Uh oh.......

new pallet of goodies today........




Old

Fresh off the Oklahoma farm....... you can't find these in a catalog......because no one is making em..... all WWII surplus....all before the 'F-series' even came about....

Ford 'Heavy' as they called these trucks baby.... this is how things were made...before they were made in mass......


Gotta love fenders thicker then most guys frame rails.....

~M


(PS I had a major 'ISSUE' with my current grille.... found a good deal on the whole lot and said I'll take it all.....thus an entire 1947 Ford 'Heavy' front clip...aka... you don't run across these every day or in a catalog....because NO ONE is repopping these..... straight 1947 metal!

 

What lead you to replacing the grill etc? Your truck was all painted, now you are replacing, re-painting it. Regardless, it is looking good keep up the good work! I like that you are willing to replace or re-build things if they are not perfect rather thank just making due.

 

Mock up and inner fender results...... I ended up doing a 3-1/2" body lift (to solve a TON of issues) to ensure had I had enough room for the master cylinder/hydroboost on the firewall clearance wise from the top of the hood.... in order to get the radiator top hose cleared and level, to get the inner fenders to work, to get the floor/trans tunnel not so severe....


Results.....


Inner fender wells came out great.......






How slight my floor/transmission tunnel will now have to be.....


Plenty of room for the top of the radiator.... will NOT have room for a front mounted intercooler..... may to a top or side mount.....


Now have plenty of room on the firewall for a hydroboost/master cyl unit from a 2006 F350 and a small master cylinder for the clutch....



Cab level in relation to the frame rails..... no you cant see underneath it..... (should really look good once I get running boards/skirts



Another benefit of doing the body lift.....

intercooler problem solved..........





Yes the hood does indeed close.... and I have another 1.5-2" to spare....

 

 

stupid question or note.. with your intercooler ontop of the motor arent ya defeating the purpose? will it be very effective with the motor heat rising up and sun blazing on the hood? just curious keep up the good work

 

awsome build man. Keep up the good work.

 

Well..... snuck bye with an inch to spare.....


After 3-1/2" body lift......



And as a consequence of the body lift.... the tire/fender relation changed...... which is a bonus as I had interference ever so slightly with the tire/fender...
now I should be able to fully maneuver and drive with the suspension slammed..........


Slammed:


Ride Height:

Ride Height #2 (Pretty happy how this turned out)


Maximum Vertical Clearance:

Maximum#2


Should be able to get over any obstacle I can encounter with the slung saddle tanks & hanging 4-link brackets......

I also started to like the 'drive axle' tire pattern being in the front.....gives it a tougher look.....

I think I will now be putting a 'drive axle' tire on the steer wheels up front as well now.....

I know theres going to be a ton of people now going off about putting drive axle tires on the steer position...... just a heads up Ford and GM do it from the factory on all there medium duty dually 4x4 "off-road" service trucks with 19.5" rims..... (I'm not an semi truck with 80,000 lb gv)

(aka also look at any railroad service truck with 19.5 singles.... drive tires in the steer position)


Questions/comments always welcome..

~m

 

Awesome build

 

Very nice looking truck. Good luck with everything.

 

I believe that the only issue with "drive tires" on the steer axle is they must be VIRGIN tires. NO re-caps, there is no issue with what the tread pattern is just make sure there isn't a re-capped tire up front and you will be safe.