pretty skeptical of that. Plans right now are more than likely a typ4 cam, a moose Jr pump and a banks turbo with intercooler and head studs. I'll probably go ahead and gasket match the intake and exahust while I am in there.


It may be a little optimistic, but I think with I can get pretty close. Hmmm... that question sounds suspiciously like you think I'm cookoo.. which is quite possible... it's been a while since I did that research. Am I way out of left field? I seem to remember high 400's out of trucks that were basically what I described. Realistically, I'd like to be at a stock power stroke level for the early OBS trucks.

Here is the banks link:

http://bankspower.com/products/show/155/39
 

laserjock

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Not much truck work to report but lots of prep work. Massive garage cleaning to support dismantling the parts truck. 2000lb engine stand is on its way along with a transmission jack. Lining up the necessary supplies then ill get to cleaning and painting. Targeting 3 weeks to start the tear down. Work stuff right now so schedules are subject to change without notice. :rolleyes:
 

laserjock

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Got the engine stand 2000lb (HF) and transmission jack this week. It's also a HF and good for 450 lbs. I would think that would handle a c6 or a zf just fine. I actually mounted it to a motorcycle lift I had in the garage to give me the height I need. I he'd one of these a few years back to do a trans job on a 4l60e and it worked great it just wasn't tall enough so we had it cribbed up on cinder blocks. I think this will work out great. Sits in there nice and snug between the risers and 1/2" grade 8 cap screws for good measure. As a bonus, it will raise all the way to table height. ;Sweet
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Engine hoist comes next weekend and the fun will begin in earnest with tearing down the parts truck.
 

laserjock

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Alrighty. Small update. I got my D60/ 10.25/ core support donor in the garage. Trans is out. Front sheet metal is coming off. Pulled the radiator, core support, AC condenser, etc. much to my displeasure, the core support was much more bent than I thought it was.

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That's going to require some more head scratching. Not sure what to do about this. Fix it, or make one from a gasser or find another one. In the mean time, engine is coming out (complete running 7.3l). Then out come the diffs.

Definitely going to need a radiator this one is leaking a bit. Made that decision real easy.
 
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icanfixall

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Nice to see your moving along with the project. Just do one step at a time. Thats about all a guy can do. Plan ahead as much as you can. Sad to see the core support look so bad but it can be fixed.
 

Greg5OH

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why not just make your own core support out of some 18 gauge C channel? ive also recently been wondering, since the bricknose is so ugly and the lights suck, do a trail rig style front end on it, and run two round Jeep style lights instead!
 
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