Full Restoration 1990 F250 4x4 Diesel
 

Howdy all my fellow American classic restorers :-X03


We finally for all the parts to start restoring my dads 1990 F250 witch he bought brand new in 1990.

All we were missing is a cab, witch we got one from Florida this summer.

Now it has to be sent for tac welding all the little screw holes inside (was an XLT Lariat) with all the plastic trimming inside, and it's being converted to a Custom cab.

Also sand blasting and re-paint inside and out. Original factory color, Dark Gray Metallic, with original gray interior.

The one and only thing still missing for complete resto is a Radiator and Rad support and 4 dog dish hubcaps. But that will come later on.


Now I'd appreciate some tips, opinions, tricks etc. from people that have already gone through all this. I plan on restoring this truck ONCE only.


So plans are, sandblasting frame/axles, prime and cover it all with Line-X bedliner. Now for the body parts. Cab I wanna do the same, and Line-X inside the floor and everywhere underneath. Fenders Line-X inside, hood, bedliner and complete underside of box. And on top of having the bed line-xed inside, i'm gonna have the original plastic bed liner on top of it! And i'm also gonna paint the original color over the line-X, even underneath to keep that "original look".

Now heres my hard decision part, I can't decide of I should also line-x all the seams. Like door bottom seams, tailgate seams, hood etc. or cover them with oil or something else? If I do Line-X those things, I will have to paint gray over the Line-X as I still want that "factory" look.

I have no plans of driving this truck in winter salt once put back together, but it *may* happen that later on I may take it out again in winter....after all it is a 4x4. It defenently will see winter everyyear, but not drive on salty roads.



And side note, NO aftermarket modifications will be done to this truck. I am very very set on having a "Factory original" unmolested 4x4 truck. I'm even gonna be running stock tire size of tall skinny 235/85R16's. The only thing that it will have on it, is a bug deflector, toolbox, large mudflaps front and rear, CB radio and bigger exhaust (original exhaust on these are way to small) but bigger exhaust will still fallow factory exhaust routing



Thanks for reading :)



Heres some pics for y'all.

Heres what the truck looked like on it's very last day on the road. Retired April 24th 2010.
http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/t...hn/001-4-1.jpg

Heres exactly what it looks like right now, but with a nice clean blue just sitting on the frame.
http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/t...John/058-2.jpg

My new southern cab, a 1991 F150 cab.
http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/t...elJohn/358.jpg


I've also installed a clutch firewall re-enforcement plate, if anyone else is restoring one of these trucks with a hydraulic clutch, I highly recommend installing one of these, I can link you to one of my threads showing how easy it is.
http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/t...John/012-5.jpg

Cool project! Gotta love the IDI's!!:-jammin

It looks like I'm not the only one with a lot of work to do!:D

I have a question though. Why would you pay to have the box covered with Line-X and then throw the plastic liner back in it?

I need to get one of those firewall re-enforcement plates for my 91. Is that one of Feebird's kits?

As silly as this is gonna sound, my dad bought that plastic bed liner 2 months after buying the truck in 1990, so in my head, it kind of "belongs" with this truck, along with the toolbox has the same story.

And plus at the same time, it's added protection of dents and dings. I won't mind so much throwing heavy stuff back there and having to worry about denting the box with that thick plastic liner, the Line-X is really just to prevent rust. lol



And yes it's Freebirds plate, heres my installation thread!

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post10694047

I can understand that.:-X22

I'm going to give my whole truck a coat of POR-15. And then the inside of the cab, inside of the box, and the whole under side of the body a few coats of Durabak roll on bedliner. It's not as tough as Line-X but I can apply it myself. It's also easy to touch up if it's ever damaged. It's also available in a bunch of different colors.

Oh yea and all my seams I'm going to use some stuff called "POR Patch". It's basically a thicker version of POR-15. They sell it in a tube. It's some tough but stays flexible. But if you are having your stuff Line-Xed you might as well do the seams too. Just make sure they don't close off any drain holes or you might have rust issues in the future.:-X22


I really like Freebird's kits. I just have to stop spending on some of my other projects so I can get one.:-X04

While I went from Custom to Lariat, you're going down to Custom.lol.

Looks like a cool project John! Can't wait to see some more progress on it!

Diesel John,

This thread is WAY overdue for an update. How is your truck looking one year after?

I just acquired a fairly nice California truck like yours, but with an extra cab. I saw your posts on U-tube and found you posting up here as well.

I hope this forum will be a resource for me keeping this old beast running and useful to my family. cheers to you and all who contribute to this forum,

Rick

You know I completely forgot about this thread.

I have another one witch i'm keeping marked to keep updating this one whenever I do any work to it.


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post12125413


Lately I haven't had the time to do it, i've been to busy keeping my other vehicles running.


My van is in the middle of a head gasket job, the transmission in the Buick died, and i've got a bunch of other little projects on the go witch need to get done before the snow falls.


Still gotta finish a front clip swap on my 94 F150 and get it ready for winter, gotta replace the rad support in my '89 F150, like I haven't had any free time in a while, I just took off with the camper this long weekend to get away from everything for a few days, felt good.