First off my name is John and this is one of my first few posts I have made on this site. I have been visiting for a while now as I am currently in the middle of a frame off restoration of a '78 F100 2WD flairside that has 302 and a C6 transmission. It has taken me 2 years to get to this point as I have worked on it as time allows. The truck is going to be for my son when he graduates from college. Just a couple of weeks ago I dropped him off for his first day as a freshmen so the clock is ticking. First let me state that this is my very first Ford and I have learned a bunch from this site, but now the fun part is just beginning; putting it all back together.
At this point everything has been dismantled. When I mean everything I mean everything. With everything off the frame, I cleaned it up down to bare metal with many and I mean many wire brushes. It has been painted semi gloss black. It did the same for the all the suspension components. Before re-installing the suspension I installed new brakes front and rear. The motor and trans have been cleaned and painted. Both worked flawlessly when it was handed down to me from my father-in-law. The only thing I did to the motor was replace the rear main seal because it leaked, replaced the oil pump with a high flow one (might as well since I replaced the pan gasket) and put a new water pump on it. I did nothing to the transmission other then clean it and paint it.

Below is a pic of where I am at now.


Did I mention I am doing all this myself (son helps when he can) with basic hand tools in my garage. Additionally, this is the largest vehicle undertaking I have ever done. It has been a blast to say the least.

Now that I have started to put things back together, I obviously want to upgrade were necessary. Now that the clock as started ticking I am sure I will have a bunch of questions. So here is my first one. I am at the point where I am getting ready to mount the cab back on the frame so I can prep the cab for paint. My first couple of questions are, should a install polyurethane mounts or should I just go back with new rubber mounts?
Where is the best place to buy mounts? LMC, NPD, ????

Thanks in advance and I will post as progress is made.

 

Fantastic!!! Welcome to the site!! As you know, there are some smart, helpful people on here that find info in seconds!!

Please keep us posted....

 

Summit carries the 12 pc polyurethane set for 75, if that's the route you want to go. Free shipping for anything over 99 bucks, so look around a bit while your there sure you can find something else you might need. Good luck on the resto.

 

Subscribing. Can't wait to see it together.

 

Off to a good start it looks like , welcome to FTE . I would use the original mount pads but that's just me , the others are probably good too .____JIM

 

Rolling chassis look wonderful.

Fr bushings there is a distributor on Ebay that sells the FULL Prothane kit for $127, I've used 2 of them and very happy with the results. They include bushings for Body mounts, radius arms, I-beams, leaf springs/shackles, tie rod boots. Can't go wrong for the money.

 

Welcome to FTE, nice looking project.
On the body mounts, unless you're doing off roading (doubtful in a 2WD ) I would stay with the factory style, The poly bushings tend to give a harsher ride and also squeak.
I'm not a big fan of LMC but that is where I bought my complete set.

 

Thanks guys. I ended up ordering a poly kit straight from energy suspension. Wish I had seen the ebay post or I would have ordered the entire kit for just a few bucks more.

Once the cab and frame are mated once again I will post up some pics.

The motivation from the site is great!

 

Mounts are expected today. After searching in garage for a while I remembered I had to cut the old body mount bolts off to remove the cab. For replacement bolts can I just purchase grade 8 bolts/nuts with large washers or should I purchase bolts and get the retaining fasteners which just look like a nut welded to a large washer?

 

Nice build up! can wait to see the progress.

 

Hi John, welcome to the site. Project is looking good. I try to buy from our sponsors if possible.
Where in Virginia are you? (I'm W of Martinsville when down there).
Feel free to join the VA Chapter if so inclined.

 

I wish I would have seen this thread earlier, but I didn't. Anyways if I would have, I would have directed you to the bronco graveyard. They have a complete kit that does the entire body from rad. support to bed. Including all new hardware. You may want to check them out. They have just about everything you'll need. But unfortunately like any where else they aren't always the cheapest. But they are a good resource.

 

Nice work so far. I'm liking where this is going.

 

Looking good!

I believe if you use a high flow oil pump you should upgrade the distributor gear to a brass one, the new high flow pump will chew the stock gear up.

Just curious what paint you used on the coil springs, mine look similar, I just painted mine using POR Metal Mask.

 

Honda, haven't heard that one before, only about roller cams vs flat tappet cam as far as the dizzy gear goes. I have seen it recommended to go to arp oil pump shaft instead of the thin factory one to prevent twisting the factory one up like a pretzel.