G'day all I know this thread has probably been posted before but I'm swapping cabs on my 1978 f100 this weekend as the current cab is pretty much rooted with rust and the POs cowboy bog repairs. And I'm just after some tips from anyone who has done it before? As in best way to go about it and hidden wire or anything I need to check? I have a fair idea how I'm going to tackle it but any help would be good!! Cheers Tom

Here's the Cab with fresh paint, seals and glass I picked up for $500

 

Have you got new cab mounts to put in while you are swapping the cabs over? A tube spanner for the brake lines so you dont round anything off. Pressure cleaner to clean the chassis while you have access. Have you spent some time soaking the cab mount bolts so its easier to undo them on the day?

 

Is that cab off a 1.5 ton or bigger rig or what? The flip down dash looks odd and what is next to the dash where there should be nothing till the glove box?

Are you using a lifting device like a backhoe/tractor/ jib crane? Or the cherry picker to the seat belt bolt/and strap around the front trick?

Remove your trucks complete front clip by removing the 14 bolts holding it on, radiator and core support and all. You might have to sawzall the to main core support mount bolts if they are really rusty/stripped.

Hood is separate, mark around the hood mount brackets with a sharpie before you remove it to ease in realignment.

If you are lifting from above thru the cab remove the door cab seal so you do not mess it up. Slide your bed back a few inches to prevent any damage to the back of that nice new cab.

Did you get the rest of the cable that goes with that inside hood release latch? And the correct piece that goes on your core support to work with that?

You can always do the park the truck next to the new cab and slide the old one off to one side with PVC pipe and some runners on saw horses. And then set up another set to roll your new cab on.....

 

Cheers for the replies fellas i will start soaking the bolts tonight. Yep I've got a new set of body mounts which I'll replace while it's off and I'm gonna use a block and tackle that's hung over one of the rafters in the shed to lift it up. What is the correct core support peice? This was a exact same year F100 so I should be able to use the same support yeah? And thanks for the heads up with the front clip coming off as one cause I could see a headache coming taking it all apart.

And nah it's not a 1.5 ton the reason it looks odd is cause it's a RHD truck and that's the glove box that's flipped down and that hole is where the radio goes on the Aussie versions!

 

The core support is the same from 73-77 and then a little difference for 78-79 for the square headlights. But you should be ok with it bolting up.

One the front clip removal, remove hood, leave hinges on inner fenderwells.
Open each door, one bolt each each side, between the hinges.
Under the front fenders, right before the door, one bolt each side.
Where the inner fenderwells bolt to the firewall, 3 bolts each side. Scribe with marker too.
Core support mount bolts 2 ea, look down each side of the radiator for the bolt head. LONG extension and impact. Nuts are under and inside frame rail. If they are rusty might have to sawzall the bolt. A torch will burn up rubber spacer. If have to sawzall off go between the top of the frame and rubber spacer. Standard hardware to replace it with.

Color tape mark all electrical connections/cannon plugs, or 1 to 1, 2 to 2 #'s on masking tape tags. Do not forget about the rubber inner fenderwell piece a little under the power brake booster.

Remove fan shroud so it does not get broken, leave radiator in core support, it will be a 3 man lift for sure.

Ok cool RHD pic, make sure that rafter is strong, the cab is a little heavy, but 4 or 6 big guys can hand pic it with no doors.

G'day, bog and cheer's should of registered to me you were an Aussie. I spent some time in Sydney and that RHD messed me up big time, same way in England.

 

Unless you are really lucky, you can pretty much plan on having to replace the body mounts. Use a sawzal to cut the old ones. Unless you are planning to keep the truck another 30 years, I'd go with stock rubber body mount donuts.

 

Can't thank ya enough for the info mate! Super helpful ill let you know how I go once she's all done! I'll have some cold beers ready incase of a mental breakdown haha!

Yeah I could imagine I visited the states when I was 16 and the LHD really threw me! Also the fact that everyone thought I rode a kangaroo to work and Crocodile Dundee was my nextdoor neighbour was a laugh haha!

 

You can go from this to this in 20 min with an extra hand and easy to get along with radiator core support bolts. Good grief that end of the shop was a disaster.

I'll pull the front clip off to do any motor pulling or major work on them, its way easier, and better than hanging over a fenderwell or radiator.

This was a motor swap for the ol red mud truck quite a while back. It has come along way since then.....

You mean you don't rode a kangaroo to work and Crocodile Dundee is not your next door neighbor? lol Got ya.

Post up some pics of the swap over that RHD is still a wild thing to me. Lets get another pic of that new dash.

 

Got rained off at work yesterday so ripped into the truck for a few hours those radiator bolts were the easiest ones actually!! So I was rapt about that!

This is the RHD setup we have


Also found some more crap rust repairs ripped some filler out and found a heap of news paper stuffed in the roof.

 

Good thing that's not your new cab....thanks for the RHD pic. Wonder why the dash cluster looks like it does? And not like the LHD drive ones?

 

Wow that RHD is wild

 

That's for sure never saw a RHD pickup thanks for posting the pics.

 

No worries yeah love the Look of the US dash clusters but apparently it was easier for ford to just use the Left over Cortina Cluster/Gauges back in the 70s. Ah well have to put up with what we have I guess haha!

Progress on the swap is getting there, Got the bad cab off, chassis cleaned up and new mounts in just ran out of light to get the new cab dropped in.

 

I was about to say NOOOOOO there goes your new cab seals and drip rails, then I realized that was your old cab.

If you would of used a HD ratchet strap attached to the front corners or the cab mount access holes and up to the chain the cab would of lifted up straighter. Did the back cab corners hit the bed?

When rigging your new cab to lift I would use a heavy duty strap, not a chain, so you do not mess up your drip rails and use a 4 point rig to lift it straight up. Or rig it nearer the front so it does not tip forward.

A 2" wide piece of 1/2 plywood or something similar along the whole drip rail and the cab might keep if from getting damaged, if you have to use chain.

Looking good, you are into it now.

 

Looks good, seems you got a great deal on the new cab for $500.

Wish it wouldn't cost a fortune to ship cause I'd love to have the entire dash setup you're not using. I feel the Aussie dash design has a lot more utilized space and unlike a US truck both sides of the dash seem balanced.