I just bought my 76 F250 4x4 a few weeks ago. The PO had installed new weatherstripping as well. The driver side door would shut nice half the time. It still had a partial piece of plastic on the jamb. When rotated properly the door shut nice. When wrong I had to slam the door a couple times to get it to shut properly. I had to slam the crap out of the passenger door to get it to shut. It had no plastic on it. That little piece of plastic is needed, especially with new weather stripping. If you don't have any you might be able to wrap the post with black tape. The thickness is about half way up the end cap of the post. Give it a try. I doubt it's the weatherstripping causing the issue.

 

I'm not trying to say that not having the plastic is %100 the problem, I just don't think it is...I feel the door start to get tight on the weatherstripping before I even get to the latching stage. And I'm having the same issue on one of my crew cab rear doors and it had the plastic piece on there when I first put the weatherstripping on..but the plastic broke off eventually..probably from the door slamming..

 

Ya I can't wait to have either of my trucks done!

Still have the bronco! It still needs a little work to be done, but it will come. I need to weld couple patches where the drivers seat mounts and re-mount it, I have most of the parts to build the front bumper cut out, but i recently worked a deal for a warn 8000 lb winch, so i'm debating weather to mount it permanently in the bumper or to make a reese hitch mount so i can use it front and rear as well as in other vehicles. I was working on one of the front hubs the other day and noticed that i have a u-joint in the front axle that is about to fail, so i gotta change that out soon because i have a couple logs i want to skid out of the woods with it.

 

Well its been a while, but i have been picking away at the Crewcab and the highboy. It sucks working outside on the highboy in the snow, but i'm making due.

I installed a new alternator and got it charging.

I decided to tackle my heater core. I pulled out the heater box and removed the core. The solder on one of the main tubes had broken free so i soldered it and tested it and it was good to go. While i had my heater box out i thought that i better test my fan. Good thing i did because the fan made about one turn and that was it. Luckily I have my old mud truck cab, a 76 supercab, sitting on the float right beside the highboy. I pulled out the heater box from it. First off it looked to be in overall better shape than my other one. The fan works good too (i actually tested the fan before i pulled the heater box assembly). I went to pull the heater core out to replace it with my freshly repaired one and i noticed that the heater core was around 2" longer that the one i had fixed. I assume that its bigger since its for a supercab. It also looked mint, way better shape than the one i fixed. I decided to take a gamble and install the larger heater core back into the heater box. I got everything back together and the heater hoses hooked up. No Leaks!! And it seemed to push awesome heat when the ol' 460 got up to temp.

The same time i was in the middle of my heater core adventure i decided to address my bad vacuum brake booster. Quite a while ago the brake peddle was getting sucked right down to the floor. I disconnected the vacuum hose and put a clamp on it just so i could move the truck around. A while ago i also pulled the booster assembly off of the original highboy cab and was going to swap it out. I started to do so, but in the process i noticed that the original highboy one was very rotten and i even accidentally pocked a whole right through it while scraping off some rust. I considered a hydro boost swap because i have one off of a 1977 lincoln and i also have one off a mid 90's gmc diesel truck. Both units are almost identical believe it or not, but that seems like too much work at the moment. My plan is to pull the booster off the supercab and give it a go...it actually looks decent.

That's where i'm at. Its been cold as hell up here the last couple weeks, hovering around the -25 -30 deg C range, but i'll keep plugging away when i get a chance.

Here's a pic ( a bad pic at that) of the truck siting with over a foot of snow on her roof...

 

Wow, second thread in a row I read of yours and I am just as impressed, love both trucks and look forward to progress

 

Thanks..they both have been long but fun projects but the end result will be definitely worth it!

POWER

 

So once again i have the highboy pulled up to the garage. I've been making a bit of progress on trying to get it road worthy. I put a 4 prong trailer plug into the matching plug under the dash for the neutral safety switch/reverse light switch. I hooked two of the wires together, and wired the other two to a toggle switch. Now my truck starts with the key, and i have reverse lights with the flick of a switch.

I also figured out which plug under the dash was for my fuel gauge. I pulled the headliner out and fished a wire from my in cab tank to this plug and now i have a functioning fuel gauge...something that will definitely be beneficial with a fuel hungry 460.

As of right now, all the lights work with the exception of dash lights (gotta check fuse box) and the drivers side front signal light. I messed around with the signal light with no luck, so i pulled one from a parts truck yesterday to try.

I took the truck around the block for a little tour and it seems to go down the road pretty good. The brake booster seems to have licked is wounds and is working fine. I got a bad rear wheel cylinder so that's next on the list. I gotta install e-brake cables so i'll do a once over the rear brakes while i have it apart. I have the original e-brake cables off of the crew cab so i'm hoping to use those.

If these tasks go alright i hope to be driving the truck in time to take it for the deer hunt. Primer hood and beat up tailgate will have to do for now.

I also have a new set of rear shocks that were in the cab of the highboy when i bought it many moons ago, so if i get real ambitious i'll install them too.

 

Not too much to update, but definitely some progress worth noting. But nothing picture worthy.

