F-Superduty IDI water hauler build

[salans7]

What a great find!

[1986F150Six]

I just love it when a plan comes together!

[Ford F834]

Thanks for the offer on the pump Gary, plus the heads up on the Tech Center offering. I think this one is worth running though. The van was a 1984 model year, and I swear it looks like it has been sitting in a warehouse since 1985.

Everything on it looked brand new except for a bit of dry dust. I was really tempted to pull the perfect radiator, plus the nice set of 6.9 injector hard lines with original clamps and no timing adapter. Heck, the injectors and pump are probably Worth running as well. I just didn’t have the time to get it all. I shouldn’t have stopped as it was (for time) but I am so glad I scored the rare brackets and pulley... and most likely a good pump.

[Ford F834]

[ArdWrknTrk]

That's a big step Jonathan!

The forklift came in very handy.  

[Gary Lewis]

That looks not only like fun, but easy!  Lots better than my shop crane.  But how hard was it to position it exactly where you wanted it?  That's the biggest issue with the shop crane.

[Ford F834]

Positioning the engine was relatively easy… much easier than with a regular engine hoist. Maneuvering that huge forklift required some space, but once it was close I had forward/reverse, raise/lower and side shift right/left to work with. Main thing was I didn’t have to move the engine across a dirt yard hanging on the hoist with small casters, or alternatively move trucks around and try to roll it under a hanging engine. I wasn’t looking forward to either prospect. Silly thing is the forklift didn’t even occur to me until after I was done with the blocks and my mind went ‘what else can I do with this while I have it…’ luckily I already had everything disconnected and mostly ready. The engine perches were a pain in the caboose. The previous owner had welded plates over the motor mount access openings (from the back side 😖) and the driver side 460 mount has rivets in addition to the bolts… I don’t understand why but they are not fun to remove. I’m just glad to see it sitting in the correct truck now 😁

[Gary Lewis]

I thought it might have been a lot easier than the engine hoist, and I'm used to working on a reasonably flat concrete floor.  Can't imagine doing it on dirt.  

Well done!  

[Ford F834]

Yes, Forklift is the way to go if you have access to one and room to maneuver it. A trolly gantry crane would also be the cat’s meow if the floor was concrete and no space for a forklift.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I think I posted pictures of the F-450's 460 hanging on the tine of a big Mitsubishi Seatainer forklift.

Gary and Bill both got parts from that untitled truck.

[Ford F834]

I forgot what a spectacular pain-in-the-caboose the transmission cross member bolts are 😩. I got all of them apart on both trucks, but it looks like I have a new dilemma… the E4OD cross member bolts further back than the ZF cross member, so I will have to un-bolt the cab and lift it to insert the bolts for the braces. I might see if I can work a shorter bolt in there but that space between the frame and the cab sure is tight ☹️

[Gary Lewis]

I think I put the bolts in from the bottom and the nuts on the top.  Not idea but it was easier than raising the cab.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I was going to suggest the same

Isn't there an offset cross member that uses the same holes but shifts the mount? (sorry, I've never dealt with installing an e4od)

[Ford F834]

Thanks guys, my hope is if I find a bolt short enough to NOT hit the cab that I *might* be able to weasel it in from above and still have full thread contact on the nut. The original bolts are too long and contact the cab… or at least they would on the donor. I’m sure the cab mounts are not what they used to be but I’m resisting that level of scope creep.

The E4OD cross member is odd. It has no brace on the passenger side and mounts with three bolts to the OUTSIDE of the frame. The driver side has a typical brace, but only the forward bolt is captured between the frame and the cab. The rear bolt is where the cab floor rises and there is enough room to remove it.

I had hoped that both cross members would use the same frame holes and bolts, but that isn’t the case.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Right, the passenger side has clearance for twin head pipes to join a common flange at the catalytic converter of a 460.
Bill has pictures of that setup.

I'm afraid I haven't had to deal with that bolt under the floor, but i'd* be tempted to angle the frame hole with a die grinder in order to slip that bolt in.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, the E4OD crossmember is quite different from the others.  I have the one on Dad's truck.

[Ford F834]

Angling the hole won’t do it… there is less than 1/16” of cab clearance above the bolt heads in the region where the ZF crossmember belongs. In fact, the stock nut is slightly thicker than the bolt head and lightly contacts the cab floor when positioned over the frame holes. So it looks like I have 3 options:

-Lift the cab

-Trim the bolts and live with some contact

-Leave the braces off

I know the correct answer is #1 but I understand why #3 is popular 😖

[ArdWrknTrk]

Wow, that's crazy!
Is it just that the cab support bushings have perished?  

[Ford F834]

The rubber cab mounts are a little tired, but not any worse than my other trucks. My two bullnose have almost 1/2” clearance… I can put my finger on top of the bolt head. The bricknose donor only has maybe 1/4” but also the most tired looking mounts. So either this is an Aeronose cab thing, a FSD frame thing, or the mounts are worse than they look. Either way I will probably just bite the bullet and lift the cab. It’s not that big of a deal to loosen and lift, it’s just a mental roadblock because of the access. I need to get under the vinyl floor anyway to cut out the tunnel and put in the ZF cover… all part of a job taking longer than you think 😅

[Gary Lewis]

Sounds like lifting the cab is the way to go.  That's not the end of the world, but it is more work.