So this truck I originally bought in February of 2005 and had it until March of 2016, when my friend bought it off me. I just bought it back 2 months ago so here I am in the midst of a restoration. Originally in 2005 I used it for a daily driver, as well as for hauling everything imaginable like waste vegetable oil and firewood after I bought it. Then in July of 2006 I moved down to the gulf coast to work cleanup/recovery after Katrina and this truck saw action hauling skid steers, dump trailers full of debris and stump grinders. It was hit in the side by a (small) deer in 2008 and suffered bedside damage which I aim to fix this spring. It has bailed out 2 different 6.0 powerstrokes, on multiple occasions, when they were in the shop for 6.0 related repairs. It has served well over the years even though I have neglected it on many occasions by letting it sit, or by just not taking good care of it. However, the engine is still original and has never been opened up as far as I know. 288,000 miles and hopefully many more for this old girl. I will post pictures as I go. This may take until the middle of summer to do the first phase of the project (bed and body repair, tires, fuel lines, new fuel tank in rear, paint frame, new salvaged front fenders). So I think this will be a great resto thread, feel free to ask anything, and I'm sure I will have many questions too.

 

Fender damaged by rust and another incident

 

Underside after removing fuel tanks. The back one will be replaced, along with the straps that hold it in there. Also, new fuel lines will have to be custom made, because the front lines can only be bought from Ford and they are $300, and the rear lines are obsolete.

 

Dave, that seems to be a cool OBS for restoration. Did your truck suffer the rust damage in LA near the coast or is it originally from up north?

 

Great job, keep us updated, a good engine and transmission makes up for a lot of swiss, looking forward to seeing your progress,

at least you can replace your fuel tank shower heads and have a full tank of fuel available for use (ugggh, still on my list of things to be done).

 

It's from up north originally, I wish I had oil sprayed it back in 2005/2006 but I was too young and dumb back then. I think I just assumed the rust would stop with it being in a salt free climate. I think it's going to be a good project, I like that the brown color is less common, so I want to keep the original color scheme. Also, I am going to keep it mostly stock, with the biggest exception being the rims and tires and I want to add a 3.5 inch or 4 inch exhaust with a high flow muffler. I have looked at banks and hypermax for exhaust. I am going to keep it N/A too, unless at some point the engine needs replaced then I'll get the idi turbo rebuild kit and install a turbo, but hopefully that day is far off in the future.

 

I actually call it the brown swiss because back in the day, I had worked on a couple different dairy farms and was familiar with breeds of dairy cows so naturally I thought of the brown swiss breed, because it's big and brown, so that is what I have called it ever since

But there are some parts that look like swiss cheese, especially the bed where I cut out some rust and both of the fenders Lol

 

Front fuel tank, removed a long with the rear tank the last weekend of February. Rear tank will be replaced it leaks in 2 places. Also, the pickup screens and the lock rings and rubber seals will be replaced on both tanks.

 

Rear drivers side leaf spring shackle, I fought with the old one for about 10-12 hours all together, over the course of 2 weekends. The next one should be much quicker, but I don't think I am going to do that one, at least not for a while.

 

Dave, are the leaks from the fuel tank major or just weeping? If you don't have major leaks you might consider restoring the fuel tanks with this:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/p...rese2-_-por-15

I restored the fuel tank on my 71 Olds with this. They work great! If you paint the exterior with RustOLeum it's like you have a new tank.

Be careful when working with this stuff thtough. You need a respirator. I think one of the cleaning agents is MEK! It's poison!

 

I remember I used that stuff on an old tractor last year, it was the motorcycle stuff though, so it was for a smaller tank but I remember it was not too toxic, I just wore safety glasses and made sure not to breathe any of the fuel tank sealer in. What kind of new fuel tank is the best brand quality wise? I know spectra premium is supposed to be pretty good.

The old rear tank I have leaks in 2 spots. There is one spot that was leaking back in 2005 and I fixed it with a fuel tank sealer and it lasted for a long time. Now there is another leak in addition to that old leak again. I think they are pinhole leaks nothing major but I can see more leaks popping up down the road. Maybe the tank sealer stuff would work good but it is almost the price of a new tank. With the tractor fuel tank, I had no choice because they do not make that tank new anymore.

 

Congrats on getting your truck back, not many get a second chance on a vehicle they wish they'd still had.
I see in your sig that you have the five speed, that makes since then. Not likely to get 288k on an E4DOA.
Looking forward to the progress.

 

Those tanks are a pretty good price. I've heard positive things about Spectra tanks in the past, but I've never bought one.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/ford,1992,f-250,7.3l+v8+diesel,1124558,fuel+&+air,fuel+tank,62 68

Even LMC has a decent price.

Truck Parts and Truck Accessories

If you want to try one of the restoration kits you can find them cheaper. Eastwood sells them and you can even find them on Amazon.

https://www.eastwood.com/gas-tank-se...nk-sealer.html

 

New fenders I got in 2 Fridays ago. Straight from Florida they were bought on eBay. Even matching colors which is hard to find for my truck, the 2 tone Mocha brown.

 

Old fuel lines from rear tank. I cut out the bad sections and used compression couplers to join them together.