Quick update and hopefully some answers to some questions that will come up soon.
If everything goes according to plan, tomorrow my brother and me are going to go grab the seat pan/tracks, grille reinforcement panel and rad support out of a '93 crew cab

My bro and sister picked up a OBS F350 frame the other week for her F250's SAS project and it had some left over pieces left on it. Including the stone deflector upper and lower pieces I needed since the one left on the OBS front clip I bought was dented pretty good.

Guy at work also has a front bumper he'll sell me cheap that I'll be picking up in the spring. He got me a couple pics before the snow hit.


It needs some work but I figure I'll get it sandblasted and coat it in some bedliner or something and it'll be a solid bumper

Only parts left to acquire now, that I can think of, is possibly some better front fenders (otherwise I'm going to try to use the red truck's fenders to repair the ones from the OBS front clip) and trying to find someone to trade the black grille I have for a chrome/grey one.
And any worn out parts on the frame but I won't know those until spring.

"Santa" was also good to me for tools to work on my project. Got a grinder and some wire wheels for the fun coming in spring.
Which leads me to my first question. I have access to some pretty potent degreaser through work and a pressure washer. I was going to clean the frame and underside of the cab and box I'm using with that first and then start with the grinder. Is there anything I'm missing that I should use to make life easier to clean up them or help with the painting?
Keep in mind I'm not going for show quality. Just knocking off the flakes and clean enough for the paint to stick to to protect it a little longer from the elements.
I'm still planning on keeping the frame and under cab & box painting low-buck-ish but not as low as I was thinking before. I'm going to pick up a couple quarts of Chassis Saver and spray it on rather than the Rustoleum spray can paint job I was thinking about earlier in my thread.

Another question I had is about wheel options. I'm kinda confused on what I need for backspacing and off set. I was looking at some Mickey Thompson Classic IIIs or similar style wheels. I was planning on stepping up to either 285/75R16 or 305/70R16 tire and I know they will rub on stuff with the stock wheels and the 305s will probably need a wide wheel anyways. What should I be looking for for the wheel backspacing and/or offset?

I know it's still a little early to be worrying about paint but I was looking around the last few weeks at different paint jobs and had kinda decided on either black or perhap the dark Ford blue like the 300 is painted but then I came across this truck:

Any ideas what that color is? It looks really sharp and now I have a 3rd option to pick for paint

 

Made out alright today with the rad support and grille reinforcement panel, unfortunately he didn't have a seat pan. He was mistaking the seat pan as the mounting brackets under the bench seat. So still in search of that
The rad support was in pretty decent shape, very little rust but it does have some stress cracks (see pics) I'll have to weld up.




The grille reinforcement panel turned out decent too. I'll just have to fix a cranked main support pillar. Maybe some epoxy?



Not too bad for $120 I figure

 

http://i1324.photobucket.com/albums/...psc67b6eb5.jpg

A soldering iron will be your best friend. Press the 2 pieces together and take the iron tip down the crack, making a "V" channel and sticking both sides together.

Then take the soldering iron and melt the plastic ridges back down into the "Valley" you just created.

Or use some plastic 2 stage epoxy... Your choice.

My personal choice is the first suggestion.

 

That's a good idea SideWinder, thanks

Also found out today that 285/75r16s will fit fine on the factory wheels with no rub. Just have to shim (my choice if the winch bumper needs it) or trim the bumper slightly. The guy I got the parts had a OBS ext. cab F-250 with those tires and the stance and wheel well fullness looked perfect. Made up my mine on the size. Now just have to decide which make.

 

That F350 you posted a picture of is Electric Currant Red.

 

Thanks Bob!
Still on the fence about what color to paint mine but at least I know what to ask for if I do decide on red

 

That's the color of my 95, though it's not in the best shape (and rusty, lol). Great looking color when it's shiny and in good condition.

 

I bet!
I am a little hesitant about the red and blue choices for my first paint job as they both would be a metallic paint which I hear is a lot harder to paint then a solid color. I know it's not a bridge I need to cross now but it's something I need to keep in mind when I get to making a decision about paint color.

 

If you're painting it yourself, metallic could present challenges. I've decided I'm going with a non-metallic color when I paint mine for just that reason. This will be the first vehicle I put color on, I'm planning on taking as many variables out as possible!

 

That's my exact thought as well. I don't think the Ford Blue that my 300 is painted would look as good as a non-metallic, nor would the Electric Currant Red. That pretty much leaves just a straight gloss black, which presents it's own challenges. I read black (and other dark colors) highlight your body work flaws while white (and other light colors) highlight body panel alignment issues.
I guess thinking it all through now black seems like the best of the 3 choices.
It'll also provide a decent challenge and practice to make sure my body work ends up good. My '79 project later will require a ton more body work then this one and the practice would be nice.

 

I need some solid info as I'm only finding what seems like a lot of hearsay where this is concern.

My sister's F-250 has a Dana 50 TTB which she's planning on replacing with a Dana 60 straight axle. Her gear ratio is 3.55 as well as mine.
I already planned to swap the Sterling 10.25 Semi Floating with a Sterling 10.25 Full Floating out of the 2 tone grey 6.9 diesel parts truck.

The info I could find in searches is the Dana 50's inner is the same as the 44 but the outer is closer to the 60. One off road guy I know claims it's not worth the swap if the inner isn't any stronger then what I have. I don't plan on romping or lifting the truck as it'll be my DD/work truck for a long time and if I do want to turn it into a mudder and lift it later on I would just go for a Dana 60 SA swap.
Is the Dana 50 TTB worth replacing the Dana 44 TTB with in this case?

 

No probably not. I swapped a D50 in place of my D44HD, but i was running 38" swampers w/ 4" of lift. If the truck is going to be stock size and working, your D44HD will hold up just fine

 

I would go with Dark Tourmaline Green..........but thats just me

 

Nice build

 

Reall nice color. Is that factory?

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