The Truck Project Thread

Don't laugh but what's that?

 

You went all in, I see. Wow. You putting a stretch on the frame; Is that what I see there?
And 1980 isn't that old, either. Good luck with her, you got more ambition than me.

Guy I met has a Tractor in a garage near Scranton. Pa. that has the longest hood I ever saw.
Split, swept back windshield similar to what you got going on there. Won't part with it.
Should have written down what it was; I got CRS, (can't remember ****)
It was a work of art. The word "Magnificent" comes to mind.

 

My dads B42 Mack has been torn down in my shop for 8 yrs. guess I'm gonna have to finish it.

 

I guess this is a good a place as any to post my little hobby gone wild then.

I bought a 1978 A model KW about a month ago now, to replace my wrecked 2000 B. Fully accepting the fact that in order to make this a daily driver it's gonna take some work, mods, and restorations of certain things. First on the agenda was to take the 36" bunk off and put a 60" on (and yes, I know that's 100% opposite of what this day and age's "truckers" do, but shoot me...I like to stand up and put my pants on.) Storage for clothes, paperwork, living essentials, tools and whatever plays a big role in how I deal with staying in a truck vs. being miserable and wishing I had more room. In the past I've dealt with 36" and 48" flat tops and after a week I was all done. Maybe it's because I'm so old school and carry almost every tool I'd need at some point to fix anything that came up as long as I can get the parts...I don't know. But storage is a beautiful thing.

So, I located a 60" Aerodyne II bunk actually before I bought the truck (bought that the day before, lol.) Hauled that home and brought to the shop I'm working in. Next day I got the truck home and it sat for a week, then I got the plan together.

Removed the 36" bunk and sold it. Always nice to replenish some of the money spent on parts. Ripped the fuel tanks off and relocated them as needed. Put a step/storage box under passenger side door in place of one tank, put two tanks on passenger side and my custom-built by Alumitank 70/50 hydraulic & fuel tank on the drivers side. That way the hydro lines to and from the pump and tank are all nice, short runs.

I decided to replace every single air line while the floorboards were out, so I dove into that. I will say this; I would rather shove bamboo slivers up underneath all my fingernails than to ever do this again. I am inside the dash behind the speedo and switches, replacing lines to the brake valves and all...and being I didn't want to totally remove the panels and disconnect everything I just have them hanging on bungees so I can get in there. Not a nice friendly place to be...it's not friendly at all.

Lesson learned, I should have removed the hinged panels and went all the way, but I am also dealing with a time budget as well as a monetary one, so I am always trying to save a step or two without compromising quality. So far, I have been at this line replacement job on and off, for about 2 weeks between removing them, rerouting and running to get fittings that I keep finding I need that I didn't have. I will celebrate the line replacement job just like a New Orleans style Mardi Gras when I attach the final line behind that dashboard. It's been arduous to say the least.

I have the owner of the shop I'm in working along with me doing all of the other things to do on the list, such as replacing the rear torque rods to the back diff housing that were shot. I bought the two piece weldable ones and we put them in. New maxi cans and slack adjusters. all new low pressure air hoses to the cans. 5th wheel plate is new. Mounted PTO/Pump under the transmission. Reconfigured the exhaust, added a short little muffler to tone it down a bit with straight pipes.

My carpenter buddy is inside the sleeper, re-doing part of the interior. Mice infested it and ruined everything from the side doors forward, soaking it with urine and whatever else they imported. Removed the heater/a/c unit under the bunk and opened that up for storage area. Making it so the mattress will flip up on a hinged piece of plywood like the Freightliners have, so I can gain that storage area access.

I purchased the Peterbilt Unibilt rings and rubber boot and we are at that stage of pondering that whole process. I am looking at this and thinking that it might behoove me to shrink the height of this frame (rings) by about 6", to make it more tolerable in terms of being able to fasten it to the back of this cab. They mount to the interior surface, and we have a structural aluminum U channel down on the interior bottom, about 3" below that rivet line pictured that is "ground zero" for the ring frame. If I cut and shrink the rings 6" in height, this will be a lot more pleasant to install I think, and eliminates the need of cutting so much of the fiberglass roof cap too. Any input on this, you guys that do this or have done this in the past/present/future? I'm open to suggestions, not a know-it-all....

If I do indeed take 6" of height out of the rings, then I have to re-seam the rubber boot. That's another engineering hurdle. I am bringing it to my tire shop tomorrow morning to let him look at it, and see if the retread shop is able to vulcanize it back to one solid piece again if possible.

So the critical stage we're at right now is this Unibilt ring install. I'm looking for anyone here that's done this, that has
cut the big hole in the back of their cab and installed these rings and boots. I'd also love to get a visual on the ring mounted, and how the boot attaches to the ring itself once in place. I'm having a hard time visualizing it out on the bench.

Here's the pics of where we're currently at.....v

 

You should find a second cab and make it a four door.