Next thing to do was get the trans and t-case freshened up and back in the truck.....mainly to get them off the shop floor.
Uhhhhm, you know.....their in........but it looks like the t-case is sitting against the floor of the cab, and it's pointing down. Surely there isn't a difference in the cabs from 2wd to 4wd. I'll look on 67-72chevytrucks and see what it says, then I'll check out that donor truck when I get home..........Son of a B@#&h.
There's a huge difference!!
This next sequence of photos is called a learning curve. In my mind the only remedy was to cut out both floors, then weld the 4x4 one in the 2wd cab (remember what i said earlier about time and frustration) well, I was about 1/2 way through welding the 4x4 tunnel into the 2wd cab, when I was cruising this site one day, and found a post by, I believe TXFIREFIGHTER, who was facing the same challenge. He, being more cleaver, bought an older bolt in tunnel, and fabricated it to fit his cab. Man I wish I would have seen that before I cut the floor out of mine. Oh well, it's just time right?
The donor will fit like a glove!
All welded in, dyna-glassed, and primered. What a waste of time and energy. At least I was able to practice up on my sheet metal welding skills!
After this was complete, I got the motor back in. With all the added room, the Trans and T-Case had all the clearance in the world!
Now that that whippin' is over, let's move on to the fun stuff.
I had made the decision along the way to run 8-lug axles. Not that this truck is really gonna need them. The six lug's would be fine driving to Home Depot, or sonic or something, but I like the look the 8 lug axles give. I located a set from a 3/4 ton suburban and decided to get them. Now for you hard core guys......it's a semi-floater rear end.......I know, I know.......it'll be ok. Remember, this isn't Pirate.
I chose to rebuild the front one. It's an 8 lug 10-bolt. I have to give a huge Thank You to Mando and his extremely well documented drive way rebuild on his '73's Dana 44. I know I referenced that thread at least a dozen times while I fought my way through rebuilding it. I absolutely loathed this part of the build. It was tedious, time consuming, and you have to have an assortment of specialty tools and presses to do this. But it's done. Thanks Mando.
