New Monster M715 build

[smokeater7]

Hello fellow zoners! Let me introduce myself. I bought my 1967 M715 a little over a year ago, and i have been surfing the zone ever since i bought her (still have yet to name her). I have found a wealth of info on this site and am very thankful to everyone out there who has unkowingly helped. I have finally started my build after almost a year and i expect it will probably take another year to finish. Maybe longer since i dont have a garage big enough to store it and work on it so i am working on it outside on my patio as the weather is slowly warming up. We only probably have a bout 4-5 months of warmer weather up here in SD so it may take a while.

Well here is a what i am starting with picture was taken a year ago when i towed her home



And some more when i moved it to the back patio





As you can see i removed the stupid roll bar and also removed the front grille for now since the previous owner just had it sitting there not bolted up. She came without the engine or transmission but came with the stock transfercase which is for sale. Also the previous owner took out all the gauges and interior. He had everyting just put together in a box in the bed so there seems to be just a bunch of random stuff that im sure ill figure out where it goes eventually.

My plans for this monster are 52" Michelins



With 2.5 ton rockwells. I have both front and rear but only have a pic of the rear for some reason



And the power plant for this bad boy is 496 cubic inches of Vortec 8.1L with a 4l80e transmission which was pulled from a 2004 chevy avalanche 2500. and for the transfer case which i dont have yet is probably gonna be a two speed atlas.



As far as the suspension goes i plan on going with some coilovers at all four corners with double triangulated 4 links both front and rear. I am trying to make this into a show truck as i already have my daily driver and off road rig. but im not saying i wont crush some stuff along the way

Here is a pic of my trail rig just for fun. Its an 87 nissan pathfinder slightly modified. everything was done by myself



And my daily driver which is a 2003 nissan frontier crew cab supercharged. i built the roof rack and installed the snorkel and yes its hooked up. and also added the wheels and tires.



So anyways thats where i am at currently on the build. I will post more pics on the engine installed tomorrow or later tonight. getting tired of typing plus it said a posted too many pictures in one post. Follow along and feel free to give me some feed back. Thanks!

[Roy]

Pretty impressive pile of parts. Should make for a nice rig. Welcome.

[randyscycle]

Defintely looks like a neat project. Welcome!

I wanna see that truck sitting on those 52's.

[smokeater7]

well to continue on with the pictures. i just briefly threw the engine and transmission in there to see how she would fit with the stock mounts.



just some more pictures with the front clip removed.





Got a nice clean slate to work with.



So since i am putting rockwells under im getting rid of the axles. got a guy coming to look at the front today. Front axle removed



So since im trying to make this into a show truck i am removing all unecessary and stock brackets and filling in all uneeded holes and bolt holes in the frame. Plan on boxing in the rear when i get to that end of the truck.

here is the before



and the after





Im still gonna get rid of the stock spring hangers. but im gonna leave them under for now to maybe help out with ride heigth when i put the rockwells under neath just to see where she sits. i know ill need more lift but at least ill be closer to getting an idea of how much more.

[Hammer]

How much are you going to lift it and how much are you going to change the fenders?

Here was my old M715 SOA with stock springs, rockwells and 16.00's.
As you can tell, there is NO clearance as it sits. Just to give you an idea of what you are in for!
Personally, I would run something like a 395 on it. Nice and wide, look and ride great, and a LOT LESS modifications to make it work out!

[TheDude]

Looks like a good start, I really like the manner in which you smoothed out the frame rails. That is a lot of tire for this truck and I am interested to see how low you can keep it.

RM

[spgirard30]

here is mine with rockwells, stock springs, and 395's. I am still rubbing a little in the front but the spring pearches I have will allow me to move the axle 1" forward and I think that will be enough to keep it from contacting the fender flare.

[randyscycle]

There was a picture floating around here somewhere of the King Ranch M715 that had some pretty meaty tires on it too. I think they were in the 50" range if I remember correctly.

[smokeater7]

Thanks for the pics guys. i sold both the front and rear axle today so a little extra money to go back into the jeep fund. Not really sure exactly how many inches of lift i will need ill just play it by ear. i plan on modifying the fenders to match the contour of the tires and ill probably move the front axle forward to help out with the front. I dont plan to do serious offroading with it so im not too concerned with the center of gravity too much but still want to keep it low enough for practicality......wait come to think of it i dont think it will be too "practical" but you get the idea.

[smokeater7]

So here are some of the pictures of the 8.1L getting installed.

Here is a picture of it getting mocked into place





Once i had it where i wanted it, i built the new engine crossmember



I added some exta plates on the outside of the frame for support.