1979 F600 4 x 4... Im the bastrad stepchild that doesnt fit anywhere

[Notmeofficer]

whats the best source for good pricing and quality parts

I need door seals.. one piece rubber floormat... small stuff.. (I have used JC whitney for stuff like this in the past)

anyone have any favorites?

Spent the day continuing changing fluids... steam cleaned the entire undercarriage... no surprises.. no cab rust.. how refreshing.. found some minor rust in one rear box.. looks like something heavy was stored in it and banged around.. but its an easy fix.. a hour to cut out and fix.. about 4 in by 4 in... everything else is clean

there is probably 2 miles of add-on wiring.. some of it is sano.. some looks like a person who didnt care did it.. lots of quick connects etc... which might be ok on mommas station wagon but wont cut it for a fire truck.. it will be a chunk of time to make it right.. perhaps rewirng a bunch of the safety equipment and updating some of the control boxes

One surprise.. after I removed the seat I found an old rca lo band radio 70s vintage.. 2 feet x 2 feet.. probably weighed 50 pounds.. now there will be a nice storage area behind the seat...
In my factory manual it show Lo back Bostroms as an option for this truck.. wouldnt that be cool.. Im going to check them out.. if anyone has sources (other than Bostrom directly) let me know

Didnt look at the smog sticker yet.. I need a ladder to get up in there...
Cam

 

[O'Rattlecan]

you can't beat the organization of LMC trucks when it comes to things like seals, mats... all the little stuff that you'd search for days looking for.

This truck is really way too cool. Keep us posted!

Ryan

 

[Brian_B]

Check the sticky at the top of the F-100 page. A lot of the suppliers for our old truck parts carry stuff for newer ones (like yours) as well.


http://www.fordtruckfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155

 

[1970Custom]

DOOD, that it one sweet truck.... big, 4x4, and a Ford.....

 

[Notmeofficer]

Ok ford gurus..

I have some updates..

The truck is cool.. but I really bought it for the chassis.. so after much thought and debate I have decided to remove the fire body and pump... I will however keep a skid mounted pump setup to put on it in periods of high summer fire danger here ( I already have a skid foam setup)

So.. with that being said I spent the weekend removing all the lights and sirens, generator (which I will be re-using). Ive cut out about a mile of wire and old junction boxes, a/c wiring. wires that went nowhere or to long gone accessories (this truck had everything,, right down to powered hose reels and light cord reels inside the boxes)... and a gaggle of switches, switch boxes etc.. the interior is cleaning up nicely because of this.

While removing the headliner I discovered the supports for the roof are as follows .. 1 sheet metal brace in center.. and 2 outboard cast iron heavy braces that are just wedged in between the roof lip fore and aft... Im wondering if anyone has heard about or seen these,, and what the light duty trucks have for roof braces

It will take me a month to remove the box.. just because everything is so big and heavy,, even beyond the capabilities of my forklift.. so.. Ill be inviting some friends over for a "remove the box day"... then Ill post some cab and chassis pics...

I hope to make my shipping costs back for the sale of the body and emergency equipment and fire pump... time will tell

 

[Skandocious]

Very nice. Thanks for keeping us updated and please take TONS of pictures! Everyone loves pictures, and this project takes the cake as far as total number of possible interesting pictures

Keep it up!! I can't wait to see the finishing product.

 

[O'Rattlecan]

no doubt about it. You have to keep us in on this. I'm jealous you get to tear into a project this big. It's gotta be exciting.

Ryan

 

[ProjectResponder]

Wow, that is an awesome rig. Yea, even I'm a little jealous If you were here in St. Lou, I'd be happy to help, then again, I'd probably try to swindle you out of it

 

[Notmeofficer]

Ok.. a bunch of stuff has happened since my last post.. I have a blog going at another ford site.. so please excuse me if updates get disjointed.. Im posting in both places so I can get input and suggestions...
Alright Forders

Its been about two weeks and I am making some substantial progress on disassembly and research ( I know you want pictures and I will post some of the process at some point)

I think I have wrenched about 2000 bolts off this thing so far... mostly 3/8" button head stainless.. enough to wear out two socket allen head wrenches and 4 cut off saw blades and a handful of sawzall blades for the difficult ones. Literally a mile of wire and hoses are gone now.. two trashcans full.. this thing had redundant systems to the fire pump.. all engine hoses and wiring, battery cables and gauges ran to the pump as well.. the frame got pretty busy.. now its clean.. well it will be after a sandblast and repaint

