Hi all,
I've decided it's about time to start on my long term and low budget (i.e. slow) rebuild of my 1990 f150 XLT Lariat 4X4. It has the 5.0 with the M5OD. I've had it for a few years now but it hasn't moved in about a year and a half... until today. For all all of you non-rust belters this will seem like a rusted out hulk only fit for the junk yard. For those of us in the rust belt this will look like every other old truck out there - nice and rusty.
My plans include:
1. Getting it road worthy - right now it's rolling death trap
2. Fixing/stopping rust - Por-15 bath anyone?
3. Addressing the poorly done lift and other suspension issues
4. Re-gearing - 3.08's suck!
5. Cleaning it up and making it "Purdy" (this is a relative term). Mods to the go-maker (engine) that add a few more horses yet keeping the SD set up
6. More lifts and bigger meats.

What's it's got so far:

-RUST
-Hooker Competition Headers with summit dual exhaust
-Some kind of lift (4"?) that did not address camber on the TTB = \---0---/
-Mis-matched tires
-Really bad fuel leaks - mice seem to love nylon fuel lines as chew toys around here
-Bad harmonic balancer
-Front timing cover leaks
-Many other old truck issues

 

Always fun to have a project! I am currently working on a 91 F-250. 5.0 V-8/5 Speed/4 wheel drive. Same as you, taking it slow. Motor has been on my engine stand for about 3 to 4 months now. Slowly going through it, and will re-install when EVERYTHING on the motor is new. Currently has all new internals, cam, bearings, pistons, rings, oil pump, water pump, thermostat. External is new exhaust manifolds and studs, oil pan, alternator, tensioner, clutch, flywheel etc. Waiting on next payday for injectors, then a new starter. I completely stripped the motor, bored .030 over. Painted the block and heads.
Some simple tips: take a bunch of pictures before, during and after rebuilds. Helps to identify what goes where. I use ziploc bags for all the bolts. When I pulled the exhaust manifold, I would put those bolts in a bag, with a sticky note that identified what they were for, where short versus long bolts went, and what size the bolts are. And then a notepad to jot down stuff. It's a little time consuming at first. But, greatly helps me on the rebuild.
And lastly this site is an incredible source of knowledge. I have made a few mistakes on the rebuild, and posting what seems to be a stupid questions, got my problem resolved, and back on track.
Have fun!
And a few pics of my project.

 

Thanks for the tips! I looked at a bunch of forums before landing here - this one seemed to have the best group of people to help out with good ideas. I'm looking forward to getting going on this but I'll have to wait a bit, expecting 7 inches of snow today. On the plus side Amazon delivered the first parts today - harmonic balancer, 3/8 nylon fuel line from Dorman and a few other little odds and ends.

 

Ordered up a HF Badlands 12k winch yesterday with the 25% off coupon. I like cheap - especially when I won't be using it a lot. Also ordered some POR-15 along with the cleaner and metal prep. Lets see how this will work on 29 years of Northeast winter salt - god I miss the west coast trucks. Next steps are to remove the bed and attack the frame with a wire brush, POR-15 the snot out of it and replace all the fuel lines. Probably going to do senders and filler lines while I'm that far into it. Hopefully I'll have more time now to play - got a new job with a 45 minute less commute each way,

 

Good plan. Clean out the tanks as well ….Inspect all wiring whilst the bed is off....

 

So, after a multitude of house projects I finally got to the old truck. Pressure washed 2 years of gunk off it and removed the bed bolts - had to use the grinder due to rust. Did the grinding from the top due to a few leaks around the fuel lines and filler neck. Sparks and fuel are only allowed in the cylinders. Tomorrow I plan on having the bed off and the back half of the frame exposed. The for another round of pressure washing and some wire wheel action (ok, LOTS of wire wheel action) before a little Por-15. Going to replace all of the fuel lines and a bad fuel level sensor before cleaning up the bed bottom and throwing that back on.

 

picking the bed off using some straps, some 2x4's and an engine hoist. Yes, my mail box has racing stripes.

 

For all of you western folks, this is the fun we get in the northeast. Just a light surface rust.
ha
rust

no rust
The frame is actually pretty thick still. I have a few spots to weld some patches in, but not anything drastic.

 

Ordered a bunch of stuff from LMC. Shock mounts, shackles, spring mounts, fuel tank straps and all of that fun stuff. I'l put the work in to save the frame but I'll just replace all of the bolt on stuff. Gotta drop the fuel tanks and get to the rust. POR-15 to the rescue!