Build Scratch and Dent Special: Dirty Hooker Edition

Burns · Apr 19, 2024

Wait...Im building a truck...****. Outboard engines got in the way....

Sold canoe.

Bought boat.

Rebuilt a 1947 KF5, Mercury 5hp!

Ohhhh, and I guess I got my hubs in from Sandy 😎

1” King ping spindles from a ‘81 E350. I put new bushings/pins in and shipped to Sandy. He set up the mounts and clearances for the brakes, and while he was at it he machines the new bushings for the new kingpins (reamed)

Projectjunkie · Apr 20, 2024

Looks blingy :smokin:

But who/ what / where TF is a Sandy? :laughing:

Burns · Apr 20, 2024

Projectjunkie said:
Looks blingy But who/ what / where TF is a Sandy?

ORMHOF - Legends Live at the Hall of Fame - A Visit With Off-Road Pioneers John Ulfeldt and Sandy Cone

The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame has been established to recognize and honor those individuals whose lifelong contributions to off-road motorsports have se

ormhof.org

Home | Cone Industries

www.coneindustries.com

Hes a guy who makes ****. He'd fit right in here on the board. Makes ****. Fixes ****. Breaks ****. You know...the stuff we all tend to do lol

Burns · May 16, 2024

Update: Hobart 120v keeps acting up (wire feed pulses), so I finally plugged in my Mexican 220v Linde that I bought is Casa Grande Arizona and trucked back across the country with a full bottle with no safety cap on it 😁. I suck ass with the Linde.

Measuring and locating of a fixed point. Remember the truck was smashed from the drivers front towards the passenger rear

Got a good schematic sheet online

My fine machinery!

Amazon bumper fit perfectly! I bought the biggest size bolts that would fit in the frame horns in order to take up a slack/tolerance.

Welds suck ass and I have gaps…BUT, I’m learning and will get better. Until then I’m going to experiment some which will include some grinding and trying different techniques. Once I get these on, I’ll start on the new crossmember.

Burns · Jun 2, 2024

Little update. Did some measuring for WMS to WMS (aiming for 68”) on the rear. Spent hours combing tire sizes, and tried to figure the best way to hopefully squeeze tires inside these fenders and bedsides.

I also watched a ton of videos on pizza cutters versus normal/wide tires. They compared contact patches from 40psi down to 0psi, pizza cutters actually winning due to "the caterpillar effect"….in turn I went with 255/80r17:

Wood is set at 68' WMS to WMS

Been picking away at ideas for the interior. Initially eye'd a set of PRP's, but with suspensions cost I needed to get by with something cheaper. Found a king ranch front bench seat, so pulled all the springs off my stocker (which was roached), and started mocking up the king ranch seats to fit that frame. Doing it this way still allows me to have sliders/be able to fold forward. Ironically the guy who was selling the seat had a '76 crew cab with a 460. Other than the show I went to while in Arizona...not often you meet folks with crew cabs.

Not done yet, but we’re getting there.

Side one sucked ass

Side two wayyyyy better

Off Topic Crew Cab Content: built a rack on the fummins to hold the boat. it was an idea I had and for $25 worth of wood and a trip to Home Depot with the dog (she LOVES the place) this makes it so I can still use the bed while transporting the boat. Straps all attach to bed, so framework is sandwiched between boat and truck itself. Was going to strap to the frame, but figured with the overhang of the boat...and going 45mpg on the Golden Road up north....id be flirting with the boat/frame itself bouncing out.

Also lowered the front an inch as the alcans settled and I had massive Carolina Squat going on. Still looks like I have some, but its wayyyyy more level than it was. All around 8/10....only issue is now my steering wheel isnt straight due to dropping the front so much :homer:

Burns · Jun 4, 2024

Finished the seats. Probably have eight hour of time into the whole thing. Bottom cushions are fully removable and bolt in (as you saw previously). Top ones I ended up welding to the rear frame work. It gave me the alignment I wanted and was simply the easiest method to get them on there. Didnt even light the seats on fire when welding them :cool2:

Little plates down bottom to span the gap from the frame to the seats

Never coming off!

Next up was scraping sweet purple tint off. I absolutely didn't appreciate the heinous purple tint......**** that ****...eww its out. Heat gun and a square razon. Off you go...It looks like at one point there was a typical 90's sticker of Calvin pissing on a Chevy Logo, but it faded away. Ill see if I can snap a pic of it at some point. Can definitely tell this truck dies in the early 90's.

Cleaned the floor in prep for the seat! Orange wire is for the fuel gauge (new tank will be located behind rear axle, going to utilize I think its a mustang tank).

Boom. Seats installed! Im trying to hold off making everything perfect with this truck and keeping her a little rough...but they are way nicer than the rest of the truck. Side Note: new floor pans are in the bed. TBD when Ill do them.

