The time has come to put the body back on the Ramcharger. In this picture, my chain hoist is hooked into four chains. Two are hooked into the lower door hinges, and the other two are are bolted into the rear seat holes. The hoist is supporting the bulk of the weight. the back is supported on ramps.

Using the chain hoist, I raised the front of the body. Once it was up high enough, I started rolling the frame under it.Eventailly, I had to enlist the engine crane to lift the back. I dropped two chains down to the tail gate catches.
A blurry pic of the whole shindig.

Getting it up to level. Haven't pulled the roof in on me yet.

Here it sits. i forgt to take a picture of the mounts, I will get some tomorrow and edit them in. I reused the best of all the original rubber mounts I had laying around. Trying to keep the budget on this one as close to zero as possible, I decided not to buy new poly bushings. I also reinstalled the 1 1/2 inch body lift that was on the Ramcharger shell when I got it.This is what it looks like down the passenger sideTough to tell what is going on in this shot. I included it to show engine to firewall clearance. There is about an inch.Considering that this is a 35 inch tire. the spring lift/body lift combo set it up pretty good.

For the most part, this project is an engine, transmission, transfer case swap. The Ramcharger has also received 3/4 ton running gear, but, so far, that has all been 1977 to 1977. Any other modifications are simply to make the 1992 diesel stuff work. With that in mind, I modified the old gas tank to become a diesel fuel tank. The yellow fitting is a 3/4 inch filler vent out of a diesel tank. Since diesel tends to foam, the small gas vent won't be adequate. The fuel supply is now plumbed to the lift pump on the engine. The return fuel line is plumbed into the old vent line. By using the old style tank and gauge unit the original body and dash wiring can be used for the gauge.This is a shot of where the hard lines ended. I extended the lines back to the tank with new fuel hose. I put the hose inside wire loom where it goes though all the cross-members beside the tank to protect them from chafing.
The shiny spot on the bell housing on the left side of the picture below the wires is where the cab and transmission came together in the collision that caused the 1992 ctd to become a donor vehicle. The transmission/transfer-case wiring harness was pinched, so I soldered and shrink wrapped the wires before stuffing them into this loom. There is nothing I hate more on a vehicle than electrical problems, so any time I find a hinky situation, I try to make it right.
Another shot. I like the clean and secure look to this wiring now. The original tape harness fell apart in my hands.
The body will be going on pretty soon. Exciting step.

Both the 3/4 ton running gear are under the truck now. The brake lines are hooked back up as are the parking brake cables. The 5" lift and the 35 inch tires accentuate the short wheel base. hoping to drive this thing in about two weeks.
It ain't very long.
I used the hard fuel lines from my standard ca/bed donor truck. They hooked right up to the engine (Heck, they came off this engine) and fit the frame rail perfectly. I removed the line I had swapped over from the other side and pitched it. These lines, supply and return, just almost reach the front corner of the rear-mounted ramcharger tank. I will run hose from there to the tank. I rigged up a vent and a dedicated return hook-up at the tank. I will talk about that more when I get pics of the tank.
I reused a solid 3 inch, madrel bent downpipe and 3 inch mandrel bent exhaust pipe. Trying to keep the expense to a minimum, I chose not to use the 4 inch that is waiting for the crewcab to be ready for it. For now, the exhaust ends just off the picture. If it is too loud, or if it drones too much in the cab, I have a stock muffler I can put on. What I don't have is a over-the-axle and tail pipe.
Cleaned up and installed the Rancho shocks off my crewcab.
The next post should be the fuel tank and redoing some wires at the tranny. Then, I will be putting the body back on. Hopefully the body goes on on Wednesday.

Odds and ends up front

This picture shows the installed front driveshaft. This is the driveshaft out of the '92 cummins donor truck. The u-joint fit the yoke so I put it in without any modifications.
The power steering hoses were an issue because the '92 hoses did not fit the '77 steering box, and the '77 high pressure hose did not fit the pump. To remedy this, I changed out the fitting in the back of the power sterring pump on the diesel with the fitting from a pump off a '70s truck I had in the shop. The extra hose going over the top of the pump is the fuel line. I removed the hard line from the right frame rail and relocated it in the left frame rail to get it on the lift-pump side of the engine. I still need to attach it at both ends and run a return line back to the tank.
After switching the fitting, I was able to use the '77 hoses and get the power steering buttoned-up.
I also hooked up the brake line to the front axle, as well as the drag link.

Axle swaps

Yesterday and today was a game of musical front ends. I jacked up the dually frame and removed the Dana 60 axle.

I did the same with the ramcharger, removing the dinky Dana 44 full time half-ton front end. I installed the half-ton front under the dually frame so I could set it back down, then I went to work on removing the Dana 44 from the creww-cab frame. I moved all the axles with the springs. This would put the one-ton springs in the crew cab and the 3/4 ton springs with the 5" lift in the ramcharger.
I ran into a problem trying to remove the right front spring hanger bolt. The bolt had rusted in the sleve and I coul not break it loose with any hammer in the shop. I ended up using the cutting torch to remove the bolt head and thread end, then bore out the bolt far enough to drop the spring out. Luckily, I had a couple of spare polyeurethane (sp) bushings, a sleve and bolt on the shelf.
On the outside I mangled the hole a bit. The inside was perfect. It worked out okay, because I had to drill out the holes for the 5/8ths bolt required for the 1-ton springs.
Here is the 3/4 ton dana 44 in the front of the Ramchrger with the 5" springs and 35" tires. When I get the front axle back from M&H machine, I will be replacing this axle with the much beefier Dana 60. This will also change the gearing from 4:10 to 3:54.
Not quite the same angle, but a comparisson photo.

New overdrive housing.

I was going to have M&H Machine weld up the broken alum. housinf, but they were able to get a replacement for only $45. It is back in the truck now and the cross-member is in position. I had to move it back one hole and will need to drill new holes for the four rear-most holes. With the cross-member in this position, it still would not bolt-up, so I slotted the holes in the member where the ruber mounts bolt through. I also replaced the motor mounts with new. Don't ask me why I did not do this before I set the engine. In the excitement, I just forgot.

Timing cover buttoned-up.

After killing the dowel pin and locktiting the bolts, I put the timing cover back on. I could not help myself on the Hemi paint. If you do this job, you will want to make a map of the bolts, as some are long and others are short. The map makes reassembly a lot easier.