W350 Crew Cab - The ultimate first gen - Pics and history

[RSchwarzli]

The next step was add a few hours of painting and masking, add some gauges, and this is the result! The tach was specially done by Autometer. If you know their Phantom line, you will notice the 5" diesel tach is not available!



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And as you cannot have a crummy dash, all holes were puttied and then masked. Next stop: paint with ALL of the interior trim including door panels!



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[RSchwarzli]

While the interior is at paint, I started on the individual shifters for the NP205. I will have it set up for 2wd low as well as normal 4wd.



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Also started on my Reese 24K lbs 5th wheel hitch. it is a hidden one with all rails under the bed.



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Interior also making progress.



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[KLauber]

A man and his toy and a few dollars... . priceless! Its a beautiful truck your building!

Ken

 

[HHhuntitall]

My God!! You must have one long winter... . I'd never get that much done on mine. I just want to hear mine run again.....

 

[wrk2mtch]

I've never been so jealous in all my life and you're not even done yet! Keep the pictures coming because I think we're all dying to see how she turns out.

 

[Shadrach]

Robert In post # 55 the Horton fan is plastic. The one I was going to use ( still have it-and lots of other 97 engine parts ) for my crew project is metal as were all the ones I've seen in the past. Was that one made by someone else? When I was planning my crew project people commented that for all the money I was going to spend I could have bought a new (er) one and that I would still have and old truck. My reply was yes I will still have an old truck Shadrach

 

[RSchwarzli]

Just an amazing thread. Thanks

Thank you.

A man and his

Very true! :-laf

My God!! You must have one long winter... . I'd never get that much done on mine. I just want to hear mine run again.....

Not winter. WINTERS. 5 of them to be exact!



Truth be told, the first 2 years I really stuck it out. I spent every spare minute for those first two years. So much so I did not attend events with family and friends.



Then getting into year three, I came to realize it was not going to be finished overnight and I should stop putting life on hold. From then on it was still steady, but I would stop and enjoy summer evenings and events, not just live in the garage like I did the first two.

I've never been so jealous in all my life and you're not even done yet! Keep the pictures coming because I think we're all dying to see how she turns out.

:-laf



Sorry to hear that I did that to you! I have MANY more pics. Like hundreds more. I still have two years worth to upload!

Robert In post # 55 the Horton fan is plastic. The one I was going to use ( still have it-and lots of other 97 engine parts ) for my crew project is metal as were all the ones I've seen in the past. Was that one made by someone else? When I was planning my crew project people commented that for all the money I was going to spend I could have bought a new (er) one and that I would still have and old truck. My reply was yes I will still have and old truck Shadrach

The fan: Yes, it is someone else. Horton no longer makes the Ram kit so I had to get creative. Turbo Auto Diesel in PHX Arizona makes a kit and this is the fan they use. They said they did not like the Horton fan as it did not move enough air for Phoenix summers whiule towing. They then made this blade. I thought if it is good enough for AZ... .



As for the money, umm yeah. My recommendation is for anyone thinking of doing this, dont. TYhis is a money pit. One that when you are half way through, you cannot stop unfortunetally. ALOT of monny has gone here. A new truck could have been possible. But, remember the opening post in this thread? I said I was going to "fix" the trans. That was ALL I was going to do. Not so bad then. It wasnt until I went as far as I did that things got out of hand. I never intended to do a resto. You always put more into a resto than what market value of a vehicle is - unless it is a HemiCuda, Superbird, etc. I purposely didnt buy a Road Runner a few years before this truck for that very reason.



On the other hand, I cant put a price on what I have learnt. Some go to collage/university to learn these skills and pay $20-50,000. I did not take mechanic courses in University so I see this as the courses I could have taken. I cant even describe how much I have learnt through this all and continue to learn.



Oh, and I will have the only truck out there like this when I am done and it will out haul anything that is out there! Oo.

 

[RSchwarzli]

A few random pics:



Each vent hand painted by yours truely!



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Rebuilt fan



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Auto leveling valve for rear airride. Add more weight, it lifts back up!



