The Box Truck Project

[Thomas]

seems like the cart before the horse to me.

It sure is. I had been just tinkering while my mechanic buddy works out some issues, but I just love working on it so I kept going. I've learned an awful lot about what it takes to create a tiny house, and I'm pretty stoked about it. The mechanical restoration will happen. In the meantime I'm excited about moving into it. I think that the price of fuel may prevent me from moving it very far anyway. Based on the inflation projections I'll have to keep my conventional home, so that I can be a multi-millionaire when cash becomes almost worthless. It's very possible that what I'm building is a guest cottage.

 

[Thomas]

Since my last post I completed and installed my countertop. I installed my sink plumbing. I’ll put a bungee curtain across that space – I don’t need to manage cupboard doors while wrestling with jugs or the propane tank. I completed my ceiling and lights. The first 3 lights are on a dimmer. The office light has its own switch – on/off.

My focus has changed in the last three weeks. I think that by mid-summer fuel will be super expensive, and provisions may be hard to come by. I’ll have to see what happens. For now I’ll complete the bed and install the wood stove. I may even get the mechanical work accomplished. But this summer I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for any tendency towards food riots. If that’s happening, then I won’t really have an RV. I’ll have a water filter and a solar power plant for my homestead.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Wow, countertop looks great! Love the copper pipe faucet!

 

[Thomas]

This is what I’ve done in the last 3 weeks. The first picture is my Cubic Mini wood stove. There are aluminum heat shields on each side. The little rack underneath it holds tiny fireplace tools. The cap on the wall covers an in-flow vent: the stove needs air, and having its own vent should avoid drawing cold air to it from across the room.

The next 3 pictures are of my table/desk - in the table mode, folded down for storage, and folded up against the bed for access to my water plant.

The fifth picture is the head portion of my bed, folded up against the wall for storage.

The last picture shows the bed. A tri-fold mattress - scheduled for delivery tomorrow - will store behind the bed when it's folded up. I have some Aire-Flow Hypervent material for the bed.

I think that my mechanic buddy has met with misadventure. So next week I’m sending the truck away for mechanical work. While that’s going on I’ll cut the mattress down to size, make curtains for the attic and a curtain for under the counter. I’ll also buy/make cushions for the bench, and I’ll finish the door for the pass-through.

Once I get the truck back from the shop, I’ll install the “bottom gear” – a gray water tank, and a couple tool boxes.

 

[Thomas]

The pass-through door is 2 layers of insulation board covered with PMF. I made it in two sections so that I can remove the top portion while the bed is down and have an emergency exit.

 

[kklowell]

I like that door.

 

[WanderingRose]

My favorite is your Cubic Mini wood stove.

I would have one if I could.

 

[Thomas]

Today I took delivery of a remanufactured engine. Next week I’ll get a remanufactured transmission delivered. It took quite a while to get these items as many components used in the reman were on back order, just like lots of stuff these days. But the project is again in motion. Today and tomorrow we’ll pull the old engine and transmission. I’ll do a little scraping underneath, and use some rust encapsulator paint. Then we’ll install the new engine and transmission. I’m confident that I’ll need to replace some ancillary components, and I’m confident that I’ll have to wait for them as well.

In the meantime, I worked on some odds and ends. I made seat cushions and curtains. I installed the wave6 heater, CO/smoke alarm, fire extinguisher, etc.

 

[Calypso]

Looks awesome! It’s hard to wait for the components… esp when you’re in the zone!
I really like the white and wood trim.

 

[JP-SLC]

Today I took delivery of a remanufactured engine. Next week I’ll get a remanufactured transmission delivered.

Very cool. How much are the reman engines/trannies going for?

 

[Thomas]

The engine was $4K, the transmission about $3K.

 

[Thomas]

Happy Independence Day. Today my mechanic buddy and I are pulling out my old engine and transmission. Once we have that accomplished I'll need to pressure was the engine and tranny before I can send the cores back to the re-manufacturer. I'll also need to pressure wash some components that we'll re-use on the new engine. At some point in there I'll clean the fuel tank. I'll also clean up the frame and some arms, and treat them with rust encapsulator paint.

