HI all. I have a 72 ford xlt that I have owned for 15 yrs. My son has been on me for two years to tear it down. well yesterday we pumped up the tires on it and pulled her in the basement and as I type the truck is just about all apart...the only thing on the frame is the engine, tranny and the front suspension.I was ecstsatic as i uncovered the floor of the cab as the braces under the ol girl are rotted pretty bad. The floor is perfect except for surface rust on the drivers floor about the size of a dinner plate.the cab corners will be replaced along with the cab mounts...they were rusted through when i bought the her. the inner fenders are rusted along with the rad support. i will probably weld up the support and buy new inners. So is sandbalasting the best way to clean up the frame .I am the second owner of this truck the origonal buyer was a 72 year old man who deer hunted but couldnt get in a 4 wheel drive truck. he had the front frame horns cut off and extended and mounted a 10 thousand pound warn winch in 72. i have reattached the bumper in its location . I will try to get some pics up soon .So get ready for a lot of questions from a first time restorer/customizer..Can you guess the way my son ,who is seventeen , wants to go with it. later "Ron"

 

Hey Now Ron,

Welcome to FTE!!!!

The '72 Project sounds great!!!!

I owned a 1972 F-250 from 1976 to 1980....Great Truck and that body Style is one of the Best Ford ever had!!!!

I'm in the middle of an off Frame on my '82 F-100....Work has slowed down during the Winter....I hope to start the Rebuild in early Spring....

If I can help ya all out....just holler....I have a lot of good Ford resources...

Keep us updated

 

Welcome to FTE

Sounds like a great project for you and your son. Lot of nice people here and tons of information that will be a big help.

Keep us posted on your progress, Tanman (Tony) is doing a 71 or 72 project now.

 

Im doing a 71 F100.Done put a 78 front suspension under her.Do I will have Powerbrakes and power steering.Put the 390 witha C6 in it.But going to take it out after the first of the year to rebuild both.

 

hi guys
The cab is on its back in the basement and me and my son have just removed the front cab mounts and tommorrow we will weld them in. I am teaching him to weld . I was a commercial welder for 7 years . He is excited about the build.I wish I had started this a year ago, he has three buddies that will work on this truck with him. Theres nothing like free labor he he.He wants a 460 with a 4 or 5 speed in the floor. Do any of you know where one can be had for a reasonable price. I live in the wallburg area ,if any want to come by and give suggestions I would be greatful.
later fellas
ron

 

I have a borg&warner 4 speed top loader out of a 65 mustang

I also have a muncie M-22 4 speed

pm me for some #s, I do not have a bell houseing for the B&G I do have a houseing for a big block chevy for the muncie

 

Sounds like it getting off to a good start.

 

if its going to be a cruiser, i would go 5 speed, specially if your going with the 7.5L, ford used this engine up till 97. so if you call around to "bone yards" in your area you should be able to find one that has the 460 thats paired up with a 5 speed. i think it has the BW t-18 behind but im not totally sure.

 

Thanx for the responces
The cab is about stripped down now. I spent about three days stripping undercoating from the bottom of the cab and frame. the frame is completely stripped down. My son and me went to charlotte saturday and picked up a 78 mercury marquis with a 460 and c6 for 350 bucks and that sled was heavy behind my ole bronco. I am pondering a subframing the truck with the merc clip. I have some measuring to do. The guy we got the car from said that the hole pattern on the marquis is a odd size ,not a truck or car pattern and was thinking of redrilling to accept a truck wheel. That is the way she stands right now .Frame ready for blasting and cab is almost ready to have it blasted.
Should I blast the whole cab or just the areas that need it ,like the whole bottomang firewall . Thanx again for the encouragement and please keep it up. I will need it. hehe
later all Ron

 

If you're going to have parts of the cab blasted, why not do the whole cab that way you can everything wrong with the body. I remeber talking to a friend at another forums who did the samething to his car he said it was the best way to find the rust and bondo in the body, he also said the new paint job laid down a lot better. Keep us posted and if you can down load some pictures in your gallery.

 

yeah dodge boy is right, i am fixing to tear down my 73 ford again and replace it with a new body and new paint and sell her, she has a 6 inch lift and swampers, 4speed granny and all. so she will be up for sell maybe soon.

 

Watch it Chevy boy....

 

the only chevy i got is yours at the house waiting on you LOL

 

Can't prove it the titles in your name..

 

cant get out of it that way to many know a bout the deal