This album shows the truck being put together and a little fab work that was done while doing so. Follow along as the puzzle comes together.
Date(s): July 17, 2011. Album by Kevin Foust. Photos by Kevin Foust. 1 - 231 of 231 Total. 8586 Visits.
1 A truck sure takes up a lot of space when all in pieces. It's time to start the final assembly as all of the black frame parts are done.
2 Framerails and crossmembers are ready to go.
3 Here's where it will all happen.
4 Got some carpet pad to lay down to help save the paint AND my knees!
5 Loose bolted the front crossmember and worked my way back. I made up a notebook when I was disassembling for some of the order what went where. I'd HIGHLY suggest that and keep it all in one place. Saves a lot of headaches as time passes quickly and us "old" people tend to forget.
6 Rails with crossmembers loosely bolted till all brackets are in place.
7 Front bumper and gussets ready to put on.
8 Cab mounts and spring hangers in their positions.
9 Ready to start the pintle hook mount. I made a double crossmember with angled gussets.
10 All together and flat plat on bottom doubles as a license plate mount and hides the plate light.
11 Close up of crossmembers. Some of the nuts were welded on prior to painting as getting a wrench in there would be impossible. All stainless bolt heads were surface ground on top, six flats and 30 degree angle spun on top. Then they were all mirror polished. Made up mandrels to help do all this.
12 Front leaf springs ready to go on. They are new 6 inch lift springs.
13 Used an engine hoist to lift frame up. Eye bolt with rubber washer underneath for no marring. Simple and easy.
14 Rear Springs laid out and ready to go on.
15 Once installed I needed a way to move it around. I used car dollys with oak boards. Bottom of springs have a socket head cap screw head as most spring packs do. I countersunk the oak slightly so the spring doesn't touch the board, just the shcs head does.
16 All together and starting to look like something!
17 Rear bumperettes are next. I made these from 3/16's flat plate and copied the originals. Aren't exact as the frame and mounting points are different than stock.
18 Bumperettes installed and put eye hooks through bed mounts for lifting points for rear axle install.
19 Taillights ready to put on. Had to see some brightwork on the truck!
20 Mounted them using the bumperettes mounting holes and they will be tucked behind filler panel of bedsides for protection.
21 Close up and you can see at the top left the Visibolt LED light. That is the rear turnsignal indicator
22 Close up off light back. All the wires are hidden inside the tubing and made up stainless contour nuts/pieces to make it all work. Everything is trapped when put together and tightened.
23 Inside framerail view of wire run. At this point, everything was tightened and torqued. Spring eye bolts are left loose till all weight is on. That way they are tightened in the "rested" position.
24 Passing through the second crossmember, From here it will be wrapped in black braided wire wrap.
25 Prior to painting I took the time to lay out all the ground points. Everything has stainless bolts welded to the frame. Poly washers to stainless so no worries there, all pieces(frame to bed, frame to cab, etc) have their own dedicated braided ground straps.
26 With frame basically together it was time to get ready for axle installs. Original U bolts had the nuts down with hard 90 degree bends on the bolts. No way I could safely duplicate that so I decided run the nuts up. This allows for a normal, round U bolt install. Got some 1/2" stainless plate for the dogbone style top plates. Time to fire up the plasma!
27 Undersize drilled the 4 holes in the 2 plates at the same time leaving the drills in for perfect alignment. Surface ground the edges to make them the same using the drills as a depth set.
28 Roughed the corners in with an agle grinder then dressed a radius in the wheel to clean them up true.
29 Action shot took some doing! Run the table with one hand and snap the pic with the other but I got one,
30 Here you can see the set up and it coming to fruition. Center sections were roughed out with an angle grinder again and finished on the surface grinder.
31 The finished plates ready to start sanding and polishing.
32 Little bit of difference between polished an natural.
33 Put the plates in the press and bent them so they have slightly more arc than the springs. That way when tightened they provide equal pressure with digging on just the ends.
