Its been about two weeks and I am making some substantial progress on disassembly and research ( I know you want pictures and I will post some of the process at some point)
I think I have wrenched about 2000 bolts off this thing so far... mostly 3/8" button head stainless.. enough to wear out two socket allen head wrenches and 4 cut off saw blades and a handful of sawzall blades for the difficult ones. Literally a mile of wire and hoses are gone now.. two trashcans full.. this thing had redundant systems to the fire pump.. all engine hoses and wiring, battery cables and gauges ran to the pump as well.. the frame got pretty busy.. now its clean.. well it will be after a sandblast and repaint
Friday when my EBAY forklift arrives (yep.. I just had to buy a forklift to do this project) Ill pull the tank, which takes up the entire center chassis area, the hose reels, and all the sheetmetal rear panels... this alone will remove about 2500 pounds permanently from the truck.. Ill then pull the rear boxes and put them aside for refurbishment and shortening , the rear of the back box will be cut off to shorten the body,, when its all said and done the boxes will be about 11 feet overall...and I think the truck will be about 4k pounds lighter even after reupfitting. I had said I was going to build an all aluminum flatbed on the rear... I may still do it.. but the boxes are so nice and heavy duty that I have decided to keep them for now.. just shorten the ass end one.. it will become clearer when I have it sitting as cab and chassis
In a couple of weeks Ill remove the HALE midship pump...and shorten the chassis/driveshaft.. about 4 feet... the overall truck will become a SWB and will no longer be a beast but will be Bigfoots nimble smaller brother.I intend to keep some of the fire fighting ability of the truck and will install an 20 hp engine driven fire pump and (2) 1 1/2 inch manual lines.. coupled to a lightweight 250 gallon polytank... enough for immediate attack.. especially on my very hot and dry ranch during the summer
I scored a Cummins 6bt diesel with an Allison 545 out of a later model F650 off of ebay for cheap... it will be my proposed repower at some point,, but Im getting ahead of myself... I still need to get the truck to smog.. spent a day rebuilding the HollyMORECRAFT carb.. which was dank and dark with carbon buildup from being loaded all the time... I believe I'll sail right through emissions now.. then OFF with all that crap to make the truck run right.. once the Historical plates are on it.. it falls off the smog check system.. so its a one time shot to make it get through.. Im am so ready to sanitize the engine bay
I have been running into issues..the same some of you older ford owners experience... hard parts are available but soft parts are long gone to aftermarket companies.. and nobody that I can find has f 600 stuff.. or really knows if the f100-f350 stuff will fit or not.. the 1 piece rubber floor mat isnt out there that I can tell.. and Ive gone to the suppliers like blachsford... no luck yet.. my trucks has the "low" 5 inch center tranny hump. I ordered one up for a f light duty and it didnt come close.. who knows maybe they sent me the wrong one..
Ill continue to take suggestions here
I would like new visors.. black.. anyone know if they are the same as the lt duty's?
I need new shifter rubber.. none of this is available.. Ill have to go aftermarket and make my own
I need new cab insulation on the inside front firewall.. it kinda of disintegrated when I pulled on it...30 years of exposure didnt help... I have plenty of dynamat to do the interior but it would be nice to have a factory style cab insulation under the dash to keep it stock looking.. anyone have any idea as to whether the lt duty stuff does fit?
I found a company that makes disc brakes for military rockwell axles.. basically using F550 stuff...Im researching this (Ive done 4wdb conversions before but never on anything this big).. it would remove several hundred pounds of unsprung weight off the axles.. and this would be a good thing.. also perhaps replacing the transfer case drum parking brake with a DB setup
I have designed, in my head anyway, an aluminum exo- skeleton for the truck. Some of the late model fast attack brush pumpers have them for getting around trees and brush to protect the cab.. anyway,, Im working that design out for the future
Future plans also include LED and HID lighting... basically modernizing all the emergency light systems (something I have experience with)
I havent found any real surprises.. nothing broken..or unexpected on 30 year old trucks even with only 21k miles on them... I did find raffle tickets stuffed under the seat cushion from 1980.. commemorating the truck when new at a fund raiser for the fire company
While this isnt a historical restoration,, it is a modernizing of what is a nce piece of FORD medium duty americana... I wont touch the real cool part of the truck.. the ford cab itself.. other than weld up the holes they drilled in the dash for radios etc... ok.. I did find some red racing lapbelts I just had to have over the stock ugly dried out ford lap belts.. but thats the last mod.. promise.. ok.. I have my fingers crossed...
