As you may have seen in a new thread I started https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...u-do-poll.html I made a poll to get an idea what I should do about the motor. Since it is already bored to its max, I need a new power plant from the block up. The poll numbers may continue to come in, but I am pretty certain I will be going the direction of a 460 when it’s all said and done. That won’t stop me from continuing with going through the 351M I have now and put it back in the truck for its trial runs, but at the end of the day I know I won’t end up with a 351M or a 400 unless someone makes a strong case for it against a 460. If you have to put the money into it from scratch ….. you might as well go big or go home.

So I worked on the backend of the truck just a little bit since last post. I did the suggested idea of drilling out while moving up in bit size as I went. I tell you, these are just some stubborn rivets in this thing. Here you see one almost drilled out.

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I still cannot bang this thing out. I think it just doesn’t want to go through the attached part itself and not so much the frame. So, I will drill out all 4 of them and try to whack the part off entirely in one shot.

I cut out the cross member just forward of the shock mounts to get it out of the way and remove some weight.

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These cross member rivets came out no issue. I ground the heads, put the punch to them and hit it. In an effort to keep the grinder out of the frame itself the best I could, I found that I could grind off the head as much as I could, then hit it with the punch and even moving it ever so slightly would “mushroom” up the remaining head that would be easy to continue grinding without getting into the frame. So a couple back and fourths with that and it was out with the rivets!

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So what I really have learned is that there is no right way or wrong way to do this…so long as you don’t damage anything you don’t want damaged in the process. It boils down to doing whatever you gotta do to get them out! I got some work ahead of me here…..

 

This is where the heat wrench comes in handy. I have done about 50 of these so far for my frame. I have changed over all the cab mounts, and 2 crossmembers. I tried cutting the rivert head, but I nicked my frame. Have to fix that one soon. Grind the rivet head right to where you have it, heat glowing red, air hammer with punch. For crossmembers you heat the frame first, then keep the torch upside down on the crossmember while air hammering the rivet through. That crossmember can hold more than you think. I have a few of these under my belt and it is worth the oxy acetylene setup, either borrow or buy. BTW my truck came with a dump flatbed that is why I am changing so many crossmembers. I am not using that back one that you cut out. You can have it if you want to come to Sharon. Good luck

 

Thanks Snow....I do have that one already, as well as the one I just cut out. I hope within the next couple of weeks to have the rest of the rivets out so that I can begin to locate the cuts in the frame (to remove rot) and determine what I need for infill pieces.

Unfortunatly, the more stuff I remove, the more I find wrong. Oh well, I have mentally commited to it already. Just means more work & time.

 

Are you going to remove the old outer spring overload tabs too?

 

Oh yeah! EVERYTHING is coming off the frame.

In fact I just took the rear overload "tabs" off this morning. One of those was the pic of the rivet that I drilled out in the post above. I ended up grinding the remaining three heads off but could not punch any of them including the drilled one. I had to HAMMER that part off, and luckily it didn't get beat up. If you go back you will see that one of those rear "tabs" was not even correct and had been replaced. It was bolted in so that was easy.

With everything coming off, it's just a matter of what actually gets put back on in the end. I'm sure they are not necessary (getting 4" lift w/ springs), but it may be good to put on since it was stock...we'll see.

 

Keep at it, keep motivated and stay in the fight......any concern about pulling all those cross members and still having cab weight on it and maybe tweaking something??

I know its a truck frame and all, but you are taking alot of the main bracing out and leaving it hanging in the wild blue.

At least jack stand it evenly right at the cab back?? Just a idea....

 

I'm not removing that last cross member until after the springs for the rearend are unattached from their hangers, for the very reason you indicated. I hadn't thought of the cab so much though. Hmmmmm.....

My plan was to support the frame about a foot back from the back of the cab (just like you said). I'm not doing that until everything I can get off beforehand is off though, to eliminate any "spring" in the frame as I try to hammer the rivets out. Once only the spring hangers and that last cross-member remain I will then jack the frame and get her up in the air to finish it off.

