I'm off work today, so I decided to update the truck story. When I was restoring the truck,one of my kids said that truck is big,It looks like a Melvin. I instantly christened it "Big Melvin"and that's how I will refer to it from now on.

Two weeks ago, my ace painter and body man,Bob Kiser and I took the hood and front fenders off. Although I have a garage and tools, one thing I lack is an overhead crane that can pick up 3000 lbs. That's about the weight of the 8.3/Spicer transmission combo.

A friend of mine,Rich Fraer also builds trucks and agreed to install the engine and transmission. Rich has a big shop,but lives about an hour away from me,so my dad and I are planning to take Melvin to Rich;s shop on my Dad's drop dreck trailer.

My plan is to have Rich install the engine and transmission,then get it running. After it's running,We'll truck it back to my garage so I can work on it.

The 8.3 is a turbocharged engine with an air to air intercooler. It's going to take some engineering to squeeze the intercooler under the hood.

I also need to replace the seals in the aux. transmission,rig up a 3 speed shifter in place of the 2 speed one I'm using now and install a pyrometer and boost gauge for the turbo.

Plans down the road will include the new rear end,electric windshield wipers to replace the air wipers and and an air seat so you can drive it some distance with feeling like you got beat with a hammer.