Friday when my EBAY forklift arrives (yep.. I just had to buy a forklift to do this project) Ill pull the tank, which takes up the entire center chassis area, the hose reels, and all the sheetmetal rear panels... this alone will remove about 2500 pounds permanently from the truck.. Ill then pull the rear boxes and put them aside for refurbishment and shortening , the rear of the back box will be cut off to shorten the body,, when its all said and done the boxes will be about 11 feet overall...and I think the truck will be about 4k pounds lighter even after reupfitting. I had said I was going to build an all aluminum flatbed on the rear... I may still do it.. but the boxes are so nice and heavy duty that I have decided to keep them for now.. just shorten the ass end one.. it will become clearer when I have it sitting as cab and chassis

In a couple of weeks Ill remove the HALE midship pump...and shorten the chassis/driveshaft.. about 4 feet... the overall truck will become a SWB and will no longer be a beast but will be Bigfoots nimble smaller brother.I intend to keep some of the fire fighting ability of the truck and will install an 20 hp engine driven fire pump and (2) 1 1/2 inch manual lines.. coupled to a lightweight 250 gallon polytank... enough for immediate attack.. especially on my very hot and dry ranch during the summer

I scored a Cummins 6bt diesel with an Allison 545 out of a later model F650 off of ebay for cheap (1800 for the pair.. trust me,, thats cheap for a low mile motor)... it will be my proposed repower at some point,, but Im getting ahead of myself... I still need to get the truck to smog.. spent a day rebuilding the HollyMORECRAFT carb.. which was dank and dark with carbon buildup from being loaded all the time... I believe I'll sail right through emissions now.. then OFF with all that crap to make the truck run right.. once the Historical plates are on it.. it falls off the smog check system.. so its a one time shot to make it get through.. Im am so ready to sanitize the engine bay

I have been running into issues..the same some of you older ford owners experience... hard parts are available but soft parts are long gone to aftermarket companies.. and nobody that I can find has f 600 stuff.. or really knows if the f100-f350 stuff will fit or not.. the 1 piece rubber floor mat isnt out there that I can tell.. and Ive gone to the suppliers like blachsford... no luck yet.. my trucks has the "low" 5 inch center tranny hump. I ordered one up for a f light duty and it didnt come close.. who knows maybe they sent me the wrong one..

Ill continue to take suggestions here

I would like new visors.. black.. anyone know if they are the same as the lt duty's?

I need new shifter rubber.. none of this is available.. Ill have to go aftermarket and make my own

I need new cab insulation on the inside front firewall.. it kinda of disintegrated when I pulled on it...30 years of exposure didnt help... I have plenty of dynamat to do the interior but it would be nice to have a factory style cab insulation under the dash to keep it stock looking.. anyone have any idea as to whether the lt duty stuff does fit?

I found a company that makes disc brakes for military rockwell axles.. basically using F550 stuff...Im researching this (Ive done 4wdb conversions before but never on anything this big).. it would remove several hundred pounds of unsprung weight off the axles.. and this would be a good thing.. also perhaps replacing the transfer case drum parking brake with a DB setup

I have designed, in my head anyway, an aluminum exo- skeleton for the truck. Some of the late model fast attack brush pumpers have them for getting around trees and brush to protect the cab.. anyway,, Im working that design out for the future

Future plans also include LED and HID lighting... basically modernizing all the emergency light systems (something I have experience with) I just submitted a dealer application with EAGLE lighting to become one of their dealers.. they have very nice affordable stainless lights.. HID and sealed beam.. perfect for what Im looking for... Ive used their stuff before but it will be nice to get it wholesale.. this truck can easily eat up 20 driving and flood lights when said and done... and a bunch of LED stuff... I may be able to lease myself to CDF for summer forest fires.. Im still looking at minimum quals for that.. I may need higher pumping capacity than Im planning on.. but Im thinking about it in the back of my mind.. pumpers here get $500-1000 a day on fires...

I havent found any real surprises.. nothing broken..or unexpected on 30 year old trucks even with only 21k miles on them... I did find raffle tickets stuffed under the seat cushion from 1980.. commemorating the truck when new at a fund raiser for the fire company

While this isnt a historical restoration,, it is a modernizing of what is a nce piece of FORD medium duty Americana... I wont touch the real cool part of the truck.. the ford cab itself.. other than weld up the holes they drilled in the dash for radios etc... ok.. I did find some red racing lapbelts I just had to have over the stock ugly dried out ford lap belts.. but thats the last mod.. promise.. ok.. I have my fingers crossed...

Ill get some pics when I begin to get the big stuff off

Thats it from F 600 central.. any help on parts would be welcome.

Cam

 

[Notmeofficer]

There are two ways to look at it.. the purist and the enthusiast...

I think, because it started its life so heavily modified, that I dont feel that what I will do detracts from what the basic truck is and will be.. an f 600.... 4 x 4...

