I've been lurking around for a while and thought I'd finally introduce myself before posting a thread on issues I'm having with my truck. Since I was a small fry, I've liked bump and dentsides, and finally picked one up a few months ago. It's a little rough looking, but it's a crew cab and all the rusty spots are easy fixes. So here it is... 77' F250 CC with 300 I6, A/C, and np435. Well it used to have a 4 speed, replaced by a ZF S5-42.




Here's my little 3 y/o mechanic pulling the motor in her pajamas.


So far we've pulled the motor replaced the seals and painted it and put it back in, replaced the floor pans, put in a 5 speed and that's about it for now. She's helped with all of it and even removed the spark plugs by herself. I was going to wait to do the ZF, but I got the truck home and the jerry rigged clutch linkage fell o-f-f off! I went to fix it the next day and the clutch fork fell off. The granny gear in the np435 was bad too, so the whole situation screamed, "fix me with a 5 speed". Anyway, it still needs a little work to get it back on the road, but it's gettin' close.

Adam

 

You lucky dog. Nice Crew. Glad to see that your are getting the whole family in on it. Keep up the good work. Hope to see some more progress.

Jon

 

Hey thanks. I'm very lucky to have a kid that likes my truck and likes working on it too. The progress on the truck is going to be a slow process, but over the next several years I hope to get it restored to better than new. I'll keeps the pics coming as it goes.

 

Update! I've put a ton of hours into this pickup now, and all the work is just starting to show. So far I've:
replaced wheel bearings and seals
tacked in floor pans
dropped in a ZF 5 speed and upgraded to an 11" clutch
pulled the motor and replaced all the seals and did a tune up
installed polyurethane bushing in the front end
replaced the water pump, heater core, and blower motor
and am currently putting in a 5th wheel hitch
It doesn't sound like much, but it's kept me plenty busy. I bought the truck, drove it home, parked it (no plates, so I couldn't park it on the street and had company parked in the driveway), and the clutch fork fell out, so I decided to swap the trans where it died.

I was afraid the poly bushings would be a little too stiff, but it rides really nice now.

BTW, to drop in the ZF, it took a shortened drive line, major trimming on the trans tunnel, beefing of the firewall, and a juice clutch and that's it. Other than that, it was a drop in ordeal and I'd do it again in a heart beat, but this is a 2wd truck.

It's getting there slow and steady, and even the -2 weather hasn't stopped me from working on it.


This was at one time a track arm bushing.






With the truck in the back yard, I had to get creative to get the motor from garage to engine bay. I used to be a wheel chair tech, and got the wheels from overstocked inventory.


It's now my daily driver (yes with open trans tunnel and sub zero weather and it runs and drive pretty well. The motor still needs some help, but I already have FI manifolds and clifford intake. Just need a little more cash, and a windshield, and door seals, and bedsides, and and and... yeah, I'll be done working on this one in 20+ years.