MAIDEN Build. 46' IH Rat Truck

[gipper]

maiden build

man that,s a cool truck.love the full fender trucks.what are you going to but under the front end.ifs or striate axle.this is what i,am building.keep up the good work.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

The plan for now is a dropped axle. Have some issue with my shackle hangers. If I can figure it out without spending too much, I will stay with the straight axle.

 

[international rat]

Its looking good up to this point. You haven't posted in awhile, is things still moving forward on the project?

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

I've had a few setbacks. Trying to get through a divorce and custody issues of my two sons. I work nights at UPS so it's a struggle trying to get 50%. custody. Then on top of that, my Ex decided to work part-time and go back to school for the 3rd time. So between Alamony, child support, and her not working full-time........ Not a good situation for me. California sucks. I'm gonna end up losing my house so the only thing I've done to the truck is start getting it ready to put in storage until I can get the support fixed so I can survive. Until then I'm not gonna make any progress. When I get the finacial crisis fixed and get into another place, I will be up and rolling again. Until then, I'm just gonna keep collecting parts.

I did just score a free 4L60E transmission. I'm going with a 700R4 but I'll be able to use this one for mockup then sell it to help fund the 700R4. I also just scored a complete Ford F1 front suspension. drum to drum, steering, springs. $100
I have a guy who wants the wheels off my truck as they are a 6 on 7" lug pattern and he wants them as an extra set. I'll bolt in the F1 axle setup and now I can run the other wheels I got off the Ford explorer. Sell the guy my old K3 wheels and maybe the front suspension. I want to end up with a dropped F1 axle so this is only temp. I also figured out what steering box. 79'-84' Toyota 4X4 power steering box. it's what a lot of the Ford F1/100 guys go with. Looks like a good solution. More than anything, I've been doing research rather than actual work. Not by choice, but it's better than nothing.

 

[international rat]

Truly sorry to hear about your misfortune, I hope everything works out for you and your kids. As far as the IH goes, it sounds like you got a good plan, just keep collecting parts so when you do get back to it you will have most of what you need. Good luck!

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Truly sorry to hear about your misfortune, I hope everything works out for you and your kids. As far as the IH goes, it sounds like you got a good plan, just keep collecting parts so when you do get back to it you will have most of what you need. Good luck!

That's kinda my plan. Not walking from this one and this will not be yet another unfinished pile of parts that gets sold off like so many you see out there. I've done soo much to this thing since I free'd it from it's jungle prison. I really do love the truck and can see the finished truck in my head. This will be my daily driver. Thanks for the support. I will at least post up pics of what parts I score when I score them. I'm also counting on seeing progress on your rat. Helps keep me motivated. And jealous of the progress ; )

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

 

[Awedrod]

Maiden, sorry to hear about your troubles. But great score on that axle. I have been looking for one for a long time, NICE SCORE.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

I've had a shot at several of them but all would have had to of been shipped to me. Plus non had the brakes or steering. I posted in my local craigslist and here you go. Met a cool dude with a sick F1 that this came out of. He's got a sweet 48 Dodge for sale too.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Sorry for the lack of posts. Been working 6 days a week at UPS. Holiday season. Haven't done anything to the truck since mounting up the F1 axle I picked up. I've been spinning my head on the steering. I just don't feel confident that I wont have bumpsteer or other issues. So I changed directions. I have been reading a ton over the last couple months and have decided to try what so many are saying is the easiest, best performing swap around. The Jag swap. I picked up an 87' XJ6 Jaguar today. Car has 38k on it with a cracked head. Paid $500 for it. I'm gonna pull the front subframe for my truck along with some other goodies. The independent rear may even be a an option. Or I will sell it with the transmission and anything else I can off to get my $500 back. I will post up some pics this weekend. I'm excited that I finally have some direction. I'm getting what I really wanted, a smooth ride. Stay tuned.

Here's the donor.

 

[Daman]

I like where this is going with the Jag front. Make sure to see if the knobs for lights and what not fit to your liking for the old ones in the binder. Maybe even some of the wiring harness if it's in good shape

 

[earthman]

Nice looking Jag! You might want to verify that it has a cracked head and not a blown gasket which is much more likely. I could see all Jag running gear in your truck.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

As much as it would be cool to have the Jag IRS in there as well, I'm either gonna sell it or save it for another project. The Ford 8.8 rear I have is gonna be perfect for my truck. I want to run the 3.73 gearing anyways. I'm not even sure what gearing the Jag has yet. I will know when I get it pulled out. Plus, it would be hidden under my long bed. I would rather use it in a fenderless rat truck with a little stubby bed so you can see the IRS.
As this is my first ground up build, I'm gonna keep it as simple as possible so I can keep moving along. But, no reason I can't pick up another frame along the way and start building a sweet rolling chassis.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Next time I'm bringing a friend to help me lift it in the back of the truck! Rear end next.

Need to figure out how to get the Rag Joint off.

 

[earthman]

I know what you are saying about having that rearend visible.It would be awesome in a roadster or bobber truck. You made a quick job of parting out that doner.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Lot more to go. That rear is gonna be a chore. Plus I want to grab the transmission to try to sell. I'm gonna try to get the wiper system and the Brake booster/master as well. The emergency brake system might be worth taking. Trying to think of anything I can use in my build.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]