Not sure why I never started a build thread here, but since I'm at the point I'm at, why not. Gonna have some questions coming up as I'm venturing into uncharted waters with the front end work. I come from the era of ball joints, so this king pin stuff is all new. Let's back it up and start at the beginning though. Some of you may remember my other threads and be wondering, WTF? What is this guy on? I have automotive A.D.D. I bounce around a lot, but eventually the best plan makes itself apparent and I proceed with caution.

Here is my truck as purchased a little over a year ago :

 

Last summer I needed to sell my beloved '94 Lightning. I needed the money for a down payment on a house for my family, and the Lightning was my only asset that I could liquidate. I did well enough on the sale to have some money left over, and found Bruce on craiglist about 8 hours North of me, waaaaaay up near the Canadian border. The previous owner, whom the truck is named for had passed away in an avalanche and his wife had decided about a year later to sell the farm and move. A deal was struck, trailer hooked up and we made the drive up and back over a weekend. We have a tradition in my family of naming our old trucks after the person we purchased them from, and I told her I would name him Bruce in honor of her husband who had passed.

So, I was left with a very nice, mostly original truck. Still wearing the original paint, a swapped in 3rd member with 4.10 trac-lok, a recently rebuilt 400 (4K miles and 6 years), new carpet, cheap mirrors, a funky seat cover and a worn out steering gear box.

I was thrilled to have it, the styling choices were not what I'd have picked, but I had an excellent foundation to start with...

I didn't feel the wheels were the right fit, too 4x4-ish so I planned on changing those out and doing some serious cleaning and painting in the engine bay and that would be all! Well now it has morphed into something quite different, escalation is he!! they say!

Things have changed quite a few times but I feel I have the plan ironed out enough to make an "Officially Official" build thread.

The 400 didn't seem quite up to snuff. Seemed weaker than the stock one in my '78 I had years ago, and after some digging it was found to have low idle vacuum and iffy compression numbers.

Pulled the motor, leak-down test results were not good. Tore down to hone and re-ring it, ended up with a case of "while I'm in there" and now motor will be upgraded.

New engine combo is :
400 bored .030 over to 408ci (still), fresh hone and new moly rings
Rebuilt Aussie Cleveland 2v closed chamber heads for a static compression of about 10.25 : 1 (stock is under 8 : 1)
Comp Xtreme Energy 262 cam and lifter set
Comp 3-way adjustable double roller timing set
Comp valve springs, retainers and keepers to match
Alex's parts positive control stem seals
Re-use Edelbrock performer intake
Holley 750cfm vacuum secondary
Hedman Hedders

For those interested in more of the engine teardown/build, see my threads here :

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-on-power.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...low-build.html


The new bullet :











That looks better!!!








Pay no mind the the little Chevy C10. It's my brother's and lives in the shop beside my Bruce.

 

New wheel combo. I hated these prior to purchasing my '94 Lightning, planned to swap them out for a solid 6 months after I bought it, but somehow they managed to grow on me. Maybe it was seeing them on lowered Lightnings, stripped of all their coating and polished to a mirror shine. That is how these will end up, most likely with a custom center cap Torque Thrust style. The tires still have some life left (275/60-17) So I'll run them until they are done, then tear down for polishing.





Quite a bit taller than the 275/60-15s they'll be replacing, should help the highway cruise RPMs out



mounted up, ride height is all jacked up because it's missing about 450 lbs of motor in the front, and I haven't lowered the rear yet

 

Currently working on the cleaning and refreshing of the engine bay. I managed to sell/trade some more parts, and now have some DJM dream beams on the way (Thanks Brad!). The plan is now to start at the front of the truck and move rearward. Everything underneath will be new or refreshed. I have a freshly built Redhead steering box sitting on the shelf for it as well.

As clean as the body and paint are, the underneath needs some love. Undercoating mess everywhere, and rust on the frame.

When I had told my wife I wouldn't be doing anything other than changing the wheels and cleaning up the engine bay she actually laughed at me! I guess she knows me better than I know myself.

 

That sure is one nice looking truck. Is it all original? Subscribed, can't wait to see the progress.

 

:0 Nice truck!! Subscribed.

 

Yes, other than the motor work, and the rear diff being changed out it is un-touched and as factory.

Here is a shot of the fender markings from the assembly line :








Unfortunately battery acid from a cheap battery got the best of the coating on this one, I'll see what I can do without repainting...



The whole front end is currently torn down, I'll try to get some updated pics tonight. I pulled the trans out Friday night, as well as the whole front suspension and brakes.

 

That's a nice solid truck you found there. Too bad you had to rebuild engine with that low amount of miles on rebuild, but at least you will have peace of mind now, plus a few extra ponies.

 

Double post.

 

Here is the state of the truck now : transmission and front suspension/brakes are now out, Dream Beams should be here Wednesday so all the front suspension parts need cleaned and painted to go back together with the new beams.

Hoping to get some primer and paint on the frame this week if the weather will cooperate.















Engine and parts chilling over in the corner





Redhead gearbox on the bench



Parting shot while leaving the shop

 

Nice truck. For me and our 75 Ranger XLT, I sold the 60 series tires on spokes and
installed a like new set of Firestone 380s white stripe with the stainless
wheel covers as shown on the red pick-up on front of the brochure. Kind of old school.

 

starting undercoating removal from the cab tonight if anyone has tips for me. I've removed it before, but this time I need to preserve the original paint underneath as much as possible. Was going to use a heat gun and plastic scraper followed by some type of solvent on rags.

You can see the start of it in this pic here :

 

I have used some of this stuff to remove undercoating before. I have also used it to remove Chassis Saver POR15 and other paint from my hands. I will say that this stuff works great, and is pricey at about $8 for a 24 oz. can.

 

Heat gun would not touch the stuff at all. Did a fine job of melting my plastic scraper though. Carb cleaner would take it off, but also left a little paint on the rag. I'll get the stuff off the frame with wire brush and stripper wheels, but the cab I have to be more careful. Going to try a few different degreasers tonight.

 

Frame stamping guy must have been a little hungover when the frame was done :


Beams showed up, WOOT!