So i got my truck from a friend that wrecked it in august on the way to school for 600$. In the wreck everything that goes to the axle broke in some way to sum it up. Its going to need new front shocks, new front springs, the front driveshaft fixed, what ever is broke in the steering fixed, the front bit of the frame straightened, a new spring hanger, a new passenger inner and outer fender, grille, and bumper. I have no idea what broke in the steering so ill have to figure it out after i get the body off. For christmas i got a full cab, both inner and outer fenders, a bed, hood, radiator support 1.5 grilles and a title for 200$ off craigslist, and nothing has concerning rust but the bed which i can't use anyways. Since the truck was wrecked i don't want to go through the troubles of using the old vin # on the cab for it. Im going to use the parts cab and body for it and pretend its an entirely different truck. I don't need to worry about the bed because there is one STURDY flatbed on welded on there.
My current plans are-
Remove entire body-Not done
Fix the suspension issues-Not done
Do body work and paint on parts body-Not done
Straighten frame-Not done
Lift truck 6 more inches and get 37"+ tires-Not done
Decide on whether or not to paint hood as rebel flag or just orange-Not done

I don't really have a lot to but at the same time, I do.
Today after helping my grandma move boxes I got about and hour and a half in and got that stripe thing that goes in the 'dent' as i plan to resell it. I also got the bolts off the top of the fenders and the turning signals off, and the upper grille screws/bolts. Im a slow worker and i make 100$ a week(working all day on weekends) so i don't have a lot of spending money or daylight to work. I have a '90 F150 i have to get running right and put a radio in before i can really do work on this truck. Im also going to start driving about new years so i will have virtually no project money after that date.

What i can/have to/need to sell:
Extra set of doors, pretty decent shape-Not sold
Dent striping thingy in mostly good shape but passenger front fender-Not sold
Old HighBoy cab pretty rusty but fixable with title-Not sold
Old hood and fenders-Not sold
Parts truck bed, has holes in front but good shape on outside-Not sold
Interior from old truck-Not sold

I honestly don't know what anything i have is worth that i want to sell, so could you guys give me estimates? i will provide pictures soon, also. The parts truck i bought is a 1973 F100 that from the factory came with a manual and 4x4 so i won't need to modify that part much if at all. Ill upload the vin stickers and warranty tags in a minute so you guys can tell me what you can. My Highboy is said to have a 400 in it, it has a 205 and an NP435. From the looks of it the intake manifold is aftermarket, the carb is a holley 4bbl, didn't care to look into it farther. Would you guys recommend a better ca if you can find one for 250 or LESS and would heads for a 4bbl Cleveland work? My grandpa bought a set new in the 1970's and he's never used them; the guy i bought my truck from actually does head work so I can get whatever down for cheap.

Nice long boring post before I eat dinner so sorry if I made you fall asleep.

 

Better check on Florida's laws concerning the VIN. It not only appears on the cab, but on the frame as well. In some states this could be a big problem if it isn't handled correctly.

Good luck with the project. Sounds like you're off to a good start.

 

Ok so while I wasted my dads hot water in the shower I thought about how I was gonna budget my money on this truck. I figure I can finish ALL needed body work under 50$ since very little needs to be done and we have sheet metal we can weld in if needed. I wat to but I don't want to paint it a 'real' color since it would get costly fast if I want a good paint job. Since the flatbed is already black I thought a nice 2tone grey and black primer would look good, then my dad suggested black with a satin finish. I don't know about the paint anymore.

 

Ok so I went ahead and took the hood off today along with more of the grille and I got stopped early because of the dogs fighting, took 3 minutes of holding them apart and walking to the house to throw one in, blood got everywhere and now my right hand is weak so only a bit of work tomorrow. I got plenty of pictures of some of the things I want to sell, and I also have some door stickers and warranty plates I'd like someone to kindly run for me to see what all I have parts from.
First up, door stickers:
77 F250 door sticker

73 F100 door sticker

77 F250 warranty plate

73 F100 warranty plate

79 F150 warranty plate

 

If you want a cheap paint job use tractor paint, it holds up well. And were are the pictures?

 

x2 on the pics? You can also use brightside paint or rustoleum if you get a really good paint sprayer and sander. And don't fret over the misc. parts. almost all of these trucks are mutts these days. Hard to get "stock" on a 40 year old truck...

 

you can definitely use the 4bbl cleveland heads on the 400. i would check that they are open chamber heads though, not closed chambers. the closed chambers would yield a higher compression. your low end torque would suffer. those type of heads were built for high revs. not suitable for a 4x4.

 

you should just take little black truck's advise on the tractor paint. i already had planned to do that with mine. bought a gallon of new holland red. i plan on spraying it with an airless.

 

I bought a gallon of new holland blue and im gonna darken it with a little black. Ill be using a siphon feed gun. Cant wait to see how it turns out.

 

I want to go orange again but I want the interior to be smooth to the touch and feel like it was done right. How 'rough' would you guys say tractor paint is?

 

it depends on how you apply it. it can have a really smooth, glassy finish like. do you have a cup gun and compressor? just thin it down until you get a fine mist. practice on a piece of sheet metal. just remember several light coats will give you a better finish without the orange peel. the only drawback with the tractor paint is gonna be drying time, because it has a different base than the auto body enamels. just make sure you have it somewhere where dirt isnt gonna be flying around. they also do make drying agents that you can add to speed it up.

 

thanks for the painting advice thomgcfour.

now, i had a wildhair and i think i want to put an FE in the truck and taking out the 351m or 400 thats in it now. is there anyway to tell if an engine is a 400 or a 351m because ive head many times there isnt. on the emissions sticker it says 351 and so does it on the vin. the reason i want an FE is because i have more expeience(some, but more) with them and my grandpa kinda collects 67-68 mustangs so he has 14 390s alone right now. he probably wouldnt sell me an engine and it probably wouldnt work anyways cause its for a car but what do i know about that? what all do i need to swap the engine over and is it possible to reuse the current transmission or would i need an all new transmission?

 

the 351m and 400 are the exact same block. only difference is the crank and rods.the crank on the 400 will be stamped 5m and the 351m is stamped 4m. i had a 78 f100 that i thought had a 351m, but found out when i tore the engine apart that it was a 400.

the transmission wont work on the 390. the 351m/400/429/460 are the only engines that share that bellhousing bolt pattern.

 

that wild hair was plucked lol. ill look at the sticker again when i get home, yet again thinks for the knowledge.

as far as i know(which isnt far) doesnt the bellhousing detach from the transmission itself and cant you get a bellhousing for an FE and then put it on the same transmission? of course you would need to switch other things but isnt the general idea im saying right?

I dont know the value of these things i have up for sale so id like to know what you guys think i could get out of each of these i have ads running for
doors- http://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/cto/3463402859.html
hood- http://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/cto/3463419440.html
body trim- http://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/cto/3463425692.html

 

ok so my 90 is side tracking me too much. dang thing wont run right and im so fed up with it im completely ready to send it to the scrap yard and lose my basically 2000$ investment in it.

anyways, how should i go about removing the fenders, grille, and inner fenders? i have it all mostly apart already and the inner fenders are unbolted from the cab up top.