If I can update the systems tastefully... and keep the heart of it ford.. ie the sheetmetal intact.. then it serves my purpose and desire of a cool truck individualized to my skill... as a representation of rolling sculpture.. which is what it is to me

As the tear down and buildup goes on and I publicize it here and I will take all comments and criticism seriously... I see things one way... a lot of people see a lot of things different ways.. the more the merrier before the plasma comes out...

For any buildup we all have a "perfect" in our head.... for me it seems to evolve.

I spent the night cleaning up some scotchlite connections and doing them correctly.. solder and heatshrink and new loom...forget that quick connect stuff.. its for yard monkeys and makes for poor connections just when you need them. I did purchase a whole bunch of weathertite connectors from summit.. so anything that needs connecting will have nice OEM late model style connectors that are super sano,,, no corroded terminals

Little things done just so take forever... I probably took 2 full hours redoing the fuel filter where some monkey had used channel locks on it,,, using a small ball pien hammer and a round die I hammered it out to where its hard to tell it was ever dented... then I made a heat shield out of diamond plate aluminum to replace the dying asbestos type shield. New fuel lines to replace hardened rubber lines... the fuel system is beginning to look shipshape

I blasted the air cleaner and painted it FORD industrial blue.. smog next week if seat comes back... otherwise Id look funny driving it with a 5 gal plastic bucket (my current seat) under my butt.

Tonight I scored a set of inexpensive f650 step saddle tanks off of a junked out Uhaul in excellent condition... this was a major score because the current fuel tank is huge and stuck up under the ass end behind the rear axle... it begs to be dented and hangs down to where I cant get a trailer hitch up under there. It was coming out anyway when I shorten the body and I had been mulling over fuel tank options.. Ive always liked saddle tanks.

Im not sure what my budget will end up being.. Im cataloging every receipt,,, I bet 15k will be pretty easy to burn on it... and a zillion hours.. but thats cheap compared to new medium dutys that start at 50k for strippers

After tomorrow it will be cleaner all over once I remove a bunch of stuff and hit a couple of spots around the fire pump with the steam cleaner..

then Ill get some pics

 

[Notmeofficer]

his is the kind of detail that takes so much time in truck building


I tried resizing the image larger.. but the forum wont take it.. so click on it for the larger detail size if you are interested



The ford fuel filter on the truck had been munged.. so.. I blasted it and then pounded it out a little bit at a time until it was "straight"... this canister apparently differs from standard ford fuel filters.. perhaps because its a medium duty one... in that the filter body is part the deal making the canister short,, and not long like 90 percent of the other fords are

new lines.. push on fittings// rehab of the old steel braid line protector...I used S.S. fuel injection clamps.. they, in my opinion, are more SANO than regular hose clamps on small hose because they don't pinch the line
I made an aluminum heat shield to replace the destroyed asbestos one.. everything is pretty close to the drivers side exhaust

and a shot of the WIX filter Im installing as a backup.. fittings are for mockup.. Ill make a set of flare ones up so it will be sano steel to the filter

UPDATE..floormat
Chucks Trucks claims he has the floor mat.. American made... I ordered it up.. we will see..
He also said most people use the shifter boots form the regular f series... but they were 65.00 and I didn't bite first time around.. Ill have to think about that one.. a little to FORD proud for me...

I have a question.. does anyone know WHAT FONTS (script and block) the FORD logo is... I need to make some.. I have a sign machine.. but for the life of me I havent figured the FONT out correctly yet

 

[Skandocious]

his is the kind of detail that takes so much time in truck building


I tried resizing the image larger.. but the forum wont take it.. so click on it for the larger detail size if you are interested



The ford fuel filter on the truck had been munged.. so.. I blasted it and then pounded it out a little bit at a time until it was "straight"... this canister apparently differs from standard ford fuel filters.. perhaps because its a medium duty one... in that the filter body is part the deal making the canister short,, and not long like 90 percent of the other fords are

new lines.. push on fittings// rehab of the old steel braid line protector...I used S.S. fuel injection clamps.. they, in my opinion, are more SANO than regular hose clamps on small hose because they don't pinch the line
I made an aluminum heat shield to replace the destroyed asbestos one.. everything is pretty close to the drivers side exhaust

and a shot of the WIX filter Im installing as a backup.. fittings are for mockup.. Ill make a set of flare ones up so it will be sano steel to the filter

UPDATE..floormat
Chucks Trucks claims he has the floor mat.. American made... I ordered it up.. we will see..
He also said most people use the shifter boots form the regular f series... but they were 65.00 and I didn't bite first time around.. Ill have to think about that one.. a little to FORD proud for me...

