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i can see 'um now:thumbs:
looks good, you got the tilt hood figured out completely?

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Looks good..

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Still need to put the rollers and guides for the rear corners of the hood, but I've got that worked out how to do it. Also the little springs on the hood end of the hinge are probably temporary. I'll switch to gas cylinders look for a cleaner before I call it done. There is a ton of stress on the top of the core support wiith that heavy hood hangiong out there like that. Waiting on a buddy of mine to bring me some 1/4" stainless rod. This will be used to make tie-rods which will run from the top of the core support back to the firewall. As it is right now, it actually moves the core support out some (bending it) with the weight of the hood pulling it forward. Tie-rods will fix this and keep a classic look. About all of the old cars had tie rods anyway. Stainless so I can polish them and make them pretty.

Looks like the host server where the pics are located is moving today. My pics aren't in my gallery there anymore must have gotten crossed up. I'll reload them again and fix the links when i get home today.

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Hey HotRod,You are doing amazing work.Very inspirational.

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not to hijack....but.....Dino, how about more info on those drop arms, looks to be about 2 inches? what is the vertical rod on there? did you ever run them? how did they ride/drive?
very cool idea, i don't know how i missed them before
guess i'm :uhmk::lol:
now i want to hit up the local pull-a-part and get me an extra x-member and some lower arms to modify:metal:

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any updates?

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Z'd the rear frame today and made 2 lower links for one of the rear axles. For the rear Z, I cut the frame 2" behind the cab and kicked the entire rear frame up 6". And for the lower links I used 1.5" DOM with 1/4" wall thickness and some poly bushings I had already on hand. Need more bushings to make the rest of the suspension links but the rear suspensions will be a three link set-up for each axle with a upper wishbone. Lower links are fully welded solid, the center bushing in the upper link will be threaded for pinion angle adjustment.

This week I hope to mount the t-case and the forward rear axle and install the two lower links on this forward axle.

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pics please

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cool project. I can't wait to see this one done.
It sounds like you've got a lot of experience with the whole tandem thing, but just a quick question from an "old truck driver," you will have a way to take the transfer case out of gear, right? I just know from experience driving the big trucks on dry pavement with the differential lock engaged is like driving a 4x4 on pavement with 4wd engaged.
Very nice work you're doing. I'm subscribed to this one.

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if they are both open diffs, bind shouldn't be a problem, should it?
I thought the diff lock on big trucks not only engaged but also locked each diff, like an air locker in a jeep?

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You wouldn't think it would be a problem, and I don't know enough about how they work, but if you think about it, a 4x4 truck has open differentials too unless it's posi or detroit locker or something like that, and they don't like dry pavement. I just know from driving the big trucks, when you're in differential lock there's a lot of "scrubbing" going on with the tandems in a tight turn especially bob-tailing (no trailer.)

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yeah but the difference with the 4x4 analogy is that the front and rear wheels take very different paths and have major differences in the amount of area the wheels cover due to the front wheels turning side to side, if you don't turn as drastic with the front tires the bind is less severe. the problem comes when the front tires want to rotate more than the rear for the vehicle to cover the same ground binding the t-case. I think the tandems should be following a much closer path and be covering mostly the same area. but I'm in no way positive of this...
but you could use an all-time 4 wheel drive t-case, they have a built in differential

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X2 :metal:

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update

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few more

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:metal:

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I like the 3x2 intake and the early oil tube!

For the "oddball" approach you're taking to this truck, did you consider a 348 or 409?

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This is also low budget, so nothing but a simple SBC will do for low cost, reliable and easy to get parts for if it were to breakdown on a trip.

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Makes sense. 3x2 still gives it that odd flare that matches the other mods you're doing (6 barrels, 6 wheels... coincidence? I think not. :ito: )

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Does this mean it needs a 6-speed tranny? ;)

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??? the rear drive shaft if i missed it sorry hows it going to fit

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I've built a very short stub assembly that amounts to not much more than two yokes and a carrier bearing. This assembly will mount to the forward axle tube to keep the d-shaft nice a tight. Then one d-shaft feeding from t-case to the stub, then another d-shaft from the stub to the rearmost axle. The stub is already built and I checked for clearnace already, it does clear even at this max drop. Obvioulsey ride height will be above this and even greater clearance. Theoretically the set-up I have in mind should cancel out d-line vibes and technically should work flawlessly with no d-line vib's at any ride height. We'll see if theoretical and reality match up.

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I 'm eager to see how the drive shafts turn out & work myself. A buddy of mine wants to build a tandem axle pickup & we've thought of a bunch of ways to make it work. A divorced NP203 would be a better chose for doing a tandem axle if you were planning to have both axle drive the truck. I say this because the NP203 t-cases were a full time t-case with a differential in them allowing the front & rear dive shafts to turn at different speeds, like when turning, but the front & rear drive lines could also be locked together in 4wd & 4-LO. The down side of the NP203 is they are a chain driven t-case, are about twice the size of the NP205 & weigh about twice as much too. With a Np205 I'd drive it with the t-case in 2wd & shift into 4wd when the extra traction is needed, adding ARB air lockers to the two rear axles would give you the ability to turn all four tires at once no mater what and the ultimate traction.

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This is an great build, you have a lot of talent and skill. I will follow this one. Keep up the good work.

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The only advantage to the NP203 would be the center diff. and trying to find a divorced NP203 can be hard to do. I've never seen one myself. I like the NP205 better because it is a much stronger gear driven case. A simple shifter will take care of any issue of trying to drive both axles on dry pavement allowing you to shift from 2 wd to 4 hi. You cannot run this set-up in 4lo with the case turned backwards as I have done. The front axle would try to turn twice as fast as the rear axle if you did since the front axle is driven by what is normally the input from the transmission before the gear reduction inside the t-case. I seriousley don't think I'll have any issue. Check out USA6x6 sometime. The set-up they offer for about $3000 uses a gear driven set-up off of the front axle to give drive to the second axle and no possible way to stop the engagement of the second axle. Apparently it works just fine.