34 Another view of arc bend
35 Up next was to try to bend the U bolts. I wanted stainless but they would have to be custom bend which was over $100.00 per size. There are 3 sizes on the truck. I worked out the measurements and the manufacturer agreed to sell me a threaded straight to try. I was successful so I got the rest of the sizes needed.
36 I had to make up some ID rollers for my bender so I got some tool steel and drill it out. I then had it hardened.
37 I polished the straight lengths out and and proceeded to bend them. I used some wood to space it to the middle and it kept scratching down as well.
38 I did learn that the ID changes when switching to hardened stock. Using the same roller, the hardened stock will wind up being a 1/2" bigger. I adjusted for that on the rest of the U bolts when making the ID rollers.
39 It takes all I can do to bend this 5/8" hardened rod. Manufacturer of the bender probably wouldn't approve of this project.
40 I worked with The manufacture of the stainless rod lengths and he now does his bending inhouse as well.
41 Repolished what little hazing happened and it's all done. The bends are actually nicer than some I've bought.
42 These are eye hooks that will be mounted next to the pintle.
43 Prepolish pics and you'll see them later on.
44 Rear axle was smoothed and painted the same way as the front with acrylic urethane.
45 Disc brake caliper brackets installed with spacers.
46 A Corporate 14 bolt rear end has a removeable front pinion gear which makes rebuild a lot easier to get set right. Grade 8 stainless bolts installed and torqued.
47 Brake assembly and axles installed. It's getting heavier!
48 Brake lines installed through the transfer holder. The stainless holder was welded to the axle tube and I wire cut a hex through the center. The hex is the same size as the large fitting hex which enables the whole thing to be hidden and tightened at the same time.
49 Distribution block block mounted. I had previously made it and welded it on the pumpkin. It was ground so it self locks the T in place as well as for easy tightening. Stainless gravel guard was put over all the showing stainless lines before I did the flares.
50 Axle all assembled and ready to be put on.
51 To lift and move the axle I welded 5/8" nuts into the voids of the spring perches. I can then screw in eye bolts for chain and no marring.
52 Here is another view of the eye.
53 Ready to move the frame out for axle install. I had put on the tow hooks too.
54 Finally ready to get the rear axle on. Plan is to lift the frame and roll the axle into position.
55 Lifting with the hoist again from the eye bolts and roll it in. It's WAY up in the air now.
56 Now you can see how the plates mount up with the nuts up. I never use lock washers on u bolts. Acorns are mainly for looks but do act as a partial lock nut.
57 Step by step I'm getting there.
58 Here you can see the pumpkin is reindexed from where I welded the spring perches back on. CV rear driveshaft allows this and takes care of any vibration problems due to improper phasing.
59 I always thought mounting axles like this looked a lot cleaner.
60 Next was installing bed framework. Original was wood and I made mine from steel with box tubing and a bigger box to match the frame contours.
61 Poly on the top to prevent squeaks and rubbing as I'm using 3/8" treadbright for a floor. It will be held down with stainless carriage bolts.
62 here is a closeup of how the main rails follow the lines of the frame. Dodge originally did the same thing with the wood.
63 Poly washers give a little flex and get the gap right. There are 6 mounting points.
64 Treadbright in place. Hole in floor is for fuel tank as you'll see.
65 Fuel cell was designed to be mounted on thin sheetmetal and since I'm using 3/8 180 degree fittings hit. I decided that angling the tank would solve this as discussed elsewhere. Planed some wedges and wrapped them.
66 Made some stainless straps and mounted the tank down tight. Battery will go on the other side, hidden in a cut down lift top top box.
67 Bedsides on with color is a welcome sight for sure.
68 Rear lower filler panels installed.
69 Here is the stainless battery mount. Holes are for cable and one runs to the starter and the other mounts to the frame below.
70 The mounting bolts on the rear rail are hidden by the hinge assembly once installed. Poly is for squeaks again.
71 All tightened down with stainless rear angle on. Everything lines up flush for a clean look.
72 Hinge and top latch installed.
73 These are the stainless copies I made for the top latch. What looks like rivets are carriage I made and hand filed squares into the holes, Poly is tapered to a wedge effect to keep the gate centered and not banging around.
