I have popped the cork on fixing up this old 95 F-250 that I swore to myself I was just going to plow and let rot otherwise...

When I bought the truck it was in need of near everything less its brand new 8.5 Boss HD plow and the city route that came with it.

Ill be plugin away at it as I can between using it and working before snow flys.

Now for the bad ...

This truck has more layers then a Northeast linemen up a pole in February..
I found from raw steel: Primer, yellow, primer, Fire engine red, primer, Blue, then silver... Someone messed up after the red and didn't scratch the coat enough to paint it again, but yet, they still tried ...







So, I found no filler in the passenger side and not too much cancer thank gawd..

Can you believe these hinges are stainless! What retard paints stainless...




Too much work to this point




And more





And more







This is not going to be fun .... One side stripped and primed I have high hopes of the drivers side being to the same point next weekend unless something fun comes up then it can rot a lil longer...



Cant even give it a taillight guaranty at this point ...

 

well good luck on operation.......ugly stick and that did look like a lot of work to get that paint off.

 

Personally, I think ya need to get BANKRUPTER cut out into a decal, and slap it on the side....ROFL...

Otherwise...Looks good...Give him the good ol' "Ain't gonna sink a ton in ya, but wantin' to get ya to lookin an runnin better" treatment....

 

Looks pretty nice so far. I can't believe someone painted over stainless. At least you have plenty of storage space.

 

x2 on the stainless hinges being painted!

Looks great!

 

Fixed and filled that lower left door and blended the door latch openings more today. Passenger side is officially waiting on paint. Just got a side job putting in a lift pump in a dura-turd for Saturday. So now I just have Sunday to strip drivers side, I have hope... Gonna have to pull the bed to get the head board : ( Motor started acting up on the way home tonight. Sounds like it dropped a cylinder. Pulled codes and waiting for the headers to cool now to see whats up.

 

aww.... sad to hear about the dropped cylinder... what engine is under the hood? still looks good so far!

 

351W found plug 7 in near bridge gap. Looks like Ill be doing the engine bay sooner then later ... Tossed in a new plug and its running, how long is to be determined. Toss in expletives about ford here :______. I'm inches away from just going back to GMC. Ill still finsh this turd so I can sell it off for the payment.

 

plugs are regular maintenance... can't hardly see how you can be pissed about a bad plug...???

FYI... On an almost 20 year old truck/car there will always be something to fix no matter what you drive...

 

Ahh you need more info~ 800 miles on the plugs. Motor is junk. Sad as it only has 115K on the clock. But that's what all the guys in this area say the 351 is good for. Only true vehicle that has been with me for over 18 years trouble free is my Toyota. Tires, Oil and brakes is all she asks for to date and still gets 30 MPG <-- Plugs/wires in that are over 100K old! But, I also drove it off the show room floor and no retards have ever touched its controls.

If I had it my way it would have a LS- series and a 700R4 or Allison. Best of all worlds. I know a true ford guy takes that news hard. I am not a true American like that. I don't believe I am what I drive have to have the latest out or the brand name other then my Redwing boots and stihl chain saws... I am not a fan of anything made in the USA or a fan boi at all really. Every ford and chubby has let me down. Only the Canadian GMC's I have had good luck with, mine or the fleet trucks.

I spent the night and half the day looking for good deals on rebuilt's and built up 351's. I have no time to build one myself before snow flys. 425 HP +/- a few will be nice and refreshing.

As long as the E4OD stays behind her, I wont let it go... That goes, plow frame/wires come out and ill turn it into a tree-taco on the job site. "Wow the feller just let that pine go and i had to park my truck there today ... ehh better my truck then your Denali boss sorry". He will only be mad for about a hour or so. Then he'll ask me if I have a good line on a new one... I love my boss!

I'm really trying to love this truck but I just cant get behind it. Reading this forum daily has made me laugh as I don't have half the issues with mine then they do with theirs. That keeps me going too.. Ugly stick will be a good looking girl at some point. I have faith in my own ability's, the rest is just parts...

 

What plugs are you using?!?!?!? All of us on here go for motorcraft or autolite coppers. They run the best in the 351w. Still... Did you read the plug as it came out so you can correct the issue. You should be able to tell if you are running rich, lean, oil blow by, etc...

I've seen these motors go double that pretty easily as long as they are taken care of. Not all engines can be left alone and neglected like 300 I6's or 350 cheby's.

