F-Superduty IDI water hauler build

What a great find!

I just love it when a plan comes together!

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.

That's a big step Jonathan!

The forklift came in very handy.  

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.

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 😁

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!  

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.

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.