Ewwwwwwww purple

Scritch scratch....clean as a whistle. On the Fummins I bought new smokers windows and they've never fit well or sealed (which I was warned of). This go around I'm keeping the stockers as you see. They (as well as the window glass) is all in decent shape so no reason to replace it! I am currently in the process of doing all new weather-stripping and felt within the doors. Pics of that to come in the next few days.

Burns · Jun 9, 2024

Got both driver and passenger windows clean of clean, reinstalled new felt and window track rubber. Had bought a new crank for driver side, knowing that the original was missing….didn’t realize that I don’t have an interior latch for the drivers side. …..that just means you have to put the window down to get out 😎

Chopped the passenger side welds I did a few weeks ago and fixed the sag. Used a magnetic angle finder on the bumper along with a couple measurements to inside it’s both square AND level.

Turns out the frame horns I got came from a ‘67! If anyone can decode and decipher the vin (from the ‘67) that would be cool!

Typical CAD work

Pics for reference when I **** **** up in my next post

Burns · Jun 9, 2024

Put a new tip on the Alamogordo plasma cutter.....and she rips!

Slicing away since the thing works so well

In typical fashion:

I may have practiced my welds on the inside of the frame rails,, when putting the new frame horns on. Sadly...they are almost as BAD as the stock ford welds :flipoff2:

EVICTED:

Can I just say that making all those miter cuts took some time? I tried a portaband. Michael J Fox could have cut straighter. Plasma I wasn't confident at even after using a guide...so I decided my best method was a straight edge, a carboard template for 67*, and a tape measure. It took a lot of time but by the end I was a pro!

The plan:

The wasteland:

Definitely a lot of stuff in there to "dig" out.

Burns · Jun 9, 2024

Cleaned up the interior of the frame with a flap disc and some swearing!

Drivers side:

Passenger Side:

Combo of both so you can see my precision and perfection:

The pieces:

The pieces prepped for a tack.....and prepped to hide the visible learning curve I have for the miter cuts:

Ill end up using some flat plate to cap the open spaced of the 2x8, and will also add some gussets from he 2x4 square to the flat plate...then fish plate seams....I dont want this ****er to break!

Turns out I mismeasured and the 2x4 piece was too long. Had an added inch on each side. As opposed to take it off the square ends...I was looking to mimic the original crossmember with its spread/angle...so I cut the tacks on one side and used two inch painters tape to mark and cut two inches off the 2x4 piece. Smart...I know.

Burns · Jun 9, 2024

Pre correction:

Post Correction:

Let me state this in case I havent. Goal with making a new cross member is to both lower the engine and gain clearance for the beams. THe tranny contacted the tunnel, and this tuck is a factory column shift. THat means no removable cover for the tranny tunnel. On the Fummins I ended up modifying both the tranny tunnel of the cab itself, and the removable cover. Didnt want to play that game here, and knowing a lower center of gravity will help my situation...I decided upon what you see. Build a crossmember which will receive the engine mounts I bought AND allow me to place it where I need it. Overall the height is shallower, so I gain clearance for the beams as well.

Moved all the tools to the driveway, blew them off with air, and spent a LONG time cleaning up the garage, Its amazing how much metal dust accumulates....I used goggles, safety glasses, gloved and a buff (mask caused glasses/goggles to fog and make plasma cutting and such impossible). I still feel like I got the black lung.

This coming week Ill attach the motor mounts to the engine/tranny combo, remove the top crossmember and figure out final positioning of it all to start finalizing crossmember placement.

Thoughts and opinions? Comments? :flipoff2:

Burns · Jun 9, 2024

Teaser pics:

Provience · Jun 10, 2024

Sweet

Burns · Jun 11, 2024

Figure its time to test fit to see if my hacktastery will work.

Easy to stick an engine in when there is literally NOTHING in the frame.

Leveled:

Tranny clearance in comparison to frame:

Was looking at clearances and realized that I could almost stick a piece of tube in.....ran to the scraps pile, cut it to length, and yes....in fact I can!

Did some more digging and found all the parts (along with some others) to make up a Ruff stuff tranny mount. The plan for the tranny is going to be: Take the rubber isolator mounted on tranny off of it. Use the ruff stuff mount bushing as the isolators. Then drill two holes in the mounting plate and bolt that onto where the current tranny mount is. Weld her up and boom. Then Im running the same rubbers on the engine as the tranny whoch feel right in my head.

Burns · Jun 11, 2024

Overall Fitment:

Ford engines are off to one side. As you can probably tell my mounts are different lengths/heights and help to offset the engine as needed. Sitting in the new crossmemberits lines up with the stock engine location and looks good. Tailshaft of the tranny points at the yoke on the 9''.

