1978 Crew Cab 4x4

[Nordby]

Sorry for the slow updates, been busy parting out the donor.



Just about done with the donor carcass. Still a few parts for sale in classifieds, and stil doing Pay it Forward on the frame and parts still bolted on you see in the photo. It gets cut and crushed on Saturday. Getting it out of the shop was tricky, the hoist would wander a bit and both my brothers bagged me so it was a solo effort...



I then took my JD2030 All Terrain Engine Hoist out and slung the cummins over to an open area to power wash. Sorry, the FRAM is still on it, but I figured the least it could do is keep water from spraying in! Yep, the 2030 is a diesel, 60 horse at the pto, so I should not incur any "bad form" demerits for moving a cummins around with a gasser.



Finally, the head is off, and down at Competition Engines in Coloardo Springs. Getting milled, valve seals, and checked out in general. Hone marks visible in all cylinders, but there is a carbon ridge at the top of each. Do folks sand this out, or leave it? I decided not to put 60lb springs in. I will never put more than a 3GSK in it (for fear of revving on ice etc, or for lending it out, rare, but I want the option). Also, no e-brake for me as well, it will only do light/medium towing a few times a year.



Head going back on this weekend, and I get to start fitting it! Jon.

 

[Nordby]

Good progress on the fun stuff this weekend: Lots of new gaskets in, lots of cleaning and painting of parts to go back on.



- head is back on, rebuilt, new gasket, etc. One bolt, numbered in the 20's in sequence order, the closest short one to the back of the engine, is not passing the 120lb test the manual refers to after adding a 90 degree rotation to it (torqued at 99 ft/lbs). Probably replace that one. All bolts did measure fine for stretch.



- pulled the cam, resealed the gear housing, put it back, killed the kdp with a tab. It was 1/16, maybe 2/16 out, and not real loose, but tapped into the case a bit. Threadlocked and Retorqued all gear housing bolts, now they were loose, less than half the 18ft/lbs they should have been.



- replaced and resealed the tappet cover. Found one on ebay for $25 + $10 to ship. Mine had the insulation cracking and coming off.



-re-installed the p7100, and power steering, after a major cleaning. Covered in goop.



- cleaned, painted, and re-installed the gear cover. These forums are invaluable for the tricks to get that front seal correct - I'm pretty sure that is in correctly too. Used the new factory gasket, with permatex on the cover side.



- cleaned, painted, replaced the oil pan with a new gasket.



Clutch is in the mail.



The fitting of this into the old Ford can begin soon!



That's the update. My arms are sure tired after the torque drill on that head, wow!



later, jon.

 

[JGrunder]

Looks like every thing is going well. My only complaint about mine is that I wish I had a tilt front. Would make changing fuel filters and other various task much easier. Something to think about if you not too far along.

 

[Nordby]

Great idea. Are these difficult to install/setup? Does someone sell a kit, or are these a roll-your-own deal typically.



Sorry folks for the lack of updates. Some progress, but not directly on the truck itself. Bought a flatbed (I have more sorry borrowed flatbed stories and couldn't stand it any more) and got rid of the 1997 Donor vehicle, very well stripped out. The second that carcass left the property, I picked up a 1973 F350 Crew longbed 2wd that I've had my eye on since june. The cab is perfect. Door posts and cab corners hold magnets. For $600 I decided it was cheap insurance for all those rear-door and crew cab specific parts I am gonna run into.



I'm still selling some of the bigger parts to help cover my costs as I determine I don't need them and have time, but the best part of this donor was the sheer amount of Pay-it-Forward stuff that found a home with tdr members. Springs/overloads, switches, battery trays, seat belt parts, old steering gear, wires, knobs, relays, and still trying to get the dash to georgia if anyone has ideas! Met folks in email and in person from my hometown, the northeast, missouri, northern colorado, montana, utah, california..... It was great and worth the time to pack and ship this stuff.