 

[JP-SLC]

So will that motor/trans come out/in without lifting the cab or is it necessary to lift the cab off the frame, etc?

 

[Thomas]

We didn't get the engine out yet, but it should come right out. When I was shopping mechanics in town I gave them the heads up that they won't be able to de-cab, or at least not easily due to the overhanging attic. Each one told me there was no reason to de-cab. My buddy has a line on a special tool he needs to get the fan off before we pull the engine, and I picked up a 26 gallon compressor to drive that tool.
We have the front of the truck up on jack stands, and that provides plenty of clearance to get the transmission out of there with its giant bell housing.
We removed the fuel pump so I could begin cleaning the tank - the fuel in there had been in there for 3 years. I'm glad there was only 7 gallons of old gas in there - which I saved to use in igniting my backyard burn pile. We used PB Blaster to get the fuel pump nuts loose, but all six of the stud bolts crumbled and broke right off. So I ordered a new tank for $600. It will be here Friday. We'll have to lift the back of the truck to swap gas tanks, so we'll save that task until after we swap out the engine and transmission.
I expect to replace several components. Fortunately my divorce was not as expensive as I anticipated, so I happen to have some funds available for that. Any component that feels shabby is going to get replaced.

 

[JP-SLC]

We didn't get the engine out yet, but it should come right out. When I was shopping mechanics in town I gave them the heads up that they won't be able to de-cab, or at least not easily due to the overhanging attic. Each one told me there was no reason to de-cab. My buddy has a line on a special tool he needs to get the fan off before we pull the engine, and I picked up a 26 gallon compressor to drive that tool.
We have the front of the truck up on jack stands, and that provides plenty of clearance to get the transmission out of there with its giant bell housing.
We removed the fuel pump so I could begin cleaning the tank - the fuel in there had been in there for 3 years. I'm glad there was only 7 gallons of old gas in there - which I saved to use in igniting my backyard burn pile. We used PB Blaster to get the fuel pump nuts loose, but all six of the stud bolts crumbled and broke right off. So I ordered a new tank for $600. It will be here Friday. We'll have to lift the back of the truck to swap gas tanks, so we'll save that task until after we swap out the engine and transmission.
I expect to replace several components. Fortunately my divorce was not as expensive as I anticipated, so I happen to have some funds available for that. Any component that feels shabby is going to get replaced.

interesting. Somewhere I got the idea the cab had to come off and as a result, when shopping for rigs, I didn't consider any with mid-higher mileage because it would be cost-prohibitive to do a swap with all the labor of cab lifting. It's good to know it's not really necessary. I'll be watching your project with popcorn -- best of luck to you!

 

[JP-SLC]

BTW, I found a video of some guys doing an econoline swap (although different motor) without lifting the cab. It sounds like you already guys know what you're doing, but if you need any tips or want to avoid their mistakes, it might be helpful to you. Watch out for lots of F-bombs if that bothers you.


Link should take you to directly to the section where they pull the motor/trans, but if not, it's at the 1:03:23 mark.

 

[Thomas]

My mechanic buddy and I have been doing the mechanical work on Saturdays. Pulling the engine and transmission have been a challenge. Ideally you’d like to remove the cab and put the truck on a lift. But neither of those things were good options in our case. Instead we’re using jack stands, crawling around under the truck, and reaching down through the dog house. We removed the transmission, and stripped the engine in place.

The transmission has a big drum brake on the end of it, which made it really unstable/unbalanced on the transmission jack. But we wrestled it out of there. We’ll re-build the transmission brake, and install it separately after the new transmission is in place. We’re in the process of transferring some items from the old transmission to the new. The transmission brake doesn’t want to come off. The 6 bolts were easy. But it’s also attached with a couple studs, and the splined shaft itself. I need to get some penetrating oil, and vibrate that thing off with an air hammer. That's how it goes: every little step has several sub-steps, and some of them require a special tool.
The engine is stripped (mostly) and hanging by a couple bolts.