Maybe you didn't see my post on here this week when a guy asked for yota help... In my immediate family we own 9 toyotas now... LOL! You're in good company. I have a 03 Rav4 that I bought with 60K from a stay at home wife (only owner). I just changed my plugs at 105K. But you can't compair the plugs b/c platnium plugs are rated to 100K... not 30-40K like the coppers. Coppers just wear out quicker. apples to oranges...

Wow! I am your new best friend... I love my red wings! and PS Toyota puts more money into the US economy than Ford or Chevy or Dodge... That is a proven fact! What difference is it to me what filthy rich guy gets all the profits as long as some of the money goes back into the US economy to create jobs... As for the Stihl chainsaws I might change your mind about that if you buy a Dolmar6400/Makita6401! 64cc's with an upgrade kit to 79 or 84cc kit! mild muffler mod and you'll be singing and new tune about chainsaws! Plus you can pick them up with 50 hrs on them at a local Home Depot when the come off the rental line for $100-$150!!!!!! See ya stihl!!!! PS they are german made!

As for the truck combo of choice... 12v cummins and allison tranny in a f350 4x4 chassis please!!!

Never had a GMC or Chevy... My dad worked for a ford dealer and so I remember working on them when I was a kid in the late 80's. I went ford simply b/c it's what I knew best.
keep in mind that ramping up your HP will choak off the low end torqe that is nice to have in a truck... I have a 351w build and I am working for 300HP and 350-400 ft/lbs of torque.

That what insurance is for!

Once you get to a good spot with your truck where the maintence is all done and caught up you'll enjoy driving it more... Till then come on back and show us the project and ask questions if you need help!

I'm Out!
Nathan

 

And Shakespeare's good name at risk if you screw up!

 

2 AM and I have bed side two striped and ready to start sanding for primer. Filler necks posed a problem but I see they have a ford stamp and PN on them. Just going to replace them, I think. Ton of pics Ill upload later.

Heh, I know how to sand with the best of them. Its hard to mess up paint if your not going for perfect right out of the gun.

_______________________________________

Nathan, wow what a post. Reading that plug im thinking blow by/ possible carbon sticky chunk and a lil oil. IDK... My heart dropped when I pulled it. I made the mistake of doing a intake sea foam treatment and I never looked to see how bad the intake was before I went and let things get loose up there... It ran good just after doing it and then progressively worse ever since leading up to the drop. Im seeing oil smoke when I smash the skinny pedal now too. I want an excuse to buy more power, its ok. W/o it I have no way to rationalize this to the powers that be. Shhhh~ We cant have a city plow truck go down in a storm now can we ... lol

BTW what does the saw weigh with a 20 inch bar ? MY 77cc is about 5 hp and 14 pounds. My 88cc is a back breaker and stays in the garage. I like the stihl for power to weight. Sucks to hold a lead weight for a few hours a day when I do buck logs/fall the old way. For the most part I just run a fellerbuncher all day. Saws are old school and for the price lol id buy that one you talk of next. Same replacement for my stihl is $1100.00. 900 cash walks out the door. Last time I got one they were 650 cash. The prices have gone bonkers.

Justin

 

I have to rationalize my choices with the "powers that be" also... LOL

As for the chainsaws. I cut the old fashioned way for 5-7 cords of wood to heat the house and shop over the winter. Creamsickels are way overpriced for their power to weight ratio... the 6421 Makita is the current EPA approved model. I got a 6401 before they went to the 6421.

I muffler modded mine and put an industrial air filter on from baileys...
Bailey's - Heavy Duty Air Filter Kit for Dolmar 6400, 7300, 7900 & Makita 6401, 6421, 7301, 7901

I also plan to have a 79cc kit in my saw by next year with a little port and polish work before it goes together. Way more than 5hp!

The 6401 power head weighs 13.9lbs+ the bar... With the 79cc kit it pushes the power head weight to 14.1lbs w/out a bar (79cc kit is bolt on conversion). You could get a 6401 for $500new a year ago + $70 for the air filter kit. Plus $100 for the 79cc kit (next year) and for $800 I have a 79cc chain saw that stock produces 6.3 hp and easily 6.5hp with muffler mod and P&P when I do the cylinder swap... EPA kills the power of these saws thru the carb restrictions so we'll see what else i come up with... Once I get done I'll have a modded up blue one of these... at maybe 14.5lb power head...
PS-7900
Bailey's - NWP Big Bore Cylinder Assembly for Dolmar 7900, Makita 6401, 6421, Solo 681

 

Easy tiger, was only meant to be funny comparing to that famous fishing rod