74 Inside bed view show the low profile head that allows gate to slide by.
75 These are stainless Ford hinges from Bob Drake with contour spacers I made. Bob has nice stuff.
76 Tailgate on with all the brightwork.
77 Tailgate side of the latch was a little more involved to make as previously shown. I copied originals but relieved ground the back instead of bending so the outer surface is smooth. It reflects a little.
78 Here you can see how the poly inserts self center the tailgate.
79 Hinge tightened down with inner bolts all hidden.
80 In the top rail I decided to fill them with stainless plugs. Got some bar stock and turned them down. I then ground grooves in them for O rings. Counterbored ID for less weight and had a buddy turn a 5 inch radius on the showing surface. Looks better than a flat surface to me.
81 With O rings in they lock up tight and can be removed if need be.
82 Pushed in it dresses up the top rail.
83 With the black poly installed on the under side,(see the fender section)I put on the fender welt.
84 I cut small V's out every so often so it would lay correctly. I used 3M weatherstrip adhesive to attach them and it is great stuff.
85 Fender is place makes the tire look tiny.
86 Welt sets it off nicely and brace is ready to install.
87 Here is a nice view of the underside poly and you can see how I trimmed it out to fit.
88 Stainless brace installed with acorn nuts. Nice that the attachment bolts basically trap the poly in place as well.
89 Outer view with carriage bolt heads break up the red a little.
90 Put on the tie down hooks I made. Here you can see how they flow together instead of up and down like originals. I just think it looks better.
91 I do not regret putting these on even though it meant drilling holes in that sheetmetal. I think it sets it off quite nicely.
92 Reflection is pretty wild on these.
93 The rear end of the truck is basically done other than the pintle hook I'm waiting on from the chromer.
94 Installed the box in the bed to hide the fuel tank and battery. It was chopped down so it can't be seen from the sides.
95 Tucked away and ready to get the next round of painting done. I almost have to assemble some as it takes up so much room if all the parts are laying around. It also boosts the moral to see something finally done!
96 Time to put the hood together. I wanted to prevent rub through on the paint where the hood welt contacts the backside of the hood. Going to use the thick, clear rock guard tape. I got some from Jegs and cut to fit.
97 Next is to put on the stainless hood latches I made. Originally riveted on, these were hand filed with squares for tiny carriage bolts, making it look like the rivets from the outside.
98 Latch installed looks great to me.
99 Backside view of latch and you can see the clear tape as well.
100 Corner bumpers are next. Using a stainless sheetmetal nut and cut phillips machine screw to hold it on.
101 Nut is laid on backside and rubber slid over it.
102 Backside view show the recessed screw. Nice and clean.
103 Put on the Dodge emblem that I mirror polished and had chromed. Wanted to have a black background and Chromer advised not to paint as it would peel eventually. A local guy who does pinstripes and lettering scanned it and laser cut it from black stock.
104 Beautiful work and really jumps with it on. Steve Lainhart is his name and he has it on file if anyone wants a set.Telephone him at 937-746-9379. I put on the piano style hinges as well and did the same thing with the carriage bolts.
105 Backside view of Dodge emblem. Made up a stainless plate that will double as a hood prop mount. Bent, threaded some rod and flush welded it to the plate. I'll show this set up later. With all the hood hardware in place I'll set them aside till I'm ready to put them on.
106 Time for front axle install! Rolled the axle to front and then brought in the engine hoist to lift the frame up.
107 PLEASE chain, don't break!
108 Axle safely in and she's got her legs back.
109 Probably not the normal order to do this but as stated earlier, helps with parts storage to just put what I can together.
110 Put on the front sway bar.
111 Torqued the u bolts down and will cut the threads down for acorn nuts later. Yes. I use antiseize on all the stainless stuff to prevent galling.
112 Bad pic but this is the license plate bracket. Contoured to fit inside the frame and flow down.
113 Picked up the motor and getting excited to install it. it's a Ram Jet 350. Port fuel injected with roller rockers and has 350 horsepower with 400 foot pounds of torque. Came with pressure plate and I'll have to source a flywheel.
