Whats up guys.

I am new to this board, and roughly a year ago I picked up a 1984 f150. It is a 2wd, regular cab, 4.9/C6 combo. Great truck, ugly color! haha



So far I have installed an offenhauser dual port, holley 600 vacuum, hedman header, and a custom dual into single exhaust with a borla muffler. Ignition is controlled my a mallory digital box.

Long story short, I have neglected the truck for the past 6 months or so while I finished up my Caprice....now I want to get at the truck.

The frame is crusty....plain and simple. I don't know how much time I am willing to commit to it. With that being said, I am looking for conversion options.

What are my options for year interchange as far as being able to directly bolt the cab and bed onto a new frame? Forwards and backwards. I understand that the 80-86 is a generation of the f-series....but could I use the chassis from a generation before or after?

I am not worried about the wiring and etc....but looking for something that I can sandblast, paint, change all the lines, and swap a new set of body mounts under, then just move my cab and bed over.

Also....from those of you with the experience.....is the 4wd conversion worth it? I can't really think of where I would use it haha. Basically this is just a daily bomber, and it will ocassionally tow my Caprice to the track.

Thanks in advance.

 

similar equiped driveline and wheelbase will be a good donor from 1980 to 1996, now i will head this one off before anyone else says anything try to stay clear of the very early 80's swiss cheese frames. also if you use a 90's truck as a donor you start getting into them being equiped with ABS, won't matter for the frame but if you also use an axle then it will mater.

 

My exact advice. I have an '80 with the swiss cheese frame, and I guess I would consider it okay, but if you're going to take the time to swap frames I would definitely suggest getting a stronger, sturdier frame, which began manufacture in either late '81 or '82. Also, to add on to bigbrown84truck's post, with the ABS possibly posing an issue, I believe the front bumper mounts changed in '87 and again in '92 when the front end sheet metal changed. I'm sure there's a solution to that but somebody who has actually done the swap will be more knowledgeable than I.

 

Like was stated, if you're going to swap frames, get the stronger frame. However, the "swiss cheese" frames are plenty strong. One member here uses his with a hopped up diesel to do pulls or something along the lines (he'll probably chime in).

Questions about your motor: Are you running the water heating plate? Did you do a full Duraspark II swap? Are your primaries facing the valve covers and the secondaries facing the fenders?

If "no" to any of those questions, look into getting it done. Your motor will run much better and will solve some tuning/drive-ability issues. You can find all the answers in the Ford Six Cylinder forum in the engines section of this site.

 

I am assuming you are going to buy a donor pickup? If so, you have some decisions to make.

Do you want to stick with a 1/2 ton or go to a f250/350?. Your body will bolt right on any of them.

Like you mentioned, 4x4 would be a easy swap also if you got a 4x4 donor. I personally could not have a truck without 4x4. I always find myself trying to back a loaded trailer up a hill in the grass or loose gravel, and end up using the 4x4 to get the job done. The low range is also handy for trailering sometimes.

This would also be an opportunity to build a truck you like to drive, instead of one you hate because it gets lousy fuel mileage. I am thinking about if you got a donor with a 5 speed overdrive, it's great for fuel mileage. I picked up 3mpg going from the c6 to the zf 5 speed.

 

First off....thank you all for chiming in so quickly. Exactly the conformation of information I was looking for. I quickly browsed the "cab interchange" FAQ las night, and that gave me some basics to go off.

-Water heating plate....I am honestly not sure? What does it look like lol.
-Yes...kinda. I am running a duraspark distributor, with the (TIS?) coil and a Mallory Hyfire 685 digital box (as opposed to thye duraspark box) to control spark.
-Carb is mounted with the secondaries twoards the valve-covers (opposite of the suggestion above), and after spending some time tuning, I have had excellent drivabillity. Lately it has been 28-30* in the morning. My 600 has no choke installed in the horn, and two pumps of the gas it fires and idles. Off idle transition is good, and motor has excellent power all around for what it is. Mileage sucks...but thats another story haha.
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After reading Franklin2's suggestion I thought long and hard about the advantages to having the 4wd....including resale down the road (if that were ever to happen).

At my friends yard today, I sourced a 1987 f250 XLT Lariot donor. It is a regular cab, long bed just like my truck. The frame is in excellent condition. It appears that someone recently changed the rear leafs, and all four shocks. It has the 8lug axles.

Would this be a good base to start with for my swap? I am figuring I will strip the cab and bed off at the yard, and get the roller back to my house. I want to strip and paint the frame, change any worn our suspension and brakes, and run all new stainless fuel and brake lines. If I am going to do it....might as well do it once right?


I want something nice and reliable to tow my Caprice to and from the track with:

 

To answer your question, yes that would be a very good foundation for your truck. The only potential issue might be the bumper brackets as was previously said. And, while you are doing it change out the cab and radiator support mounts.

 

Any recommendations on body mounts? Like for instance, do they offer poly ones? Just curious.

 

Yes, they do offer poly. I haven't done it, but that's what I'm planning to use when I do it. I've always thought the Ford trucks too rubbery, and assumed that was due to the rubber mounts. So, I think I'll try poly mounts when I replace them.

 

When you swap frames, you will of course need to keep the front and rear diff's. You will also need to use the tranny and transfer case, and you didn't say what engine the later donor had in it. That will be important because if it had a 460 or a diesel, the tranny won't bolt to your six without a different tranny, and it has to be a 4x4 tranny. The later 5 speeds don't have a changeable bellhousing.

You will also need to put your fuel tanks over into the later frame, so the sending units will fit. The later sending units won't work with your older cab's gauges.

Find out what drivetrain the later truck had.

 

I stopped back down today to take another look at the truck. It is a 351/c6 combo, so I believe I am all set as far as the transmission is concerend correct?

I looked really closely at the frame, and I couldnt find one spot of rot. A few areas near the rear bumper brackets have some surface, and the undercarriage is REALLY dirty, but overall....what do you guys think?











My buddy is willing to let me strip the chassis at his yard and let me take the roller away with the transmission for $400. That sounds very reasonable to me?

 

...with the transmission for 400... that's confusing... 400 what?

 

Is that better?

 

Thank you! That occurred to me later.

You see, 400 is also an engine size, and my first thought was that you were missing an "a" preceding it, and I was way confused. Thanks for being clear.

 

That's a very good deal if the tranny is good. You will also need to check out the frontend and the axle u-joints and the front driveshaft. These are all wear points, and you may need new ball-joints, bushings, etc. But all that is normal wear stuff.

Save the motor mount brackets off of your truck, you will need them. You may need to do a little drilling/grinding to get them off and swap them over to the new frame, which has v8 brackets.