I have a question.. does anyone know WHAT FONTS (script and block) the FORD logo is... I need to make some.. I have a sign machine.. but for the life of me I havent figured the FONT out correctly yet

Sounds like your makin' some real progress. How bout some more shots of the truck?

Hey I don't know if the Ford script has an actual name but I do have a copy of the font file. If you want it shoot me an email at

skandocious at gmail dot com

EDIT: Scratch that, I found the link for it:

http://cooltext.com/Download/Font/fordscript.zip

 

[Notmeofficer]

thanks for the logo

Ill get pics this weekend.. I just finished getting my forklift ,motor/tranny and saddle tanks.. everything is better than I hoped.. the tanks are beautiful

 

[scottmn1]

Notmeofficer, It sounds like you and I have a lot in common in the way we think. There is not a single connection made on my truck wiring that has not been soldered and protected with heat shrink tubing. I too use weather pak connectors on anything exterior, and also buy the sealed relays with the weather pak seals from GM for my relay needs. Butt connectors and Scotch lock connectors should be against the law if you are making connections anywhere except in the interior, and I personally don't even use them then!!!!!! My opinion only, and I am sure some will disagree with me on the matter.

 

[Fellro]

I would have to agree 100% on the quick connects and such garbage...

 

[Notmeofficer]

hEY ALL..

Ive been busy...

truck is down to the bare frame.. this week Ill be upgrading the frame to T 1 steel... it was expensive but worth it and Ill have a like new double frame when Im done

Sold the 370... now have a nice cummins and a allison out of an f650... front motor mount bolted right up to the factory ford cross member...

All the sub assemblies are being gone through.. sandblasted and painted one at a time

I am having some custom made (stazworks) super single wheels ,12 x 20 , made with military Michelin 46 inch xl tires on them.. the big open wheel wells are begging for them.. and the gearing (6.17) will be perfect

I confess.. Ive been using another forum that is more active (Pirate 4 x 4) and getting advice on a lot of custom stuff,,

I want to convert the axles to 4wdb,, and I was lead to believe ford may have made a factory kit that might fit my years.. (using b700 bus discs for the rockwells).. anyone know?

I have a bunch of pics,, but a frame is a frame is a frame so when I get it back to rolling chassis form Ill post up..

Cam

 

[Skandocious]

Hey well its about TIME you gave us some updates!! Dude it sounds freakin awesome, I can't wait to see some pictures, get them posted!

Don't know about the disc brake setup, maybe someone else can chime in with advice. Good luck brother, don't stop til it's all done!

 

[Notmeofficer]

Ok.. some updates

Ive been working hard at four wheel disc braking the truck and thats been sucking up research time.. but Im getting close

The front and rear axles have been disassembled..

Im having difficulty locating a locker for the rear... more research.. it may not be made.. there are so many rockwell axles the aftermarket companies are clueless...

hubs measured.. it looks like at first glance, without using a caliper, that the B700 rotors WILL fit (or at least be close enough to easily machine clearance (Raybestos 8517) used in a lot of applications from 84-91. The rotors cost about 120-140 depending on your supplier.. double that for USA or Canadian versions of the same thing
The next hurdle is calipers.. probably f550.. using an f550 hydroboost 4wdb master cylinder.. keeping it all "Ford" F550 calipers are rated at 13.5k each.. so they will work in this application.. the rotor is about 15.2 inches,, the wheels has and ID clearance of about 17.58 inches.. so there should be enough room to use the ford stuff.. hooray.. keep it stockish for sake of maintenance .. but while Im getting xlose.. Im not there yet.. I actually need to buy a rotor to confirm everything
And finally building custom caliper brackets


My rear axle ended up being 39 spline.. the front 30.. Selectro locking Hubs 11038-01 do fit (74-83),, and Summit gave me a smoking price of 318.00 on them beating the cheapest I could find anywhere by one dollar.. so now Ill have locking hubs and no huge spinning front drive train


slow progress ..very slow..

wheels and tires on order.. 4 weeks out.. hubs 3 weeks..
I have pretty much everything disassembled now,, this is the hard and frustrating part of the build... and goes very slowly.. sandblasting.. painting.. putting it back together one bolt at a time..
Ive been trying to write down things.. like welding on bolts on the diffs for brake line brackets etc.. or making shock mounts for the rear (it has no rear shocks)
a zillion little things to remember

rain.. no frame work.. still waiting on the custom t 1 doubler from my steel supplier

 

[89frankenford]

sounds like one hell of a project! glad its going good so far!

 

[TheRoadVirus]

Sweet jesus, sounds like a hell of an undertaking. Any pics of the current status of the truck itself? Just a frame or what?