Figured I would start a build thread for my 79 swb 4x4. Alittle history on how I got the truck. Me and my girlfriend were going to take a weekend vacation to Virgina beach and stay with her aunt and uncle. Well everyone who knows me, knows I love old ford trucks. So a week before we go down I get a call from my g/f's aunt saying her neighbor is selling a 79 for truck and only wants $500. So I ask some questions and she sends me these pictures.
So needless to say I am all over this thing. I have always wanted a short bed dentside 4x4 with an inline 6 and granny 4 speed. Soon I forgot we were even going there for vacation because all I was worried about was the truck. So I talk to the neighbor and he's really talking the truck up, telling me it was just all redone 5 years ago and has no rust blah blah blah. So we get there and I start looking over the truck and its not as nice as discribed and has been stripped of all the extras like the tool box and vent visors that were in the pictures sent to me. Also I could tell the truck had been sitting for a while. So I take it for a test drive and start to worry that it might not make the 360 mile trip back.??? So at first I pass on it and refocus on enjoying my vacation. But then after sleeping it over I decide its a 30 year old truck its not going to be super nice and decide I have to have it. So I pay the guy get a temp tag and start on the trip home. As I drive I notice it starts to run better and better and also that its leaking oil pretty bad. So 2 quarts of oil and 360 miles later I made it home, no problems.
So this is what I started with 79 F150 4x4 shortbed with 300 big six, granny 4 speed, lumpy bondo work, rustoleum paint job, and a worn out drive train. Doesn't look to bad does it haha
I drove the truck like this for 6 months, it was actually my only transportation for a while because I sold my Ranger so I could buy my house. Here's a picture of my ranger just for fun.
Finally everything started to go, carb went, then clutch, flywheel, tranny mounts, throw out bearing, clutch linkage and all the universals. Fixed all that and then it started to developed a bad miss that still hasn't been fixed even though everything in the ignition system has been replaced and was only runing on 4 cylinders. So I decided it was time for a short & sweet overhaul. Now I am no professional and have been learning as I go. But I plan to have this truck for a while and figure I can learn on it now and restore it from the ground up in the future.
I started sanding it down and took the bed and fenders and hood off the truck
I also made a few trips to the junk yard and bought those 15x8 steelies, some corner lights and headlight buckets and found 4 mint dog dish hub caps that you can see test fitted in a couple of the pics. Also found some stuff of craigslist, a full rebuild kit for the motor for $200 and a nice undented grille shell for $50. I found a mint steering wheel on ebay and mint horn pad as well. The horn pad is rapped in the blue shop towl. Here is a picture of my parts shelf.
More to come.....