If my wife would quit winning horse shows, I'd be home on more weekends/evenings. She won the Rookie all-around in reigning for Rocky Mountain Affiliate this year, took 2nd in the Affiliate finals in Salt Lake, and now we are heading to Nationals in OK City. It's been the greatest, but sure puts a dent in the truck time. Staining the house/replacing windows might have something to do with it to!



Back to business, I'm putting injectors back in, exhaust manifold, intake, and doing the rear main in preparation for fitting this sucker in.



Later, jon.

 

[JGrunder]

I dont know of any kits availible but Ive found some good info on the web. I dont know what kind of shape you front clip is in but US body sells a pre cut fiberglass tilt front kit but it is kinda expensive. I plan on making mine a tilt front when I get around to redoing the body. Let me know if your interested and I can share what Ive found so far.

Justin

 

[Nordby]

Front clip is in really nice shape, plus I have a spare available if I need off a 1979 F350. Justin, you have me thinking though, perhaps I'll at least make it quick-release with pins like the race cars. It is currently off the truck, sandblasted, and painted chassis black, with fenders and grill re-attached.



Let me know what you bump into, I'll do the same!

jon

 

[SLinse]

great looking project Nordby! I can't wait!! I've be for been searching searching for and extended cab 4X4 to start mine. I already have the CTD donor truck. I was realy thinking about a tilt hood myself. Any thoughts and ideas would be great.

 

[Nordby]

I'm an old ford supercab nut too! though I don't own any at the moment. I'll post what I end up doing - though I am more focused on the engine/nv4500/np241hd piece of the project at the moment...



jon

 

[rbertalan]

Wow, what a coincidence!



I also have a '78 Crewcab 4x4 that has been transplanted with a Cummins - 1992.



Feel free to ask any questions. .



Like you said... these guys are absolutely awesome!

They have been very helpful to me... thank you!



I am still playing with suspension clearances so I can really go 4-wheeling.



... Robert...

 

[Nordby]

Hi Robert,

Awesome! Post a pic if ya have one! I've seen a Crew Longbed built by FordCummins.com for sale on their website as well.



Did your firewall need mods to get your engine in so you had adequate radiator clearance on one side and #6 valve cover clearance on the other? What transmission are you using in your 1978 Crew?



Thanks!



Got some parts in the mail friday - cummins did not include the intake to grid-heater gasket in their complete kit (I bought the upper and lower, ~400 worth of gaskets!). Also, they had the washers and banjo's for the injectors in there, but no dust seals. Weird. So, got those and a new water temp sensor to replace the burned up one on there.



Slow but steady.



jon

 

[Scot]

I did not have to do any clearance work on the firewall. A '93 CTD style radaitor almost looks like it was designed for the space.

 

[rbertalan]

Yes,

I took a hammer to the firewall and beat it several times... did I really need

to do this? I question it now. I have a good inch clearance between the fan blades and the radiator.



I put an NV4500 transmission in. As far as I am concerned, there is no reason to own a Cummins WITHOUT a manual transmission! No one will ever appreciate or utilize the true potiential of the Cummins with an automatic transmission. Besides, auto trannys are for sissys! If you cannot shift your own gears then a Cummins is DEFINATELY not for you!



(Can you tell that I really like manual transmissions?)



PM me if you like with your phone #. I will be glad to call you and tell you about all the details of my truck.





... Robert...

 

[Nordby]

Don't count me out guys - just slow progress and lazy updating!



Ready to start fitting this into the frame. In partiuclar, I need to lose the 2" on the front crossmember as Scot and others have shown. I'll add a photo of that if my comes out OK (or bad so you know not to do what I did!).



I cut the cummins a/c bracket off below the water outlet, that helps a bit.



The blue on the firewall is pretty much the truck color I am shooting for. I had to spray a little on the valve covers and the oil pan - sorry cummins guys, there is enough black on that motor and this way I can cleverly disguise it as a 300cu straight 6 that used to come in these.