I originally had the new cross member sitting on 2x4's to space it up. When positioning everything, I wanted the engine lower (with the conversion motor mounts and the tranny Im running....the tranny wouldn't fit, which was my main reason for making this new crossmember). In order to get the engine and tranny level, I ended up removing the 2x4's, basically slamming the crossmember on the interior of the frame rail. All in all the engine is back an inch or two when compared to before, and probably two inches lower.

Main conscern: Overall measurement of my new crossmember below the frame rail. It provides good protection of the oil pan....but Im afraid its going to get in the wayu of the beams. Having never built a beam truck.....Im 100% unsure what kind of space I need under the engine. For those of you who are astute, that was another of the reasons I built the crossmember the way I did. Kicker is I didnt plan to slam it so low. It sits about 4.5'' below the frame rail.....about the same as stock.

Crossmember is located 19.5'' back from the radiator support hole.

Engine mount is a SMIDGE high.

Engine mount is a smidge low. The offsided engine mounting is what defined the constraints of the 45* tubes.

Traced the mounts on each side. Plan is to take engine out and start going some solid tacks to try and solidify everything.

Open to input of those who have built a beamed truck, and may have insight as to how low the crossmember is versus beam clearance.

I have all the parts and could lay it all out...but its hard to be one person and have an engine hanging with a jack underneath it, then manhandle a beam with the brakes/spindle on it.....and even with a tire and wheel on it. AKA its too much for me to soft mount the entire engine tranny and suspension. Need steroids...or to just chip away one piece at a time!

WiscoF100 · Jun 11, 2024

A little late to the party but as others have said, air hammer with chisel tip. Done. I removed a lot of rivets from my frame. First tried center punch, 3/16 pilot then 1/2 drill. That was dumb. Did a couple X cuts + air hammer, meh but was safer than drilling. The trick was simply sharpening the factory chisel tip with a flap disc and it was like slicing through butter. Zip zip zip. One of those :homer:

why didn't I do this sooner moments.

granitestatedestroyer · Jun 11, 2024

Super duty rear bench in a single cab go fast truck is interesting.

Burns · Jun 12, 2024

granitestatedestroyer said:
Super duty rear bench in a single cab go fast truck is interesting.

Trucks going to have stages. Right now, it was a cheap solution to simply not having a seat. 😁 Zero bolstering and leather means I’ll be sliding around like a greased watermelon in a lake.

Levigarrett76 · Jun 12, 2024

Burns said:
Trucks going to have stages. Right now, it was a cheap solution to simply not having a seat. 😁 Zero bolstering and leather means I’ll be sliding around like a greased watermelon in a lake.

Good "core" workout :laughing:

rattle_snake · Jun 12, 2024

I have seem many SD rear benches in Bumps. The rear seat comfort is OK but other options are not cheap. Easy to spend $1500-3500

I got one of these, ****ing awesome. Cost more to re-do the old one.

Snowden Custom Bench Seats

Discover custom bench & bucket seats for Chevy C-10 trucks at Snowden Custom Seats. Order swatches, check lead time, & place your order online. 8-week lead time.

www.snowdenseats.com

Burns · Jun 12, 2024

rattle_snake said:
I have seem many SD rear benches in Bumps. The rear seat comfort is OK but other options are not cheap. Easy to spend $1500-3500

I got one of these, ****ing awesome. Cost more to re-do the old one.

Snowden Custom Bench Seats

Discover custom bench & bucket seats for Chevy C-10 trucks at Snowden Custom Seats. Order swatches, check lead time, & place your order online. 8-week lead time.

www.snowdenseats.com

Those are definitely pretty slick! I’m 6’1” and wanted to do a set of PRP’s and basically slam them on the floor….but that’s easily $1700. For the $300bim at and given the time frame until it’s a serious toy….no complaints. Please ask me again once I start driving it though 😁

Burns · Jun 30, 2024

Alright, little hiatus.

The Mexican Linde let me down…..or I let her down. Ended up kicking the liner, and she wouldn’t feed wire.

Ended up ordering a torch online…..wait time was end of August 🤣 Soooooo ended up going to a local weld shop and they helped sort me out with a liner. Now I know how easy it is to yank a liner and cut/replace one.

Also my best friend bought the same welder. So now myself, my local irate friend, and friend in VT all have a Linde V160 😁

Burns · Jun 30, 2024

With the crossmember welded up, I laid it in place and dropped the engine onto it. Hung the ass end of the tranny on some tube, that I’ll later make a crossmember out of. Engine is where I want it for now, yet not burned into place. Still 100% moveable.

