1973 Highboy Build "Big Blue"
 

So after a long time of stalking and doing a ton of research on the forums, i have decided to start a build for my truck. I am 20 and i am very passionate about my work and these trucks. My background is in welding and i have little experience in fabricating, but that is what i eventually want to do for a living. Anyway, On to the truck.

Specs:
1973 Ford F250 Ranger model
390
4spd
4x4
d44 front and d60 rear

Good:
Leather seats
38" tires
4x4
slightly modded 390 (pro cam and aluminum intake)
Manual
800 dollar canopy on it
Deer-killing bumper

Bad....
Wiring is really hacked up and done really bad. nothing is soldered. some places duct-tape is holding wires together:(
Not a single screw and or bolt is in a set. :-X22 (Thats the way to do it!)
Death wobble
Not original seats. Seems like they are out of the back of an SUV.
Passenger side seat is higher than the driver side. (When i sit in the passenger seat my head hits the ceiling)
Interior is hacked up.
Wooden dash insert for gauges.
everything is hooked up straight to the battery on a switch. Yikes...:-hair
Fire happened in the cab before i bought it. :-arrgh
Not all the turn signals work...:-X22
1/8" of play in the steering.
old rubber in doors
no tailgate

Enough with the small talk, time for the pics! the only part that i care about!:-jammin

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010241.jpg

Front with that deer-murdering bumper and the grill makes it look mean... haha}>


http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010242.jpg

Underside of truck looking at the front Axle. Can anyone tell me if that front bar on the frame is original? It just looks as busted up as hell.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010234.jpg

more of the underside. yes that is true dual glasspacks. :-jammin

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010243.jpg

Yeah. it is rusty and no bolts holding it in. thats the drivers side. haha.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010245.jpg

engine bay and the battery. notice everything that is wrong? haha. i see it all.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010231.jpg

More crappy wiring! and a bike pedal in a truck! :-huh :-X22 notice that there is aluminum foil in the fuse box? that eliminates the purpose of a fuse! sorry im so sarcastic. thats just how i am. but it is always in good fun. :)

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010230.jpg

More of the interior.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010229.jpg

Seat and glove box

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010238.jpg

An upclose shot of the glove box. anyone like that plywood dash yet? haha

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010239.jpg

The worst i have seen on the truck so far. only because there was a piece of wood and a carpet in the door! holding all that water in.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010250.jpg

Loose rubber. haha

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010251.jpg

Little shot of the canopy. it is an outfitters brand.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...k/P1010236.jpg

The bed. Yeah. there is like 1/16 of an inch of rust over the top, and paint under it. haha.

Hey, and does anyone know if i can get another sticker like this? im guessing no but i am praying that i can... it is so shot. Looks like the PO tried to paint over it. guess he never heard of something called tape?

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...0330141750.jpg

Here's the link for the only place that makes new tags, as far as I know. http://www.martiauto.com/tags.cfm

There is so much wrong with the interior. I love it.

Welcome to FTE! You most certainly do have a big blue beast!! That wood dash is truly custom!! Lol good luck on your build!

Looks like someone did some top notch work on that truck! I can see why there was a fire before with that wiring..

OUI! That's, .....ummm. ......yeah. You need to start rounding up some parts. First and foremost, get yourself a street rod catalog called "Speedway". They have the cheapest wiring kits around and they're every bit as good as Painless, just half the cost. I got a 12 circuit kit for $250 and it came with a headlight switch and headlight dimmer switch.

Tear all that crap out and start over. As for as everything else, a junkyard run will solve most of the other "custom" touches the previous owner did.

Good luck and keep us posted.

While you're at the junkyard, get a gauge cluster out of a mid 80's Ford van. They are identical (depending on whether you are wired for ammeter or idiot light) and made of much better material than the original.

Welcome as well. Must say nice and definetly have your work cut out for you.

gotta love it... looks like its from kentucky , is it ? that looks like the back wall of an outhouse in the bed. i have always wondered when i see a project like yours, (and mine) seriously , put yourself in the shoes of the last guy that worked on it, before you got it. did he just wad those wires up and jam them in there or was he actually trying to figure it out... some color coded snap ties is the only thing missing. think i saw a youtube video on custom wood dashes.

I know what you mean the last owner did a hack job on the wiring on my truck as well. The radio and cb were attached to idk what.

Well, that is definetley some custom work. I'm in, can't wait to see it all cleaned up.

@-mywheels-
thanks so much for the link. cant wait to get new ones.