Ill get some pics when I begin to get the big stuff off
Thats it from F 600 central.. any help on parts would be welcome.
Cam
Last edited by Notmeofficer; 02-12-2008 at 09:58 AM.
That is such a cool truck, can't wait to see photos of the progress and final outcome!
I've seen a couple truck floors done in a rhino-type spray liner. They looked pretty good, but I suppose that doesn't offer much in the way of insulation. I've thought of doing that, then just adding a couple of those heavy-duty after-market floor mats that can hold a bunch of water and crud.
__________________
Rob
1979 F150 4x4 Nebraska and South Dakota Chapter Member
Official #16 Slackmaster
the firewall insulation is the same as 1967-72 F-100/350.
you will likley never find F-600 floormats, thats why I made a new hump from an F-150.
go to pick-n-pull with a cordless sawzall, cut the center section from a 67-79 pickup. cut from the seam at th ebottom of the firewall, into the flooring area a few inches, and up to the ridge just under the leading edge of the seat. there is a high-hump with a black cover (often found in 4-sp manuals, but also in automatics without holes), and a low-hump with no cover, no holes, just virgin floor stamping. the F-500 up cover is even lower than that. I simply added the F-150 low-hump over the existing F-600 really-low-hump, and added additional insulation between the two to reduce road noise. that allows me to use pickup floor coverings that are commonly available.(and cheap)
Yep.. I can shoot Rhino..I have a setup to do that.. and I had thought of doing that and then being done with it.. its a possibility...I can even shoot it in sliver to match the original color of the truck but I really like the look of new clean 1 piece rubber floors. Before I consider this Im going to weld up the holes in the dash made for radios etc.. and weld up the holes in the roof made for radio antennas and lightbar
Whd.. yes.. I understand what you are saying.. and that might have to be the way I go.. the new mat I got for the f lt duty was pretty cheesy and looked like genuine Chinese vinyl... not at all like the original thick American rubber.. I was pretty disappointed. Blachford, the mat maker claims to make one for "up to 1 1/2 tons" including both low and high hump... the low hump was the one I tried... cheeseoid...
Whd....Just to confirm.. you believe.. or know factually.. and since I dont Im asking you again.. that 67-72 firewall insulation from the lt duty will fit.. Im curious.. why not 72-79 if you know... I think that stuff IS available still aftermarket.. unless I want to make my own
As I stated previously I am going to dynamat the whole interior.. in my experience it really cuts down on the beer can effect and road noise... and that doesnt really work well with Rhino... it works better with stock rubber or carpet...I use it in all my vehicles
Im going to do some more looking.. theres a place called "Chucks Trucks" on the east coast,, hes in Hemmings and specializes in up to 79 fords.. including medium dutys.. I hope he might be helpful... the local California Ford restorer suppliers were clueless.
Brake Gurus in case anyone wants something strange.. like me wanting to convert it to dual caliper DB is this place>>>> mpbrakes.com
Tomorrow the forklift arrives.. by the weekend I hope to have some pictures of the truck semi stripped...
the fun continues
PS.. I need a defroster grill.... its metal with two screws.. there are two of them on the dash.. one of mine has been cut for the siren box loom... I can tig it but it will be a PITA because the area to weld is so small and hard to get to..... and easier just to find one.. so if anyone has a line on an f600 for parts please let me know
Last edited by Notmeofficer; 02-13-2008 at 10:28 PM.
Super cool truck man! Something like that I don't know if i would change anything. You got yourself a collectors item that thing looks like it could be worth some serious coin more so if its stock everything. Solid running gear
Super cool truck man! Something like that I don't know if i would change anything. You got yourself a collectors item that thing looks like it could be worth some serious coin more so if its stock everything. Solid running gear
There are two ways to look at it.. the purist and the enthusiast...
I think, because it started its life so heavily modified, that I dont feel that what I will do detracts from what the basic truck is and will be.. an f 600.... 4 x 4...
If I can update the systems tastefully... and keep the heart of it ford.. ie the sheetmetal intact.. then it serves my purpose and desire of a cool truck individualized to my skill... as a representation of rolling sculpture.. which is what it is to me
As the tear down and buildup goes on and I publicize it here and I will take all comments and criticism seriously... I see things one way... a lot of people see a lot of things different ways.. the more the merrier before the plasma comes out...
For any buildup we all have a "perfect" in our head.... for me it seems to evolve.
