1994 Ford F350 CC Build- Stalled out for a bit! Sorry!

[scooter99]

Ok folks, bout to have some lunch and head out. Hoping to have this baby playing tonight.

BTW, just dropped some serious cash on the truck. SMH, but it's done. I'm dropping her off on the 16th to 4wheelparts here in sac. I was going to do this myself, but I'm lacking seriously in time, and it's really a safety issue. The suspension is shot, tires need replacing, and more. Soooooooooooo, she's getting

New Pro Comp Leaf Springs up front with a 4" lift

Reverse Shackle Kit, which softens the ride and gives it another 3" lift. But with the 2" negative sag up front it will end up as a 5" lift.

5" Pro Comp Lift blocks in back.

Pro Comp ES9000 Shocks all the way around

Skyjacker Dual Steering Stabilizer up front (don't make a Pro Comp Kit)

New tie rod ends

New SS brake lines

Drop Pitman arm

Alignment

and Pro Comp Xtreme All Terrain 35" tires

Oh she's gonna be nice when she gets done! All just in time for camping on the 18th! Have a feeling the wife isn't gonna be too happy with the height, but such is life! She won't bitch when the ride is softer that's for sure!

Considering doing a dual shock kit up front if I can too!

Ok audio work pics later tonight!

[zxsonnyxz]

Ok audio work pics later tonight!

I wish I had work pics to put out, I want to build stereo so bad! But until i get started again, I'll just creep around here and watch everyone else

[Twostrokeking]

LIFT IT!! Hell yeah dude. Its gonna look sick.

[Purplehaze]

Sweet! Gotta love big, loud trucks!

Can't wait to see it done!!!

[scooter99]

Oh ya. I can't wait to get it up in the air! She's gonna look so sweat and beastly!

BOY do I have some updates for you guys tonight! I'm hoping to get it done, but I'm not gonna rush it either. I have some stuff drying and I'm not sure when it's gonna get completely dry. So I may have to wait on that. But I have lots of wiring done, and lots of progress today! Man if I could just get days to myself like this, it's amazing the work I can get done! Love my family though!

Be back later! Water (beer) break!

[scooter99]

Ok I'm starting to run out of gas! But here's what I've got left to do.

Wire the remote relay

Put the box in the truck

run rca and wire bundle up front and connect them all

install sub remote

put secret project in

TUNE AND MAKE VIDEO!!!

May not get done tonight, but it's gonna be damn close! Pizza is ordered, beer is cold, LETS DO WORK!!!!

[scooter99]

Oh my, you're all in for a treat! 83 pictures uploading as we speak! WOOT!!

[scooter99]

Ok, sit back and strap in cause here we go!

Here's the current battery situation.

For some reason I thought I'd see what I could do about it today. So I started taking things apart! Removed the tray it sat on. Actually, let me back up. In the picture above you can see, barely, a black bar on the back left of the battery. That bracket is another brace for the battery tray. I tried to turn the battery sideways, and that was in the way. So I took the bolt out of it, and moved it out and the battery fit, sort of. So then I started tearing into it.

Removed the cylinder thing, I have no idea what it is. (for those of you on FTE forums, if you could enlighten me please). WEll I didn't really remove it, just really moved it out of the way for now.

Then came down the starter solenoid. I hate that these are up here, it's really in the way!

Took some measurements and grabbed a piece of foam board stock I had laying around. Made a template based on the size of the batteries, yes I said batterieS, and it worked out so I transferred it to wood!

Put it in the space, and really it was looking really good! A couple shims under it on the old bracket, a brace in front, a brace on the side where the old one was, and we've got it made.......

batteries on the tray

Then I started making braces for the front and the side. Notice I'm using all birch. Cause all I had on hand was 1/2" birch or 3/4" mdf. I figured birch would fare better in the elements.

Also to that, let me really quickly stop and clarify something. If I knew how to weld, wood would not even come into play here. I'd make a new tray out of metal and that would be the end of it. However, I don't know how to weld, and for now, this will do in my opinion. I'll do another one later on down the road, cause I really do intend to learn to weld.

Ok let's move on.

[scooter99]

Sorry, this one was blurry for some reason. After looking at the tray, and stopping to measure, and doing some quick math and brainstorming, I realized that the tray really needed to sit on the bracket like the original tray. Well in order to make that happen I had to remove some material out of the wheel well. Not a big deal, and I'll get it fiberglassed in another time.

So this is where i measured to cut.

And here you can see why I need new tires BADLY!!

After a little fine trimming, it was in perfectly and sat flat as could be. I was very pleased!

From underneath! Again blurry WTF!!!! I hate my camera!

Next I did a little brace under the tray, so I had more than a half inch of material to screw into for the side bracket.

bottom side. Screws just barely poke through. But that's ok, nothing under it to worry about poking, other than my DAMN FINGERS!

Next I got the side racket screwed on.

Had some allen head screws laying around and they just happened to be the same thread size as the bolt holes that the original tray bolted on to. Lucky right!?! I think so!

So I bet you're wondering how I got those holes to be the exact hole size and be positioned exactly where they're supposed to go. Obviously the fender is in the way and I couldn't just draw through it to mark the holes. So, I put the old bolts in, and tightened them down. Then I put the tray back in with the bracket on, and SMACKED IT WITH MY HAMMER! Really! It made an indentation on the wood and thus, I knew exactly where the holes were supposed to be drilled. There you have it! A little Carver (my last name) ingenuity!

Next I had to get the holes marked for the bottom bracket. That wasn't going to be so easy. There were clips that held those bolts in and they were so rusted, that when I tried to loosen the bolts, they broke. So, I got the tray in place, and tried to reach in where I cut the wheel well lining. Well it was too close for a marker to fit. So I grabbed one of my daughters 300 pencils, the teal one with the flowers, and I broke that sum bitch in half! Worked like a charm. Was able to trace the hole from under the liner.

[scooter99]

So the next part was figuring out, now that holes were in, how I was going to actually secure the tray to the bracket. Remember there aren't any threaded inserts on the bracket. So I decided to put some on the tray. If I could weld, again, I'd have tacked some nuts on the bracket and then I could've screwed, or bolted it down from the top. Instead I chose this pain in the ass solution.

Threaded inserts, with my trusty attitude adjuster! This was my tool of choice when I was framing. 19oz, dual head, I could take this head off and put a different one on, it also had a nice grip on it. Loved this hammer! She just doesn't get the love she used to! teardrop! Ok moving on!

Inserts inserted!

Now it was time to add some sides so these bad boys don't move!

Counter sunk holes

put together!

Now to put it on the base. All counter sunk holes with 2" screws! Wanted it as stout as possible for wood!

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