I have the bell housing on, over a turned flywheel, new Luk pro-gold clutch, in front of a new rear-main. I'm going to fit everything, mark where the bell housing is, then fit the transmission based on the bell housing as a reference point. I've a few things to check with the NV4500 while it is on the ground, like if the flexplate housing will work as the flywheel housing and if the start engages correctly, and the transmission mates up OK since I converted it from an auto. Sure looks right and fits so far, but I need to bolt the transmission on and run the starter (and be careful if it starts - there is a tsp of oil under each injector!).



later folks, jon.

 

[Nordby]

I started a readers rigs gallery so I can add larger photos.



Been absent from updates here - project is still moving along. Just about to really make some huge gains. 5spd NV4500 is in, had to drill the ford transmission crossmember different, make a mount, and adapt the dodge mount in. Turned out pretty well it seems so far.



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Here is the mount installed, engine bolted up, from the rear.



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And here is the engine, and crossmember up front. It is not in mounts yet (crooked due to the hoist), but shows the boxing of that big hunk of metal up front! I'll finish it off once I get the engine towers on the frame and the cummins sitting where it should.



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As time permits, I'll put some of the older pictures in the gallery too, so the size is a bit better.



I have placed adds in the classifieds. Need a yoke for a NP241DLD rear shaft, and some master/slave clutch mechanism parts (the line, pushrod, and pedal cluster if anyone has 'em!).

I also need a lift pump for a 1997 if someone has one!



Thanks, later, jon

 

[EBottema]

Hey Jon-



Where do you live. Looks like a nice pretty place with lots of space



Good luck on the conversion. Why did you pick a 70's ford crew over the dodge version?

 

[Nordby]

Sorry for the slow reply, away from the forum for a bit.



I live just South of Denver, CO, so not too close to Glendale!



The reason I picked a Ford - guess I just really liked the old rare ford crews for so long (10+ years looking for one to buy and semi-restore customize) that I never considered the old dodges. I drive a 1st gen for a daily driver - and didn't really like the dodge body style as much until I owned one. Now I would definitely consider an old dodge for the conversion instead - but too far along with where I am and will have to do that next life!



thanks,

jon

 

[Nordby]

Still at it, slow but sure - Motor mount towers finally done. Driver's side.



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Text repeated from the picture:

I positioned the towers by lining up the plates, drilling them in and bolting to the frame. The actual cradles, cut from the dodge frame, were still loose - I attached those to the engine via the stock mounts, used a hoist, and positioned everything where I wanted. I tacked the cradles into place once the engine was bolted to the transmission and I had my positioning control points cleared: bellhousing on the tunnel, oil pan on the crossmember, and cooling fan on the radiator. NOTE: The factory donuts on the cummins engine sagged about 1/4" - so my measurements were off by that much, and the engine is closer to the crossmember than I'd prefer. If the engine torques into the crossmember, I'll modify the cradles slightly and raise it up 1/4" again.

 

[Nordby]

The installed finished (welded, painted) mounts, grade hardware, bolted to the ford boxed in frame where the old ford mounts were. It was uncanny how 1/4" plate, and using the dodge cradles I sawed and ground out of the dodge frame, spaced correctly into the ford frame. I had to modify the passenger side cradle notch by about 1" towards the frame - see the wider notch cut (closeups in my gallery). Else, it all fit spacing-wise.



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Truly exciting for me - I have the engine in now, front clip on, and am down to the plumbing. Intercooler is going in first (my, that second gen is a bugger to fit, but I think I got it. I'll post that once I figure it - similar to scot's location, but this thing is large... . ). Radiator off to the shop, and plumbing the electric, fuel, and hyrdraulic clutch are in the works...



later, jon

 

["Mad Max"]

... South of Denver???!! Cool, where at? I live on the NE corner of Colo Springs - Peyton.

- Sam

 

[Nordby]

Monument - west of the interstate off Mt Herman road. In TDR terms, we are neighbors. I'd like to see your first gen - I drive a 1992 D250 LE with a few mods, but I bet my paint is peeled way beyond yours!