Big Red Pile 91 W350 Build Thread

[CumminsPower59]

Well, the weather has finally gotten decent, so it's time for the re-build of my beloved 91. It will be a fairly fast build as I have to have the truck back on the road in less than 40 days...my fiancee want's to use it as a "prop" in our engagement pictures, and again in the wedding pictures. I am still searching for some parts, as the plan is to convert it from the 727 slosh-o-matic, to an NV4500. Hopefully, I can get the rest of the bigger parts here before the cab goes on, otherwise it will have to wait until after the Iowa GTG in June.

Here is some of the pictures of it, a little history too...

The day I bought it, shortly before deploying to Iraq in the spring of 2003


Sold it two years later...stupid mistake.

Found it last November, getting ready to be parted out...


Bought it back for $2000, and started to get it to the point of being fairly road worthy...


Body wise, it is thoroughly trashed, the only re-useable body parts are the hood, grille, visor, rear bumper and some glass...


Shots of the interior and other stuff...











Started in on the very sloppy rear diff...






New bushings in the front suspension...


9/16" studs, new wheel bearings, new lock out's, spacers for the 3rd gen 17" wheels...




Finally getting closer to being road worthy...



Temporary floor...to keep the slush off my feet



Finally road worthy...



Gots' me a tailgate!


Nice low mileage cab from a 93 D150...



Door almost is falling off because the cab is getting horrible


Gutted cab...


Some surface rust that needs tending to...


Blasted for a few minutes, didn't have much sand, have to get more. Just knocked the bigger stuff off...



More to come when I get time...

[dazedandconfused]

Glad it wasn't parted and you are giving it the love it needs.

[ellis93]

man I wish it a speedy recovery!

[peobryant]

I love seeing stuff like this. Obviously it sucks to see the truck in that state, but it's great to see you found it and are taking the time to give it the love it deserves. This is exactly why I'll never sell my truck. I've contemplated it a few times but this is exactly what I fear will happen. Keep us updated.

[CumminsPower59]

Thanks guys, I work second shift now, so if I get up early enough, knock out the "honey-do" list, then I have usually 4-6 hours every day I can work on it before I go to work. I quit working for the Federal Government, landed a 4-10, second shift maintenance job with MidAmerican Energy, needless to say, the pay is alot better

I am not going to bore ya'll on my NV build, lets just say, it's torn all the way down, it got a new countershaft, a nice used input, new bearings and synchros. I should have it put together this week sometime.

The whole plan of this build is to get the truck in a good, decent condition. This summer, I will have to start renovating parts of my home, and I need the truck to haul materials. Once I get the house done, we are going to sell it, as I/we need something ALOT bigger. Once moved, and a few things are paid for, it will get a complete tear-down, down to every nut and bolt. RUST PREVENTION will be the biggest part of things. This truck has close to 200k on it, and it is rotted to the core. I hope to keep it from rotting away in the future as I really don't see myself owning anything but a 1st gen. I may build a crew in the future, as the family grows

[Philip]

I feel your pain Ike. I hope you get it done faster than mine is going.

[CumminsPower59]

Philip, I hope to get it done quickly, but I won't be taking the time to do a quality paint job on it, it will get the old "rattle can re-build" paint for the time being. Flat black and chrome. I scored a really nice black LE tailgate and front bumper a few weeks ago at a wrecking yard, the panel on the tailgate is in good shape, but no where near perfect...

Time to go outside and work on it...in the drizzle

[CumminsPower59]

Well the weather cleared and it is hot and muggy

Got the hood, fenders, inner fenders, bumper, front wiring harness and some a/c stuff removed...



Left the core support on for this


Hope to start gutting the cab tomorrow...

Time to eat and go to work...

[peobryant]

Making some good progress. Gonna keep the truck red?

[CumminsPower59]

Unfortunately no, it will be flat black. I just don't have the time, nor will the weather be decent enough to do a proper, quality paint job. I have just enough room in my garage to paint individual panels, but no where near enough room to fit the whole truck. Plus, flat black will hide a good amount of the dings and dents that I don't plan on fixing for a few years. More or less, it will look similar to Andrew's dually, flat black and chrome/shiney stuff

[bmoeller]

Might be able to let you use our old shop for painting in. That's what we use it for. Big industrial gas powered air compressor and sand blaster, too.

[CumminsPower59]

Bryan, thanks for the offer, but I am just going to do what I can in the driveway and garage, I don't have much time to be coordinating and moving pieces and parts to and from, worst come to absolute worst, it will be a multi-color truck...

[bmoeller]

No prob. I'm going to spray bomb my crewcab and the 93 black as well. Either flat, or semi-flat.

[CumminsPower59]

Well, the weather went back to sh!t, cold and rainy...so I spent a good chunk of the morning assembling my NV4500. Got it about 75% completed. Supposed to be rainy for a while, so I guess I can finish it, clean out the hvac box, and do some other crap...

[CumminsPower59]

The rain has subsided for a while, but my dumb a$$ overslept four hours Still made more progress...

Yay! Pictures