Hello all,

I just sent my Dad's 1982 F250 over to the auto-body guy for restoration. He's going to repair and repaint everything from the door jams out. This will include an engine compartment detailing. I'm stoked!

My dad passed away about 15 years ago and this trucked passed through both my brothers and I've now had it about 6 years doing nothing but sitting in the driveway. I replaced the fuel tank and all the lines, the carb, the exhaust the brakes and all the brake hoses and she runs nice. The body guy is very impressed with how the truck held up over its 31 years. small rust spots solid frame no holes in the floor.

He said I'll be proud to drive this thing into any cruise night.

My issues are this, right now;
-The aluminum trim around the wheel wells is a little dented. I'm thinking to simply leave them off.

- the door handles and side mirrors are a mess. I have a parts truck, an 85 250. the mirrors are much better but, the stem from the bracket to the mirror are a rotted mess.

- the front chrome bumper is "crazed" sort of. No rust coming through but, lots of small scratches that will never shine up like new.

- the rear bumper is a painted step bumper, I'm thinking to just repaint it.

- The wheels are the stock 16-1/2" PIA size to find tires for. The parts truck has 16" wheels. I'm thinking to keep the stock wheels but, go to 16" as it would add to the vintage look of the truck. I have 5 hub caps that are a little dented but not horrible. Should I use the 16" off the parts truck and have them painted or buy some OEM unpainted and have those painted. I'm thinking the stock white.

- the grill and headlight doors are faded. the auto-body guy suggests blacking it all out... I'm not sure about how this would look. He is thinking black the grill, headlight doors, bumpers, wheel arch trim and door harware.

- The dash has the speaker hole issue. I'm thinking to fill in the holes as I just read a couple posts on that. He going to paint the door panels. So that really just leaves the Visors and where to get a good carpet. It has the old rubber floor covering and I'm thinking I'd like to go with carpet instead. Then get some of those nice winter weather floor mats.

I'm looking for any advice on all on any of the issues in part or as a whole. This is really beginning stages and I'll post some photos soon. I'm going to paint it so it looks like it did when my dad drove it away from the dealer. This was his first and only brand new work truck and I basically learned to drive in it. He was actually nice enough to let me use it a lot when I was a teenager! I really can't express how excited I am to finally be able to restore this thing!!!









The Bed...Yuk!
My dad was a mason and there was an acid he would use to clean the bricks for the final product. He left a container in the bed and it leaked onto the 3/4" sheet of plywood he put on the bed floor to protect it. Well I think the plywood acted as a sponge and it just kept seeping the acid on this bed floor. what I find amazing is that the bed beams are in perfect condition.


The Dash & Interior


My Brother cut up the dash for a radio and then took it back!


The dreaded speaker hole...


I have no idea what to do about the steering wheel and all the lenses for the idiot lights got pushed in. I'm thinking it was one of nephews while it sat at my brothers house. Fortunately the parts truck has good dash parts and a stock radio. I think I'll be ripping that apart for restoration and installation in my truck!




The Parts Truck - 1985 F250








The hubs on the 1985 look a lot more heavy duty that the ones on mine. Someone suggested swapping them out. whaddaya think, good idea, not worth it, bad Idea? My truck has the old 4 speed with the SUPER low 1st gear. This thing could pull a house!!



Danny

 

Cut some odd sized pieces of wood, get a flat surface to work on, and see how much you can straighten the trim out. Sometimes you can really help it out with a little time spent on pushing some of the dents out.

You can buy the mirrors in the parts store. They are cheap junk made in China, but they do function and will last till you find some good ones.

You can buy the bumpers new also, from LMC, Bronco Graveyard, raybuck and a few others. They are made in China also, and the chrome sometimes is a "whiter" chrome, not the really deep looking chrome the originals usually had, but they are better than nothing. You could buy a chrome one for the rear also.

I would use the 16 inch rims. You can paint them silver or white, and I think still be correct on the color. You may have to verify that with someone. The silver was more of a grey with no hubcap. I think it looks "tough" if you have no hubcap and white letter tires myself.

I am not so sure about painting the grill black. If you are going for a original look, it won't be. If you are not worried about that, I am thinking it would look bad when it started chipping off from driving it and rocks hitting it from other vehicles.

Don't they make those thin plastic overlay dash covers for these trucks?

 

Dawg, people need to sign up (create an account) to view your pictures.... might put 'em on photobucket or some such free service that doesn't require a login to view somebody else's pictures...

BTW I deleted your stuff from the HOWTO subforum

 

I think this is a good idea! It can't hurt right? Then polish 'em up real good. I bet they'd look fine...

You thinking I should keep looking for NOS parts or maybe some really good used ones? The mirrors on the parts truck look much better that the mirrors on my truck. Is there any way to buy just the mirror itself as a quality item?

The door handles... I'm thinking maybe have them rechromed. Ther're small and should cost too much and should be a MUCH better finish that the Chinese stuff, right?

Another idea I just had is to maybe powder coat everything white. I bet that would look pretty slick. Not all black, I think black is just too big a statement but the white would require a double take. ...and the powder coat would hold up much better than paint. I totally agree with what you said about the chipping... I think this is going to require some long consideration...

I know I could buy a new grill, trim and headlight trim from LMC but, how will that hold up?

I'll also have to look into what re-chroming would cost. Thats probably a much more durable finish but I bet a lot more than the aftermarket parts.

oooh I hadn't thought about the white letter... maybe some nice BF Goodrich? what do you think about the hub swap over. the hubs on the 85 are pretty bad ***! But then my truck wouldn't be stock anymore.

