Here's a pic of the starting point. I've owned this truck 15 yrs and never done anything to it until now. Plans are for a 351W/AOD, pwr steering addition and pwr disk brakes up front. Plenty of other mods but nothing radical. It will appear mostly stock when done. The cab's in decent shape, some rust but not terrible. Also have to repair several rust through spots in the core support. I could by a repop, but will save that money for other items. The bed is the worst, have to replace the entire floor and maybe front panel. Taligate is shot. The hood is also shot so I need to find another one, soon I hope, as I'm about to start lining up the front sheet metal. Already have 2 sets of fenders and doors so good there.

More to come...

 

wow..thats a basic starting point...good to hear the cabs not too bad though..it looks like many trucks I part out when Im done with them:-)


- cs65

 

Hey Cookster, welcome FTE!!! I'm looking forward to following your build. Love me some '66 shortbeds!

A little additional info on the offset engine question you asked yesterday.....to compensate for the weight shift, Ford put a little beefier spring on the passenger side so you'll need to mark which one went where when you take it apart. Of course, it's possible that they've been changed sometime during the truck's life so that info may or may not apply.

Again, welcome!!
Randy

 

Hey Camper, it looks worse than it really is. I had the doors and front sheet metal mounted but had stripped it again before I took the pic. Truck's actually pretty complete although in serious need of TLC. And another hood and tailgate. The hood is so twisted/bent it bows up in the center to the point it won't even latch. Really bugs me, but I'm sure a straight hood will correct this. I've painted 3 of these trucks through the years (this will be my fourth) and I've never had one with a hood with this problem. But they were all straight!
Randy, I'm gonna get new springs from that spring place (sorry can't remember the name but I found it here on TFE). I'm going with alum heads, intake and water pump so the 351W it's shedding about 100 pounds. Plus the 352s/I6s were heavier! I'm pretty sure the front end will sit too high with stock springs, even if they are 40+ yrs old. And I may get a 1" lower set just to make sure she sits down nicely. Thanks again for the info on the offset engine mounts!

 

Looks like a nice project! We're building a '66 custom cab short box at work, just have started on it.

 

more pics. Rust in the cab isn't that bad








Inside the cab


Here's part of the bed front. I have to remove the angle piece someone added and see what's underneath.


The tops of the cab on both sides are bent from what looks like where someone lifted the cab under the drip rails. Have to fix that...




Why oh why, Mr previous owner did you do this?

 

Bare 351W block sitting in 302 engine stands from a 78 F150. Right at home...

 

Brings back some bad memories for me, heh. Yours doesnt look too bad. The floor should be easy to fix with some sheetmetal. The drivers side door pillar there is a replacement piece for. That piece of angle iron in the box scares me a little bit as you never know whats hiding under it. The cab will be a tough fix. Just be careful not to over stretch the metal when straightening it. The hole in the top of the dash I would just cut the entire area with the holes out and replace with a piece of 20g steel.

Hows the wiring? Im betting you will need to either fix it a bunch, so I would just rewire the truck.

 

Good luck on project.
To bad your in ga have a hood in Cali and a few other 65' parts

 

CGB, gonna rewire it so not worried about what's there now. Already got replacement panels from Dennis Carpenter. I could'a fabbed up some panels but decided just to buy them. Easier for me...

Schoo, yep, too bad.

I'm going to the F100 Super Nats in Pigeon Forge in a couple weeks, I hope to find a nice hood and some other stuff there.

BTW, I have an electrolysis tank running with the battery tray in it. First time trying it but seems to be working! I'm actually considering buying a big plastic farm tub the core support will fit in and doing it. It needs it BAD!

 

Update on the electrolysis.

Starting point:




Let the battery tray soak today for about 8 hours. Took it out and here's what I got:







Those shiny spots are bare steel. Thanks goodness the indented areas are still good, all I have to patch is the flat areas and figure out how the hold down area that is completely gone should be shaped. Gonna let it soak another 12 hrs or so to remove the rest of the rust.
Loving this chemistry stuff! Definately gonna try and do the core support.

 

If you can find a replacement battery box; just cut the tray portion out and weld in a new salvage yard tray from a bumpside or even a dentside truck; won't be that much different in looks or fix. Easy replacement.
Truck over all in great shape for starts.

 

Cookster:

As another option if you have access to a brake and a small piece of sheetmetal is this:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ic-needed.html

I have the drawings in this thread to build a bottom from scratch. Mine is patterned off of a 65, but Im pretty certain the bottoms are all the same.

 

I love the 61-66 shortbeds. My buddy is building one and just took it to it's first show a couple weeks ago.

 

Airlift, wow that's pretty radical... Nice job

CGB, thanks for the bat tray info. I think I can just patch the bottom in mine now that I know how the lip that's bent should be shaped.
BTW, I could've carefully sand blasted the tray and been fine, but I wanted to try electroysis so this was a good piece to experiment on.

Also CGB, I checked out your build pics. You've done outstanding work, especially on the bed! My bed is not as bad as yours, but close. Those patch panels you have in bare steel, did you bend those yourself or have them bent? I'm looking to buy a 4ft pan brake, but nothing that will bend 6 or 8 feet! You did buy the wheel tubs, right? LMC? Dennis Carpenter? Thanks man for the info!