Some of you may recall my 78 F250 was hit while parked outside my house. After months of insurance BS and parts searching, she is back together-but not finished. I made a huge mistake of buying the aftermarket grille shell. Complete garbage. Bends like aluminum foil, finish is horrible, doesn't fit, not even close.

I found an OEM fender and had it painted. Got a used OEM shell that is beat up, new premium bumper from LMC, lights from junkyard, ebay and I straightened the racetrak trim myself. Here are some picks.

Damage



Fender Painted and ready for trim. I POR15'd the entire back side.


Torn apart.


Back in Business. The old grille really is rough. I can't stand it on there but it will have to do until funds appear.




Total in parts, clips, bolts, paint, etc. was about $1400 or so. I got $2100 from insurance. With a good grille I will just about break even.

 

looks good,bet its nice to have it fixed for the most part.at least the insurance went good for it,and your not stuck paying from your own pocket

 

Thanks. Yeah, if someone else did the labor I would be in the hole. Insurance companies are a joke.

 

looks great, also sucks to hear about the new grille, did you get your money back? and what supplier? so i can avoid them if i ever replace my grille, also did the person who smacked up your truck pay for the damages?, now correct me with a bat to the head if i am wrong,

but i thought F-250s and up have front leaf springs? or is that only 4x4s?

not familiar with 73-79 2x4 F-250s/F-350s

in fact my truck is about as good as it gets here in southern Ontario, dang rust and road salt, i have one rare dino, i am lucky to see a dentside on the road maybe once a month, or none, that'll change when mine is done resto!

also i was born in Sept 1989, so i haven't been around long enough to remember these trucks in there prime, so mind my knowledge of these trucks, only experience i have is on 73-79 F-100/F-150 4x2 and 4x4s since my truck is a F-150 4x4,

also whats up with the shock inside the coil spring? kinda strut like? don't recall seeing anything like that to my knowledge so far? is it custom?

thanks in advance for answering my questions, i enjoy learning more and more, it seems with these trucks you get to a point where you think you have it all down pat, then they seem to toss you a curve ball, and you learn something totally new!

-Brent

 

looks premo! keep truckin!

 

don't mind me, and i mean no offense, but are you serious? 2 grand fix? really?

how much for parts? if you don't mind, it would be interesting to see a break down, and any other charges and labor if you had any out sourced work,

that grille you bought new must have been 200-300 bucks easily, and how much for the fender?

also how much for the bumper?

2 grand seems pricey to me, was there hood damage? and was there any other costs like frame shop adjusting the frame? and any body shop charges? your paint is nice, but it doesn't seem exotic or expensive, i just can't figure out how this all adds up to 2 grand?

sorry if i seem like a fool, but i could do much more with 2 grand, no offense, and i bet i could do that fix for much cheaper with out sacrificing material quality, or the finished product, i know any hack can repair something, i never comprimise the end product, cost is generally no limit for me, i am just shocked at 2 grand price tag, also in my resto if i could buy a better wheel bearing i would, i paid the extra 10-30 dollars, for a better part, so i don't cut corners, it costs more generally for a reason,

now hit me over the head, i am factoring in doing my own labor, i know labor charges and things add up, and prices vary from location to location, but this repair seems expensive compared to what i was able to do in my frame off resto, see signature, mind you stuff ain't cheap, but i think someone has taken your money, and overcharged you,

overall great truck, and whats that grille off in the distance in the one pic? looks like a 73-77 grille? was that the new one? it just lacks a bucket location, so i assumed its a 73-77 grille, also with some oven cleaner and some wet sand paper and rubbing compounds and then a final metal polish from Blue Magic, and a final seal from Liquid Glass, and some elbow grease and finger grease of course, and that grille should come up like new, mind you dents are a pain, just a thought, mine came up like new, couldn't touch the few little micro dents, but overall i took out some fairly deep scratches and it shines like chrome again, also TU TONED DENTSIDES RULE!

-Brent

 

No offense taken. It didn't cost me $2000 to fix. I got $2100 from the insurance company. Here is roughly how the breakdown went:

Parts
New Junk Grille from JC Whitney $225
Used OEM Fender Craigslist $80
Used OEM Grille-more beatup than I realized $40
Used OEM Grille from 73-77 that I didn't end up using $80
New bumper from LMC $200
Body work and paint on fender $600-This includes straightening the radiator support, and some minor welding/shaping to the fender.
Por15 supplies $30
Lights, Lenses, etc. $50
Trim clips, etc. $50

Total was around $1355. I realize the fender cost is higher than I could have gotten it, but I trust this guy and he does really nice work. He really spent some time matching the paint color to the existing as best he could.

So sure, you could have done this cheaper and more than likely better. I have never done body work, or much mechanical work for that matter. The junk JC Whitney grille is being returned and I have not decided whether to sand and polish the grille on there or get one from DC. If I keep the one I have it will put my costs down to $1,130. I have some left over to get my seat redone.

In hindsight I would have paid the $100 extra to get my bumper straightened and re-chromed and never bothered with the aftermarket parts including the grille. I have all the parts, so at some point I may still get the bumper fixed.


Also, the shock is behind the spring, just looks like it's inside of the coil. It is a 4x2.

 

You have a nice truck! Glad you where able to fix it. I got a grille shell from LMC two years ago and it was terrible. It looked like it was spray painted with silver paint and I could shape it with my fingers,it got sent back. Looks like you didn't have to deal with rusty bolts.

 

Thanks. The LMC grille of yesteryear was the same one I got from JC Whitney. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. The one they offer now is steel that is chrome plated.

No, the bolts were very easy to remove. I would have to break them loose with the ratchet then I could remove them with my fingers the rest of the way. Kind of amazing.

 

man your truck looks in really good condition is it a garaged vehical? haven't seen to many in that good of condition and still stock hieght lol that damn salt ruins vehicals here.

 

Your painter did a nice job matching her up, that's a skill all on it's own. Truck looks great again and if you were closer you could have your pic of 3 very good grills shells incl my polished one. I wish mine was back together, it's in the shop, upstairs and in the basement waiting for me to put it back together. My 2 years estimate is in year 5 , changing carreers , and moving doesn't help the 79 project out at all.

 

Yeah, looks good bro! Thanks for the update, I know there was a lot of scuttel butt flying around on how to deal with the insurance companies. Glad it worked out for you for the most part. Your dent does look really nice, its amazing to hear you break bolts loose and back them out with your fingers!

I am guessing your truck had a roof over its head for most of it's life. Mine always was kept in a barn by the previous owner, but I can tell the floor was dirt, cause it was attacked from the bottom.

Anyhow, it looks good, and sounds like you are for the most part pleased with the progress so far.

Congrats!!

 

Looks good!
I love the color scheme!

 

Looks really good.

 

Good for you! Looks like it's coming along nicely.
Try Dennis Carpenter for your grille. They run about $550.
Good thing though, they're stamped from actual Ford tools.
Also, they aren't always available for purchase.
They hold out for good aluminum. They won't stamp them out of crappy material.

Murph.