Now comes the tech part. I need help…..how do I mount ibeams? I tacked the mounts on symmetrically, where the old beam pivots were. No bueno. There’s for to be a trick to playing with the arcs, but I haven’t figured it out yet.

Kind of hard to see, but the beam mounts are 1.5'' forward of the hole that is in the outside face of the frame (the single hole, center).

Did the same for this beam mount. Note: Under each of those beam mounts are two holes, vertically placed, that used to be the mount for each of the old beam mounts. I centered the new beam mounts on these, and also measured off of the center hole in the exterior frame face, mentioned above, to verify symmetrical placing.

Beams hit each other AND each of the king pin locations are vastly different one side to the other. Any and all help appreciated!

Burns · Jun 30, 2024

Lesson Learned: Split the difference of where you want the center of the wheel.

Red "X" are beam mounts. One in front, one behind wheel centerline.

It looks like I can drop a plum bob from either the end of the frame (30.70'') or the center of the core support hole (30.70''-8.06''=22.64'') and measure from there for locating the wheel centerline.

Burns · Jul 8, 2024

Moved the mounts per the above drawings.

Drivers side:

Passengers Side:

One beam lifted, one on floor. Lifted contacts the crossmember...may have to go another route with that

Hubs loosely installed:

Raised as high as possible to get an idea where my tire would be at "full bump"

Here is where the issues start:
1) Hub center is at 17'', as Im running a 34'' tire. At that height, camber is 84.4*
2) How does one solve this.....raise the pivot end/attachment point in order to negate the camber? YES......
3) It takes to much distance to negate the camber.....my beam pivot basically needs to be mounted in the center of my frame
soooooooooo
4) do I raise ride height? (REALLY don't want to as I'm aiming for this truck to be a more reasonable height than the Fummins.

To have the hub centerline 17'' of finished floor, pivot needs to be around 25"......bottom of frame is at 24", which doesn't help ****. I tried screwing in the heim to see if that helped me to loose camber (as it would tighten the arc, decreasing the radius of swing).....but it didnt seem to help at all.

Safe to say that this is the point in which I start thinking about the project as a whole, building new mounts and another way to hold my engine in?

Burns · Oct 4, 2024

Done a ton of ****. Haven’t posted. We’ll get there in time.

Had the day off and decided to throw the shifter in. Truck had a manual tranny in it at some point, so I cut a new hole and then used that material to patch the old hole.

Got a shifter with a 3” offset and a doodad to convert it to a 2-bolt style rod. Used self tappers to draw the pieces together, then riveted. Cleaned material. Threw in sealer. Done.

Need to now find a shifter I can hack up and make work.

MoparMoe · Oct 4, 2024

What happened ? welder broke?

Burns · Oct 12, 2024

I need some help/opinions with regard to beam and steering setup.

Switched beam position. Tacked on swinger mounts, installed swingers w/heims, and Connected steering with PVC for mock-up.

Cycling the passenger side, everything clears and I get 9” of uptravel, wheels straight. I’ll need to bend the steering links/use offset heims to get the bar perfectly fit between the swinger and the beam mount.

Wondering how angles look: are my beams too far apart (they JUST clear everything by a smidge, but when comparing pics it seems like mine are far apart)? Do my swinger locations look okay to the untrained eye? Why is the bar going to the pitman arm at such a steep angle?

Note: king ping centerline to heim mount on knuckle is 7”, so I made a high dollar pitman arm, mounted on my box, and noted 7”. Old Pirate told me to match pitman arm length to said knuckle measurement….so I did. But ****kkkk is it far forward.

Having spoken with Howe and PSS, I chose PSS as the owner was wicked helpful. Speaking with the owner of Howe, he said alll the same stuff, but he made me feel way less important and like he had way bigger fish to fry.

Note: all steering members (PVC) are long, so swingers aren’t at a perfect angle.

Burns · Nov 22, 2024

LOTS of trial and error. Zero posting :flipoff2:

Figured out beam pivot locations. What heims to use for steering. What misalignment spacers to use. Heights for steering swingers. Lengths for arms. Mounted steering box. By tomorrow evening the plan is to have the front buttoned up with final locations locked in, tie rods and steering cut and tacked together.

Best news is I figured out how to make the whole system work with straight tie rods, no bends!

Beams can travel all the way up to the frame to the tune of 12” of uptravel.

Pics of it more done….once I get it more done

:flipoff2:

Gumbybronco · Nov 22, 2024

You’re doing solid work, but I’m still hung up on the sex change…

WiscoF100 · Nov 23, 2024

Highly approve of the beams. Frame swaps, A arms etc never look right on these olds trucks. The wheel placement in the fender always looks like ass.

The stance and rolling stock are looking good also

Build Scratch and Dent Special: Dirty Hooker Edition

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