This is a truck I have been working on for about 2 years now. What started as a rocker job turned into a frame up resto. It has been so prolonged due to school full time and moving away from my parent's garage (where the truck is). I have alot of pictures, but I will try to narrow them down...
This is what she started as... a rusty, 1990 Dodge W250, non-intercooled Cummins 12 valve.
I ended up stepping through the floor pan, so obviously that needed to go. Once I cut the floor pan out, I noticed that whole corner of the cab and the cab mount were also gone, so we had to re-engineer the cab mount since they are now unavailable through parts distributors. We also had to take the new floor pan and narrow it to fit the new style truck (floor pan was for an earlier generation).
We also had to replace a cab corner. The previous body guy must have been drunk, and warped the hell out of the corner of the cab while repairing the cab corner the first time, so unfortunately for me... this was going to be a trick. In the first picture, you can tell how much rigging I had to do to get the new cab corner to fit, in the second it's pictured with the bondo to smooth it out and make it even with the door.
The truck sat in this state for quite some time while I did some other work to it. I put an HE351VE on the truck, which is the VGT turbo off of the newer common rail diesels. I also had a custom 4" Diamond Eye downpipe made and installed an intercooler and custom IC tubes that I made. The last picture is how the VGT vanes will be actuated.
Got the cab primed, wheels and tires installed, and all the body panels on, all ready for paint!
My paint guy working on the final polish of the paint, and the final product. Gotta say the colors were a bit of a daring move for me, but they turned out wonderfully!
Now that the outside was looking good, I decided to shift my focus to the interior. I bought seats from a Silverado, I liked these because they had seat belts already in them (truck needed new belts desperately), they had a power driver's seat, and an arm rest. I made custom mounts to bolt these through the floor (all grade 8 hardware and reinforced). I got the new gauge pods and got my digital tach, boost gauge and EGT gauge installed in them. I also installed my wood steering wheel and monster shift knob! I also installed the door panels that I had refreshed with a coat of SEM black interior paint and some grey accents. I mocked up the MASSIVE Polk amplifier in between the seats and made the mounting bracket for that. And lastly, I got to work on the center console which will house the amplifier and a 10" Type-R subwoofer.
From there, it was on to building the custom flat bed. I don't typically like flat beds, but it was the only choice I had considering beds for this truck in good shape are all $800 or more, and usually in Texas. I simply cannot afford that! So, we got to work measuring out the framework for the flat bed and getting the cross members laid in place. Then we framed it all out, cut the wheel wells and started mocking up the tool box mounts. We also bobbed the frame by 7". The bed will be painted the silver like the cab and get a wood bed with a nice stain and polyurethane on it.
This is where I stand on the project today. My dad has been kind enough to work on it a little bit in his free time. My Spring Break is coming up, and I think I will be able to get it all tied up and get the bed off to the paint shop. I have most of the wiring in the cab to do yet, as well as the wiring to the rear of the truck.
All in all, this has been the most rewarding and challenging thing I have done. This was my first body work job, and it would not have been possible without my good friend Matt and my dad! I am proud of the outcome of the whole thing and there is not a single part of the truck I have not touched. I have some connections that say they are going to send my build thread to the people at some of the big diesel magazines... that would be the ultimate reward for all of my efforts.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the pictures and the build. If you have questions, ask away!
This is what she started as... a rusty, 1990 Dodge W250, non-intercooled Cummins 12 valve.
I ended up stepping through the floor pan, so obviously that needed to go. Once I cut the floor pan out, I noticed that whole corner of the cab and the cab mount were also gone, so we had to re-engineer the cab mount since they are now unavailable through parts distributors. We also had to take the new floor pan and narrow it to fit the new style truck (floor pan was for an earlier generation).
We also had to replace a cab corner. The previous body guy must have been drunk, and warped the hell out of the corner of the cab while repairing the cab corner the first time, so unfortunately for me... this was going to be a trick. In the first picture, you can tell how much rigging I had to do to get the new cab corner to fit, in the second it's pictured with the bondo to smooth it out and make it even with the door.
The truck sat in this state for quite some time while I did some other work to it. I put an HE351VE on the truck, which is the VGT turbo off of the newer common rail diesels. I also had a custom 4" Diamond Eye downpipe made and installed an intercooler and custom IC tubes that I made. The last picture is how the VGT vanes will be actuated.
Got the cab primed, wheels and tires installed, and all the body panels on, all ready for paint!
My paint guy working on the final polish of the paint, and the final product. Gotta say the colors were a bit of a daring move for me, but they turned out wonderfully!
Now that the outside was looking good, I decided to shift my focus to the interior. I bought seats from a Silverado, I liked these because they had seat belts already in them (truck needed new belts desperately), they had a power driver's seat, and an arm rest. I made custom mounts to bolt these through the floor (all grade 8 hardware and reinforced). I got the new gauge pods and got my digital tach, boost gauge and EGT gauge installed in them. I also installed my wood steering wheel and monster shift knob! I also installed the door panels that I had refreshed with a coat of SEM black interior paint and some grey accents. I mocked up the MASSIVE Polk amplifier in between the seats and made the mounting bracket for that. And lastly, I got to work on the center console which will house the amplifier and a 10" Type-R subwoofer.
From there, it was on to building the custom flat bed. I don't typically like flat beds, but it was the only choice I had considering beds for this truck in good shape are all $800 or more, and usually in Texas. I simply cannot afford that! So, we got to work measuring out the framework for the flat bed and getting the cross members laid in place. Then we framed it all out, cut the wheel wells and started mocking up the tool box mounts. We also bobbed the frame by 7". The bed will be painted the silver like the cab and get a wood bed with a nice stain and polyurethane on it.
This is where I stand on the project today. My dad has been kind enough to work on it a little bit in his free time. My Spring Break is coming up, and I think I will be able to get it all tied up and get the bed off to the paint shop. I have most of the wiring in the cab to do yet, as well as the wiring to the rear of the truck.
All in all, this has been the most rewarding and challenging thing I have done. This was my first body work job, and it would not have been possible without my good friend Matt and my dad! I am proud of the outcome of the whole thing and there is not a single part of the truck I have not touched. I have some connections that say they are going to send my build thread to the people at some of the big diesel magazines... that would be the ultimate reward for all of my efforts.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the pictures and the build. If you have questions, ask away!
