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Sol's '54 R112

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 9:44 am
by gots_a_sol
Been hunting for one of these for over 2 years now. FINALLY found one locally, in reasonable shape, and for not a ton of money.

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There is quite a few dents/creases to fix, but extremely little rust :cool:




I've been hoarding a dakota that is going to give up its frame/suspension for the cause.

Re: Sol's '54 R110

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 9:45 am
by gots_a_sol
Probably going to take more than a week on this one :laughing:


Some more pics

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I love the hood on this thing. You can open it from either side like this.

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Seat has had better days. Floors feel solid.

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No rust on the doors

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The worst rust area. I'm assuming this sat in a field with the front slightly downhill and the bed filled with water.

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A little more rust under the headlights. This area is completely open in the back so it gets fully abused by whatever comes off the tires.

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Dog approved? He best not think that is a good place to sit after I put some paint on there :lol: (he jumped up there himself)

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Re: Sol's '54 R110

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 9:48 am
by gots_a_sol
Dakota is stripped. +$87 to the project from scrapping it


What I was after

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Re: Sol's '54 R110

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 9:52 am
by gots_a_sol
The tailgate was mangled pretty bad, so I elected to just build a new one (a bit heavier duty also)

Old gate

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First swing at the replacement. It is just tacked up for now. I left the center open enough to fit the INTERNATIONAL back in there as I hope I can straighten out that section of the old tailgate.

(the tubes are straight, not sure why it looks like it has a dip)

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On the truck. Now I made it the same dimensions as stock so it sat about an inch lower than this. Well I don't plan on using the chains and I didn't like how it look, so I moved the hinges up a bit so it would line up with the top of the bed.

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3rd brake light for safety. Top of the cab like a modern truck would have been better, but holding it up there it just didn't look right, so in the tailgate it went. 12" Led strip from Amazon.

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Flush

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And that is where I'm at right now. I have an old F150 I got for free I was going to take the engine/trans from, but I changed my mind on that and will be going with something a bit newer. I'm heading out in a few minutes to hopefully pick up that donor truck.

Re: Sol's '54 R110

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 11:53 am
by lbesq
Looking Good Joe, will watch your progress.

Re: Sol's '54 R110

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 1:03 pm
by dean466
Looks like you're off to a great start!

Dean

Re: Sol's '54 R110

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 3:29 pm
by Buzzman72
I like what you've done so far.

Re: Sol's '54 R110

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 3:40 pm
by gots_a_sol
Picked up a donor today. Little bit different route than I was originally heading. Heavy bugger. The electrical system is fubar in it so it doesn't charge at all and the fuel pump either doesn't run or runs all the time (hooked to a switch). If you put the fuse back in for the alt it stalls out :confused: I think it might be a body module issue but I don't plan on messing with it.



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Mmm, 5.4 32v goodness :D This is basically the 5.0 coyote's crotchety old man :laughing:

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Re: Sol's '54 R110

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 4:28 pm
by nikkinutshop
I think that "R" looks like a good start.
Those Ford Excursions are my all time favorite SUV. I approve of the re-engine work as suggested by the Cummins badge. The company I worked for had one Ford F550 service truck with the V10 engine. It had power to spare and averaged 2-4- miles per gallon in the city. All of their new service trucks are Ram Cummins.
I had my Dad's R120 and on a dare, I installed a 6.9 Diesel IH V8. It was a tight fit and some body work was required. I did that conversion in 1990. I had some stupid notion about keeping it all IHC. What I got was an underpowered 1200 pound lump that sounded really good and did not like to work the hills with a load. I and Cummins everything now. My Son's L110 has a Cummins 4bta and I have a new 24 valve for my final project.

Re: Sol's '54 R110

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 4:39 pm
by gots_a_sol
Thanks. This Excursion was a V10 when I bought it. I drove it around for about a year before I swapped it. I owned the dodge that gave up the engine for a few years before the Ex and I really did like it, but I needed more seating for race buddies. I was looking for an 80's dodge crew but those are hard to come by and usually pretty expensive when you do (sounds familiar to shopping for the IH). The Ex popped up locally for pretty cheap so I snagged it. There are situations where I'd prefer a truck to an suv, but cheap is cheap :D


(this pic was while I was still doing the swap)

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I considered a 4BT in the IH, but I wanted something more hot rod than work truck with this.