I spent the night cleaning up some scotchlite connections and doing them correctly.. solder and heatshrink and new loom...forget that quick connect stuff.. its for yard monkeys and makes for poor connections just when you need them. I did purchase a whole bunch of weathertite connectors from summit.. so anything that needs connecting will have nice OEM late model style connectors that are super sano,,, no corroded terminals
Little things done just so take forever... I probably took 2 full hours redoing the fuel filter where some monkey had used channel locks on it,,, using a small ball pien hammder and a round die I hammered it out to where its hard to tell it was ever dented... then I made a heat shield out of diamond plate aluminum to replace the dying asbestos type shield. New fuel lines to replace hardened rubber lines... the fuel system is beginning to look shipshape
I blasted the air cleaner and painted it FORD industrial blue.. smog next week if seat comes back... otherwise Id look funny driving it with a 5 gal plastic bucket (my current seat) under my butt.
Tonight I scored a set of inexpensive f650 step saddle tanks off of a junked out Uhaul in excellent conditon... this was a major score because the current fuel tank is huge and stuck up under the ass end behind the rear axle... it begs to be dented and hangs down to where I cant get a trailer hitch up under there. It was comng out anyway when I shorten the body and I had been mulling over fuel tank options.. Ive always liked saddle tanks.
Im not sure what my budget will end up being.. Im cataloging every receipt,,, I bet 15k will be pretty easy to burn on it... and a zillion hours.. but thats cheap compared to new medium dutys that start at 50k for strippers
After tommorrow it will be cleaner all over once I remove a bunch of stuff and hit a couple of spots around the fire pump with the steam cleaner..
then Ill get some pics
Last edited by Notmeofficer; 02-14-2008 at 01:23 AM.
This is the kind of detail that takes so much time in truck building
The ford fuel filter on the truck had been munged.. so.. I blasted it and then pounded it out a little bit at a time until it was "straight"... this canister apparently differs from standard ford fuel filters.. perhaps because its a medium duty one... in that the filter body is part the deal making the canister short,, and not long like 90 percent of the other fords are
Aluminum diamond plate replaced the destroyed asbestos heat sheild.. because everything is so close to the drivers side exhaust
new lines.. push on fittings// rehab of the old steel braid line protector...I used S.S. fuel injection clamps.. they, in my opinion, are more SANO than regular hose clamps on small hose because they dont pinch the line
and a shot of the WIX filter Im installing as a backup.. fittings are for mockup.. Ill make a set of flare ones up so it will be sano steel to the filter
UPDATE..floormat
Chacks Trucks claims he has the floor mat.. American made... I ordered it up.. we will see..
He also said most people use the shifter boots from the regular f series... but they were 65.00 and I didnt bite first time around.. Ill have to think about that one.. a little too FORD proud for me...
I have a question.. does anyone know WHAT FONTS (script and block) the FORD logo is... I need to make some.. I have a sign machine.. but for the life of me I havent figured the FONT out correctly yet
Last edited by Notmeofficer; 02-14-2008 at 11:42 AM.
Did you come to the conlclusion you had a 361. Isnt that just a heavy duty style 360 with some sort of line into the carb spacer from exhaust to keep air warm in winter months.... thats what i've been told before...???
The motor ended up being a 370 CI industrial.. which they started using circa 1980.. the build date on this was late 79 and the 370 was actually spec'd on the orginal build order sheet.. which I ended up getting form the original fire company/owner
I have a question.. does anyone know WHAT FONTS (script and block) the FORD logo is... I need to make some.. I have a sign machine.. but for the life of me I havent figured the FONT out correctly yet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, It is their own and is not available because of copyright protection.
defroster grille, again 67-72 pickup. depends if you have padded dash or not. if not 67, if you do, 68-72. same for heater, cables, dashpad, radio etc.
67 it is then.. no dash pad,, that will help me look around the boneyards
I found "FORD SCRIPT" in microsoft WORD in office.. but I didnt think it looked right,, now I understand why... but it might be good enough.. I sent it over to my sign machine for a word wrap logo for the air cleaner "FORD FIRE ENGINES" and underneath in small letters "Squirting water is JOB #1"... IIRC FORD used to say "Quality is job #1"
Just having fun and amazing the smog guy...:-)
thanks for the boneyard searching tip ,,I havent seen this repo.. although it might be made
Last edited by Notmeofficer; 02-15-2008 at 07:34 AM.
This forum is owned and operated by Internet Brands, Inc., a Delaware corporation. It is not authorized or endorsed by the Ford Motor Company and is not affiliated with the Ford Motor Company or its related companies in any way. FordŽ is a registered trademark of the Ford Motor Company.
