I have been finished with this truck for a few months now but I haven't had pictures taken of it finished until a week or so ago. I love the way the truck turned out, but I am having some carb issues i think.

I bought the truck on my 17th birthday (November 30, 2007) about 60 miles from my house. It was the ugliest truck i have ever seen hands down, but I loved it. The bed was off of a 87-91 ford and was in immaculate condition. No rust or dents on the bed at all. The truck however had a pretty beat up grille shell and a chunk missing out of the grill insert. The interior was filthy and needed some work, the door bottoms on the inside of the doors were rusted through, the engine compartment was filthy, and the frame was covered with 30 years of oil, dust, mud, and grease (the owner before the guy i bought it off of sprayed used oil on the frame as a rust preventative. But the guy started it up for me and it came to life quick, and even though it had a (new) stock exhaust and stock manifolds and stock engine, it sounded NICE. for $1,500 i could drive past it anymore.

I brought it home, planning to throw in a cam, put on an intake, carb, and headers, get the right bed and paint it. However, it turned into a complete frame off restoration that took about 7 months, but I have the most kick assed old truck around.

I found a bed down south for cheap because it needed a new floor, but I bought a new bed floor for 60 bucks and threw it in. While the bed was off, I scraped down the frame and painted it. I also installed a new rear tank, and put on a shackle flip kit.

I took off the hood and front clip next so that i could take out the greasy oil covered and smog equitpted 351M. Then before I knew it, i had the doors off and the cab removed. I got a parts truck down the road that had NEW doors, and a freshly rebuilt 4 speed and transfercase. I took the doors off of that and painted up the tranny and T-case and threw those in after i cleaned and painted the frame and installed the front add a leafs

The paint i chose was Gloss Black which was a 1979 for color, and Tangerine Orange which i believe is actually a 1976 Ford color, but it is close to Grabber orange or Competition orange.

As for the engine, i think it was only running on 7 cylinders by the look of the one piston. I took the engine apart and stripped it down to bare block. I bought a rebuild kit from Tim Meyer and had our local racing shop bore it and rebuild it for me. I chose to go with the hyd. roller rockers, lifters, and cam, and i also chose to go with the 400 crank to turn it into a 408. I purchased a set of Black Eagle headers for it to find they didn't fit, but our one mechanic took the whole day to make them fit. I bought an edelbrock performer 400 intake, flowmaster super 44s, a 670CFM holley truck avenger, and a pair of electric exhaust cutouts. The engine kit had a 400 crank, .030 bored over higher CR pistons, high volume oil pump, dual timing chain, new rings/bearings/bushings/ etc., hyd. roller rocker arms, hyd. roller lifters, hyd. roller cam and head rebuild kit.

I bought the wheels from a local guy who stopped and offered them to me for 180 bucks, and I bought the used but still good ProComp MTs off my buddy. I got the roll bar out of the local junk yard. It was in a 1978 F-250, but it was "custom fitted" into that truck. It took some welding to make it look good, but it looks like a factory install now. They sold that to me for 40 bucks! I am trying to decide about a push bar up front.

For the interior, i bought a headliner stereo and a new CD player. The sound is amazing and much better than when I bought it. I took the good seat out of the parts truck and put on an old fashion saddle blanket cover on it. I also installed LED bulbs in the dash because a few of mine were blown anyway. I painted the needles with florescent paint, and it turned out pretty darn neat. Just tonight i added a piston (minus the barrel, but has a real spring loaded trigger) shifter handle from auto zone. I love that dang thing.

I'm sure i am forgeting a lot of stuff, but it was a long process. It wasn't frustrating at all though untilthe last month. I am having some engine issues, but i think it is all in my carb. I have rejetted it, changed the power valve,and the diaphragm spring, but i still think there is something wrong.

Thanks for looking, and tell me what you think!


day i brought it home


interior the way i bought it


tearing it apart


bare frame with T-case, Tranny, and bed ready to bolt down any time


Rebuilt 351M into 408!


ready for front clip, doors, glass, and paint


painted interior just about done


CD player headliner


Finshed truck


Tigger



Thanks
TheBlueMule

 

good job. nice to see people enjoying their rides. nice colors too.

 

Nice truck, I have been through all that work before. Great job. I like the color setup. Looks like it could have been stock for that truck. Its my 3rd year working on my 73 tbird. Bought it on my 17th birthday in 85. Lots of memories.

 

Great job! I love the hood liner. Where did you get it from? Also those wheels were a steal at 180.
Enjoy your sweet ride.

 

Great job! I love the hood liner. Where did you get it from? Also those wheels were a steal at 180.
Enjoy your sweet ride.

 

Great job I really like the two tone paint job and you certinaly went more than paint deep which is allways nice to see. Your truck is tiggerriffic!!

 

Nice work! I see a 60 front too. Nice score!

 

Nice truck man

 

ok, love the color, love the headliner, I'd personally paint the grille insert black and the bumpers orange to match. Now the million dollar question, where does a 17 yr old get the funds and experience to do all that. Who helped????Fess up....Nice truck!

 

awsome job!! love the paint scheme it does actually look like it could be stock paint scheme. I have the same headliner I like it now that I put some 10" woofers behind the seat 4" speakers don't put out to much. You did an excellent job the only thing I see is that my truck flexs the front pretty far and it looks like you have little clearance between your tires and front fenders you defenitly don't want to screw up your hard work.

 

Awesome job on the headliner!

 

the grille in it is in decent shape now, but i eventualy plan to get a new surround, black grille, and build a front bumper with a brush guard.

I am 18 yrs old, but I love restoring trucks. We have restored 6 or so antique trucks for our family business, Brooks Landscape. I had a racing shop rebuild the motor, and had my dad help with the install and paint, and had a little help from our mechanic on the body. But i love this kind of work and I did most of it myself. It is really like common sense to me.

 

Very nice job, some tips though the front bumper its from an early model you should get one from a 78 or 79, also the lower molding trims that this trucks have on their XLT models would give a better look to the 2 tone paint job, show more pics of the engine compartment i'm sure it looks really great. Hasta pronto!!

 

Great job, good to see young people with so much interest and knowledge in the hobby where so many don't even want to know where the oil goes. Its people like you who will keep restoration alive. your to be commended!

 

really looks excellent! great job. I really love the color. all of the accessories are great. gotta give you a 10 on this one.

now you can officially change your sig to say that the truck is done.