'78 3/4 ton 4x4 FRANKENTRUCK

[asphaltburner]

Yo! Y'all!
I have this truck,...
Started with my ol' '73 3/4 ton 4x4 flatbed, from Missouri, that has a rotted and fractured cab. Dana 44 with Warn locking hubs, 5560 lb rated rear axle, 350/TH350/NP205. Asked around, and a buddy of mine told me he was buying a truck for $250 for the 350 V8 that had 15,000 miles on a rebuild (!!). Only 12 miles up the road, nearly in WY, out with the cattle in a field. Drove up and was shocked to find a near perfect '78 3/4 ton 4x4 P/U! 350/TH400/NP203.
Several trips to prepare the truck for flatbedding and $110, and it was in my drive. My friend and I pulled the 350 V8 from the P/U, and then the flatbed, and hauled his engine to his house. I proceeded to yank the entire drivetrain from each truck, used the flatbed's 350 as a core for my 350 shortblock and built myself QUITE an engine,...identical to the torque motor I built for my '76 Camaro. 410 ftlbs torque and about 325 hp. Swapped the axles, from one truck to the other, and had the P/U's TH400 rebuilt with the truck application in mind. My wife started calling the P/U FRANKENTRUCK, due to the mix of parts, and the name has stuck.
Found a great 4x4 dedicated company in Carbondale, CO called Off Road Design (they're at offroaddesign.com!) and the owner helped me discover that my TH400 required a "rare as the dodo" long output shaft to mate with the "bulletproof" NP205. Lots of calls and Plues, in Denver, was able to supply me with a two wheel drive long output shaft that is identical to the 4WD version, but is tapped for the yoke. AAMCO was kind enough to disassemble, install, and re-assemble the freshly rebuilt TH400 for me for free (You cannot imagine how embarassing a mistake that was! Glad I impressed them with my mechanical ability before they found out I'd missed a huge detail in my build plan!).
Off Road Design also sells a repro of the other "rare as the dodo" part that I needed, the TH400/NP205 adapter,...also bought a kick-ass rebuilt NP205 from them that has machined shift rails and a twin stick shifter. The two combined solves an age-old sloppy shifter that the NP205 originally had, and allows independant control of the front and rear axles. Rear wheel high/low, 4x4 high/low and FRONT wheel drive high/low!! The Dana 44 also allows me to unlock the front hubs to save gas and wear on the front axle when two wheeling.
New steel hood, tall tires, minor floor repair (with underlayment, 1/4" foil-backed wool, and new full-floor vinyl covering to finish the floors), new dashpad, and new upholstery. Finished returning the electrical system to factory condition last eve and yanked the 3 port fuel selector valve (!) so I can re-connect the twin fuel tanks. Pulled the fuel tanks (they were left uncapped in the field for four years and found the cheap aftermarket fuel tank full of running rust. Into the back of the flatbed it went with all the other left over crap to get hauled to the junkyard when I'm done (it'll get me $100/ton as scrap!). The flatbed's factory tank was shiny clean inside, just like FRANKENTRUCK's factory tank, so a little more swapping ensued! Got a new 6 port valve coming to properly swap the tanks and I have a Summit electric fuel pump to supply my 600 Holley.
The 350 is a 4blt main with 67cc chamber World heads (9.2:1 compression and 2.02/1.60 intake/exhaust valves), a Crane cam advanced 4 degrees with roller tipped rockers, Weiand manifold, and shorty headers.
Whew!! Enough of that, how 'bout a pic or two?
This is what I found near Wyoming, out with the cows:

These are the donor flatbed and FRANKENTRUCK next to my big garage:

FRANKENTRUCK in my big garage and it's 350 V8 (fender off for door alignment, and I'm still testing the stitch weld around the upper hinge where someone tryed to rip the door off the hinges,...ya know how folks like to throw the door open! Not good for any vehicle, especially these ol' GM products):

New dashpad and flooring installed:

And, finally, my upholstery job, toasting in the near 100 degree heat (softens, tightens, and smooths the freshly hog-ringed vinyl) last weekend:

Just need to put it all together now, so out to the garage I go!! Todd.