79 F-150 new to me project
 

A friend had this truck for a project he never got around to. I heard he was going to part it out, but asked if he'd sell the whole thing and we agreed on $200. I've wanted a project for a long time and I love this old Ford.

What we know:
1979 F-150 4x4 with a 351 modified and manual 4. It's pretty ugly, but I just want to get it driveable and then spray it all 1 color. I'm not crazy about the custom flat bed and supposedly someone locally had interest in it so I may sell it if it comes up. At that time I'll keep looking for a bed to put on or rig a temporary wood flat bed

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...d6a76a10e9.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...f6c8381a67.jpg

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Luckily my buddy hadn't gotten far yet with the part out. Only the wheels and tires were gone. A friend had an old set of tires sitting in a shed and my uncle had a set of chrome steel wheels they didn't need for their 60's f-100. I got those put together to put on.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...8ce7d40ea8.jpg

We recently had hurricane Matthew roll through so I found the truck knocked off the blocks and in the dirt. Took a couple hours one night after work but I got them mounted on. 34x9.50x15 on 15x8 steel

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...1ce7a644ca.jpg

The items I knew it needed first were new fuel pump, spark plugs, fill the radiator and I knew we had to remount the gas tank and make sure the lines were in place. We installed the fuel pump and plugs Friday, but realized I forgot that I needed to buy a battery for it. Got one yesterday and really hoping to get it started today. We found the hard lines directly out of the brake booster had rusted away, so no road test just yet until I get that fixed.

Welcome to the forum, and to the sickness! What part of Florida are you in?

Thanks! I'm in south Florida near West Palm Beach. I'll be working on the truck out at a friend's house until it's driveable and road worthy. Can't wait to get it going

Keep the updates coming. Can't wait to see what you make of it.

thanks, stoked to get it going.

We tried pretty good to get it going on Sunday, but by end of day, we didn't have luck. The starter was locked up from sitting, but we got it to crank. Going back over soon with my stepdad to see if we can get it started. he's much more versed than I am.

Today hopefully going to pick up a new cab from a '78 that supposedly has a decent seat and brackets (I have none as of now) and a decent dash (mine is shredded)

finally was able to meet up with the guy selling the cab. Overall I think it is in better condition than the one I have now. It has a seat and bracket which I do not have at all. And it has the solid rear glass that I prefer. Will have to clean up the bondo on the roof and see if there's any bad rust under the vinyl rug liner. The VIN plates are in great readable condition and it ran clean on the FL DMV website. We were surprised it fit in the bed, and it looks like I didn't get any scratches. Gotta go drop it off and figure out some time to swap it. :-drink


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tried a couple times to get it started. still having issues so I brought my step dad over. he found multiple issues with the wires inside and going out from the distributor. We separated the wires (no insulation) and found that is not the issue keeping it from starting. Checked the firing order multiple times and tried multiple configurations. Finally my buddy noticed the fan spinning backwards when cranking. We realized the truck has the wrong starter on it. It is from a boat with a Ford v8 in it. The person I bought it from had the starter laying around and figured it would work on the truck. Ordering a new starter and distributor and hopefully it starts up.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...15463522f1.jpg

found a set of 37's way too cheap to pass up on the other coast a couple nights ago. they will be set to the side for after it's running. need to find a set of cheap steel wheels as these are the wrong bolt pattern.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...0ea86e8f90.jpg

That custom flat bed seems ridiculous at first, but I can't help but find it somewhat cool. Still, I'd ditch it for an intact bed.

Is your roof rusted on the original cab?

Good luck with getting her fired up!

Ya, that's pretty much how I felt. It was a sore sight at first, but I think I've come around to letting it be for the time being. Plus there aren't a ton of beds around for me to find lol.
The cab definitely does have some rust on top, but doesn't seem too bad. The new one has way too much bondo all over. I'll need to clean that up.

Again, welcome to the FTE.
Yeah at first, I wasn't sure how I felt about the bedsides of the flatbed. But I actually dig it now. Pretty sweet deal I think.
Keep up the good work, and the pictures.:-X22

So working on the truck has been slow because of all the time I've had to put in at work. Working on it slowly on weekends when I have a chance.

Worked on getting the front clip off
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...9c1a913f1e.jpg

Over New Years, I took my gf to Savannah, GA for a quick weekend trip. While browsing the local craigslist and FB classifieds, I found someone selling a long bed that looked in pretty good shape. Got in contact with the guy and found he was close by. He said he could have it unmounted in ready for me to drive back home in FL so we set it up. The gf was a great sport about the whole thing
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...1abb4fbace.jpg
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Finally started working on getting the old cab off with my stepdad
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...96e6966d93.jpg

today, finally worked on turning the 'new' cab around and trying to move it to the front. this has turned out to be way more difficult than we were hoping, but we'll figure something out soon.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...192384fee2.jpg

Goal is to get the cab remounted then tow to my step dads so we can get it running. I'll drop the flatbed and mount the factory bed soon after.

Nice truck and project. And like others have said before, welcome to FTE. Be sure to stop by the Florida state chapter and introduce yourself. You never know, you might find someone that can help you out on your project and may even help you locate parts that you might need or want for that matter.

FINALLY got the cab where it belongs.

Got it from off of the flatbed/tool box. We didn't like how this sat and obviously doesn't look to safe, but it only sat like this for a short time. We ran out of ideas and needed to get it over with
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...248d45fd1c.jpg

myself and 2 other guys lowered down the driver side while another buddy lowered the passenger side with a hi-lift. I'm glad it's over and hope to never have to do a can swap again lol
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...bbd7ab2fd5.jpg

next I need to figure out how that flat bed is rigged into place and get it off. Was going to try to resell it but doesn't look like it will be able to be reused once I get it off. We'll see. Then hopefully we can start putting it back together!