The two things I would love to build include a 85 Dodge 350 with a Cat 3306PC and a 1952 Studebaker M35 deuce and a half with either a Cat 3208T turned way up, or a 3406B. I already own the perfect 52 Studebaker M35 for the swap

 

Start with straight frame rails from a big truck...build a custom A-arm front suspension so you can lay frame and have little to nothing in the way of the motor...build a dry-sump oil system and low profile oil pan for the motor to keep it low in the frame...SUPER heavy duty motor and tranny mounts to both isolate the motor and prevent frame spread/twist due to lack of immediate crossmember beneath the motor...doghouse and firewall from a "medium duty" version of whatever cab you use...then Z the rear frame rails up and over the rear end...link-n-bag it...throw in a shifter that is about 6 inches away from the roof of the cab for that gorilla arm hot rod look...and start truckin!

The air brakes should actually be easy if you use the pedal cluster from the "medium duty" brother of whatever cab you use. Just a lot of fab work to make it happen, but it would be sweet!

A compromise might be to use a two-speed air brake rear axle (to get the look you want)and a "medium duty" version of the 5.9 Cummins with the air compressor (in place of the vacuum pump on the pickup versions) and the big Eaton 6 speed or whatever else you want to bolt up to the SAE adapter plate. All of that would fit easier and be essentially bolt in...if you could sacrifice the novelty of running a "big" diesel. Just food for thought...

 

Ive thaught about doing it like that but what i had in mind is removing the frame from the truck and setting it on the floor in the shop and using it as a guide to go off of for the cab mounts and A arms and shocks so ill have the same cleance for the fenders and wheels. Build a whole new frame out of 1/4 in steel from the front to the rear o the cab then come up with the frame and build it with box section tubing from rear of the cab to the back then custom make the A arm front end with air ride and for crossmembers you wouldnt have room under the motor but you would under the radiator towards the front and under the trans build a removeable crossmember so you can have access to the trans then for the rear end i'd use the 2 speed and build a ladder bar system for it with air bags and for the trans id go with a 10 or 13 spd because if you went with a 6 your top speed would be low because more than likely the rear end out of those medium duty trucks would be to low and would only be around 65mph *and of coarse thats way to slow for a hot rod diesel an yeah the low oil pan would help alot! But i think if you build the suspension just high enough to keep the oil pan from dragging and build the frame high enough so the highth of the hood and cab and all that would be tall enough to fit the big CAT and the motor mounts low enough to keep the motor sittin down in there enough i think you'll be fine with fittin maybe cutting out some of the under hood bracing would help with an inch or so or maybe a cowl hood but another problem is having a radiator and fan set up big enough to keep that big sucker cool! You'd defenatly have to have a custom radiator built and HD fans for it but i think it would all work just alota fab work but the good thing is you can get every part for the old chevy through LMC truck to make it look origanal inside and out and wiring harness from Painless as well so its really just fab work but i think it can be done!

---AutoMerged DoublePost---

Fast & Furious 1967 Chevrolet Truck on Inside Line

There's a deal on it i found