Meet Clifford

[tRustyK5]

Well we had another chance to work on Clifford some. I really need to write up a carboard punch list for it...but for now there is just a lot of little stuff that can be done to improve things.

First was that smashed front bumper and hacked up grill. In digging through my own junk here at home I found a better grill. It's a 1980 grill, but almost good and still had the bowtie. I might get a proper 77 grill again one day but this is better for now. Dean also sourced a front bumper for me which I stripped and painted.



While we were critiquing the front bumper the rear naturally came under a bit more scrutiny. Not too sexy looking...



I mentioned to Dean I found a place selling them new, but felt a new one would look like a whore in church on this truck. Dean then suggested we try to improve the current bumper using his skid steer and a chain. A few gentle tugs here and there and I'd say the result is about as good as you could hope for!



We then installed the Skyjacker Black Max shocks on the rear. I swear the shocks on this rig were OE. They were bad, like titanic wreckage bad. Then Dean and I took a bunch of swings at the steering arm hoping to get that swapped. We were not successful. We did take it for a short drive with the steering arm nuts backed off hoping that might help. It didn't.

I think the next episode will be sorting out the fuel system, front brake lines, front shocks, some interior stuff, hood savers, then maybe another trip up and down the road. In the meantime I'm about to list my 66 Fury and create a bit of room at home here so I can bring Clifford home and stop imposing on Dean.

Here is a final shot of the day where we set up Clifford and Ratbag next to each other.

 

[76zimmer]

Looking great Rene’.
Keep tweaking on Clifford. Does the transfer case work in all positions? I couldn’t get my 203 into lowloc, but never did try to adjust anything either.

 

[tRustyK5]

It was in low loc when we got it. After a bit of messing around I did get it to move into "Hi" before our trip up and down the range road.

Dean donated a pair of Spicer locking hubs to this project. That will probably help it shift a bit smoother, and save some wear and tear.

 

[Bent77]

Congrats on GMOTM

 

[82355]

Needs hub caps.

Carry on.

Martin

 

[tRustyK5]

I bought a pair, because Dean has the fronts set aside for me already. The pair I bought are just too clapped out, and fit way too loose on the nubs. They're good wall art while I hunt for better...

And for GMOTM...thanks guys!

 

[82355]

Bowties?

Martin

 

[max 02]

Bowties?

Martin

Yes

 

[tRustyK5]

I should update this, progress slow but still moving forward.

Rust repair in progress, have new bedsides, the OG ones were just too hammered. Have new doors, OG ones too hammered. This square is going to be more Chinese than anything soon!

Marketplace fever struck, I found a NV4500, with bell, and wrong side drop 241 for $500 (USD). Couldn't say no, and it was local. I wanted OD, but I guess now that means adding a man pedal.

T-case was an issue, and to be honest I was going to run the 241 upside down no matter what that took. Then I ran across an ad selling a NP208 with 32 spline input for $250...or trade for a NP241C with 32 spline input and drivers drop. Hmmm, I need that 208, and have the 241. Perfect!!! Except it's a 5 1/2 hour drive one way. Day trip!!

It used to be I had energy and time but no money, now I have enough discretionary funds, but the energy and time is harder to come by. Regardless, progress is being made and of course "scope creep" has set in.

I'll get some pics, and parts porn up soon.

 

[76zimmer]

Looking forward to the pics!
Ive sure noticed as the years go up, the production goes down! Good luck!

 

[max 02]

When Rene started the idea of this project I thought he wanted a solid beater, not too great, just a cool old round eye.

By the time it hits the road it will be quite a looker! Not a show truck, but definitely way nicer than what I thought it was going to be.

Should be very cool!

 

[tRustyK5]

When Rene started the idea of this project I thought he wanted a solid beater, not too great, just a cool old round eye.

By the time it hits the road it will be quite a looker! Not a show truck, but definitely way nicer than what I thought it was going to be.

Should be very cool!

The short version is I want to make Clifford my DD and leave the 3500HD for towing. There was something cool about how it looked but from a structural point it needed to be fixed. It's hard to fix that sort of stuff and retain the cool beater vibe. Front cab mounts...pretty much gone. Front fender to cab, bluetooth. Core support held down with gravity. Bedsides, at first glance I'd have said I've seen worse, but when you look at it a bit more critically you see not a single part is undamaged, either dented, rust pitted or holes. Where do you start? Where do you stop? $700 US for a brand new bedside...sign me up. A pair of brand new door shells on marketplace for $200 US? Easy button.

