Didn't get much done last weekend as it was spent swapping tires onto DDs.
I did manage to hit up my cab corners with the clean disc and got a good look at what I'm dealing with. My grandfather had done some repair in the corners as I had a layer of bondo to get through first.
Passenger side:


Driver side:


I'll have to get some corners on order.

In other "parts acquiring" news, I managed to trade the 16" 5x5.5 wheels on the new part F-150 for some of the 16" 8x6.5 wheels I was looking for for my truck.
They need polishing so I'm looking up methods right now.

 

i did my rims with a nylon clean up disk on a drill, and then re-clear coated.

 

I just picked up some aluminum polish and a Mothers Powerball Mini for a drill and tried to polish them up. It didn't work out too well. There's too many rough patches, nicks and dings. I'm going to try the sanding method another day and see if I can get them to look better.
Here's about an hour or so of effort with just the polishing compound and the drill attachment.
The top is uncleaned and the bottom is polished:

and the above here is just soap and water:

 

Clean your powerball, use some 120+ grit sandpaper to smooth out the nicks, sharp edges, etc...(WET SANDING!!!)

And then try a cutting compund like you'd use on car paint.

Then try the Mother's Polish again.

An alternative, is to polish the wheels up, and clean them really well, and clearcoat them.

 

I was going to follow this video and see what I can do.
There's a rim with a good size ding about the size of my little finger's nail in it. Think I might need to start with 80 grit and work my way up.

 

PM Gary Lewis down in the 1980-86 forum. He has a REALLY good "How to"

 

Thanks SideWinder, with the truck out of town at the in-laws working on these kinds of little projects at home makes it seem like I'm actually moving ahead even though the rest of the build seems to be moving at a snails pace.
Too many updates of just parts acquisition and none on the rebuild, gotta change that

 

Surprise surprise, more parts acquired
A trade went through last weekend for my rough and non-running '78/79 Bronco. I walked away with a non-running '75 F-150 that I'll be using for another build later and a set of 285/75r16 Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac with 80% tread left on them. Not a bad deal I'd say.



And last night I picked up a pair of Carr Hoop IIs for $20.


This weekend is shot for working on my truck sadly but I'm hoping to finally get the cab off and start on the frame on the May long.

 

Cab corners came in yesterday and I took a run out to the In-Law's place to drop off and set up my new engine stand, welder and do a quick mock up of the corners
Looks like the bulk of the rust will be gone with these corners


Going to have to put a smaller patch in above the patch panel but that shouldn't be too hard.

These panels are slightly wrong as there's an indent behind the cab that isn't on the replacement panel but I can just cut the panel before the indent.


Game plan this long weekend is still to remove the cab, pressure wash the frame, diffs, etc and then start removing everything off the frame. Hoping for the best case and can start prepping the frame for paint.
I'm leaning towards Rustoleum gloss black for a top coat over the Chassis Saver.

Cab will be going up on some saw horses for rough body work, then on it's back for prepping and then Chassis Saver/Rustoleum.

 

 

Day 2 went well.
Pulled the cab off finally and got it on the sawhorses with no issues.

It seems a little high but in reality all the sheet metal repair required is on the lower half so I won't have to be leaning over too much

Dragged the frame down to the road

and pressure washed it with a rotating nozzle

then it was back to the pole barn

Got the rear half lifted and on jack stands in preparation for the full floating diff swap from the 6.9 diesel truck.

Noticed a major issue while inspecting today's handy work though.

That's the front bed bolt hole on the driver side. Going to have to weld that up and hope it doesn't crack further

And just before the end of the day I got the engine on the stand and ready to be worked on later


Tomorrow I'll be getting to removing the lines and left over pieces on the frame. It feels good to finally make some progress on the truck and not just buying parts

 

Progress is looking good! That crack shouldn't be an issue, since it's already edge to edge. Vee it, weld it, done.

 

I don't know if anybody told you this or not but the 94 gas tanks are different then your 89 gas tanks. I am pretty sure of this as I grabbed 91 fuel tanks and tried putting 88 fuel pump in the rear and it didn't work. The front did but not the rear.


Anyways looks like you are doing a great job on the truck and I am subscribing to see how this comes out. It is sad to see so much rust makes me happy I live in AZ.
Trav

 

Thanks Bob. I'm less worried about the crack now that I looked into fixing it. I plan on fixing it exactly how you described

I noticed the connectors for the sending units are different but the '89's wiring harness has a connector for the sending unit's plug wire to connect to the harness further up the line. I should be able to swap them and have it work, no?

I may end up not using that side tank from the '94 anyways as my brother has an almost brand new side tank from a donor F-350 frame he bought for his Dana 60 swap. Was probably going to use that as he already has a plastic side tank for his build.

As for today's progress, it wasn't as much as I would've liked as I only got 3-4 hours to work on the truck because of another BBQ. With good weather comes many distractions to keep me from working on my truck

As many know, rusty fasteners can slow you down a ton and that's what I was dealing with today.
Got the exhaust system unbolted (or ground off in some cases) and ready to be removed.
Took a TON of pictures showing where the plastic clips that hold fuel, power, etc lines go and then removed all the clips. Managed to only wreck 2 or 3 tops. Luckily I have many extras from the donor trucks
Pulled apart the metal return line on the passenger side apart and pulled out the wiring harness on the driver side. Just break lines and the fuel lines up at the front by the fuel tank selector valve on up left.



Next weekend is shot because of a road trip but the following week/weekend it's game on

 

Nope your 89 has 3 fuel pumps. 2 in each tank which are low pressure ones and 1 high pressure one on the fuel rail. The 94 has a high pressure only fuel pump. You can't swap them I tried and no luck it just wouldn't pump. Lucky for me though I have a 91 that I can throw those tanks and pump into if I have to.
for you I think you have to use 87(Not for sure on 87s) to 89 as in 90 they went to that style and some 86s may work (not sure again) but not all as some are carbed I believe and they have the small fuel pump.


Nice progress though. Sorry to let you know this just would hate to see you go through that trouble and not have it work.
Trav