Is it possible to do a $0 2F--3B swap in a 40? Follow along and see! (1 Viewer)

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Well thanks to @moosecruiser for the mudship, y mil gracias a mi nuevo amigo @dr_dobro my new rear frame section is here!

Wow! What a difference in metal thickness! My old shackle mounting gussets and corner frames were paper thin (or less!) compared to this! (And sooo nice to be back to OEM tail light shape!)

Getting closer!

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Well once again slow, but moving in the right direction. Unfortunately had to travel for work over the past weekend so I lost out on some build time, but I got a little in yesterday and this evening.

New goodies arrived;
-Box of bits from Cruiser Corps
-Chassis saver paint and thinner
-brand spankin new frame sections for the last ~12" of frame.

Still not diesel swap related, but working on healing the extraction scars of my new rear frame section. Going good- almost done repairing the holes. Re-welded the attached shackle mount sides and one rivet head. Just a few more holes to patch, and one shackle hanger to install then I'll be ready to fit this puppy to the new frame sections, then chop the old ends off and weld the new on! Getting close to painting time!

One shot of some close ups:

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And a few other areas....

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And I do have to say, this weld came out looking rather factory...

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All for now! (Soon back to actual swap related stuff I promise!)
 
CHOPPED!

Finally got the time (and balls) to make the cut....

Cut some wood blocks to hold the suspension in place while the rear end is cut off...

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Ground the surface rust off, measured 27 times or so, then marked the cut with a wax pencil and a square. I put the replacement part over top a few times to be sure everything lines up. FYI, on my parts, the cut is 1-1/2" forward of the center of the rivet.

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Made the cuts on the top and side of the frame with a grinder with a cut off wheel. Did the bottom of the frame with a sawzall, faster and easy to line the cut up by looking down through the top cut.

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Off with the old, ready for the new!! (And time to clean the shop!!)

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Yeah, I was a little surprised that the replacement part was a square cut. I plan on lapping another plate over the side after I have welded this on, and technically the weld (when done properly) should be stronger than the material beside it.

Considering the fact that this whole rear end will be 100 times stronger than the perforated rusty mess that was on there before, I'm happy!
 
Welded back together! Just have to do the overhead welds on the bottom of the frame, and the underside of the top. Then add my doubler plate and gusset/aux tank mount... Happy with how it has come out so far...

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Well, I was hoping to get some time in tonight actually getting somewhere... But unfortunately my 60 had other plans for me, as it had started marking its territory....

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15 gallons of diesel later (thankfully the backhoe was almost empty) the buckets stopped filling. Unfortunately about the time the fuel ran out, so did the time. Cleaned up, and at least it's ready to go for next time.

Soundtrack for tonight, a great Hometown band - Headstones - Unsound -which was cranked...
 
PROGRESS!!!

Finally got everything lined up, disconnected and yanked it apart!

My friend Paul came over with perfect timing just as I was starting the extraction.

Worked nicely, lowered the back end of the tranny on a floor jack after lifting the engine a little with the cherry picker. Didn't have to take off the starter or oil filter, just the exhaust down pipe after the turbo. Though it hangs on quite an angle it is nicely balanced!

Each time we lifted a little, or lowered the rear a little, we rolled the truck back. Got 90% of the way out without moving the cherry picker. (Ran out of space behind the truck!)

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Needs about 10 pressure washing/degreasing rounds, but it's under there!

Not sure if anyone else out there drinks Jones Soda, but I got this under my cap a few days ago...

(Sorry for the blurry photo, "Many ideals are becoming real")

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Well, 5 applications of castrol superclean and brush, and hot water pressure washing, the greasy old 3B is getting closer to clean!

Before and current (not done yet!)

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A little more on the 40 frame tonight - got the battery tray, running board mounts, fuel lines and the rest of the heat shields off. Hoping to do a final degrease and wire brush tomorrow, then start with the chassis saver paint a few evenings next week.

Need to clean the shop! Stuff everywhere!

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Got the old engine and tranny mounts off the frame. Ground the rivet heads flush, then hammer and punch to get them out the rest of the way. Couldnt resist a test fit, but I couldn't get it far enough back without pulling the bumper off.... And ran out of time.

A lot less room between the frame rails on a 40! It's going to be a tight squeeze!

Anyone know any of the dimensions from the front for the mounting brackets? Plan is to line up the shifters with the body, but some guidelines would be handy! (Width is ok as it's set by the mounts I got from Awl_Teq)

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Started working on fitting the trans cross member tonight, seems to be lined up.... Still need to massage the actual crossmember to the brackets. Anyone have some measurements to a fixed point side to side (not that anyone views this thread but me), or am I good so long as the output flanges are in line? (They are as it sits now)

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I stalk this thread so you're not alone, but with no professional education on this I'm just guessing but surely the uni joints on the tail shaft will not be too worried as that's what they are for, to work on angles, so if it's close it should be good enough? I'd be happy with it, but again it's just a guess but to me the pic looks fine
 
Looking good ... You have any info on the turbo up... Can't wait it see it done


Were do you need measurements from/to ?
 
Haha, good to know there are other people alive out there...

Tonka8110 yes, but they are generally designed to run either with parallel flanges, or "broken back" in one direction. Work in others just don't live as long. I'm not so concerned with that as getting the shifter to come up in the right place, but I think I'm pretty close, as my template seems to be close.

Kling-on - would be great if you could get me a measurement of the length of the passenger side engine mount (on the engine block). I think mine is too long...

I found the measurements I took of the old shafts, before I yanked the 2F out and my string line matches up with where the output flanges were so I think I'm OK.

I temporarily mounted the trans cross member mounts with some lag screws to see where things landed. So far seems OK but I might shift things back about 1/4" more, would give a little more clearance for my transfer case shifter (according to the cardboard body template I made)

For now at least, it's resting on the tranny cross member and the drivers side engine mount is clamped in place. Pretty sure the steering and starter are going to have an argument when I put the drivers side mount in place - it needs to go up about 2" to fit, and the space by the starter is minimal already. (I was half expecting this but hoping it wouldn't be an issue)

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Oh, and the turbo is an eBay CT26, mated with a forklift manifold found here on Mud... I'll try to dig up some info on what I used when I set it up, works great, I only run about 8PSI and ran an intercooler (AKA grenaded turbo part catcher). I'm sure I did a write up when I put it in, but can't find it...
 
So happy this exists, just picked up an 84 with a few miles on it for this exact swap. Is body removal necessary to complete this? What's the e-brake plan? I'm near Edmonton, you?
 

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