The Night Moose LIVES!!!!!

[MasterM00SE]

A long journey, rooting its beginning in an exciting 32 hr. round trip to Rhode Island has finally come to a slow. Today, New Years Day 2009, the Night Moose runs officially as 6.9 L Diesel, minus the inspection sticker, a license plate, the governments permition, etc. NEVERTHELESS, it has driving under its own power since Thanksgiving, but Now resembles a truck, as opposed to a cobbled together "Frankinstein." With a lot of finishing done, modification of the front clip to accomidate the larger radiator, the extended finishing will continue, including modifying the cab floor to allow a greater range of motion of the manual transmission, reinforcing the transmission bracket, etc. As for me, its nice not to have to refill the radiator with water everytime I want to go for a ride (in referance to the overheating problem with the gas engine) The new feel of the stick is taking a little getting used to, all that torque is awsome, no finicky clutch/gas equilibrium, just a slow release of the clutch. Cool!!!!!! Here are the pics, taken with the new camera I got for Christmas, of the Front Clip Mod. and surrounding events (a weld job of a rust hole, and plenty of painting).

http://community.webshots.com/album/569465648ePTeXz

titled:Night Moose Front Clip Reconstruction
Happy New Year Everyone!!! Happy Birthday Night Moose!!!

 

[CDX825]

Looks good! Happy New Year! I bet you can't wait to get it inspected and get plates for it!

 

[RedTruck]

Looks good!

Thanks for keeping us updated,

Paul

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Way to go!

 

[Michael Fowler]

The pictures alone represent a lot of effort, not even counting the actual work.
Good work.
Now maybe you can help your Dad, and learn fiberglass repair....

 

[Agnem]

Here are some notes on the conversion for those who wish to follow. Based on my experience converting an 87' Bronco with parts from an 84' F-350 diesel, I felt very confident that we could convert this 94' F-150 as well. Of course, it would have been nice if our donor was a diesel of that body style as well, but such was not the case. We used an 85' F-250 (JohnMal's old truck). The conversion went exactly the same as it did for the Bronco with minor exception. I was please to find that the front cross member and motor mount plates were not changed throughout the family lifespan. Also, the I-6 which was installed by the factory did not use the pesky riveted on motor mounts that the 302 V8 did in the Bronco. The transmission cross member will need 4 holes drilled in the upper frame rail. The bottom hole lines up. I suspect that may be just a matter of not having the correct cross member, but at this point, it will be just as easy to drill the holes. The driveshaft needed to be changed. You can substitute the front driveshaft section (the one that has the carrier bearing on it) from a Crew Cab with an 8' bed. Night Moose now has a Lady Moose drive shaft. The rear U-joint will have to be custom. A Dana 3550 is used in the front (a stock part), while a 3530 is used at the rear axle, as their are 2 different cup sizes at that junction. Night Moose sports the original Moose Truck Y pipe, and a Flowmaster 1 in, 2 out stainless muffler (nee Moose Truck, ex Lady Moose). We have not completed the exhaust system beyond that yet, but it sounds real good. The diesel core support for this body style was not available to us, so we opted to cut out the bottom barrel from the 85 and weld it into the support that was stock for this truck. This was the part of the project that I dreaded the most, but thanks to my new MIG welder that mom got me for Christmas, it was a cinch. Night Moose also sports radiator mounting brackets using steel provided by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. We were able to use the factory lower radiator support pads to hold the bottom of our brackets. If it were not for the interference caused by the AC condenser, the radiator would come right out with only 2 bolts removed. The truck sports a 2" body lift. This done more for looks and added convienence than out of necessity. As Matthias mentioned, the body lift causes problems with the Exiekiel ZF 5 stick. It shifts OK with the boot dismounted, but if the boot is fastened down, there isn't enough space for the rubber to bunch up. We are not yet sure how we are going to choose to fix that. We are currently in need of mounting bracketry for the AC compressor. If anybody can help out in that regard, we'd love to hear from you. No rush until spring of course. . We hope to utilize the services of the Cold Miser about then. Electrically, we plumbed the Holley Red fuel pump into the existing power feed for the former gasser rear tank. We ditched the factory tank for one from our donor. This was the fastest way to solve the high presure fuel problem. We talked about regulators, but in the end the KISS principle was prefered. Plans for the front tank, involve utilizing an in flight fuel tank transfer technique pioneered on the Moose Truck with the Moose Tail. Currently, that will not be completed until warmer weather. The factory EFI computer was stripped out, and all our electrical connections are taking place on the computer connector. Still needed - instrument cluster swap (diesel cluster on hand) and gauge hookup. Second battery needs to be installed once we find a drivers side battery tray. Then we can get the coolant recover tank and windsheild wizzer in place. Next up, a complete review of all facets, a full inspection of the running gear and lighting in preperation for state inspection, and the dreaded Form 426B submission. I want to thank all of you who donated or sold minor parts (there were many of you) including bits and pieces, springs, clutch stuff, brackets etc. Some of the stuff we lost is starting to turn up here and there. We wouldn't have found the hood latch without the help of a leaf blower. Look for a new episode of Moose TV soon.

 

[subway]

very cool to see a long project come together. look forward to some action shots

 

[argve]

AWESOME!!!! I look forward to getting an eye ball on it in July!

 

[F350farmboy]

The ultimate father-son-activity.......awesome project!

 

[Exekiel69]

Very good Mathias .

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

That looks awesome Matthias! That bald guy isnt Mel is it? I wouldnt have figured him for a bald guy. lol
Now its a turbo and moose pump before you graduate!

I know how much all that work was man, with all my classic cars I've restored and my own custom truck projects, welding and custom fab work is by far the most involved work. But its also the stuff you're most proud of when finished.

 

[towcat]

That bald guy isnt Mel is it? I wouldnt have figured him for a bald guy. lol

sean-
you certainly know how to make friends don't ya?

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

sean-
you certainly know how to make friends don't ya?

The guys should feel privledged Calvin. He's got clothes on.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Haha, yea, just giving him a hard time is all.

 

[MasterM00SE]

Hey u guys, leave my dad's baldness alone! Picking on him is my job. Trust me he gets it alot about alot; nevertheless, I am ever thankful and he knows that. you should be too, especially if you ever want his help (SEAN). I'm just messin', the project went great, and I'm pleased, even if there is still more to do-but that's the beauty of it, always more to do [long exhale]