Alright, I finally got around to repairing the hole in the back of the cab and painting said cab. Getting the bed moved took a bit of ingenuity since the chances of getting me and 3 of my friends is the same place at the same time is low. But nothing a cherry picker couldn't resolve. Once that was out of the way, I cut away the problem section, welded in a new patch (not the best but it worked), did a lot of grinding, then paint! I think it came out really nice. Now I have to order metal for engine/trans mounts and figure out how I want to build mounts. This lone act of getting the engine and trans placed is the most worrisome for me. I've never done an engine swap like this. I've done engine swaps where the engine going in is more or less the same as the one going out (1915cc VW engine into a 1600cc VW beetle). After they're in, I should be able to move fairly quickly. Granted there are still a lot of unknowns. ie: fuel delivery, exhaust routing, wiring and ecu, power steering plumbing, radiator... the list goes on. haha. I'm going to lean on some of my local friends to hopefully guide me in fabricating the powertrain mounts. I still want to try to be able to drive it by the end of summer. I'm excited to start on the interior and doing all the finishing details like lights, gauges, bedliner, winch, etc. But that all will have to wait.

moving the bed


the rust hole in the back of the cab


section removed and prepped


new piece welded in


lots of grinding and paint later! Something about a grinder and some paint? haha




I did under the cab and the firewall as well. I'll probably do the wheel arches and back of the core support eventually.