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1968 Ford F-250 Prerunner Build

The radiator is a LS swap radiator from Griffin
PerformanceFit Radiator ComboUnit for LS Swap GM 1968-1977 A Body, 1978-1988 G Body, 1970-1981 F Body

Part Number : 475-CU-00008-LS

Griffin Radiators CU-00008-LS: PerformanceFit Radiator ComboUnit for LS Swap GM 1968-1977 A Body, 1978-1988 G Body, 1970-1981 F Body - JEGS High Performance

Buy Griffin Radiators CU-00008-LS at JEGS: Griffin Radiators PerformanceFit Radiator ComboUnit for LS Swap GM 1968-1977 A Body, 1978-1988 G Body, 1970-1981 F Body. Guaranteed lowest price!
www.jegs.com www.jegs.com

I bought it May 2021 before Bidenomics raised the price by over $100. BUT it is nice since it has the 1.5" lower hose and 1.25" upper hose like the LS motor, steamport fitting on radiator, and Spal Brushless fans


The cold side intake hoses and couplers I got from Intercooler Pipe Fabrication and I believe I got one of the aluminum mandrel bent pieces from amazon since I forgot to order and didn't want to pay for shipping on 1 hose.
 
Continuing to reassemble front TTB. Got axle shafts extended, just gonna try them temp to make sure all works before getting some 4130 axles made, planning on using Branik unless you know another options who can do the D50 30 spline axles AND a 1.5x16 spline to fit my driveline yoke, also running a Yukon duragrip limited slip up front. It doesn't allow you to use the c clip for pass stub axle out of diff. They use a spring inside the pass axle slip at the inner u joint. Well my contraption TTB setup runs a long 1350 driveline slip to account for max travel and axle plunge. So I got a longer cut to length spring from McMaster. Install in the slip and cycled and immediately the cap inside the u joint yoke broke out. So pull it all apart again to weld a 1/8" cap into the slip yoke end. Painted and reassemble everything and no problems now cycling it in the shop. Got new spicer u joints for the whole front end as well to remove old factory unknown miles joints and replace with known new good joints.
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We'll need to see pictures of the extended axles Tommy
 
Thanks but theyre installed in the truck. Simply machined down stock axles with a 2" stub to 1" OD so I could sleeve them with 1.5" x .250 DOM tubing. Then ground a big bevel and tig welded them with like 4 passes to make sure full penetration AND plug welds too. Should be decent enough to put in 4WD to cruise around in glamis or sand to make sure everything works as it does in the shop.
 
Ok got my fender mounts finalized, except bottom of passenger side since I'm gonna run exhaust out the side there. Also made and mounted up the hood on hinges I made to have it operate like a factory hood. Will add lift supports to assist in lifting and hold the hood open. Still need to finish the hood pins which will happen in a couple weeks after I get back from Baja, and swap the transmission in my Toyota matrix that lost 5th gear in the trans.

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Back after 10 day Baja adventure, supposed to be mild dirt roads on way back, but hurricane washed roads away so went rock, boulder, crawling up a wash to get to next town and highway. Awesome trip but back mounting hood pins today in this thing. Progress was going good until I forgot to move a couple moving blankets protecting everything under the hood which caught on fire. Melted a couple vacuum hoses and one intercooler water hose, luckily no other damage besides black on aluminum and stainless v bands. Blasted with fire extinguisher which made a big mess. So took it all apart to clean, inspect and replace what's damaged.

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Got fire damage all cleaned up and a couple smaller vacuum hoses replaced. Mocked up the lift supports for the hood and the style of hinges not having a single pivot point allows the struts to push the hood forward and up at the firewall not allowing them to work properly. Having 2 pivot points at the firewall and on the hood allows it to move too much since it doesn't have a single pivot point like factory hinges are. So ditched the lift supports and gonna mount a hood prop I made for my old Tacoma that I still have.

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No real photo worthy updates but still plugging away. Getting steering on and actually redoing tie rods with new swingers to get them with less bend is the current project. Installed some gold heat reflective tape on firewall. Also ditched idea of muffler under cab and gonna use turbo as muffler and shoot exhaust tip out fender between wheel and door. Doing some house maintenance work before Thanksgiving then going out camping with the family and friends for the annual trip. Should be around 50 people this year and 35 for Thanksgiving dinner in the desert.

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The steering wasn't cooperating with the large bends and angle of the out tie rod bolt causing heim mis spacers to max out when having tie rod oriented correctly. So I decided I needed to redo the steering swingers and tie rods. Flipped the orientation of the tie rods putting passenger tie rod Infront of driver tie rod. Doing this I made new swingers to offset the tie rod position. I still don't like both tie rods having a bend in them, so I may have some fabricated knuckles designed on CAD so I can machine those parts then build new steering tabs longer so I can get straight tie rods.
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Are you concerned about the longer tabs on the knuckles slowing down your steering? Depending how far you lengthen them, your box might not have enough travel to hit steering lock.
 
Ok so redid the steering and made driver tie rod closer to beams and pass tie rod in front. Same angles for bends now and closer to the ends to less likely they will bend when driving this thing. Got them all painted and reassembled. Waiting on the delrin bushings I got to machine and install on swingers then will final torque everything and position tie rods so clear everything as it cycles. Also will tack the jam nuts good so they don't flop at all. Also finish welding the hood structure and painted that as well as hood hinge firewall tabs as well
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Welded bung on I take tube to install my iat sensor. Installed throttle cable and then put the intake tube from Intercooler to TB back on. I hope for the last time but I know that's not the case. Also the gas and brake pedal locations and orientation look strange but they're comfortable when sitting and jumping from gas to brake.

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Started making a sheet metal dash for the truck. Need to fabricate the glove box and removable face panels to access wiring, AC hoses and wiper stuff. Has intellitronix 6 gauge panel along with a Trans Temp, oil temp and boost gauges next to that. Also will have a 10" tablet for my GPS and restomod AC controls, rugged radio and intercom. I used some thin sheet metal and on the top edge used some 1/4" round stock and tacked that on with a 1" wide lip on bottom edge so the gauges and everything will recessed in about 1" behind the top lip. I will me covering and spray adhesive the dash with some vinyl to give it a good finish. I left a 1/4" gap around the windshield tubes so the vinyl will get wrapped in and under the dash to keep it all in place good.

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Got passenger panel trimmed and couple small tacks to hold it in place. Got glove box door hinges tacked in place and working good as well. Will cut aluminum panel for the door. Got center console main frame tacked together. This will have holes cut for shifter and center console storage box as well. Between that on passenger side I will build a removable piece that will cover the restomod AC evaporator and motor to finish that area up nicely. Driver side I will do the same around the t case shifters as well.

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Finally got some of the more tedious projects that don't show that you did anything and getting to put together this dash that I've had planned in my head for years now. Excited to get this thing together and upholstered so it's a finished dash
 
Dude, I know how it goes. It's a long ass process that feels like torture sometimes, but when you have a vision you just have to chase it. Yours is coming out rad.
 
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