this is mostly for the benefit of those who were at the BBQ and have a
bit of background on my project. for those out of the loop, I'm in the
midst of swapping a D60 rear (which may actually be a Sterling 10.25")
and D44HD front under my '98 CC.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
the first of my hopefully daily project reports is here.... day 5 of
my solid axle swap has been completed, and I'm shortly off to bed. I'm
planning to give a close-to-daily report whenever I manage to get
things done on the truck since there are a few interested parties here
on the list =)
with expected completion dates ranging from 2 weeks to a year from now,
I think status updates are reasonable. hehe.
anyway, today I finished cleaning up the bracketry on the left frame,
and primed the raw metal (one coat, no paint, no sanding, no clearcoat,
no wax, no buff, NOTHING! - tom. <g>). It needs a few grinder dimples
filled in before I start hanging new brackets off it.
the right frame still needs cleanup. I was hoping to finish this
tonight, but it wasn't in the cards with as long as it took me to get
the lefthand shock support off the frame.
I've decided to go for a setup much like Tom Buban's, and will be
looking into ordering steel and rod ends tomorrow, and looking for coil
buckets similar to those off a late '70s Bronco or F150. if I have to
build them, that shouldn't be a big deal either.....
I started looking into steering setup, and have yet to come to a
conclusion. I'll be looking over some others' crossover setups in the
next few days in an attempt to figure out exactly what hardware I ought
to be using at the pitman arm end.
No progress yet on finding Ford calipers - going to check Napa,
Advance, local junkyards and maybe even PoopBoys if I'm left with no
other choice. Hopefully someone can sell me both sides' pistons as
well as the calipers. I've had no luck online finding calipers.
Tomorrow's plan is to see if I can get brake parts, which will
determine if I should keep working on this axle or look for something
else, as well as trying to find Bronco coil buckets and a replacement
for the RamCharger's broken driveshaft (possibly the axle end of a Ford
coil setup as well - and maybe just a whole 'nother axle if the gears
and price are right). Next on the list is cleaning the right side
frame on the Dakota, and changing the Ram's transmission fluid. It's
nice and cooked after the tow job and 'wheeling.
No word yet on possible work schedules this coming week, so work
schedule is unknown.
Tomorrow's true objectives are to have new transmission fluid in the
RamCharger, to know if I'm going with this front axle or finding
another with easier to deal with brakes, having a possible idea of what
my steering drag link will look like, and getting the right side of the
frame cleaned off.
g'night, all!
-- Mike Maskalans <http://mike.tepidcola.com/dodge/> '84 RamCharger Daily Driver '98 Dakota under the knife mobile.612.618.4652 home.585.935.7129 fax.360.364.3930
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