Gary Lewis

Thanks, grump. It was a good idea, Steve, but doesn't seem to be worth it. Thanks anyway.

Nice truck, but not $12k nice.

That looks like a really nice truck for the price.

That's the guy.

I assumed that is what you meant. Not sure when/if I'll get into town. Probably cheaper in town, but with Sky I can get it on order and move on to something else. I have to get ball joints, tie rods, wheel bearings, and u-joints on order so I can finish the installation. By the way, when you come to get that front end you'll need to bring tires and wheels as I'll have those back on Big Blue. Soon I hope.

I agree - if you don't feel like doing it then, don't do it then. This is a hobby. But you are still making progress. One suggestion though, make sure you get the Simple Green off the aluminum. It corrodes aluminum if left on. Don't ask. On the SEM, if you have the room to lay all the parts out it would be great to do them all in one go. But if not then work them in small batches. As you said, the other parts texture, so they'll need more work. By the way, I've not used the texture yet, but I need to on the door panels.

That should be an 8.8 axle. And I think the sway bar is different.

Yep, the '95 was an oil-burner - and leaker. Man, what a MESS! Good thinking, Bill. I'll bet that's it. I still have the diesel's springs, so can measure them to confirm that it is a spring thickness problem. That's something that those that walk this way should know.

Yes, you need 3C511. I checked today and thought I'd found one, but then I decoded the ID # on it and it appears to be for a 351M or 400. But by the time I figured that out the day was over. I'll go back up tomorrow or Monday and look again. I really think I have one for a 351W.

I suspect we have no knowledge that would help you. I personally don't know anyone that's swapped a Chevy engine into a Ford, much less an LS.

My bet would be on thicker springs. You are correct, it needs to be mounted even to where the stock mount is. So your holes should go on either side of the two stock holes. Thanks. This kind of info will help the next guy that does this.

Jim - Shaun has me covered. Shaun - I like the Sky solution. Thanks. And I want Option C as it is a perfect fit. I'll call Erik on Monday. As for the tab, I'll probably grind it off, but am confused as to why it hits. The diff and the shock plates were used together, so how could it not work? Hmmm, maybe the '95 springs are thicker? That would do it! On the shock towers, we may have covered it, but it was probably when I was inundated with info and some of it rolled right off. Or, I've slept since then. Either way, that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it. Do you know the correct positioning for the towers? In other words, do I evenly space the bolt holes with reference to the existing holes?

BB isn't truly work, although torquing those bolts to 180 lb ft is a chore. Hope you get the welding down pat so you can fix that pinch weld. Winter is just around the corner. On the interference, I'm going to check to see if one of the shock plates is shorter than the other, but I don't think so. If not, then I may have to shorten that plate, But the issue is that the tab is what hits the bump stop, so I can't shorten it much. Oh, and I forgot to mention the u-bolts. The SORD instructions say to install new ones, but I thought mine were ok. Nope! After cleaning them up they need to be replaced. They measure 3" inside and 8" long and are 12-2.0mm. Any suggestions on where to get them?

Scrap wood from the sawmill. Pine, ash, pear, osage. Some get pretty hot, so have to go easy on the quantity in the stove. Yeah, the mill would be a good source. There's a guy near us that has a mill like yours and he has scrap everywhere.

Here are a couple of pics of the brackets that go under the springs, if that's the one you are asking about, Dave:

Cool hat. What are you burning in the stove?

That doesn't make any sense to me. I don't understand much of it, but I do know that motor mounts for just any V8 will not work. Glad you got the ones for a 460.

Then let's put it in here and see if it works, then I can put it on the VIN decoding page. But would someone post a screen grab of what you get? Decode Any Car VIN Here Free VIN Decoder by Decode This!

Interesting questions. Here are my opinions, with pics to support them. But, I'm not at all saying my opinions are correct. In fact, you'll see that I like the trim on one of my trucks better than that on the other - but I still like the other truck. Upper trim: I like the trim that's on both of my trucks, as shown below. It is narrow and not obtrusive. But, it is no longer available, so I can't recommend it. Lower trim: None. I like the lack of trim on Dad's truck, on the left. It looks "clean" to me where the lower trim on Big Blue looks busy to me. Wheel well trim: I like it right on the wheel well, like on Dad's truck. I call the trim 2" over the wheel wells on Big Blue "high water" trim as it looks like it was hiked up to keep it dry.

Today I got the springs installed and then the Dana 60 quasi installed. But it was not without problems. However, I overcame most of them, and here's the proof: Having said that, I do have a problem. The lower shock mount hits the differential where a flange sticks out. You can see it in the pic below where the left end of the shock plate hits the diff, but there's space showing between the plate and the spring. It is in the right place as it has to fit over the bolt head that holds the spring pack together, so I don't understand why I'm having the problem. Any suggestions? Also, here's an example of why you want a donor vehicle. Spot the difference(s) in the shock towers?

Steve - I couldn't get it to work on their site. Have you? I'm loathe to put it on here if I can't get it to work. But I put the VIN for Dad's truck in and nothing happened.

Cool! Can't wait to see pics, inc the pile of "stuff" you removed. Hope it starts and runs well.

/\ /\ /\ What he said! I've tried cleaning a tank out and it did NOT work. Buy a new one.

That's good news. Perhaps my relay is clocked wrong? Or maybe it could be clocked better?

Sure!