According to THIS, wheelbase is 125.9''.

 

i wouldnt have shortened it there because its in between the cab mounts.

i do plan on moving the front end forward a bit and i have been contemplating bobbing the bed 6 inches or so and making my own bulged fenders instead of running glass, BUT i dont want to move the rear end any. its happy where it is. lol i havent made up my mind yet

 

heres a few pics from the past week.

finally got the donor truck home. its a 78 f250 with a d60 rear and a d44 front. 3.54 gears and an open carrier. she was pretty grimey so i got her cut out, then i threw it under the frame to check a few things and pulled it back out and spent all day cleaning it up. on to the pics.

this is where they dumped the truck..







fish plates are done



axle thrown under the truck





gonna have to trim the tabs back some on both sides. for diff clearance on the drivers side and link clearance on the passenger side. also going to have to make new motor mounts (just the angled plates that bolt to the block) to raise the drivetrain a couple inches for link clearance on the passenger side.















flat tops on both sides



cleaned up. i guess there was some metal under all that dirt

 

im going to run the stock cover for a while cause its a thick one. maybe ill get it painted this week and some links ordered within a couple. i have too find some tires soon too.

 

I was going to say you need to blast those axles but they look good after clean up.

 

yeah, i got a little excited after i cut the axle out and wanted to get a quick idea of how everything is going to sit and see what i might have to do for clearance. the frame, axles, links, bottom of the cab and bed. just about everything is going to be cleaned up and painted satin black. and the sheetmetal will be painted the same as the new electric blue f150s. nice and clean looking.

next step is to get the frame finish welded and the fish plates burned on. then get the frame cleaned up and primed so i can sling the rear end under. and i really need to get some military take offs so i can set it up right. then i have to make some new motor mounts and fab up a new trans crossmember so that the motor/trans/tcase can go back between the framerails... THEN i can start working on getting the front end under the truck.

progress would be a lot better if i actually made a little money but my job sucks. its definitely hard to raise a family at 20 with pretty much 1/4 of a normal persons pay check but oh well. maybe ill have something new soon.

 

PM me

 

pm sent!

well, i didnt get any pics but tonight i got some paint on the front end to keep the rust at bay. then i got the rivets out and the rear frame section off as well as the stupid spare tire holder. all of the spring hangers and both shock mounts are gone as well. i made some sleeves to slide and weld into the flat, rear most section of the frame (where the spare goes, roughly 20.5 inches long) because mine is a little soft. my uncle SHOULD be coming sunday to finish weld the frame then i can have it blasted, throw some paint at it, and then maybe fully box it in... then on to the 14 bolt!

 

spent the day burning some rods and throwing sparks. and result is a messy shop...



and a welded up frame!!!







rear frame rails off and made some sleeves at work.





rear end out and front end with some paint on it



and my little helper. hes 4 months old now, weighs 17lbs, and is 27 inches long. doc said he is the size of most 6 month olds. gonna be a big boy!

 

Looks good!

 

not much to update this week. i didnt have much time to work on it but today i got my motor mounts and front cab mounts trimmed back for some needed clearance and some welds cleaned up a bit. gonna trim the rear cab mounts a bit tomorrow to match the fronts cause theyre driving me crazy then i just have to fill a couple torch holes and ill have most of the frame work done. after that i can get it blasted and paint it then i can start the SLOOOOOWWWW climb back to being a truck instead of a frame on jackstands.

does any one know if its legal for civilians to run 8 or 12 bolt military hummer rims on the street? which would you run?

 

a little bummed cause i still havent made much progress. funds are a bit tight at the moment with insurance coming up, and needing tires for the vee dub, and needing to buy a bigger car seat soon. im hoping to get the frame blasted, painted, and get the rear end all squared away by winter but who knows. all ive really got done it removal of the drums on the 14 bolt and cleaning it up a bit.

im also on the fence about which coilovers i want. at first i wanted some 14 inch ballistic coilovers but i changed my mind and decided to just go with a pair of 18's with a triple rate setup. ballistic is still a contender but im entertaining the idea of a pair of bilsteins because of the acv in the resi's which prevent cavitation and reduce body roll. Or a pair of kings because ive always wanted them and i saw on their site some options and was very intrigued. the biggest thing being an external compression adjustment, different length rod ends, different hose options, and 3 different sliders to choose from. which would you guys go with?

 

well, i picked up some mock up/ trail tires last night. paid 100 bucks for 4 - 37x13x16.5 boggers on 16.5x10 steelies. i was going to take some pics today but the camera was dead. ill get some this week sometime. they are a bit bald so the previous owner started grooving them and gave up so i started fixing his mess today at work. cutting out all the small lugs and small sidebiters.

 

got a couple pics for you guys. no real progress but oh well. got the drums off the 14bolt.





decided to just keep the drw hubs because i dont feel like welding the caliper brackets. ill just run a 2 inch wheel spacer to make up the difference.



and pics of the tires as promised. well one of them anyway.





the previous owner started to groove them



and i cleaned up a small section. i dont know if i want to make them look like the squared off ones on the left or the rounded on the right. leaning towards the squared off ones.



kind of hard to tell but the still have about 1/2 inch of tread in the middle (after grooving)