Question Re: Buying A Diesel Vs A Gas Truck

[Rdnck84_03]

Funny you should mention that. One of my 99 trucks I bought wrecked with a bent frame for parts, well turns out it is fairly low milage a runs very well so it is used for a unregistered around the farm truck.

Last weekend I started it for the first time since around October. Realized shortly after starting it that some of the gauges weren't working, passenger window won't work, radio won't turn on, and the a/c would only blow out the defroster.

Pulled the dash bezel and found about 4 inches of all of the vacuum lines missing behind the HVAC control. Haven't figured out where the wires for everything else is chewed up yet, will worry about that when I find something that I need to work or I get some free time, whichever comes first.

We have had a lot of issues with mice and pack rats the last 2 years.

James

 

[ISPKI]

Worst rodent damage ive had were in my 77 280z. Old battery had been left in the car and allowed to freeze and crack, leaking all the acid out over several years sitting in a side yard. Acid rotted through the fender, firewall, down the pass side frame, under the floor by the time I got my hands on it.

I cut everything out and refabricated and welded it all back together. During that time, I found a nest inside the boxed frame housing (these had a sort of boxed frame with the body panels welded to flanges coming off of the frame rail). The nest was a good 4 feet long and completely filled the inside of the frame from nose to just under the passenger side floor. I ended up cutting the bottom of the frame off the entire thing to clean it out, filled a couple joint compound buckets.

Ended up welding a spine inside the frame to keep it's shape, then replaced a side wall one panel at a time, just tack welding it in at first. Eventually replaced much of the frame on the passenger side.

 

[ISPKI]

Here it was while I pulled it apart to start restoring it.

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Heres mid engine bay frame connection being rebuilt after blasting and coating the inside.

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Here it was after rebuilding most of that area.

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[XOLATEM]

I am going to have bad dreams about that nest....worst I have ever heard of...uuuhhhsshhuuuhhh...'tremble'...my nose is gonna sympathetic itch and I'm feeling a cough coming on that might pull something loose around my center of gravity...

'whew'...

I have been dying to ask...and this kind of ties in with the OP's questions in a collateral way...

Whatcha got in that 302..?

I used to run a 302 mustang at the track back in the 80's and I still have the heads '69 Windsor' but over time I broke everything else in that engine...

Tying in to what the OP was asking about on the longevity of gas vs.diesel...

The distant forerunner of the 302 was the original, short-lived 221 Ford engine...that was slated to be installed in the 'new' compact Fairlane platform. In order to test the new engine with thin-wall casting techniques Ford had a bunch of the cars equipped with the 221 run the Indy track in relays non-stop for hours on end until they had accumulated an ungodly amount of hours and miles on them to prove that the new technology was viable.

My point is...what wears out engines is mostly cold starts...not hours accumulated when the engine is up to operating temperature.

The 221 was grown into a 260...and then a 289...and then a 302...and finally a 5.0 with a roller cam and a lot less metal than thought possible. You can split a 5.0 block...right down the middle...with RPM...that is what does it...lots of RPM...more so than with horsepower and torque.

It sounds like you had to do a lot of overhead welding...with stuff dropping on you constantly...gotta hand it to you...it takes grit to tackle that kind of job and see it through. What did you use to keep from spontaneously combusting..?

Also...are you running a T-5 in that thing..?
What rear axle are you running..Gear ratio..?

 

[ISPKI]

Its a fairly mild engine, came out of a 2001 mountaineer with 270k on it. Was my cousins until it got side swiped and totalled but still was able to drive it into my shop to be stripped for parts. GT40P heads are on it with trick flows on the bench.

Mild crane cam, dont remember the exact specs on it but its nothing special, should be good to ~5000rpm, not that im planning on pushing the car that hard.

I got some big injectors from a buddy of mine, 800cc Siemens, think thats 80 something lbs/hr max flow. Custom built mass air flow assy. Cant remember where I got it, it was a few years ago when I picked it up. Think its a 90cm, whole intake is custom built and plumbed thru a segregated cavity that paths into the radiator cavity in the nose of the vehicle.

Exhaust is custom, 1 3/4 headers port matched, into a complete system out of a new mustang boss with dumps right after the collectors and everything. If you havent heard a new boss exhaust note...it is pretty gnarly. Not that mine will sound exactly the same (they have flat plane cranks I believe) but it should have that beautiful old muscle sound nonetheless.

Transmission is a W/C T-5, linked to an IRS 8.8, its either a 3.15 or 3.31, dont recall which. Vehicle weight should be coming in just a hair over 2000lbs if my numbers are right. Aiming for a little over 300whp,

The overhead work wouldnt have been so bad if the metal was a little cleaner but thats rarely the case without stripping the whole chassis down. Lots of kevlar and leathers kept it mostly in check but I did light my boot on fire at one point. Got some nice burns from that, oil had dripped inside my boot and some slag mustve lit it up.

 

[XOLATEM]

I am impressed and I think the vehicle will pleasantly surprise you when you get it sorted out. Good combo for top-end running and given the light weight...probably real quick off the line...

Did you know that the Lincoln Mark VIII had an aluminum gear housing for the IRS..? Saves a few lbs from the Cobra setup.

Just don't hammer the clutch in reverse on it...the load is forward going forward and the caps are just cast...not strengthened

Gotta lot to do today...gotta go...have a great day off, Y'all...