[tommr]

marv you should check wheel track width as well. from the pics you may be able to go a little wider in the front. rear axles are best gauged by opening them up and taking a look. ive learned mileage means almost nothing on axles and manual gearboxes. pull the carrier and pinion and check all the bearings. check axle shafts. if you think its usable you can freshen as needed. one thing to consider is that when old stuff breaks replacement parts arent around--sometimes anywhere. you may want to consider a later (disc brake)axle assembly (front and rear)if you are planning on taking this far. I had the weep hole on our 401 waterpump heliarced closed because it was going to be 2 days before I could get one and we were 500 miles from home. welded the flywheel because a replacement did not exist anywhere. I love the Spicer 4 speed and I have it working like velvet. unfortunately its direct drive and top speed in 3rd is about 32 mph. 55mph is top speed. it puts the 401 at 2900 rpm. and it still need a flywheel. yanking it all for a 5 speed Allison with OD. at least I can get replacement parts for it if needed. at 48 inches im thinking that may have had some kind of industrial 4 cyl engine in it. 292 with a stick would be nice but I think it may all be too long--unless the firewall can be altered. not sure where stick handle would be but if you have to use remote shifting components forget about it. go automatic if that's the case. cobbling a remote shift tower, linkage, etc together is near impossible. you may want to think about later model components. being broken down and looking for parts sucks. I look at and listen to the 401 in our 47 Flx and love it. its got that whole old school thing going and its very capable at getting 20,000 lbs around the country but I know when it goes it will be hard to justify a rebuild esp with parts getting harder to find. at some point it will probably have an 8100 Vortec. best thing to do is to spend a lot of time measuring a lot of things. and remeasuring. I wouldn't spend any $ until you know what will work for sure. you can also find dimensional charts for engines and transmissions online. my approach would be 2 late model axles (or a rear axle and a front frame section)and a later engine with an automatic all hung on the original frame. finding a roller that will meet all your requirements may be impossible and your actual frame sounds pretty good. sheetmetal looks desert dry on that thing as well. any way to get a weight on that? it would be nice to know. tons of fun for sure. tom