I had a change of plan regarding how the timeline will go with the truck frame and the engine. Instead of bringing the frame up to the garage to install the powerplant, I plan on bringing the powerplant and the engine crane down to the build site and install it in the frame there. Of course this also means moving the frame to the spot and staging it under the car body. This has a twofold benefit as I get to do some preliminary fitting of the body to the frame, even before putting the powerplant in place. First thing of course was moving the frame into position. I had to move the F250 out of the way to allow me to move the frame out from its old resting spot and stage it in the Midway. To kill two birds with one stone I used a tow strap to pull the truck frame out as I moved the F250 out of the way. Parking the F250 in the side path had the frame in the Midway where I wanted so we could angle the wheels and make our final approach towards the car body. Once we got the frame into position and lined up as best as possible, we started pushing the frame under the body, taking our time to watch everything as the frame made its way under the body. As the higher rear portion of the frame made its way under the body, it made contact with the lower point of the front subframes. The downward angle of the bottom of the subframes presented a problem. This was an instance where I wished I did lift the body high enough to position the board under this point on the subframes so this wouldn't be a problem. I ended up letting the air out of both rear tires to get the rear of the frame low enough to allow it to clear the bottoms of the front subframes and further roll the frame under the body. I even had to add a couple small 2x4 pieces on top of the front board to get the front of the body up just a little bit more to allow it to fully clear the truck frame at all the different points along the frame. We also had to space the front drums farther apart to clear the wheels of the frame as we rolled the frame into position. Looking at everything on the frame, I started making note of the parts of the unibody that will have to be cut out to allow for the kind of fitment I hope to achieve with the body on the frame. In order to clear the shock towers on the truck frame, I'll have to completely cut out the shock towers, lower control arm mount, and section of subframe just under the old shock towers so when the body is lowered, the truck shock towers will fit better. This will allow the front of the body to rest at a lower position so the car doesn't look like some ridiculous monster truck. As for the rear, I might actually be able to get away with retaining most of the rear subframes, as the upward angle of the 65's old subframes kind of aligns with the angles of the rear of the truck frame. Again, I don't want the body to be resting high on the truck frame where there will be excess clearance between the fender well and the top of the rear tires. I might find myself cutting out part of the subframes and adding flat stock iron to reinforce the remaining subframes as part of the placement on the truck frame. I will most likely have to add some flat stock on the front after cutting into the front subframes as well and add some metal around the side panels where the old shock towers would've been, in order to reinforce these side panels. Once the shock towers are cut out, all structural integrity in the front third of the body will be gone. I will have to relocate the front board and drums to a point more rear, as I lower the body down for final fitment. I will find myself adding a lot of aftermarket metal around the areas that get trimmed down so the body can stay rigid as its secured to the truck frame. There are six points on the truck frame that I noted for securing the body to the truck frame. Of course while I'm cutting out material to allow for the fitment of the body, I do still have to repair the floors in the cab area of the car. There is extreme rot in the cab area and all this will need to be patched and/or replaced. I do have some patch panels for the floors that I will be able to use, but I will also end up having to use some of the scrap stock to further patch the floors. Of course in the process of patching the floors, I will also have to add some angle iron reinforcements to the inner rocker panel areas prior to adding the new floor pans and sheet metal. I need to make sure that all the metal that is needed is added strategically so the body is as sturdy as possible and as solidly mounted as possible. This vehicle will have to be able to withstand the normal twists and bounces of normal road driving, as well as the flexing that a solid frame will do when rolling over varying terrain. Also, in the process of fitting the body to the frame, I will have to temporarily fit the front fenders to the body to ensure proper ride height and placement of the frame relative to the body. One of my plans after the body placement will involve trying to put all of the front body panels together as a single unit. The fenders, grille panel, headlight bucket mounts (or whatever the hell these pieces are called) and front valance would all be held together. I'll probably have to add metal where needed to allow for these body parts to be held together. Once done, it will of course require two of us to lift the whole works up and set it on the front of the body, bolting things in place. I would add the front bumper last since there's no need to add even more weight to the whole assembly. Since most of these body panels are ratty anyway, any kind of modification that I do won't really matter. Of course my immediate plan will be to try and patch the panels like the fenders, since I'm not trying to spend hundreds on new body panels immediately. As time progresses I may replace this stuff but right now I just want to get the body fully on the frame and reassembled.
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