Question on removing the rear end: I was going to just unbolt the springs at the four corners and leave everything else attached (i.e. springs, axel, driveshaft, etc.) and let it all lay under the frame as is. Will there be much "spring" to the leaf springs when I unbolt them from their hangers? Just want to know in advance if I should anticipate the "B-O-I-N-G" of everything releasing tension? Or are they pretty much formed to how they would bolt up?

 

There shouldnt be any tention on the springs when you take them off. I just replaced mine the other day and there was no "B-O-I-N-G". Ohh and what do you plan on painting the farme with

 

A bucket of roofing tar from Lowes....

Seriously though, go back to post #45 (Page 3). That with some automotive strength satin black chassis paint of some sort over it.

 

steady progress....looks good

 

Figured you had a plan, just some 2nd hand advice. As long as the weight is off the back end, you should not have any spring tension.

 

Still at it Boys & Girls……

The past couple of weeks I have been poking away at it. I got all the “accessory” brackets that were mounted to the frame off. Here you see all of that removed. All that remains is the one cross-member (which is there to keep the frame rigid), and the rear spring mount brackets. The rear mounts are bolted on so that will be easy. The fronts are riveted.

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A little tip for those embarking on this in the future. If you don’t have a torch/plasma to cut the rivets, I ultimately found it is easiest to cut slots in the head with a high-speed cut off wheel. Then put the angle grinder to it to clean it off. So much quicker. Then you still need the BRUTE force to drive them out.

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I was going to remove the driveshaft and exhaust next. I could not find my 9/16” deep socket to save my life as I need to remove a exhaust hanger under the cab, so I had to leave that on for now. Out with the driveshaft though…

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Now I can remove the rear-end. I jacked the truck and set it on stands. I unbolted the rear spring hanger bolts and let the rear-end set back down on the ground. Then I ground off the remaining rivets in the front hangers and she rolled out nicely.

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That felt good…

Now I can sweep my floor easily.

 

Motor Update:
I found a 460 from a mechanic friend of mine. Not sure the mileage but I know it came out of a 1997 F250 or F350 originally. He replaced the heads and put it into an early/mid 1980’s F350 Wrecker, but he never put in on the road (he bought a new wrecker). He reports that it’s a very good motor still, and I TRUST him without hesitation. I have known him my entire life.

So that is what I am doing. I’m scratching the existing 351m project and going with the 460. I told him to take his time pulling and getting it ready for me, so who knows when I will get it, but no big deal. You all know I have my hands full with other things at the moment.

Frame Update:
I will identify the areas I need to replace and mark that all out so it will be easy to discuss with those that might have some frame parts for me. I hope to have that done by Thursday night.

 

[quote=BDawg171;11467405]Motor Update:
I found a 460 from a mechanic friend of mine. Not sure the mileage but I know it came out of a 1997 F250 or F350 originally. He replaced the heads and put it into an early/mid 1980’s F350 Wrecker, but he never put in on the road (he bought a new wrecker). He reports that it’s a very good motor still, and I TRUST him without hesitation. I have known him my entire life.



do some research on the capatability between the yrs, I had a 78 460 that I was going to save for my 88 and was told that 87 was a split w/ a difference that won't interchange, not certain if it was mounting, internals, bolt ons or what make sure the newer can go into the older yrs, also 2wd or 4wd because the oil sump are in different locations...just a heads up before you jump in w/ both feet ...good luck ..either way I am sure you can get it to work if'en it needs modifications

note...the frame is still here if you need pieces, never got to scrap it yet

 

I do know it was from a 4x4 as the sump is to the rear.

He is very intimate with these 73-79 trucks and didnt give any indication that I would have much issue. He acknowledged that I would need new motor mounts and exhaust componants which was to be expected.

Anyone else know of any issues? The wrecker that the motor now sits in is a 1986 F350. If it fit in that, should I have any issue going into the 77 F250?

Lost, I will reach out to you as soon as I mark the frame all out. Im trying to do this all in a way that there is no confussion and with as little "work" to my donor frame supplier.