Any particular areas you want to see or know about, I'm happy to take pictures of. Just been doing some of the small fiddly stuff lately as money has been a little tight. Got some seats mounted, looking at seat belt mounting points, mostly trying to finalise stuff in the cabin so i can pull the cab and finish and paint it inside/underneath. The outside will remain as it is with its natural California suntan. Patina is such a overused word these days…….
I'm particularly interested in the model of the undercarriage you used as a i thought a light truck such as an Izuzu or Canter would be ideal. I would probably like to use the stock diesel motor like you intended, as like you i am after a daily driver not a show car and i'm interested in fuel economy.
My ch***is is a 1983 Isuzu SBR. I chose it because its pretty darn close to identical to my original COE ch***is dimension wise and in its suspension configuration. Basically what i have done is little more than an engine swap and fitting the Ford cab and sheet metal directly to the new ch***is without using the Ford body mount subframe. That gets the stance nice and low without changing the suspension. I will be removing some springs front and rear to help soften the ride and fitting airbags on the rear on the odd occasion i do want to carry something on the back, like my daughters A roadster. Even the BIG drum brakes will be more than adequate given the now much lighter overall weight, and no changing scrub radius etc with a brake swap. Going for alloy rims to help reduce unsprung weight. I have had the first engineers inspection and he is happy with everything thus far, and can understand where I'm going with it. Of course it has to meet the ADRs ( Australian design rules, for you American guys) for 83, so heater demister, two speed wipers, seat belts etc etc but most would do that anyway. I hope that helps, and pm me if you like for my phone no. Im in the Byron Bay area, so not even that far from you. cheers John
Thanks John, great information. That's a much bigger truck than i was hoping to get. I'd need something around the F250 size or smaller to fit in my drive. I will Pm and a trip to have a look and meet up may be on the cards in the spring.
I'm not sure what an F-250 looks like where you live, but here it is a pretty good compare to a short wheelbase Isuzu NPR. The major difference is the Isuzu has duals. How hard would it be to match the F-250s wheelbase by sliding the rear suspension ahead and re-bolting it, whacking off the extra frame and converting to single wheels if you want to get away from the duals.
An F100/F250 9 inch is exactly what will live in the rear of mine in due course. I really don't need nor want the HUGE isuzu diff with its ultra low ratio, the 9 inch will be ample strong enough and give me the ability to change ratios.
Just a small update, been plugging away at some of the fiddly stuff like the shifter linkage from the steering column to the auto trans. Bought some new 17.5 inch alloy wheels and had some Michelin radials fitted, can't believe the weight difference compared to the stock steel wheels. Made the seat mounts for the E46 BMW buckets so now my wife has started in on the upholstery, all in red leather. ill post some pics when they are done.
Wow, it's looking really good! Curious, how are you going to mate that style wheel to the 9" rear end lug pattern?
The rear wheels won't be seen under the one piece rear fenders, so they will be plain old steel wheels. I now have the 9" rear end so going to fit that in the next couple of weeks. I actually feel like I'm making some real progress lately...
Hey buddy,nice work,was there any probs in relation to the s/columb position to the s/box,did it mate up ok?Same with pedal ***embly,any issues,thanks Gaz!
Hi Gaz, i had to use a double D uni on the bottom of the column and a little machining on whats left of the Isuzu shaft from the steering box, but it wasn't anything to difficult. The front of my ch***is has had some length lopped off to accommodate the short nose, which meant moving the steering box back a little but if anything the geometry for the pitman arm is now more theoretically correct than before. Its all pulled apart right now, otherwise id put some pics up for you. As for the pedal ***embly, I'm using a single Wilwood hanging pedal, its a nice piece and fits easily. I guess like most COEs foot room is a little limited but i can live with that. Hey, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it…… Actually finished welding up the dash over the weekend so i will be able to weld it into the cab soon….feels good to be making some tangible progress cheers john
got a little more done, some of the niggling little things that always take longer than you think….like fixing one of the running boards. Also a quick pic of one of the finished seats, although without the plastics refitted. Looks kinda orange but its red, really red.
9 inch rearend finally in place with the lower bag mounts in place. I will wait till I've got some weight on the rear suspension before putting the upper bag mounts in place. The bags are for the odd occasion when i might carry something on the back. Shock mounts also to come. Now i can get on with sorting out the tailshaft, handbrake cables, brake lines etc etc
i thought it might be time for an update, its been quite awhile. Moved house just before Christmas, so relocating and all the ***ociated reorganising can really **** up some time…. But, i have been plugging away at my COE and making some progress. Ive now got most of the ECU gear together, having purchased a MS3Pro standalone setup, a o2 wideband controller etc etc…. Not very HAMB friendly i know, so enough about that…….. I am in the process of building a rolling body cart so i can pluck the cab off the frame and totally finish the ch***is (frame) including all of the brake and fuel lines, fuel tank, exhaust system, two piece tails haft etc etc, Then finish a few minor things on the cab and paint the underside and firewall. Hopefully the cab can then go on for the last time. Ill try and get a few pics up in the next couple of days. i could use a little insight into rear shock selection, i know this might sound a little strange but i don't want it to ride like… a truck
can someone give me a tip on how to post pics.. been awhile since I've done it and i don't know what I'm doing wrong but i can't seem to do it
i finally figured it out… a picture of the body dolly and a couple of the pedal box ***embly i made to go between the firewall and dash rail. It will also be where the upper column mount will locate. Breakaway mounts are a mandatory requirement for full registration
heres a couple shots of the brake pedal i made, i wanted the holes theme but not going right thru. this is what i came up with.
finally finished some of the fiddly time consuming jobs, like the wiper motor mounting and setup, windshield demister ducts, mounting the a/c and heater unit, providing some mounting points for wiring etc, and other stuff i can't even remember right now. ill try to get some pictures up
just seeing if I can still post cos I haven't been able to for some reason, kept telling me my user name was invalid...
wow, it worked. in that case... I'm still working away on my 49, I'm currently building the exhaust system up to the turbos and trying to sort out the charge pipes to the intercoolers. Ive also finished the booster and master cylinder setup and most of the. hardlines next will be the radiator mounts. All the power windows are sorted and so it goes on and on.....
they are Mesh brand wheels from Topline in Melbourne. Designed and made in Melbourne and pretty cheap too. Im hoping to design and cast my own hubcaps for them, I think casting would be a great skill to learn and a great way to have my own personal touch on things, not that there isn't enough of that already. lol
thats strange, I can see them all. some weird stuff going on with this site sometimes. I couldn't post at all for a long time, then suddenly I could. go figure........
Still seeing pics here... And by the way, lexcoe and verde742, y'all's avatars are humorously similar. As I scrolled thru this last page of the thread, there was a spot in the middle where my weak mind was swimming for who said what?
The Jalopy Journal
