Originally Posted by Freightrain

Didn't break off any waterpump bolts? Common problem trying to get them out.

Originally Posted by Glenn54

Not sure how I missed the original thread but wow, you have done a great job. I wish I had your body work skills. Congrats on creating a very nice looking truck.

Originally Posted by '89F2urd

Neighbor be like.... "holy sh t!"

Originally Posted by LoudMic

Outstanding!

I like how you restored to the original color!

Originally Posted by collkid

Originally Posted by 95fiveoh

So here is the story on my 1995 F150 that I bought last year. I had wanted to buy this particular truck for a longgg time. It belonged to my neighbor who daily drove it for 15 or so years. He finally agreed to sell it to me last year and wouldn't let me pay him any more than $300 for it, as he felt it was in really bad shape and didn't want me to be disappointed with it. I actually have a history with this truck too. While working my first job at a body shop, about 7 years ago, my neighbor brought this truck in for us to repair rust and repaint the truck. We put a new core support, new bed sides, new doors, new fenders and new rockers and cab corners on it and totally repainted it. So I had already done a lot of work to this truck before I even bought it. Still, 6 years of Pennsylvania winters have taken a toll on this truck, so it was in need of a going over again.

Anyways, here it is- the truck is a 1995 Ford F-150 XLT Extended Cab 8 foot bed. It has a 5.0 L V8, M5OD 5 Speed Manual. It is a 4x4 with manual engagement, and Warn premium manual locking hubs. It has a limited slip 3.08 Ford 8.8 rear and a Dana 44 TTB front axle(I was told also limited slip). The truck has power windows and locks, steering and brakes. Seats and mirrors are manual and it doesn't have keyless entry.

Initially, I just drove the truck until the inspection ran out as it ran and drove pretty well. Once the inspection ran out, I missed driving it and knew I wanted to fix it. If it was to be fixed, it would need some pinholes in the frame patched, wheel arches and some bed floor patches, front floors patched, rear inner and outer cab corners, cab mount supports replaced, a drivers rocker, a passenger side dogleg, and a new radiator support and a tailgate.

So I took it to a trusted local frame shop and had them patch up the frame. Once I got it back from them, I took the front clip off, a d lifted the cab a foot or two off of the frame so I would have working room. I bought patch panels for the cab mount supports, front floors, driver's rocker panel and passenger dogleg. I bought a whole new core support and a used tailgate.

I had to fabricate all the panels for the inner cab corners as no one makes those, as well as fabricate the panels that sit on either side of the front cab mount supports. I spent a few months fabricating and welding the patch panels into place. It was by far the most miserable part of the job.

Once the cab was done, I began working on the bed and quickly realized it was worse that I first thought. The entire floor was paper thin, so I decided it would be best to replace the bed. I took to Craigslist and found a mostly rust free bed from Texas for $480 delivered.

Once I had all the panels in place, I painted the underside and inside of the cab with SEM Rust Trap and then seam sealed and top coated with U-Pol Gravitex. I reinstalled the front clip and began filler work on the outside of the cab. The cab was then painted the original factory colors.

Once I got the cab repainted, I replaced the door seals and window sweeps and painted the frame and gas tanks with SEM Rust Trap. I put the tanks in with new straps and hardware. The rear tank needed a sending unit and I replaced the fuel vapor line and the brake lines as well.

I then began working on the interior. The old carpet was pretty beat up so I bought a new one from ACC and installed it. I also replaced the clutch and brake pedal pads as my feet kept slipping off of them. The seats were in nice shape so I cleaned the up and reinstalled them.

With the cab interior and exterior bodywork done, I began the bodywork on my replacement bed. It got undercoated with SEM Rust Trap and U-Pol Gravitex as well. The wheel arches were beginning to pinhole, so I patched them up with replacement panels. Once the arches were patched, I reinstalled the bed on the truck with new OE Ford Bolts.The stake holes were damaged from a ladder rack, so I cut the stake holes out of the old bed and welded them into place. I then fixed all the dents in it before painting it and the tailgate. For paint on the truck I used PPG Shopline JB with Transtar Primer and Transtar Kwik Gloss Clear.

After the bed and tailgate were painted, I sprayed the inside of the bed and gate with U-Pol Raptor Liner which was tinted to match the green.

With all the painting done, I began reassembling the truck. I installed all new wheel cylinders, new brake calipers, rotors, pads and shoes and hardware. I also replaced all of the emergency brake cables. The truck got a new battery, new distributor, coil and ignition module. I had the alternator rebuilt, and replaced the tensioner and idler pulleys. I also put new spark plugs and wires on it. I replaced the headlight bezels, headlights and turn signals with new ones from RockAuto. I bought used front and rear bumpers off of Craigslist. I also installed a set of Westin bed rail caps from Amazon.

I still need to replace the side view mirrors and reassemble the drivers door, among a few other things. I want to replace the serpentine belt and put new tires on it. But it is now rock solid with no more gaping rust holes. I have tons of time and work and money into it, but I think it has paid off. I want to undercoated it with Fluid Film to keep the rust from ever coming back.

So now the truck is 95% back together and it runs, drives, stops and steers. This is a heavily summarized version of the project as this all took place over the course of 8 or 9 months. I hope you have enjoyed reading through this thread and let me know what you think!