Can anybody provide a good outline for a body swap?

Just looking under the hood of the 2 vehicles, and this looks like it could get busy.

I have a 67 F250 and a 69 F250.

I know some of you think I should leave the 67 alone, but it drives like a lawn mower compared to the 69 since I've done a bunch of work to the drive-train on the 69.

Ideally, I'd like to swap the entire cab and front clip in one piece. I realize it's heavy, but I think i have or can get enough tools. I can remove things like the hood, and interior for some weight savings.

All the wiring makes me nervous.

Any tips or suggestions appreciated, both trucks are in/near the shop and I'm ready to start.

for info on the trucks check:

http://www.thedreyerfamily.com/69f250/69_f250.htm

 

Since you havent done this before.....take notes, pictures, mark/tag everything, bag all parts separate (ie all bolts for fender in one bag alone)
Go slow...do not try to do it all in one day...that is the way things get broke when you are rushing,
I find it easier to separate the inner fenders, outer fenders, rad support and cab to move them individually...but I suppose with enough lifting power you could leave the front clip on. But the front bumper is bolted to the frame and the front of the fenders and the grill go sort of under it...so it may catch up and get damaged.
Have fun it is a fun project

 

I could go piece by piece, but I'm afraid I'll never get it straight or get the wires in the right spot.

 

First off, I have never swaped the bodies on any truck but I have taken on apart down to the frame and put it all back together. If'n it were me, I wouldn't try the do the whole thing in one piece. You might get away with it, but I would be afraid of bending some of the sheet metal. Remember the engineers that designed it, didn't design it to lift the whole thing off.
I just went and studied my '71 4x2. There is a wiring harness that comes out from the left and right upper corners of the firewall. Those have connectors not too far down stream, so you could just disconnect there and mark them. Heck the wiring harness is probably the same between your 2 trucks. The wiring to the engine can just stay in place as well as the wires to the tail lights. The front wiring to the head lights, horn, and park lamps you can't get confused on. The longer ones go to the right side of the truck. Mark the wires that connect to the starter solenoid or just unbolt it from the apron and fold it back over near the engine. Disconnect heater controls and hoses. I believe you do have A/C on one and you should evacutate that into one of them units B4 you disconnect it. Probably have to take one end off of the compressor the other either the dryer or condesor. Anyway let us know how it goes. I'm sure if you get confused as you go back together, take a pic and ask the question here!
Best o' Luck.

 

g, The two trucks should be identical with cosmetic and drivetrain differences. The wires going through the firewall should unplug at the firewall.

1- remove the hood
2- drain & remove the radiator
3- remove the two bolts, radiator support to chassis
4- remove inner & outer fender bolts from the cab
5- disconnect firewall wire harnesses

The front clip should now come off in one piece. Have a bud on the other corner from you and lift it off. You might handle the weight by yourself, but it is large.

My 2, Do you need a second 3/4 ton truck? Put that body on a mid 70s 1/2 ton and you will have a better ride and still have a great looking truck. The gas tank will be under the truck, the ps & pdb will be there. You can speck out the drive train just like you want.

think about it

 

This is the kind of info I'm looking for. Thanks

I like the ride of my 69 3/4 ton and I would like the extra towing capacity. If I ever stop spending money on trucks I want to get a pretty good size boat to play with.

 

Remove that '67 grill before you start to be sure that nothing happens to it during the swap. Then sell it to me

I stripped the front end off of my '73 a few weeks ago, and some of those parts are quite heavy. The large metal plate behind the grill that the radiator and headlight cups bolt onto is a heavy item. The inner/outer fenders are nothing.

But really, that's a beautiful grill, so do whatever you can to ensure that it stays ding-free.

 

Just a thought, you probably want to replace the body mount bushing while the body is off. The poly ones only cost about $55 and there will never be a better time to do it.

I think I would disconnect everyhing and jack the whole thing up enough to get 4x4's between the frame and body at the rad support, fwd and rear cab mounts then build sawhorses to hold the 4x4's up and roll the frame out from undr and the new frame in. Never tried this but it looks like to me like it would be the easist way.

Wiring - if you really need to you can unscrew that screw in the middle of the fuse box and disconnect the whole harness attached to it from the engine compartment.

 

Wouldn't a bitta front end work and a motor swap be easier?? If you want to have 2 trucks then your going to have to totaly fix the one that's just gonna be a beater too if you pull every thing apart.

If you do go ahead with the swap do the box first to see how it fits, if they're not both camper specials. The wheel base is different between the reguler 250 and the cs 250 which could leave your tires in a different position in the fenders. I put a camper special box from my 1970 250 cs on my 1970 250 4x4 and the tires sat up further in the fenders...no prob it's my boggin' beast so I got the zip cut out and made it even beastier!!

 

I'd be curious to know how you got that difference in wheelbase idea as there wasn't two wheel base lengths on a long box 67-72. The boxes are the same whether it's an F100 or an F250. On the 73-9's, there was an F350 Camper special with the extended wheelbase. As for the fender wire harnesses, they unplug about three inches into the cab and then pull out of the firewall like John said.

mike

 

That's an important bit I needed. The harness unplugs in the Cab! I was looking under the hood, thinking "I don't see many plugs to pull apart.

I'll look inside for the harness now.

This about to get expensive. I keep thinking of things I should do while the cab is off the frame.

Edelbrock heads

High Torque starter and associated wiring

Rebuild or replace or adjust power steering unit. There's a little play and some fluid loss.

Clean and paint the body with a quality job

replace any ugly glass

replace all weather stripping as needed


Anybody looking for a real good woman, mines about to leave me :-) I keep telling her, the trucks are better than a Red-Headed girlfriend.....She's not buying it.

 

Hey gtex you should hear my wife when it comes to trucks
I have a 69 F250 wanted PS and PB so I bought a 73 F250 to harvest then....then I decided to swap the 69 on to the 73 frame to get PS, PB, new brakes and a 390......then I needed a rad support so I bought a 79 F100 to get one...then I decided the 300-6 in the 79 was the way to go....this was supposed to take a month or so......it has been 2 months and I today had to re-insure my back-up car because all 3 trucks are tore apart and I need a vehicle to drive back and forth to work....
I would be surprised if you did not hear her today "voicing her opinion"

 

I found out the tire position difference first hand when when I put a box from my 1970 250 custum camper special on my 1970 250 4x4. I wasn't afraid to chop it up a bit since it's the baggin wagon.
I don't think the 74 cab helped the fit either...

 

Even though it has been well addressed already, i'll add my two bits worth about changing bodies. I did it with my '72 last year. I rolled it on a new paint job and used a '69 body to repair it. first of all, TAKE THE FRONT CLIP OFF. It is easy to completely disassemble it (it goes even quicker with a small air impact wrench) you'd be surprised at how few parts there actually are. The plugs for the wiring harnesses are closer to the actual accessories that they power: ie., by the lights, by the washer bottle, by the carb, etc. Tag these connectors as you take them apart. I removed the cab on mine with an overhead hoist, but i've done others with a cherry picker. the difference is where you lift from. with the hoist you can chain through the cab (careful). with the cherry picker, lift from points inside the cab, such as cross chaining from the seat mount bolt holes. and above all, go slow.

 

Greg,
Let me know if you need a hand, I am right down the street in Austin.

-Greg