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I had to lower my tank a second time. Did not like it rubbing on my frame support I welded in all the way down the frame:



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Back in.



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Stack hole and cut out in the side of the bed for the RV shower head that connects to the 5 gal water tank with RV pump.



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Stock tank after repaint.



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Better shot of the 5th wheel hitch.



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[RSchwarzli]

This is the turning point in the project. Little did I know what was taking place. This is the mounting of the Power, heated, lighted, west coast mirrors:



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After bolting them on, I noticed this:



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And a good close up.



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Yes, that is actually the paint that cracked open. This happened Jan 2009. After many many months, a rep from Sikkens came to the house and looked at it. Said it was faulty primer on the entire truck. Said they had a bad batch around the time my truck was painted. It lacked the bonding agent in the correct amount. That being the case, my truck would likely need to be stripped back to bare metal and started over. It took from Jan till May for the decision on Sikken's end to be made. In Sept 2009 I got word. It needed to be stripped and they were finally ready for it. And as I did not want a half job, I would have to strip all the parts I had installed off the truck again. It was a blow to my enthusiasm like no other. I already knew this was the answer in May, but could not bring myself to touch the truck until October. I was crushed, frusterated, and plain pi@#ed off. Still to date, I do not have the same enthusiasm back that I had prior to.



I delivered all of the parts to the painter again in October 2009. I had no idea the painter and Sikkens would play games with me all winter. I did not see the repainted truck back until May 2010. I had lost a year through all of this. In the end, they did not even do the entire truck. Sikkens decided it did not need an entire repaint, so they did the sections they thought needed it and just sanded the rest down to allow a respray.





More pics to follow.....

 

[HHhuntitall]

I delivered all of the parts to the painter again in October 2009. I had no idea the painter and Sikkens would play games with me all winter. I did not see the repainted truck back until May 2010. I had lost a year through all of this. In the end, they did not even do the entire truck. Sikkens decided it did not need an entire repaint, so they did the sections they thought needed it and just sanded the rest down to allow a respray.

More pics to follow.....

Aaaaahhhhh!!!! #@$%! Hell, no!! I had that happen on a '92 F-350 I put the engine out my '96 I wrecked in!! They added too much hardener, and when you hit it, not even very hard, it flys off like glass!! I got some in my eye one day!! I got so dang mad I sold it to my dad, and he's never finished it. He uses it as a service rig for the ranch farming, and you can imagine what it looks like after being in the pastures and county roads!! The painter wouldn't fix it, said it wasn't his fault, and short of suing him, I had no recourse on it. I could've fixed it for what it would have cost to sue him... . :{



On another note, you probably didn't see it, as so many people have commented, but I asked what you had for air delivery. You got an electric-start Briggs in the back, with triplet pumps?

 

[RSchwarzli]

Lol. Yeah. Painters can suck. I give credit to the guy for redoing it, and to Sikkens for standing behind their product, just not happy it had to go there. Too much hardener was one of thr suspicions from Sikkens warranty dept. Even though their engineer thought different.

As for the compressor, I am sorry! Lol. I did read that and you are right, I never responded! For air, I have a 4bt under the bed!

 

[HHhuntitall]

Lol. Yeah. Painters can suck. I give credit to the guy for redoing it, and to Sikkens for standing behind their product, just not happy it had to go there. Too much hardener was one of thr suspicions from Sikkens warranty dept. Even though their engineer thought different.



As for the compressor, I am sorry! Lol. I did read that and you are right, I never responded! For air, I have a 4bt under the bed!

LOL, I'll take that as that you don't know yet!! :-laf



Yeah, the painter is an older fellow; he used to paint all my hotrods and race cars. He did an excellent job, himself, but he's got health problems from not wearing a mask, apparently, and so now he has to let his employees do the work, and that's where the problem lies, I'm sure. I've got another friend that used to work for the local Ford dealer, and I've given him some repair work as a test. He seems to be worthy of my next little project. Albeit, mine's not near as labor invested as yours, and is still going on 7 years..... The engine is in it, it just needs a pick up assembly in the tank it appears, now. I really need to get it out of there, as the shop space is desperately needed for other projects!!



