I'll address the engine running hot in another thread. The brakes are already in another thread so I'll answer that there.

My son is enjoying the time he spends on the truck. Unfortunately, that is more limited than my time what with homework, sports etc. He has done a good bit of work, but I need to supervise him and it is hard to both be available to work it at the same time. But we do what we can together...

t

 

Hey Tyler,
Good to see you are back up to speed on your truck. I couldn't tell if you were going for Highschool beater (but safe) or family heirloom truck for generations. I tried to go with the $15K in between approach & failed miserably - once you get it all apart the list of crap to fix it grows like crazy. I also have a fault of fixing everything if it's not right.

I would make the TCI full frame decision rest on what you end up deciding to do with the front suspension. It's $5K to put a new front suspension on the existing frame - I'd go with the TCI new frame instead of major surgery on the existing frame. If you decide to rebuild the existing straight axle I'd leave the original frame in there & just upgrade the brakes.

Good luck - Keep it fun!

Ben in Austin

 

LOL! I was aiming for the same $15K solution as you at first, but it is becoming clear that there is no way that is gonna happen. Probably more like $25K by the time paint and body work are done. But I am gonna put off EXTERIOR paint and body work until my son has some driving experience and is past the scraping-the-garage-wall and other minor-but-expensive accidents stages. I don't see the point in spending 8 grand on paint and body for him to screw up. I plan to do a nice, safe, reliable, comfortable job on the running gear, drive train, electrical and interior, but from the outside it will look like a beater for a while.

t

 

Just to wrap this thread up, or nearly so, I bought a 9" ford rear end with a 3.00 in it. That will be going in this month along with the new MII front end with power steering and disc brakes. I am having Pete Macey at the Old Ford Store in Tucson put the cross members in and do all the welding. My son and I are doing the rest.

t

 

Don't forget pics... We like to see and you'll want to have that memories too...