Brandon's highboy project.
 

Pat asked me to put all the photo's I've taken of the highboy project in one place for you guys to check out, so here goes. I'm sorry about the quality of all the pictures in advance, I use my cell phone for all of my pictures because I don't own a camera.

The truck is a 1974 F250 4x4. It has 4.10 gears, an NP435 4 speed, a 429 engine, NP205 xfer case, Dana 60 rear, and a Dana 44HD up front

These are all from the day after I brought her home.
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The first thing I did was replace the entire brakes system. From the master cylinder, all the way to the rear lines. New drums, shoes, the works! $500 in brakes alone on this bad-boy :-X22 Sorry, I didn't take any photos when I was doing all the brake work..

After a lot of thinking and researching, I decided to swap in a 429 that my uncle had laying around. I bought the highboy with no engine or radiator.

Here is a shot of the engine as it had been sitting for the last ~8 years.
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...1a95267605.jpg

Then I started removing all the accessories, and pulled the transmission off of the engine. I wanted to keep the NP435 that was in the highboy.
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...0a95263559.jpg

Then I got the engine on the stand and power washed/de-greased the heck out of it.
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This was a picture I sent to my girlfriend, she loves Ford trucks as much as I do.
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...0a95293080.jpg

Then I turned the engine over and checked the main bearings. At this time I also checked the timing chain, put in a new water pump, etc, etc..
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...2a95251672.jpg

I also bought a gasket set for an overhaul and replaced about 80% of the gaskets in the engine. Then I gave her a coat of Ford blue. (It is a lot darker than it appears in this picture).
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...5a95295760.jpg

Then we got the engine dropped into the truck. This took a lot of cussing and fabricating.. I won't go into details here, but if you want to know what it takes to swap a big block into a highboy, google "390 to 460 swap".
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...0a95265423.jpg

Then came the radiator, fan shroud, and hoses. As well as all the accessories, belts, and fabricated bracket for the power steering pump.
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...1a95301081.jpg

I then decided to use the duraspark distributor with the HEI "chevy" module. So far it is working great.
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...7a95304238.jpg

Sometime in the mix of all of that chaos, I managed to repair a lot of rust. Both cab mounts up front needed replaced, as well as both floor boards. Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the cab mounts.
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...2a95270010.jpg

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Here are some shots of the interior. I pulled a lot of pieces out of a parts truck I bought, and had the seat reupholstered.
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...0a95291040.jpg

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I am still FAR from finished with this project. As of now I am saving up money for exhaust, and the truck will be road-ready. If there is anything anyone would like to know what/how I did something, feel free to shoot me a PM. I love talking about this project.

Special thanks to our fearless leader, Pat. If he hadn't suggested this thread, I probably never would have put all these photo's together in one spot.

Wow looks great Brandon, well done so far Chum.........

Thanks buddy! It sure does feel good to be able to drive the darn thing :)

Well done brother!!! Lookin good :-X22

Thanks for the support Wade!

Great job Brandon, can't wait to see the finished product.

Thanks Rick, but you may be waiting a while.. It will be several years before I do an actual restoration on this truck, but some day I do want to make it show quality. I am just going to make it road worthy for now and enjoy it for a little while. I might do some cheap-o body work and shoot a quick paint job in the near future, but that is as far as I am planning to go for now.

Brandon, this is great! Awesome job on the truck, man, thanks for sharing this with us!

Thanks for dropping by to check it out Pat! I get paid next Friday, so hopefully I will be able to get my exhaust then..

Yesterday my uncle and I replaced the transfer case mounts. I went with the polly ones from JBG. They seemed to do the trick, I can't move the transfer case with my hands anymore ;)

great looking truck. shure is easier to keep momentum going when you can drive it while you work on it

Thanks Deljac! The only thing slowing me down is money right now.. I have college to pay for first.. then I am going to have to get my camaro driving again so I have something cheap to drive to school... I am moving this weekend, gonna start tomorrow. That is also going to slow me up.. Hang in there with me guys, some day I will get my exhaust on..

Open headers is better.........

While that is true, I do not have headers, Gigman. I have manifolds, and I also plan on driving this truck in the winter (when I need 4x4). I really don't want to suck cold air into a hot engine and ruin any valves because it doesn't have exhaust.

I know it's been quite a while since I have had any progress on this project, but I have finally made another step forward. 2 days ago my dad surprised me with an early Christmas present. He made an appointment and had exhaust put on the highboy :-X06. 2 1/4" true dual pipes, running into a dual-in-dual-out glass pack muffler, then exited behind each rear tire. It is a lot quieter than I thought it was going to be, but that is good. I don't like obnoxiously loud pickups.

Tuesday I should have a little bit of time, so I think I am going to start cutting insulation and carpet.

Wow thats great Brandon, give yer dad a big hug for us......