1977 Ford F-250 Crew Cab Short Bed - Restoration Project newly underway

Just picked up a new project truck today. Well I tried to pick it up. Ended up just getting a title and paying a ton of money. My car hauler didn't work out as planned for the beast. So I had to call a tow truck to bring it to the shop that will be performing the restoration work.

Body is in decent shape. It will need work every panel. Mechanically it is also in terrible shape. But it is a blank canvas ready for the complete overhaul. Originally I was planning a frame swap with Totaled 2017Raptor but my mechanic doesn't think he will be able to make that work due to all of the modern electronics that have sensors all over the place. So we are back tot he drawing board. This will be my sons truck in a few years and he wants long travel. But i am leaning toward RetroCustom.

I have tons of questions and will update the thread as it progresses along. Thanks in advance for your input and recommendations.

 

Nice Truck! I wanted to build a crewcab but they are rare as hen's teeth in this neck of the woods.

Are you planning to use it off-road? I would have thought the raptor swap would work. Just wouldn't be able to run all the interior electronics and stuff. The frame, suspension, engine and trans should be simple enough...

 

Welcome to FTE and nice looking project. Make sure to stop by the Crew Cab specific top of the forum list RED READ 1st stickied forum. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ly-thread.html

And join your local state chapter. Florida link here. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum116/

 

Looks like a good start. I'm working on a '77 crew myself. Welcome to the page. Lots of good help here

 

looks like a good start!

 

Getting one with all that trim is AWESOME. Looks like a great truck to start from. As far as swapping to modern chassis, it has certainly been done, just not with an F150 as far as I have seen. Installing the drivetrain from a Raptor would be a much easier goal. Would love to see that done.

 

I am doing the unthinkable. After going back and forth about what direction I would go I decided to go to a Blown LS3. Now I am looking for a "1977 Ford F250 to LS3 Engine Mounts". Can anyone help point me in the right direction.

 

You just lost me.......

 

Sorry benhoops I can't, not hatein on ya, just no idea on where you can get those kind of adapter plates.

 

Google search led me to this thread. He made his own.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-lm7-swap.html

 

Dude please!!!!! Rethink!!!!!!!!! People are counting on you. Oh crap, I just threw up in my mouth a lil'. Remember: Ford Lives Matter!!!!!!!!

 

2X that!!!!! Keep your a

 

Truck is now going under the knife. You can see some of the progress picks. The 205 is being rebuilt, blasted and painted and Turnkey is hard at work putting together a super strong LS3 With a Supercharger mated to a 4L80E transmission. Advanced makes all of the adapters I was looking for and it should all bolt up nicely. I know I am sure many of you will want to unfollow this build thread now. But it will be a really good looking truck with over 720 HP so it will definitely be able to get out of its own way. Building a Ford based motor with that much power would be not nearly as reliable and probably cost me twice as much. Somehow my pictures are all upside down and i cannot figure out how to flip them.

 

Not poking at you at all. So don’t take any offense.

First off I will say it’s your money and your time etc....you spend it and do the work etc....then it’s up to you how you want to do it. You hear people all the time saying the restored WW2 fighter planes etc...should go into museums but I disagree. The guy that owns it and spends a couple of million dollars restoring/rebuilding it then if he wants to fly it then he should fly it. Besides I like the sound of hearing a V12 engine or a big radial. So I say fly it!

On to my question so no offense but did you consider the Ford Coyote engine for a swap? There are places making more and more swap kits for those into the older Ford trucks and cars etc....I’ve been looking on and off or a 2wd Shortbox to do a Coyote build.

Just curious!

I wouldn’t mind a crew cab Shortbox 4x4 myself by the way!

 

Shortbox4x4,

Yeah for sure I looked into building up a Coyote into a fire breathing monster. When I did my 72 Bronco I was happy to stick with the 302 and just get as much out of it as possible by adding Fuel Injection and other modern goodies. But it still has its issues and will never be as reliable as an LS engine. For this build I decided to go less restoration and more so to build the truck of dreams form when I was a kid.

From my research I found that when going the Coyote route you suffer a bit on reliability once you get over 600 HP mark and you also have a much harder time with smooth idle and other tuning issues. Not to mention getting a Coyote over the 700 HP mark is going to cost significantly more than an LS based motor. My goal for this build was as much HP per $ and it needed to be reliable. I live in Utah with cold winters and needed Fuel injection and some type of forced induction to keep the HP numbers up. So it ended up being an LS for this build. The LS3 I am going with is essentially a Corvette crate motor with a blower and new cam. So not too many High performance aftermarket parts.

This is solely based on my research and many hours on the phone with every engine builder i could find on the internet. If someone knows an engine builder that can meet my requirements then please share because I am sure there a ton of other guys in my same boat that are looking to make big horsepower and don't want to break the bank or suffer reliability issues.