I reinstalled the headliner after i fished a wire for the fuel gauge.

After hours spent trying to get the driver side front signal to work i finally got it. I tried different light sockets, i tried different harnesses, i tried different flashers...all the while I had all running lights working, both passenger side signal lights working, and the rear drivers side working, no front signal or indicator light in the dash. For some reason i decided to try the four way emergency lights, and the front light started to flash as well as the dash indicator. That pointed me to the signal switch in the column. I pulled on from a spare column i had in my inventory, swapped it in after a short battle with removing both steering wheels, everything works fine....finally!!! I also installed and wired up some licence plate lights in the rear bumper.

As the truck sits now its on jack stands with both rear hubs removed. Pretty messy in there. Got new brake shoes, found my original e-brake cables from my crew cab, and new wheel cylinders. I also happen to find a set of seals in the top of my tool box that look like they are a perfect match for the rear wheel seals...no idea when i bought them.

All was going smoothly till i opened the boxes of wheel cylinders. Apparently if the guy at the parts store accidentally adds an extra zero in the part number you get wheel cylinders for a honda civic...Once i get the correct ones i will be back at the rear brakes.

The 460 also got some new engine belts.

To be continued....

 

well, the truck is still on the jack stands waiting for me to put it back together. I have all the parts, just waiting to find the time.

There is a couple other minor things that i thought i'd mention, and i have pics to go along.

First is, the box floor was rotten in a few spots, well a lot of spots. I cut out all the rusty sections that i feel necessary and put a 4' x 8' sheet of 1/8" checker plate. I then slid in an bed liner that i had around and screwed it in place. Its out of my old 98 cmg that i used to rock years ago...ya ya don't burn me because it says GM on it ...but notice how much narrower the gm box was compared to the old ford.




I also fabbed up a rear hinge for mounting the tailgate out of stainless so i can bolt the tailgate on.







and last but not least, heres a couple pics of the truck so you guys remember what it looks like, but the pics are from earlier this year.

 

Update time. I was lucky enough to get a day to work on the highboy last week and i made good progress.

-Rear hubs/brakes back together and brakes bled.

-Tailgate installed

-Front driveshaft installed. The splines in the slip yoke are a little sloppy but it will do for now. I have another in better shape that i'll install sometime in the future.

-E-brake cables hooked up.

-the remaining chrome trim is installed.

When i got the wheels back on i was all excited to go for a drive. Had it warming up, hopped up in it, and that was when i realized that i don't have any seat belt buckles installed yet. Now that didn't stop me from going for a drive, i just didn't go as far as i would have liked and stuck to the back roads.

The truck seemed to go down the road alright, the only problem that i encountered was when i stomped the peddle to the floor to get that 460 revved up. It was running smoothly, with rpm increasing, then its started to stumble and cough. It would smooth out again and would run fine if i was driving normal. so i might pull the carb and go over it.

The other thing i need to address is it has a pretty bad oil leak. I think the rear main seal is shot, or the pan gasket is really bad. I actually bought a pan gasket for it a while ago, but if/when i get the pan off of it i'll be sure to change the rear main while i'm in there.

Other than that, the truck is basically good to go...with the exception of painting the hood and tailgate which can wait till next summer as far as i'm concerned.

 

Great looking rig and awesome progress!!!

 

Update time.

Grabbed the seat belt buckles out of the original cab and installed them. Yet another good reason that i haven't scrapped that cab yet.

I've actually been putting some miles on the highboy the last week or so. So far the old girl seems to be working fine. The carb ended up just being the inlet filter. I pulled on of the original carb that cam on the truck, i could blow through it and the screen was removable for cleaning. I pulled the one off the carb that was in the truck and it is a non serviceable type and i couldn't blow through it. Problem solved and she runs great!

One day last week as it worked out the highboy was the only vehicle i had at my disposal so i had to drive it to work, and i also did a whole bunch of Christmas shopping around town while i was there. That was the farthest drive for the old truck yet and i had no problems at all.

Well i shouldn't say no problems at all, functionally it was fine, that fact that i still haven't addressed my bad real main seal (really really bad oil leak) just meant that i carried a large piece of cardboard around to slide under my truck when it was parked in one spot for a while. I got a few funny looks and and the guys at work got a kick out of it, but who cares. I also noticed that one of my new axle seals is leaking too so that will have to be looked at again at some point.

Other that that all is good. I already have a new pan gasket and the rear main seal is in at the parts store, just have to pick it up and do it. I also have a C6 gasket/filter kit sitting on the shelf so i think ill give the tranny a sercice when she goes under the knife for the seal repair.


Here's a little pic when i went to my buddies place for a coyote hunt...i've washed the truck since then....see my nice piece of cardboard!

 

Thanks man!!

 

Any dead coyote pics?

 

Looks a lot like mine did before I got some uncut fenders and a bed. Same color.



Mine used to have a really leaky steering control valve, so I kept a metal cup magnetically attached to the inner fender, and when I stopped, I put the cup underneath the leak. When I came back, I poured it back into the pump and went on my merry way. I fixed it since then, but I did that for a long time.