well after we completed my 97 f350 build, the plan was to next do my uncles 97 f350. but this truck just happened to fall in our hands, we had been looking for a nice 80-86 rot free truck to buy and steal the body off of and put it on my uncles first truck, his 84 f250 xl. he is the original owner and the truck definitely got its use, but around 2000 or so he parked it because it started to rust and he hated seeing it. fast forward 13 years and yesterday we finally brought it back home. time for it to live again
here is the truck the day my uncle brought it home

then came the cab lights and new wheels and brush guard


then the 4 inch lift and body lift and bigger tires

then the 6 inch lift



and eventually the 40s, the visor, the roll bar, the lights, the steps and fender flares

the body donor truck is an original owner 50k miles f250 xl 2wd with a 460 auto, grey two tone outside, immaculate grey interior.
happened to stumble upon it this past week and we bought it and brought it home yesterday. story on it is the son was the original owner, passed away about 15 years ago, and it went to his mother. she held on to it but recently wanted to get rid of it, it had been garage kept all its life, and it is very obvious because the interior is not faded at all and beside the bottom seam on drivers door the truck has no rot, just what we wanted

the plan is to strip my uncles truck down the bare frame, sandblasting axles, leaf springs, frame, gas tanks and misc suspension and chassis parts. por15 like we did with my 97 and top coating with chassis cote black like mine.
going to re run brake line, replace brakes and other wear components
once thats done were stealing the body off of the donor, getting underside of cab and the core support sandblasted and por15 with top cote
waiting to sandblast and coat underside of bed until we decide when it will go to paint, not sure if we will get it painted immediately or hold off until money is right.
essentially just a simple body swap with some cleaning up of the under side then he roll bar and bumpers are also getting sent out to be re chromed.

gonna post pics of donor truck in next post

 

so here is the donor truck, extremely clean, lots of pictures also





















cab corner














super clean core support

progress pictures on next post

 

here is after being pressure washed and the seat and mat taken out and swept the interior out yesterday, weather definitely took its toll on it, the hole on drivers side floor started out tiny, from where his heal wore through the mat from the clutch foot, so water pooled there, and was only like an inch and a half when it was parked. just has some old junk 33s on it right now on some old aluminum wheels, still have the 40s and the turbine wheels
















the bottom side was ziebarted but moister got underneath it





the only stuff we are really keeping from this body are the fender flares, which are hiding more rot on the rear wheel wells, and probably some misc interior stuff, still hav to decide if once the new body get painted blue whether or not he wants to go back to blue interior or keep the mint grey interior in it,
anyways yesterday we brought it home, got the big set of wheels and tires out of the bed, other misc stuff, the bed mat, and then swept out all the nasty leaves dirt and other crap that accumulated over the past 13 years, then went down to the familys car wash next to the shop and pressure washed the bed out and the entire body

then came home, took the seat out, the mushy speaker boxes behind the seat, and the rubber floor mat, then shop vac it out.
then today we started be putting a battery in it, taking the air cleaner off and ran the motor for about 5 minutes.
then took the grill and trim off, the front bumper and brush guard
then got the roll bar out of the bed and the goose neck hitch rails unbolted and out. got the fuel tank filler necks disconnected, the tail lights out and the harness disconnected from the bed.
soaked the bed bolts in WD and plan on having the bed off sometime this week and we will see what other progress gets made.

 

Man, that donor truck is like a time capsule. Looking forward to seeing this build!

 

Great build going here Matt, I'll be interested to see the progression, keep up the fine work Chum

 

i couldn't believe how clean it was
thanks Gerry im really excited to do this one, hope it turns out as good as mine did

 

I love both those trucks. The blue one is sweet with the lift and roll bar. I've been looking for a bull nose truck like those forever

 

i cant wait ot watch this build progress... and i wish i had those hubcaps off that gray truck

 

made some progress on it today. was planin on taking the fender flares off first but the heads of the screws are so rusted, and i didnt have the patience for that today
anyways got the fenderwells, front valance, and both fenders off,
core support and hood are ready to come off just wanted to leave hood on in case of rain.
hopefully we will have the bed and cab off this weekend

 

Wow, you guys don't mess around! Quick work!

 

Well done, what engine/trans is going in the rebuilt truck

 

Havent decided yet
He has a built 429 police interceptor motor he has always planned on putting in this truck, but hadnt really planned on building this truck at the moment.
also with the mint 460 in the donor truck, that has given us more options.
the drivetrain thats in it from factory is the 351w with cam and holly carb and 4 speed trans.
to keep costs down he may just put the 351 back in it until later down the road when he wants to put the bb in it.
hard to say, we were talking about it again tonight, cant make up our minds haha

 

thanks uncle works days so i just go over and disassemble, i enjoy it

 

What ever motor you decide on, I'm sure it will be great

 

i sure hope so