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A cab swap isn't that bad. They get more complicated if you don't get the same heater or AC as your truck. The day I put my sun visor down and the sun was shining at me through a hole above the windshield was the day I started looking for another cab. I had bad floor too. I swapped the cab by myself with a engine hoist on a weekend in the garage.
Did you have to remove the bed? I assume the front fenders and front clip all had to come off, but the motor stays put? My mechanic told me he can lift the cab on and off with his 2 post lift. I guess we could set the old cab down on something with wheels and roll it out of the way and figure out how to get the new cab on the lift and push the truck under it. I'm still a little fuzzy on the details.
Did you have to remove the bed? I assume the front fenders and front clip all had to come off, but the motor stays put? My mechanic told me he can lift the cab on and off with his 2 post lift. I guess we could set the old cab down on something with wheels and roll it out of the way and figure out how to get the new cab on the lift and push the truck under it. I'm still a little fuzzy on the details.
I know @77&79F250 has a few pics saved showing how to use an engine lift to do a cab swap.
Thank you for telling me about that place. I’m pretty sure the truck I was inquiring about in Jacksonville, NC isn’t gonna pan out. So far the owner isn’t responding. Reidsville NC is only a 4 hour drive for me and they have a rust free cab for $1300 and will deliver for another $300. They can get me a bed for another $1300 and deliver both for $400. Doors and hood are extra. Honestly I doubt I could get my cab returned to a rust free condition for that price. The only trouble is that replacing the cab seems pretty daunting. I think my best bet would be to have it delivered to a body shop and then I might as well get doors, a hood, and a bed, have them all painted, etc. And while I’m at it then I suppose I might as well redo all the wiring, etc, etc. I wasn’t really looking for a frame off, but I guess for $5000-10000, that’s what I can do and know I have no rot. Or maybe just keep shopping for a cleaner truck.
Your'e welcome. The owner is a bit of a character and not much for negotiating but has solid parts I could not find elsewhere.
So I’m probably gonna buy this “new” cab and swap it into my truck. I have to drive a 7 hour round trip to go see the cab and pay for it. I can either take my wife’s minivan and then pay $300 delivery fee or drive my truck out there and have the cab loaded into the back of the truck. I’ve never taken my truck on that long a trip but I see no reason it wouldn’t make it. It’s my daily driver and I have done a lot of work on it. It’s just not as comfortable on a road trip and the wind noise and other things that rattle in the cab gets annoying. But here’s my real question. The new cab comes with a new VIN number but no title. The person I spoke to at the salvage yard says this is no problem in NC and that the VIN number is on my frame. It’s true that my truck is exempt from inspections in NC, but I just thought it sounded a little sketchy when she said the title goes with the frame and not the cab. If it was to be inspected in another state, would they be looking at the frame to find the correct VIN?
I did remove my front clip in 1 piece and left the hood attached to it also with hoist. The dentside cabs don't have a VIN stamped in them anywhere that I know of. That aluminum tag on the door is for warranty, you can swap your door or your tag if you want. The sticker on the cab post, many of those have been lost to bodywork. If you have the proper ownership papers you can have them reproduced by Marti reproductions. AFAIK your frame is stamped with your VIN. I don't know what later generations of trucks do when they need a cab swapped. Different states require different things, do you own research and don't lose your old door tag has a lot of important info on it. This is all just my thoughts on the subject, do what you feel is right.
In this era of fords the VIN as we know it today was not standardized. Yes the title goes with the frame VIN. The number on the door is your warranty tag. Easily lost when previous owners swapped damaged doors or cabs. You can pop out the old rivets and transfer your warranty tag onto the new door.
From Harbor Freight, purchase a Sheet Metal Brake and a Shrinker and Stretcher (I'm assuming you have a MIG welder, although a wire welder would work too) and get you a pile of the right gauge sheet metal and go to town, become "the guy".
That is what I would do "become that guy"! We all had to start somewhere as we did not know how to do anything we know how to do now.
BTW a MIG welder is a wire feed welder they came in no gas and gas get the gas as you can use gasless wire with that machine but not the other way around.
Now it looks like you are going to do a cab swap. I don't think it is all that hard as I did a cab off frame rebuild of my 81 F100 flare side.
If the bed is rusty and going to replace it just remove it now. This way you can lift the cab and just roll the frame out from under it.
I used saw horses with boards across long enough to clear the frame, no rear axle bolted to frame and frame was on a wooden dolly.
When I installed the bed and had wheels on I had to get longer boards .
My cab, 1981 std cab, I could lift 1 side at a time by myself so once I get the frame under I was able to lift 1 side and kick the horse out and lower onto the frame then did the same on the other side.
My wife did tall me when the bolts lined up with the mounts but she could not lift anything.
Picture before I pulled the rear axle so the frame could be pull out, cab is on the plastic horses.
Cab ready for floors, rockers, rear door posts, & cab corners and frame for cleaning & painting.
Bed floor I got longer boards for the front and backed the truck under it and pulled the boards out.
Little short of 4 years to the week to get the truck on the road.
And yes I did all the work my self in that garage so you can too it may just take you longer as I knew how to do body work & painting.
When you are done you can say "Yes I built that"!
Dave ----
I don't know why I did not think of the picker as I used it for my parts truck cab. I did not use the wood as the cab was a roll over and I did not care what happened.
I did use 1" ratchet strap(s) to keep it balanced. I could not use the picker on the good cab because of room in the garage at the time.
I also used the picker for the bed using straps again.
When you are rebuilding a truck and have no help you have to get creative.
My garage has rafters I have used to hang parts from like the cut down bed to just the ribbed floor and when painting like the bed side panels.
So I drove my truck 450 miles yesterday. I’ve never taken a road trip that long in the truck. It was very difficult, but worth it in the end. I was prepared for how noisy my truck would be at highway speeds, but I was a little surprised by how cold it was. My heat doesn’t work right now (I broke the heater controls), and it was a really cold drive. I live near Wilmington, NC and when I got to Raleigh my truck started sputtering when going over 50 mph. I stopped at a garage and ended up getting all new spark plugs and a new distributor cap. It was a 3-4 hour setback, but that solved the problem and I was back on the road. About an hour from Reidsville my engine started clicking. It turns out I was several quarts of oil low although I know the oil stick was at “full” when I left that morning. The leading theory on that is a problem with the PCV. Luckily I had about a half gallon of oil in the back of the truck. Anyway, I made it and picked this up:
I’m super happy with Flashback F100’s. They brought this truck from Arizona back to NC. It does not have the kind of cancer that my cab has. Plus it’s equipped for factory A/C. I guess I just need the compressor now. I’ve started cleaning the floor with a wire brush:
In that last pic you can see part of the tailgate I also purchased. Once I get my cab swapped in about 3 weeks, I can start planning my next trip to pick up a bed, a hood, and doors.
Glad you made it, interesting how the cab fits into the box. You can also haul a complete front clip the same way. Lot of interesting painting done on the cab.
i61164,
Your on your way now. And someone may want your old cab because its way better than the one that they have!
Thanks for the pictures!
Regards,
Chris
Maybe the body guy didn't want to deal with the windshield. Your cab doesn't look that bad. Mine was real bad, with at least half of the pinch-weld seam gone or broken off.