It's not getting "real" paint. It's never getting LS swapped. It's never getting LED anything. I'm getting older, it might get softer springs at some point. lol

 

[kennyw]

It's not getting "real" paint. It's never getting LS swapped. It's never getting LED anything. I'm getting older, it might get softer springs at some point. lol

Does fake paint come from China too?

 

[tRustyK5]

So this is a few pics of slow progress. I wish I had a bigger shop btw. It's tight, but indoors so I shouldn't complain.

This is what I'm mostly dealing with. I'm just doing one side completely at a time. Rocker was so bad I felt I needed to be able to measure the door opening on the driver's side to make sure the passenger side stayed within specs.





So I removed the passenger door to make life easier, and started cutting.



New support, and doubler plate



Rocker



Cab corner



Almost ready for the floor patch



I got tired of this part of the job, so I spent some time on the replacement core support I had in my shed. Sometimes you just gotta look at something different!



At around this time I found a good deal on bedsides.



So of course I had to throw one on. Both are prepped and painted on the inside.

 

[tRustyK5]

Does fake paint come from China too?

Good question. Probably not, just rustoleum rattle can satin red.

Door shells, painted.

 

[76zimmer]

Man you’ve been cranking out some hours on that!
I’m diggin it Rene’

 

[imiceman44]

So this is a few pics of slow progress. I wish I had a bigger shop btw. It's tight, but indoors so I shouldn't complain.

This is what I'm mostly dealing with. I'm just doing one side completely at a time. Rocker was so bad I felt I needed to be able to measure the door opening on the driver's side to make sure the passenger side stayed within specs.

View attachment 525069

View attachment 525068

So I removed the passenger door to make life easier, and started cutting.

View attachment 525067

New support, and doubler plate

View attachment 525066

Rocker

View attachment 525062

Cab corner

View attachment 525061

Almost ready for the floor patch

View attachment 525060

I got tired of this part of the job, so I spent some time on the replacement core support I had in my shed. Sometimes you just gotta look at something different!

View attachment 525063

At around this time I found a good deal on bedsides.

View attachment 525065

So of course I had to throw one on. Both are prepped and painted on the inside.

View attachment 525064

Your welds are really good for a truck driver, one would think you actually are a professional welder.

 

[tRustyK5]

I should update this, progress slow but still moving forward.

Rust repair in progress, have new bedsides, the OG ones were just too hammered. Have new doors, OG ones too hammered. This square is going to be more Chinese than anything soon!

Marketplace fever struck, I found a NV4500, with bell, and wrong side drop 241 for $500 (USD). Couldn't say no, and it was local. I wanted OD, but I guess now that means adding a man pedal.

T-case was an issue, and to be honest I was going to run the 241 upside down no matter what that took. Then I ran across an ad selling a NP208 with 32 spline input for $250...or trade for a NP241C with 32 spline input and drivers drop. Hmmm, I need that 208, and have the 241. Perfect!!! Except it's a 5 1/2 hour drive one way. Day trip!!

It used to be I had energy and time but no money, now I have enough discretionary funds, but the energy and time is harder to come by. Regardless, progress is being made and of course "scope creep" has set in.

I'll get some pics, and parts porn up soon.

I spent some time cleaning, inspecting etc and just trial fit everything on a low dolly.







I'm waiting for the clutch fork pivot dealie, other than that I have almost everything else here. Dean has pedals and a 208 shifter for me. Crossmember might need some fab? No idea, but I have the straight crossmember right now. I'm sure there will be many other things I'll be dealing with alongside this swap. Y'all know how it goes..."while I'm there I should probably take care of this, that and the other thing seeing as I'm right there..."

 

[tRustyK5]

All the gears work as expected, as do the ranges in the 208. The trans had what appears to have been gear lube in it. Visually everything looked very good, no debris or anything inside. I'm hoping the synchro's are fine as I really doubt the stuff that was in it was GL-4

I have 5 quarts of Redline Synthetic MT-85 gear oil which is GL-4.

The 208 if memory serves me just uses ATF?

 

[max 02]

ATF for the 208 is what I got in mine.