Builds Moonshine - A Build Thread

[cruisedeisel]

Wow the frame is bent! The bumper is barely bent. Thats sucks, but it could have been alot worse. Hope you get top dollar for it.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

how about something like this.
one of these frames, your cab/engine/drive train sell the left over parts.

White 2004 F550 4WD Service Truck

2000 Ford F550 DRW 7.3 PowerStroke 135k miles SALE or TRADE

Ford f550

or maybe buy just the frame
2007 ford f550

Ford F250 F350 6.0 DIESEL 4x4 PARTS. PARTING OUT F450 f550

easily a weekend project.

this might help with the swap
Lot of (2) Rotary 2-Post Hydraulic Lifts, Fayetteville, NC

I hear you my man. That last parts posting is interesting, they have a late F550 front frame section for sale with the axle. Problem is I don't need another project right now, I just want the truck back to the way it was

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Finished engine bay shot:

First time she's been out of the garage in ~4 months. Feels good to drive her again. Despite not running for that long, batteries held the charge just fine and she turned over in less than one engine revolution as always

Intercooler install was a resounding success!! Drove for a few hours last night. EGTs are down 2-300* across the board. That is despite the cooler ambient temps, as I'd have EGT issues year round. Accelerating on the highway from 50-80 in 4th gear with the throttle on the floor resulted in 1150* EGT max. Insane. Doing that before would have brought me up to 1500* if I wasn't watching. 5th gear accelerating from 60-80 same thing, couldn't get it to break 1200* EGT. I'm a HAPPY camper!!

Max boost is down from ~40psi max to ~30psi max. Doesn't sound like I'm overspeeding the turbo (in case of a boost leak). It seems like I'm hitting the wastegate. Weird, I'd always be able to push past the wastegated pressure before, I guess because I was running that much hotter. Boost comes up to ~28-30psi pretty quick and just stays there. Guess it's time to get out the wastegate regulator and turn up the boost

 

[fourtrax]

If you need an extra hand let me know.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

If you need an extra hand let me know.

Thanks brother

Just got word that the Ford is NOT TOTALED!! Getting a check for $6300 to cover repairs with the contingency that if it costs more than expected, they will adjust the payout.

Going to have the shop repair the frame, then think about a front end conversion with some of the other $$. If I can swing it, I'd love to put 2007 axles under this beast. 10 lug axles instead of 8 and a wider front end for decreased turning radius

 

[fourtrax]

Good to hear glad it's not totaled

 

[cruisedeisel]

Time to put those SX swampers on!!!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Project Mayhem was reassembled after some frame and body work. Updated her to a 2005 front end:

Moonshine got a new plate:

It was finally time to figure out a permanent air filter solution for Moonshine. I had purchased a 05 donor truck for Mayhem and had a spare powerstroke air filter assembly. 6.0 PS is 325hp, so it should be plenty for my little 3.9L. Turns out, it fit perfectly:

Fabricated a strap style clamp mount to hold the air filter in place, with a support going down to a fender bolt, and two small ones going up to the firewall seam:

Needed to produce a new intake horn thing to go from the filter down to the turbo inlet. Started by fabricating this ring out of flat 16 gauge, that sits right over the lip of the air filter:

To explain:

This gave me a base for building the intake horn to the turbo.

Cut open and flattened out some 3" exhaust tubing, since I don't have a full assortment of sheetmetal tools (yet) and got it tacked in place:

Then worked on filling in the gaps:

Now you see:

Welded on the factory Ferd latch up front, then some fingers to fit into the back of the filter cartridge like the OEM ford air intake horn thingy:

Connect the dots with some mandrel bends I had left over from one of the exhaust projects I've done in the past:

Polished:

Painted:

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Installed:

Finished:

-

Since I was in Moonshine mode, I also knocked out wiring up my winch. Had the 12voltguy in-cab kit, and a superwinch 90-14452 sitting on a shelf since last summer when I rebuilt my 8274. Mounted the superwinch contactor up on the DS outer fender to get it away from the elements a bit and ran the winch cables through a special kevlar abrasion resistant sleeve made for machine hydraulic lines (thanks @SeanLX). Each of the three hot lines are also sleeved in individual abrasion resistant mesh.