114 Transmission is a TH400 from Gearstar Transmissions 1-800-633-2353 Picked it up on the same trip. You call them and give application and they custom build it for you with warranty. One guys does all the work from start to finish and they have years of experience in doing them. You won't be sorry.
115 Got the flywheel and installed the rebuilt Gearstar ransmission. I rebuilt the transfer case and will put that on next.
116 Transfer case on and it'll be nice to see all this sitting in the frame.
117 Moved the truck up into the shop and used the lifting frame I made to put the motor in. My friend, Jason Shiflett, came over and helped me guide it into place. After a little tweaking, we got it in. Thanks Jason.
118 One step at a time.
119 Headers and making some connections is next.
120 It was nice not to have any obstructions to get in the way like the cab and such. Just lower it all in.
121 Motor has a self contained computer system and runs an O2 sensor. I TIG welded a bung onto the stainless headers.
122 Ready to put them on.
123 Stainless Works made these headers and they are works of art.
124 Torqued down the motor mount bolts and getting ready for cab install.
125 Air filter on along with the engines wiring harness.
126 Everything was marked where it went and went pretty well.
127 Fuel lines on and laying out best place and where to run stuff.
128 Rolled the cab in on the cab spinner/roller and you can get an idea of the different ways it can be used. Makes it a lot safer and less chances for damage having this.
129 You can see the door mount and behind the cab is the lifting frame. It slides into the door mounts via angle iron locks on the top edge. Pull the "A" wheel assembly and center bar out once it's off the ground using the overhead lift.
130 No action shots of install as I forgot to. Nervous as a cat during this. Jason Shiflett, Bob Bach, Steve Rodgers and my Dad all came to help guide it on and thanks to them for the extra eyes. Took about 10 minutes and easy but needed eyes everywhere to prevent problems.
131 I slept good that night! This is a nice view of door mounts too.
132 Tires look lost on there.
133 Pretty tight on install but stock recess for 6 cylinder is great for the distributor.
134 Lots of little stuff to do now.
135 Open stock floor sure makes it nice to work on. Want to get everything in place and worked out before that goes in.
136 All the little stuff done under there and put the floor in. It's treadbread that is viewable from the underside. Gas peddle hook up.
137 Here's a view from underneath.
138 Got all the data plates and my friend Gary T. milled all the lettering in for me. Beautiful job and many thanks to him. I ground and spun standard stainless machine grooves to look like rivets. Once installed you'll never know.
139 Looks like a rivet, huh?
140 Other side.
141 Ready for gauges down the line.
142 Put in the hanging brake pedal assembly. This was heavily modified to fit and no new holes were drilled in the cab in the process.
143 This is the cab side hood latch point. I made a slip on cover so no paint scratching here.
144 Close up shows edges. this is one piece of bent stainless steel. Welded on the backside, and a fitted cap on the end. All ground,sanded and mirror polished to look like a molded piece. Held on with a set screw type mount on the backside.
145 I didn't want to modify factory holes so I needed to come up with uses for them. I'll use the bigger ones for wire runs.
146 Turned up stainless plugs to fill the holes and mount with existing holes.
147 Installed it looks pretty factory.
148 I'm using braided lines to hide wires. It'll give it that aircraft/military look.
149 Lines on with wires inside.
150 I love the look of these and goes with the truck in my opinion.
151 Put the stainless door catches on.
152 New valve covers on and I'll inlay red into the machined ball grooves to set them off.
153 The red really sets them off and I like it a lot better.
154 Time for the Hydroboost and master cylinder install. I had to drill 5 holes in the cab for this.
155 Using a modified Chevy mounting bracket for more strength. Hydartech supplied the hydroboost and using a late model Chevy 1 ton master cylinder because of the big bore disc brakes.
156 I polished the master cylinder out and used stainless high pressure braided lines at this runs off the power steering pressure instead of robbing vacuum from the motor.
157 I had bent the stainless brake lines earlier. I made them so they flowed nicely with the lines and put gravel guard around them too.