@trozei
haha. so bad. i will have to show everyone how the seats are "bolted in" you will love that.

@feardeere7
thanks man

@61steven
Yeah... i am always going to solder everything. most of the wires you can pull apart because they are just twisted together and srinktubed over. and there are a ton of small gauge wires in conjunction with way higher gauge circuits than allowed. the speakers where hooked up with 26 gauge thhn wire. the same stuff found in computer mice wire and other usb connection. max 500mw at 5v haha. I think there are some cords that are used for extension cables in there... just rediculous.

@earthquake68
hey i have seem some of your builds. they are crazy good. and thanks for the tip. i will look that up. i have a friend that is an electrical engineer that works with circuits all the time. so i have no problem without any help installing a whole kit. I know painless is known for customer support. I also forgot to show everyone all the goodies that came with the truck. will try to get that up tonight.

@Fordfanboy
Cool. I will look into that aswell.

@jamusfam
haha. thanks.

@supertuff
haha. he said that he was having a hell of a time figuring out the wiring.

@jamusfam
Yeah.... there are like 2 cb's that were hooked up, but idk were they are now.

@794by
Well as bad as it may be, and all of the random holes everywhere it is amazing what you can do with a mig welder and a whole afternoon. haha. shouldnt be too long. but definately a long and fun journey. already stockpiling consumables for the build. haha. 2 wire wheels and 2 abrasive paint pads. apperently the pads take off everything but the metal. and glue like substances. those just glob them up. haha but 3m weld-on primer was 26 dollars a bottle.....:-huh for aluminum and zinc in a powder spray form........oh and lets not forget the propane propellant. haha
z

ok. so this is kinda an update. but more of a show the condition post. I have finally pulled up the carpet, insulation, More insulation, and a rubber sheet to see the floorboards because i knew that this was going to be a problem area.... as it is with most old cars. i was really suprised to see what i found.....

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...330141741a.jpg

Photo of all the layers.....

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...330141741b.jpg

there is maybe a 5 by 12 piece of what seems to be spray on rubber foam. That is only the passenger side. im not going to pull the drivers side up untill I get it to my father in laws house. apperently there is a truck of the same year 2 doors down from his house that the neighbors said that we could buy some parts off of. :-X04 major score.:-jammin

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...0330141741.jpg

if anyone was dying to see how the seat was bolted in, it was to that board. yes. a wooden board. and i wonder why ants are loving this truck..... :-X04 this is why you build everything out of metal and plastic... haha. and the seat was only bolted down in the front. :-X22

These are some of the spare parts i got from the P.O.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...401142116a.jpg

Just a simple sunvisor? look closer.... haha

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...401142116b.jpg

haha. yes that is a bolt sticking out of there. apperently it was not long enough so a bolt was added. i have no idea if it snapped off or whatnot. it wouldnt be so hard to weld on more round stock and nickel plate it with electroplating. just have to buy some nickel. haha. good thing that onlinemetals.com has a crapton of stuff. they dont have everything. but so far they have the best prices i have seen for metal in small increments. and the best part is they have a lot of warehouses. it takes like 3 days to get to my house with only ground shipping which is generally 4-7 days. so it is like having expedited shipping:-jammin.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...0401142116.jpg

two gauges that i got. one is good cond. and the other is ok... haha

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...0401142117.jpg

Other misc stuff i got from the P.O.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...0401142118.jpg

heater control. yay:-jammin

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...401142117a.jpg

other misc. chrome i pulled off. it is starting to rust. i dont know if i will plate it or just paint it. i that would be a lot of nickel chloride...... haha or even chromium. and lets not forget a giant rubbermaid container. haha.


And i am sorry everyone but not a whole lot will get done this next week and weekend. i am going to the dunes for the guys trip. it is a trip that my dad and his friends started a long time ago, and now he is passing it on to me. but we go to the dunes and bring our quads and dune buggies. My dad has a rail. and it is sick. i can bring back pictures if you guys want but i dont want to highjack the thread. haha. But in all reality things should get rolling next week. it is supposed to be sunny in oregon city and im supposed to drive the truck up to my father in laws house.

Well, You can clean up chrome pretty well with a can of coke, and some balled up aluminum foil. Looks like you have most everything to put your dash back together, save for the heater control bracket, but that should be easily sourced at a junkyard. Once you get a set of seat brackets, any ford seat from 70-91 works, and I'm pretty sure all the medium duty truck seat brackets from 73-up work for us. Once you get the wiring sorted, It looks like a pretty solid truck.