Such stealth:

Much tidy:

So happy. Can't wait to exercise all of this at GSMTR in May. Have some more stuff up my sleeve, including her transformation into Monstershine (@mtweller). Stay tuned.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Amazed by the airbox thing. That is awesome and uses a stock cleaner you can get anywhere. The fab work on turned out way better than I thought it would.

Just a heads up on the 12v guy winch control. Those push button switches he uses are crap. Both of mine fell apart internally on the first use. Literally the first time I pushed them. Fortunately there is a Dorman part that is similar, and inexpensive, that I recommend you buy and keep with you at all times. Not that the Dorman ones are super great quality, but they have at least lasted several years now. Funny, you put yours exactly where I put mine. I'll edit with a picture.

 

[Mr Cimarron]

What happened to the other air cleaner you were going to use?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Amazed by the airbox thing. That is awesome and uses a stock cleaner you can get anywhere. The fab work on turned out way better than I thought it would.

Just a heads up on the 12v guy winch control. Those push button switches he uses are crap. Both of mine fell apart internally on the first use. Literally the first time I pushed them. Fortunately there is a Dorman part that is similar, and inexpensive, that I recommend you buy and keep with you at all times. Not that the Dorman ones are super great quality, but they have at least lasted several years now. Funny, you put yours exactly where I put mine. I'll edit with a picture.

View attachment 1653045

Wish it was my idea to put the winch control there, saw it on another truck on IH8MUD, maybe yours Thanks for the compliments!

Have that Dorman part number handy?

What happened to the other air cleaner you were going to use?

Finally concluded that the UMP filter I had was just too big. Couldn't get it close enough to the outer fender due to the hood structure (was going to cut a hole in the hood). Due to the height of the turbo outlet, it would have been 6" through the hood. I didn't have another solution until I got looking at how compact the Ferd 6.0 powerstroke filter cartridge was, and the more I thought about it, the more perfect it became.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Have that Dorman part number handy?

https://www.amazon.com/Dorman-85984...pID=418pzIyFE9L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

 

[boots4]

Nice job on the air filter. That looks great. Digging the plan b label.

Have you noticed any difference in spooling or boost numbers with that big air filter on there?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Nice job on the air filter. That looks great. Digging the plan b label.

Have you noticed any difference in spooling or boost numbers with that big air filter on there?

Thanks Mike!

Yes, thanks for asking, forgot to detail this in the earlier post. My old air filter was, imo, undersized for this engine and way dirty, so take this with a grain of salt.

The new air filter allows the turbo to spool much faster than before, hitting 30 psi before 2000rpm with probably half throttle, whereas before I had to be running hot and heavy up a hill to achieve that. Ironically, it's harder to tell when it spools, because the turbo is significantly quieter. Hardly any turbo spool is heard in the cab with the windows up and overall engine noise is down by a noticeable amount, especially on the highway. When I put this filter on, I did expect better spool (more flow with less vacuum), and slightly lowered EGTs due to sucking air from the fender, but I did not expect the noise reduction. I miss my screaming turbo, but it's still a welcome surprise.

Peak boost is the same as before, maybe 1-2# more, but it's essentially the same.

 

[TLC Norway]

mmmh, looking good! Dig the plate also!

 

[boots4]

Great results. The thing I like about how you made the end plate is that one could scale it to whatever intake tubing size they have. I'll have to see if I can make this fit in my set up. Did you relocate the wiper fluid? JMacks set up is really nice too.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Great results. The thing I like about how you made the end plate is that one could scale it to whatever intake tubing size they have. I'll have to see if I can make this fit in my set up. Did you relocate the wiper fluid? JMacks set up is really nice too.

Had that thought too, regarding the tubing size. Now that the lid is fabricated, wouldn't be difficult to notch out 4", slide it over the 3" that's there, notch and cut out the lid, then weld the new size on.

Haven't relocated wiper fluid yet, but I did order an aftermarket fluid container. Picked out a spot to put it, right in front of the air filter, with a mount coming off the strap.

@J Mack 's truck is epic. Between his and yours, I'm just trying to keep up

 

[cruisermatt]

Dude. Your engine bay is looking Tetris tidy now with the filter, intercooler, batteries, PSC, winch stuff.. Almost like you planned it!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Dude. Your engine bay is looking Tetris tidy now with the filter, intercooler, batteries, PSC, winch stuff.. Almost like you planned it!

Thanks dude. Almost to critical mass with the amount of stuff I've got under the hood. I feel like I'm approaching how full the engine bay was stock!