1979 F250 body swap to 96 frame....

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#91

10-26-2013, 10:30 PM

youngone1234

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The pictures don't come up. Sound like a nice project though.

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#92

06-29-2014, 12:32 PM

Olbetsy81

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I've read this thread and I'm interested to know your progress on your build.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 79 Crewcab 4x4

Just spent an hour searching for info on this, and all I can find are guys that want to do it, then a bunch of guys telling them why they wouldn't. Was in the middle of taking the old motor out of my 1979 Crewcab 4x4 on a 1974 frame to put a 97 powerstroke back in BUT... my frame isn't worth working with (many reasons) and finding another around here won't happen so.....

The diesel donor truck is a 97 F-Superduty (96 body style with 10 bolt wheels) cab and chassis 2wd. I've figured since the diesel is at home there, the body swap will be the better way to go. The axles would be getting swapped out, that's not my issue. However, what I am looking for is info from people who have actually done a similar swap. I know I will be making all new body mounts. What problems did you run into that might save a guy some time and effort? What did you do that you would do again differently?

Please... not looking for reasons I should put a Cummins in or whatever, just looking for info that will help or save time.

I have owned a 79 ford 2wd crew l/b for many years.. I recently got a wild hair to do a diesel 4x4 swap and found a donor 97 power stroke crew 4x4 I'm in the proscess of measuring and making a build plan. I've got both trucks side by side and I'm going to start my swap with the front clip and engine compartment first... It will be a project I'm assuming since I'm stripping my 79 cab down to just a shell and swapping in just about everything from the donor truck. What's your progress?

Last edited by Olbetsy81; 06-29-2014 at 12:35 PM. Reason: Not finished

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#93

06-29-2014, 01:37 PM

79 Crewcab 4x4

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#94

06-29-2014, 01:43 PM

79 Crewcab 4x4

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Front '91 Dana 60 is mostly in, rear '91 10.25" is mostly in, it's sitting at ride height, just really debating the box at this point, which due to a rainy windy day blew over in the driveway today. Had it standing on end. Been busy with work and buying house and other odds and ends, so truck has been neglected. There's a few differences with the OBS F-Superduty chassis vs the regular 250-350s. Had to relocate the rear perches on the diff so built about a 4" block into the new ones.

If you are removing a spring perch off of these axles, save yourself the headache and just beat them off with a hammer, it'll peel between the weld and the perch, then grind weld off.

Haven't really had any decent weather this year so far so ambition has been lacking. Running into a bitching 72 fleet short 4x4 a while back isn't helping matters at all either.

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#95

06-30-2014, 11:51 AM

ChaseTruck754

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Looks good!

So that truck above is the '79 cab on your '97 F-superduty cab & chassis frame - correct?

Doesn't seem to be as much frame showing as I've seen with other guys trying to put the older cabs on newer frames. Do you have any pics of how you did the body mounts? And did you mess with the cab floor or firewall at all to get it to sit that "low", or did you not have to?

Oh and what is the wheelbase on the '97?

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#96

06-30-2014, 12:56 PM

Olbetsy81

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The pic ain't mine but yes it do look good!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaseTruck754

The w/b only 97 donor truck is 168.5. I haven't started tearing into mine yet. It looks like I'm going to have to do some minor fab work to my 79 core support to mount on the 97 frame. And it also looks like I can retain the use of my 79 radiator with a couple of custom upper and lower hoses wich is good cuz I just installed a new 4 core . Imam the proscess of removing the damaged front clip from the donor chassis at the moment . I will be doing a step by step swap and build on this rig as well for all those wanting info on this type of project.

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#97

06-30-2014, 03:48 PM

ChaseTruck754

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The wheelbase on the truck pictured above looks more like 156"ish than 168". If the above truck was that long, is the rear of the frame on the F-superduty's flat & did you just slide the axle forward then?

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#98

06-30-2014, 04:16 PM

redroad

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It looks like both axles are sitting forward and are significantly wider than the 70's wheel wells .. I would like to see a front and rear shot .. What is the difference between the measurement from center of wheel well to back of cab on both crew cabs ..

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#99

06-30-2014, 04:31 PM

Olbetsy81

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Quote:

Originally Posted by redroad

I'm not sure what his wb is either.. But the truck does look good.. Not to fond of the flare side look though I'm a fleet sider myself. I looked up the w/b on my 97 and it says all crew cab 4x4 or 2wd 1978-1997 have the same w/b..... Found my info on all ford truck wheelbases here:
www.therangerstation.com/.../Wheelbases...

