Im going to document my build on this forum for my 1965 F100 revival/transformation. The 65 was given to my by my father around 15 years ago. Its a 2wd longbox. I came across a 79 4x4 for a good price so I am going to swap my cab/fenders onto the 79 and find a stepside box for it.

Day 1: Today I started to disassemble the 79 shortbox. I got the doors off, all wiring tied up, column out, brake booster off and some other misc stuff taken off. I also priced getting the frame blasted and powdercoated. 750$ and a weeks time. I figure thats a decent price. Although I might take that 750$ and buy an air compressor and do it myself. **gotta wait till Monday for the buyer to take the body, then I can go ahead with the frame cleanup** I'm starting to think powdercoating is overkill, might as well get an air compressor and HVLP paint gun.

 

Great, hope all goes well. Sounds like its coming along. You're gonna need a pretty big compressor, unless you like to take a break every minute or two. Sandblasters require a lot of cfm, but, hey, we NEED bigger better tools to build them bigger better and stronger. We have the technology. Okay, I'm back from the seventies now. Good luck, Rich

 

Start an album through your User CP so your photos can be seen anytime.




John

 

Day 2: We spent a few hours taking the front clip, cab and box off the frame which turned out to be a 76. I then spent the other half of the day cleaning the grime off the frame. This weeks task will be to get it stripped completly down and off to be blasted to remove all that ugly orange paint.



Looking at the spring and shock perch, somthing does not look right. Im going to compare to somthing else locally. If anyone knows off hand that what I have isn't right please let me know.

 

I'm no expert - especially on 4x4 stuff, but those holes to the right look suspiciously like where a 2wd shock tower probably was mounted... think this was rigged.

 

4WD's: The front engine mount brackets (perches) bolt to the frame rails, because there is no engine crossmember to bolt them to.

 

Per the vin number this is a 4wd frame, but I was thinking maybe it had leafs? both perches look hacked up to me, maybe different suspension parts all together.

 

What is the VIN?

 

F14YRC27540

F14 = F150 4WD Pickup

Y = 360 2V

R = San Jose CA Assembly Plant

C27540 = 1976

Numberdummy you already decoded this for me on the 73-79 forums. Thanks for that! Basicly, the spring/shock perch's look like S***. Someone cut them or somthing and I need to find some replacements.

 

Since I've decoded 700 + VIN's/Warranty Plates since 11/2006...I cannot recall all of them.

This looks like one (of the three) I've done...so far, today.

1966 was the first year F100 4WD's came with front coil springs. F150's were introduced in 1975, also have front coils. Only 1959/65 F100 4WD's have front leaf springs.

 

ND - what are those funky brackets up on top of the spring mounts? I was thinking they looked like the pllace where the shock would mount. Can't figure out what else it could be. But like I said, I'm sgt Schultz when it comes to 4x4's: "I know Nothing!"

 

It looks like whatever it was is busted off or was cut off. And they had to do some cutting on the frame to get the new mounts bolts in under the L&L motor mounts. Looks terrible so I may have to get creative to fix it.

 

Today I took the axles out and stripped everything off that wasn't held on by rivets. Now I just need to take it to a hotsy for a good clean and decide If I should paint or powdercoat it.

 

A few weeks back I decided to sandblast and paint the frame myself. At first, it sounded like a noble idea... but after roughly 3 weeks, 50+ hours and 1 less apendix, its blasted and painted! The sears sandblaster works pretty well, but it was kinda like coloring the frame with a sharpie to get the old paint/rust off, not exactally what I was lead to believe. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

 

Still plugging away on the project, I have located a 460 out of a 84 f150 4x4 for 375$ that runs pretty good. I should be picking that up in the next few weeks. I removed both fenders, grill and bumper to reveal some rust!