Got a lot more done, this thing is so damn close to be finished! Unfortunately I had to come back home and back to the real world, so it will probably be another month or so before I get to work on it again.
Fabbed up the rear shackle hangers and reused the original shackles, used the old pins for the shock mounts and stuck with the staggered setup on the Dana 80. Two of the old shocks even fit perfectly. The front core support is finished- i cut it up a ton to fit the 99 intercooler and radiator in, then welded in a bunch of 1" angle iron. Grill and the bottom body faring or whatever it's called are definitely not going to fit with the much taller intercooler, but the good news is that I have about 3.5 inches to slide in some fans. The bed is back bolted on, and the fenders are on- the drivers side still needs some adjusting to get the door gap wide enough. I have just about all of the cab wired, though my "new" harness came from a truck with all the options, so i still need to find a wiper switch with an intermittent feature, and locate an a/c motor resistor. Other than that, I need a couple brake lines, install the new clutch hydraulics, find a top radiator hose that will fit, and get some shocks for the front and this thing is ready to roll! I can't freakin wait. Here are tons of pics from the last work week:
Still on the adjustable shackle to get the stance just right, it matches my uncle's 2003 perfectly:
The exhaust side:
really short belt- i read that running electric fans saves about 20 hp....
rear suspension finalized:
