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How to not buy a truck off craigslist.

slmann

slmann

Charter Member
13,472
232
Festus, Mo.
Welcome to FTF. Glad to hear that info posted by some of our members helped with your project. Truck looks great with the work you have done to it. Thanks for serving our country and be safe while you're overseas.
 
tcanin00

tcanin00

44
3
As promised, here are some more pics of the engine and interior:
017_zpse1ee22f8.jpg


018_zps52fd0331.jpg


The box on the floor is the complete cab bushing set to eliminate the body lift.
I do have some bad news to report, though. I took the truck to an inspection station and tire shop this morning and it cannot be inspected because of its bumper height, plus they could not get the right front tire to air up and seal on the rim. To add this, I took the truck to the body shop to coordinate the restoration and they could not do it. Damn! I have two days until I leave for Camp Shelby, MS for the pre-deployment training and from there I leave for Kuwait.
I would like to ask a favor from anyone in the North East PA area. Does anyone have the facilities to do the work on this truck? Here's what I want it to look like when finished:
015_zpsabaed599.jpg

Not really, since this is the 1/10th scale version of it. But I do want the real truck painted a similar color blue. I would like to have the cab replaced since it has a bit of rust and damage to the roof. The bed is completely rusted out, so it would have to be replaced as well. Later on I want to four link the rear suspension and three link the front with a panhard set up. If there is anyone that would want to take on this project for me while I am away, I will pay well for this level of work and you will have a year to complete it. Either respond in this forum or PM me.
Thanks for the support of the FTF community!
 
tcanin00

tcanin00

44
3
slmann said:
Welcome to FTF. Glad to hear that info posted by some of our members helped with your project. Truck looks great with the work you have done to it. Thanks for serving our country and be safe while you're overseas.
Click to expand...
This has been one of the most informative 6th gen F-series truck sites due to the knowledge of the members of this forum. I spent a lot of time reading threads while I was working on this truck. Thanks for your support, slmann!
 
taxreliever

taxreliever

Licensed to Represent!
14,695
287
Maine
Wow.....loved every pic and post.....first and foremost, as already mentioned, but can never say it enough....thanks for your service.

Second, I cannot wait to see more updates....congrats on bringing back this beast!
 
tcanin00

tcanin00

44
3
taxreliever said:
Wow.....loved every pic and post.....first and foremost, as already mentioned, but can never say it enough....thanks for your service.

Second, I cannot wait to see more updates....congrats on bringing back this beast!
Click to expand...
Thanks, taxreliever! There are a lot of late nights and way more money in this truck than could be justified.
 
Evan's f250

Evan's f250

963
12
Southern Indiana
Coming a long way. Body doesn't look too rusted from the outside, could possibly get away w/ welding in a bed floor? That RC truck looks awesome. After u pass insection, you could always throw the 44's back on if u wanted. I take it you just need a bumper that goes down farther? Glad we don't have inspections here. I will also thank you for your service and I send u out a bit of luck for the truck.
 
tcanin00

tcanin00

44
3
Evan's f250 said:
Coming a long way. Body doesn't look too rusted from the outside, could possibly get away w/ welding in a bed floor? That RC truck looks awesome. After u pass insection, you could always throw the 44's back on if u wanted. I take it you just need a bumper that goes down farther? Glad we don't have inspections here. I will also thank you for your service and I send u out a bit of luck for the truck.
Click to expand...

That it is, Evan. And you're right with saying the outside of the body isn't too bad, which is surprising. Even behind the fender flares is pretty solid. A friend had a brand new bed section for a '71 Chevy LWB that might work. We didn't get to take any measurements before I left.
I plan on running 40'' Interco's with Allied beadlocks in the future. The 44's that came off it are dry rotted. To be honest, instead running lower bumpers I'll try to register it out of state. I am from TN originally and my sister still lives in the Chattanooga area, so I'll try to register it from her address or set up a P.O. Box from there.
Thanks for the props on the r/c version. I take their builds just as serious as real projects.
 
DNFXDLI

DNFXDLI

The Token Canadian
Staff member
49,083
1,089
The Great White North
tcanin00 said:
I meant to mention it earlier, but I appreciate the amount of time you put into uploading the Ford service manuals. I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have with out them.
Click to expand...

Thanks, it makes me real happy to see them being used!
 
SuperCab

SuperCab

Moderator
Staff member
10,068
547
Montana
Great job with the truck, and thank you for your service to our country! I am a gen6 owner myself... every time somebody saves one a chevy runs into a tree :)
 
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tcanin00

tcanin00

44
3
Continue Mission

I have returned from my time overseas and have spent my entire month of vacation time working on the truck. A friend is allowing me to work in an actual shop, so I am using proper tools and safe practices. This has allowed me to correct some of the "ghetto" repairs and is making it safer for me to finish this project.
Here it is in the shop ready for repairs:


The first order of business was remove the 4 1/2" body lift kit and replace the cab bushings. Not an easy task considering the amount mud and rust that had to be dealt with:


Three out of four of the cab mounts were rusted out and needed additional metal welded in:


My buddy Ross, who is allowing me to use his shop, wanted to learn how to weld so I gave him the opportunity. Thanks to the deployment, I could afford a decent welder. A Lincoln MIG 140C, nice machine and not too expensive:


Getting set up to notch the crossmemberfor exhaust clearance:


Ross in action:


The arc threw a cool outline of him on the ceiling:
 
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tcanin00

tcanin00

44
3
The next order of business was the shotty job I did with the rear suspension. After watching Ross move the truck around the lot and witnessing the horrendous axle wrap, it was time to fix it the right way. I picked up the right lift blocks, u-bolts, and degree shims:


Looking much better. The pinion angle isn't ideal, but is better than it was. I will have to replace the perches since they are mushroomed and rounded:


I was able to revise the steering linkage with parts that I already had. I replaced the aftermarket link on the knuckle with the stock piece, and rotated the aftermarket drag link down so that it would have the tie rod end facing up and go into the stock arm correctly:


I contacted Bill Ford at Alcan Spring to make a couple of new springs for the front. They were shipped separately with UPS stickers on them. i give even it doesn't fit, it ships:




Here is a comparison of the springs that were on it to the new Alcan's. I think the springs I took off were rearched Hi-Boy's. I took two leaves out in my first attempt to lower ride height:


Current ride height, and within limits of lift laws:


The 37's are a bit stuffed in the 39" fender opening. I think it will be okay since I do not plan on doing any extreme off roading:
 
tcanin00

tcanin00

44
3
Now for the easier things. I tend to bounce between the harder sections so I don't get overwhelmed. The first thing I decided to do was replace the cluster since it was getting intermittent. I cannibalized a '79 Bronco for its gauges, cruise control, and horn button:


I also got a few other parts from it, but we'll talk about those later. While at another junk yard, I picked up a late model Thunderbird two speed fan. I have it wired to a toggle switch for now, but Dakota Digital makes a controller that can operate both speeds of the fan at different temperature ranges:


Back to the harder parts. The exhaust system on this truck was pieced together, and I need cats in order to pass emissions. So I bought 10' sections of tubing, a couple of Magnaflow catalytic converters, and a Harbor Freight hydraulic tube bender. The pipe sections are willing to lend me a hand:


The tube bender doesn't make the best bends in thin wall exhaust pipe since it is designed for heavy walled conduit. Chip Foose would not approve, but here are the cats and the pipes from the headers:


I ran the pipes from the cats into a dual inlet/outlet muffler which is basically two cherry bombs in a turbo housing:


This is how far I made it in a month. I got my old job back working full time as a mechanical for the National Guard, so updates will be progress over weekends.
 
tcanin00

tcanin00

44
3
amkatt1 said:
WOW!!!!!! and welcome back! :wavey: what incredible amount of work you are doing, so awesome.
Click to expand...

Thanks, amkatt1! I was trying to get the truck done before I had to go back to work but ran out of time. I still have weekends, so hopefully I can get it done before it snows, and so I can take my other car off the road for repairs.
 

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