Last edited by Olbetsy81; 06-30-2014 at 04:37 PM. Reason: Year error

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#100

06-30-2014, 06:59 PM

redroad

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Olbetsy81

I like the look also and I too am a fleetsider or nice custom flatbed .. I would have to agree with Steve it looks more like the 156" wheel base ..

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#101

06-30-2014, 07:00 PM

ChaseTruck754

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to me it looks like the rear wheel is pretty centered & the front is forward in the wheel well. My guess is this was based on how the body sat on the frame.

And yes, Olbetsy81 the wheel bases where VERY similar if not the same from 73 til about '97. The cab & chassis truck mentioned above would be the odd duck though. I pretty much know all the other configurations off the top of my head. Like our 4wd crew short beds are 150".

I did just look back at what I had saved so as to check & I have:
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w

oNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w

ontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w

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ontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w

ontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]-->Crew cab long bed = 166.5 / 167 for 70's stuff (must have seen both 166.5" and 167" listed in places and then 168.4” for 80’s/90’s trucks.

Thant and the bronco are the only 2 to change more than .2" over the years. 78/79 bronco only of course as the 66/77 were a different animal.<!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority

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#102

07-01-2014, 12:55 AM

79 Crewcab 4x4

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Rear axle on 97 F-Superduty OBS frame has been moved ahead like 5-6" basically moved the mounts forward one hole and drilled new holes to match the original 79 fleetside/styleside box. This stepside box is kind of a goofy cut down from a 9' '72 F-350 with the fenders hanging low, pay attention to the height above the fender and the bend in the box and you'll see what I mean vs a normal '72 steppy. The rear axle being ahead is mostly an optical illusion due to the lower front edge of the fender, but yes the front axle is infact forward in the wheelwell. Reasons for this include clearance for things like downpipe, it's a bunch easier to trim the front of the fender for clearance than it is the back, and original plans called for a shackle reversal, which would push the wheel back under compression of the spring. I have had enough 4x4s in my life to know that I am sick and tired of cutting into floorboards for tire clearance to know that I'm ok with it looking goofy or cutting the front or sectioning two fenders together to open the wheelwell are fine with me.

Original wheelbase was 155"? I'll measure what's actually under it now when I have a chance.

No pics from the rear, but the fenders narrow from front to back so from the rear it does need some type of flare type flap, we got just the overpriced things around here to fix that.

As far as the front rad support thing, I set the '97 support on the mounts, then brought the 79 front clip into the mounted cab, drew a line across both where it looked like it should be, cut and welded. The original was mostly for mock up and was going to be replaced by new ones but it worked out decent enough.

As far as the frame hanging down, there is some, mostly due to the fact the donor chassis was a cab and chassis single cab, the frame rose up behind the cab, which forced the back of the cab higher..... debated better ways to do it and really, it is what it is. The front springs are factory F-supers, and the rear is the super main with 79 springs under it. a 4" "block" was built into the new spring perches on the axle.

Noticed I can post pics for my computer onto here now so will go back through thread and see if I can fill in the blanks.

Found a '94ish flareside box that I would care a lot less about cutting and hacking onto this truck, it's probably a LOT lighter that the one I've got on it now.

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#103

07-01-2014, 04:50 PM

ChaseTruck754

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Quote:

Originally Posted by 79 Crewcab 4x4

Original wheelbase was 155"? I'll measure what's actually under it now when I have a chance.

150" actually if it was a short bed crew. 167" if it was a long bed you had converted to 4wd.

The supercab long beds are the 155" trucks.

Either way - I'd like to see what this one ended up at.

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#104

07-01-2014, 09:20 PM

79 Crewcab 4x4

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Without dropping a plumb bob, looks like 154/155" wheelbase, the front does look goofy but am looking at modding the front fenders, not sure at this point, mostly just want it on the road.

Think modding just the front of the fender, but leaving my back alone.

Those wondering about the dash, stuffing the 97 dash behind the 79 bezel, not done and it changes all the time but.....

Don't ask why that loaded sideways.
Actually that's not what it looks like, just don't have a pic of it now, the dash goes behind the whole 79 bezel, I'll grab a pic, this was the first shot at it, didn't like it.

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#105

07-01-2014, 09:27 PM

19-F250-78

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The gauge cluster idea looks kind of cool. I like it a lot better than a lot of the custom round gauge clusters I've seen. What are you doing with the old gauges? If you're getting rid of them I'd be interested. I'm looking for some to cannibalize for a project. I'm trying to find a way to light up the gauges similar to how they are in a new superduty. I've been staring at a 2012 f250 gauge cluster the last couple days getting ideas and just need a set to test it.

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