MAIDEN Build. 46' IH Rat Truck

[IRON MAIDEN]

Feel like I made some huge progress the last few days. Just having the chassis rolling again and the drivetrain out is huge. Now I can really get at this frame.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Not much progress but did get the transmission crossmember removed from the frame. I have some pretty good pitting on the inside of the frame rail where the battery box sits. Not sure if the battery acid had anything to do with it.
I have the passenger running board mounts to remove and I'm gonna remove the cab mounts as well. No real reason other than being able to get at the rust hiding between those parts rivited on. I will just use grade 8 bolts and nuts to mount them back to the frame once it's painted and ready.
I also received my new front leaf springs yesterday. My truck is a 1 ton so I bought some correct Harvester 1/2 ton leafs to replace them with. I'm hoping it will soften the ride and let the front sit a little bit lower.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

So this will be my first mock up. Any tips and advice? I'm using the universal crossmember style for both the SBC motor Mount and transmission mount. I do not have the rear end I plan on using yet. Or a drive line. Should I wait until I do? Seems like the idea is to position the motor and transmission to clear the firewall while keeping it in a straight line to the rearend so that the driveline is as straight as possible. What other things am I trying to achieve?

 

[Daman]

Radiator, steering, header clearance. SBC in every vehicle I checked was at 6* pointing down when the gauge sat on the valve cover. Not really sure if that matters but I did it that way.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Removed all the cab mounts off the frame and got a bunch of cleaning done on the frame. The front half is about ready to paint.
Also jumped in on the grille again. My buddy came by who is a welder by trade and has been doing all my welding on the grille. I'de blow it to pieces if I tried ; ) Even he was saying it was like trying to weld foil. But we got it and I think with some more hammer and dolly work, grinding/sanding, maybe more hammer and dolly work.... I might have a presentable nose for the truck.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

 

[Sam_Fear]

Good to see the safety glasses are on.

 

[international rat]

It's looking good! The grill is coming along nicely, id love to find an original kb grill to modify for my ih project! Keep up the good work.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

It's looking good! The grill is coming along nicely, id love to find an original kb grill to modify for my ih project! Keep up the good work.

If you really want one, I can give you the contact info to a guy who parts out the K/KB trucks and I'm sure could find you one. He located some frfont springs and a better condition hood for me already. Very fair prices as well.
How's yours coming? Hav'nt seen any updates...

 

[international rat]

I wished I knew you needed a hood! I've got the one off of mine its in good shape just some minor pitting on the bottom side. All for the very low price of FREE, but shipping would probably be a killer!

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

I wished I knew you needed a hood! I've got the one off of mine its in good shape just some minor pitting on the bottom side. All for the very low price of FREE, but shipping would probably be a killer!

If you do greyhound it's not too bad. Mines pitted pretty good but it's straight. I figure between th epoxy primer and a high build primer, it should block out fine.
I might be looking for a passenger rear fender as well if I can't fix the one I have. I might chop the back of them off to sit even with the bottom of the bed. But won't be worrying about that for a while ; )
Just scored a 95' Ford Explorer 8.8 rearend. Has disc brakes but until i pick it up, won't know if it has the Trac-Loc and 3:73 gears. Fingers are crossed. But it's free. I can take anything off the car but don't know of anything else I can use. Havn't even thought about the brake setup yet.
Now I need to find a Ford F1 front axle setup. It's the 48-52 F1 truck. Will need the axle ana spindles. Will put disc brakes on it. Would love to find a 4" dropped one, but will take stock for now and then have it dropped later.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

So I have the front of the frame stripped down to metal and treated with Ospho. The inside of the drivers side frame rail under the cab where the battery and fuel tank sat is pretty pitted up. It's still solid but it's the only spot where rust did a number on it. I'm hoping the Ospho will keep it from rusting until I can do the mock-up, get everything welded up to the frame, then painted. I moved the cab to the front of the frame so I can start finishing up the back half. We just had a small heat wave so I've let it sit until it cools off a bit. I'm gonna strip and treat the back of the frame with Ospho, then get the Explorer 8.8 rear snugged up back there so I can get the chassis rolling again. I'll be done with the frame until I can score a 700R4 to be able to do my mock-up. I'll start focusing on the cab and trying to get my front suspension squared away.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

 

[Gerry Moe]

Lookin good and that is a big plus having a couple very enthusiastic helpers. When you get the 700-r be sure to get 87-92 they seem to be the dependable ones. I got one from Pick and Pull on one of their 1/2 off days, picked it up for 35 bucks than I gutted it and used it for mock-up, if you are lucky it is possible to find a decent trans there also.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Well I scored my rear today. 95' Explorer 8.8. My friend who has a tow business had it on his lot and was planning to crush it. I went over today and stripped it out for the price of free, and a thank you of course. I wanted to get the drive line for parts but ended up leaving it as I was in a hurry.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Sweet freebie! THe Ospho should keep the rust away good enough.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Sweet freebie! THe Ospho should keep the rust away good enough.

I still need to finish stripping the back of the frame and then treat it with ospho. Been lazy. The front half that has been treated looks great. Now I need to figure out how to hang the leafs. I will need to cut the spring perches loose from the axle so I can move the springs out a little bit. But have no idea on the front and rear hangers. Plus the Explorer leafs are longer so the shackle side is past the end of the frame. I planned on boxing the back of the frame so I might as well extend it another couple feet to sit under the back of the bed. Then I will have something to mount a custom bumper to.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Since you need to move the perches anyway, might wanna look for a different set of springs/hangers? Might be easier and better than trying to make those fit.

 

[kzoldman]

Nice free find!! [cl If you can't reuse your old perches Currie has a good selection for 3 1/4" dia. axle tubes with different spring widths. You will want to measure yours but my axle is a 97 Explorer and that was the dia. of it. Most of the universal perches are for 3" tubes. Just a thought.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

I should be able to save the perches to relocate on the axle. Watched a couple videos on how to remove them and a couple forums hadf how-to's.

Wish I knew of a car or truck that had leaf springs that were about 49" long and had the hangers bolted to the underside of the frame. That would sure make life easier.