158 Keeps the feel of an airplane going.
159 Starting on the wiring with gauges in along with the shifter.
160 Wiring wasn't that involved as I don't have a lot of accessories but took pains to make nice clean runs. I hid the wires whenever I could.
161 Put the seat base and console in. Console has the Tach canted for easier viewing.
162 Stainless transfer case lever installed has rubber seal on the edges.
163 View from drivers seat.
164 Seat base top is treadbright as well and made a locking compartment in the back as there was some space there.
165 Opened up you can see the room in there.
166 Mid 90's Ford Ranger extended cab split bench is what I used for seating. I really like them and size is just right.
167 Going to mount the core support and radiator next.
168 Stainless core support bars on and it's taking shape.
169 Here is a close up of the press form end that I showed was done earlier. Details.
170 Radiator in and it has an internal cooler for the transmission.
171 Radiator is slid inside the channel as opposed to the back side like stock. This allows additional space for the motor without firewall mods.
172 I weld some plate flush on the core support and drilled the holes. Looks factory when done.
173 This shows the bypass needed for the Vortec heads to cool properly when you do not have a heater.
174 Alternator on first
175 Nice to do all this stuff before fenders are on. I'll test fire the motor before putting them on as well.
176 Power steering pump is next.
177 Exhaust is on and it's all stainless. Mandrel bent and polished using band clamps throughout.
178 Hard to see but nice clearance around them all.
179 Buttoning up all the little stuff working towards getting the motor test fired. I try to do a least one thing a day on it even if it's something small. Life happens but every little thing adds up eventually.
180 Ran into a snag with the power steering mounting. The Bracket kit I got did not work with the Saginaw hydroboost pump. I ended up using the stock mounts which I cleaned up and powder coated here at home.
181 All the hoses are connected along with the radiator hoses. Made up some wire patterns and went to the parts store. Went through all the hoses till I found some with the correct preforned bends and sizes, turned out great.
182 Fired it up and Tach threw out smoke and it burnt up. After disconnecting that I thought all was well till I looked at the belts. They were wobbling all over the place on the pulleys.
183 The gas gauge died later as well. I blamed myself at first but triple checked and everything was wired correctly. Long story short, I had bad gauges from the factory. Belt wobble was a headache as well. Alternator was bad from factory as well. Mounting surface at harmonic balancer was out .018. When multiplied out it made it nearly .100 at pulley face. Don't know what's going on there.
184 Had the original Wire loom hole and wasn't going to use it. Needed to fill the hole so I made up a plate with some bent stainless tubing. When you look at it it looks like a "floating" ring with the reflection.
185 More of the cowl finishing done and wires run. Filling the unused holes with polished acorn nuts. The pulley situation is still stumping me. crank is not bent, balancer checks perfect and pulley itself is fine. Using a dial indiactor while installing reveals it is perfect while drawing it up till the last .3125" it distorts after that
186 Rebroached the keyway on the balancer and still the same wobble. Factory doesn't know what is wrong either and decided just to shim the pulley face. Did that and it's perfect, To this day I don't know what is wrong.
187 Since everything is fine now time to put on more sheetmetal. Cowl is finished as far as I can.
188 Nose on and feeling good as I'm making progress again. I fought with that pulley thing for a month. VERY frustrating.
189 It's way easier to have the side panels and nose assembled before slipping it on.
190 The long awaited install of the stainless grill. Look at the "Grill" album to see how this was made. Makes a world of difference in the looks of the front end when you put the grill on.
191 This is where all the time on the rough build pays off. Everything bolts up with no alignment issues.
192 Front stainless hood latch catches on. I'm wrapping them with a layer of clear tape as well.
193 Inside view shows how they conform to the curves like originals.
194 I ran layers of tape around the edges for protection. Since I took all the rivets out I could put this together easily, actually did it by myself. Put center hinge on first, then laid an upper hood half on and bolted up. Then did the same for the other side.
195 Just love the sloping hood on these and note how well it fits with a true military cab. When people use 2wd 39-47 cabs the hood kicks up on the cab side as the edge isn't sloped as much.
196 used the hood props and ready for the louvered lower sections.