With the transmission out I was able to crawl around under the truck to brush off loose rust, and spray the steel with rust converter paint. I’ll do a little more of that once the engine is out. For the engine I got a new fan clutch, water pump, thermostat, and tensioner set. I’ll get a new compressor after we get the engine out. It’s the only big accessory still attached to the engine. I want to hold the compressor in my hands, as I did with the other components, so I can be sure to order a compressor with the correct plug fittings, etc. The fan clutch and water pump felt grindy. I’m sure that contributed to the blown head gasket which took the truck out of service and rendered it a non-running mechanic’s special. Also, several of the exhaust manifold studs were broken. I’m sure that caused exhaust leaks, which probably also contributed to the engine overheating and blowing the head gasket. These are good things to know about. Swapping out some cooling components in a timely manner might make an engine last longer.

I have the new gas tank, and have painted it with Rustoleum. Once the new engine and transmission are in place we can set the front of the truck down and lift up the back end to swap out gas tanks. At some point in there I’ll finish my rust treatment in the back.

 

[Thomas]

For the past 6 weeks we've been tinkering with the new engine. Some of the most basic tasks were a struggle - like getting the ancillary components off of the old engine. I had to cut the exhaust manifold nuts off, for example. But we got it done, and the shippers picked up the old engine and transmission cores last week.

While the engine was out we replaced the front shocks and steering dampener with new Bilstein's. Changing shocks with the engine in place would have been a real challenge.

We put some new components on the new engine, and set it in the engine compartment last Saturday.
Today we got the transmission under the truck and bolted to the engine. That was a struggle. Even with the truck up at a severe angle up on jack stands, the big bell housing of the transmission wouldn’t fit under the frame while on the transmission jack. We took the tranny off the jack trolley and slid it under on a big sheet of Teflon that I happened to have. Once the tranny was under the center of the truck we wrestled it up onto stacks of lumber front and back. And from there we wrestled it back onto the jack trolley. Once that monster was chained onto the trolley it was pretty simple to lift it up into place, stab the dowels into the back end of the engine, and bolt it to the engine.

The next step will be to bolt the transmission brake onto the back of the transmission. Then we’ll jack the transmission up so the whole engine/transmission assembly is level, reinstall the horizontal frame support under it, and bolt on the drive shaft.

 

[bullfrog]

Hope everything go well for you! Don’t forget transmission lines and brackets!

 

[Thomas]

We’ve been working primarily on Saturdays, and not every Saturday. But we got the old engine out of there. We assembled the new engine using nearly all new components – compressor, alternator, fan clutch, pulleys, hoses, water pump, etc. I think the only things we used from the old engine were the manifolds and valve covers, and for those we used new bolts and gaskets. A shipper came and picked up the old engine and transmission and sent it back for re-man. We put the new engine in place. We put the new transmission in place, and then attached the brake to the end of it. We connected the drive line last Saturday. There were many more steps than I’ll detail here, and every aspect of every step required a special tool or procedure. I’m lucky my buddy is a master mechanic, or this work would have cost a fortune. I learned a lot. We got the radiator installed.

We set the front of the truck back on the ground. We need to roll it forward so that the entire truck is on concrete. Next we’ll lift the whole truck up on jack stands. We need to pull out the fuel tank and install the new one, and fuel pump assembly. We plan to leave the truck on jack stands until after some testing and looking for leaks. After that, we’ll re-install the bumper, grille, lights, etc. I’m tinkering with the gray water tank. I’ll fabricate the straps and drill the holes for input, drain, vent, and cleanout. I won’t install it until after we’re done crawling around under the truck. I ordered some interlocking rubber gym floor mats for the cab. I’ll cover the entire floor with that. And then I’ll re-install the seats. That will be just about it, except that I still need to get the windshield replaced, and get new tires.