So where are the other pics you mentioned?!?!

 

[AClayton]

I must be a complete Nerd! I anxiously await for every picture and comment on this post





I wish I had the time to do a truck resto on my 01'. The body on mine is showing signs of rust under the doors and in the rockers.



Very good work!!!







Alan

 

[RSchwarzli]

LOL, I'll take that as that you don't know yet!! :-laf



Yeah, the painter is an older fellow; he used to paint all my hotrods and race cars. He did an excellent job, himself, but he's got health problems from not wearing a mask, apparently, and so now he has to let his employees do the work, and that's where the problem lies, I'm sure. I've got another friend that used to work for the local Ford dealer, and I've given him some repair work as a test. He seems to be worthy of my next little project. Albeit, mine's not near as labor invested as yours, and is still going on 7 years..... The engine is in it, it just needs a pick up assembly in the tank it appears, now. I really need to get it out of there, as the shop space is desperately needed for other projects!!



So where are the other pics you mentioned?!?!

Same situation on my painter. The father is very good, but health issues from breathing stuff in..... younger hired guys that dont work out. He rotated more guys through there in the time I had my truck there... .



Compressor: I have one. Will see if I have pics of it. It is a beefy one from Kelderman. Dont remember the specs though. I would love to do a motor mounted one but it seems not alot of those are available anymore.



Pics are coming! Keep your pants on! :-laf It is a problem. The site only allows one photo at a time to be uploaded. Believe it or not there is like 200 pics on this thread already! At about 1 min per upload, plus posting time..... :-laf

I must be a complete Nerd! I anxiously await for every picture and comment on this post











Alan

Alan, I will try not to disappoint!

 

[Harlacher]

I don't know if nerd is the right word, I am so jealous... ... . When this is done I swear I am driving to the first show it goes to. I just have to see it in real life.

 

[morbius]

I find this thread very interesting and great, the work done is great. However, I have one question ..... Why did you not dry fit all the parts and make all the cuts/holes before painting ? All those cut edges will be prone to rust.

 

[RSchwarzli]

I don't know if nerd is the right word, I am so jealous... ... . When this is done I swear I am driving to the first show it goes to. I just have to see it in real life.

Then I look forward to meeting you!



:-laf

I find this thread very interesting and great, the work done is great. However, I have one question ..... Why did you not dry fit all the parts and make all the cuts/holes before painting ? All those cut edges will be prone to rust.

Well, see it goes like this. When it was first painted, it was only 2 years ito the project. At that point, I was not even changing turbos. Was going to keep it around 300 HP. But over time, the "I could also do" bug got into me. It grows. That is part of the reason this has taken so long. It is like a snowball going down a mountain, no, down a cliff! A dry run would be good, but again, was never planning on doing all this.



As for the edges, I am assuming you are referring to things like the rad core support? If so, no worries. I am a perfectionist and I do not do half jobs. The rad core was actualy pulled and repainted prior to knowing the whole truck was going to need it. There is no more bare edges to worry about. All fresh paint.

 

[DVolk]

What was the commit about the SBC Master cylender pleaase clarify that

 

[RSchwarzli]

I have installed in the truck the original 1993 clutch hydraulics setup. That worked when all I was running was a Con O. I was only planning 700 ft/lbs.



THEN I added the second spinny thingy. That put me waaaay over that clutch. So I went with a dual disk steet clutch. That is in there now. My concern is due to the increased plate load of the clutch, the factory setup wont have the guts in the long run, and as I do not want failure when it most inconvenient.....



Does that help?

 

[therabbittree]

Very nice build!... I fully appreciate all that time and effort!! I too have been swamped with several big projects. My Excursion cummins project is dragging almost 3 years now. I have been repairing some things on a '96 Mack RD688 Triaxle dump truck. . 1 month project is almost hitting 5 months on that argh. .

Keep documenting it with pictures and post them on the thread. Its really nice to document it to help yourself and others later.

Enjoy!

Thanks,

Deo