197 Slid the stainless hinge rod in and it's ready to latch down.
198 Gull wing look with the hood up is SO nice.
199 Sure is nice to see it come along and look more and more like a truck with every step.
200 The hood welting is next. I tried to find a rubber substitute but was unable. I ended up going with the stock which is held on with brad nails or some have used small screws. I ended up gluing it down with 3M weatherstrip adhesive and it's not going anywhere! A lot cleaner looking as well.
201 Welting is on here and put the stainless inner fender on this side.
202 Next was the stainless puke tank before inner fender is on this side. Easier to put on without fighting that.
203 Earlier I had put on most of the tie down hooks while the truck was tucked in the corner. Couldn't get to the backside or where the fuel cover box was so I decided to put the rest on. Here is how I drill holes in painted surfaces. I tape general area for hole and mark exact location. Hit with automatic center punch.
204 The reason for newspaper under holes is that when drilling the shaving get extremely hot. If they catch or lay on the paint they can melt in ruining the finish. Best to avoid by doing this. I then removed all the paper and tape and brush paint the hole.
205 Put some thin poly behind the hook and mount up.
206 Got the windshield back from the chromer and had the glass put. Mounted the slide hardware I made up and put the frame on.
207 I polished the original brass windshield center hook and powder coated it gloss clear. Made the angle contoured piece from stainless and bolted it the windshield frame.
208 Here's a close up of original and the one I made.
209 My friend Steve Rodgers, his daughter and her boyfriend came by to help me put it on. Pretty hard to do by yourself and thanks to them for taking the time to help me.
210 Passenger side inner fender going on.Fender is next and you can see the chair is in place. I rest the backside there with padding while lining up the front bolts. That way I can do it by myself without problems.
211 Fender bolted on and loving it!
212 Same process on other side and tightened all the bolts down. Ready for the headlights.
213 Loose mounted the bucket and ran the wires through all the hiding tubes.
214 Put on the blackout light which I'm using as a turn signal. Got some amber bulbs for that.
215 Here's an underside pic of the way I hid all the wiring. Runs in stainless tubing and I ran ground wires as well to the dedicated ground posts on the frame.
216 I'm not using the stock ring. I cut a stainless 39.47 Dodge truck ring down(about 1 inch) and intalled the stainless headlight ring retainers I sell. All you have to do is bend some of the tabs on the stock buckets out and they will work fine.
217 Ring installed along with the stainless blackout covers I made shown in another album.
218 Another touch that really catches the eye.
219 Door assembly is next and the painting hanger makes this step easier. Put the latch and glass in first.
220 I brush paint the inside black before starting assembly to protect the metal some.
221 I made up some stainless copies of the door opening limiter stops. Made the backing stops and shouldered nut with wrench flats as well. It all works nicely together.
222 Here it is all together.
223 You can see how the nut will work and still clear the cab slot.
224 Running boards are next. I had to make all the brackets up. They were made from flat stock and welded all together and rounded and smoothed to look as a formed piece. Using black poly where the running boards touch and held in with stainless sheetmetal screws.
225 These are the brackets for one side ready to install. Yes, they are all a little different in design
226 Chairs and blocks to the rescue again. They went on nicely and gaps were all correct. WHEW!!!
227 I wanted to have something different for my pedals. I had the Lokar pedal covers but you see them on EVERY rig out there so off to the drawing board. My plan was to go over the Lokars, I could use their mounting system that way.
228 Got a piece of 3/8 stainless plate and plasma cut it out. Laid out the holes on a cardboard pattern and marked them. Drilled all the pilot holes and drilled up to size. Used a step drill on the back side and front for countersinking all of the rubber bumpers that will be on the pedals. One of the bumpers is at the top.
229 Here it is all drilled out and corners rounded. I'll weld a lowering edge all the way around to hide the mount.
230 Here it is mid process of TIG welding. Weld a straight and heat corner and bend around. Tack, weld corner and repeat. I'll do the same for the gas pedal and pics will be in "Finished Truck" section.
231 All together except interior which is the only thing I'm farming out. You can see the completed pics in the "Finished Truck" section as mentioned before.
