I have a 1986 F150 that I plan to keep for awhile. The body is in pretty good shape, but the hood is rusted, and has some obnoxious stripes on it I would like to remove.

I have a 1992 F150 that is the same color that I'm going to sell (probably won't get a lot). The paint on the hood is fine. It also has the cowl with small holes instead of the older-style slots.

What are y'alls thoughts on just swapping out the cowls and hoods between these two trucks? I'm pretty sure I've heard of people switching the cowls. Do the hoods interchange? Would this be too much trouble for one person? I know I'd need some kind of hoist--maybe do the swap under a tree.

 

Size wise, I think you would be fine but your body lines aren't going to be the same. I could be wrong but I believe the front edges of the hood won't match the fenders.

How bad is the rust on the 86 hood, repairable?

A new hood is only a little over $100, or even cheaper at the junkyard.

I've used 2x4s under the hood with holes drilled on the ends and rope through them and tied to a hoist to replace a hood by myself. It's alot easier with a second set of hands though.

 

You can use an 87-91 cowl panel on an 80-86, I have seen it done. The 92-96 piece is too high to line up with the fenders.
Outside of that, you have to treat the front clip as a complete unit when it comes to swapping parts. 80-86, 87-91 and 92-96/7 can be interchanged, but you need to use the whole thing, hood, fenders, core support, and grille/lights. The lower rear fender mounting needs some minor adaptation between 80-86 and later, but it is not complicated.

 

Thanks, I'll probably just repaint the hood, unless I happen to find a nice 80-86 hood in a JY.