Yea they do make those dash covers. I wasn't too sure of the final look. I do have 2 dash pads so I could try that on the really bad one and if I didn't like it, do the repair that fills those speaker holes in solid on the dash from the parts truck. That looks like a good option although, it would be cool to keep the leather texture.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll move them over to a better site. It may be that I just forgot to make them public. I'll try that first. Could you let me know if they show up.

Thanks for cleaning up my little mess! and sorry for that...

 

Okay I think that fixed the pictures

 

Pictures work now.

The parts truck sonor looks to be in worlds-better condition than the subject recipient...

How old are you?

 

Well, the donor truck may appear in better shape but, It doesn't run AND it wasn't my dad's! LOL

I'm old enough to have driven this thing when it was new! LOL I'm 49

I wouldn't say worlds better. Outside of the dash and the rotted bed there about even. The 82 has 80,000 miles actual (as I know this truck was babied by my dad and fluids checked and changed religiously) and the 85 reads 89,000 miles.

Both have been sitting for quite a while. you have to admit, the red one looks pretty good before you look inside! LOL

I think the sentimental aspect is whats makes it my choice for restoration.

 

Subscribed.

 

The parts truck has a full floater rear axle, while the other truck has the semi floater. If it were me, I'd use the front and rear axles from the donor, as they are much heavier duty. Likely need to swap the brake booster/master cyl, and proportioning valve too, since the heavier duty axles also have bigger brakes.

That bed is rather nasty. This isn't a common sight, since the bed floor was galvanized to prevent it rusting...... Acids will eat thru this though. Good thing you have a decent looking replacement.

Definately use the 16" wheels, rather than the 16.5". Tires are easier to find, and usually a bit cheaper. 16.5 tires are almost extinct. They weren't used as factory after the early 80's, so the market for them is getting pretty small.

The wheel arch trim can be bought relatively cheap from many sources listed above. By cheap, I mean the full set of 4 is typically under $100. You can try straightening them out, and if they don't look good enough, just replace them. Personally, I think they add style to these old trucks.
I've got an 80 F150 that looks quite similar to the 82 you posted. Red w/white stripes in the same place, and the wheel arch mouldings. Also happens to have the white "wagon wheel" type wheels. Simple, clean, and classy. Just how I like trucks.


BTW, I am also 49, and I am restoring the 74 F100 my Dad bought new......

 

Same thing here.

 

I'm 66 and restomoding my father's '81, which uses the same wheel lip moulding. I like that trim much better than the trim that sets a couple of inches off the lip, which I refer to as "high-water" trim as it looks like someone hiked their pants legs up to wade through high water.

 

Okay, I was planning on replacing the booster anyway so maybe the donor has a good one I can use. How often does a booster go bad. the body guy was going to paint the existing one during the engine compartment detailing. Would it be wise to simply replace this with new? they really aren't that much money and I can probably get the body guy to chip in give he won't have that work to do.

so, pull the whole axle brakes wheels and all. Kind of a shame because I replaced the brakes and hoses on the red one before I bought this donor truck... Of, course, this could come later. what is the difference between the full floater and semi full floater?

It took me 2 years to find a bed replacement. I found that truck on EBAY about 40 miles from here!

I know where there is a decent bed with some rusted arches the guy will part with for $75. He's going to junk it otherwise.

Speaking of the bed, I'm torn, the body guy suggests rhino coating and I'm not sure if that is what I want. i'd rather a nice painted bed but, I also don't want to use a bed liner. Is there any other way to protect the bed without the detriment of a bed liner?

I agree, my dad always used re-caps but, I'm not going to beating on this as a work truck. I'll be using it as a weekender. Dump runs, carrying crap to the boat, cruise nights here and there, etc...

I'd love to see a pic of that F150! you don't see too many with that stripe

I agree, the wheel arch trim is pretty classy and the stock wheels are very rugged and add a more classic look. Its great to get the encouragement in that direction.

Is chrome something that can be polished to bring back a reasonable look. The front bumper on both trucks are in reasonable shape. I think the one on the red truck is actually a little nicer. it just has all these tiny scratches that makes it look dull.


Very cool, that is a nice body style too! you got a thread to show how it is going?

It really is nice trim. I think to start, I'm going to try and clean that up, remove the dings and polish it. then look for replacements if it bothers me too much.

I guess an aftermarket rear, chrome step bumper may be in order...

 

Rear axles: semi-floater means the axle shafts themselves carry the weight, and have a single bearing at the end of the axle housing. Full floater has inner/outer bearings that ride on the housing, and the shafts carry no weight at all, plus can be pulled out while the wheels are still on the ground.
Semi-floater axles are good for ~4500-5000LB total load. Full floaters can carry much more, as evidenced by their use on all "one ton" and larger trucks.
The F250 with semi-floater axle was a "light duty" 3/4 ton. Almost like a half ton with beefier springs and 8 lug wheels.


I dislike both the slide in plastic bed liners and the spray on kind. I use a rubber bed mat in my truck. Stuff does not slide around on it, but can roll around if not tied down.

I do have some pics of the F150, and will post one at the end of the post.


I do have a thread on dad's 74, but it hasn't been updated in a while. I got it running/driving, and haven't done much else to it for the last year.
Link to thread: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ner-truck.html

Older pic of F150, around 2003.....






Bit newer pic, taken in 2011:

 

they're both great trucks! that 74 is a beaut!

Thanks for the details on the axles! i'll definitely look into swapping them out!

 

The wheel well trim is aluminum. If you can get the dings out you could polish it and clear-coat it to preserve it. But if the dings don't come out you can get replacements from LMC, but they are stainless and are more like chrome.