My 01EX Rust Removal and Refresh
 

Working on extending the life of my 01 EX. Bought it brand new in Dec 2001. It is a Limited 4X4, 7.3L. It has been a great truck, but the Ohio winters and their support of the salt industry are taking it's toll. I haven't done any real upgrades other than a SS exhaust system when I blew the seam out of my original muffler a few years back and a transmission cooler and external filter at the same time. The truck was bought as our vacation vehicle, going boating in the summer and snow skiing in the winter. It was my DD off and on when I was without a beater as my DD. It replaced a 1996 F250 4X4 7.3 extended cab, which was getting small for a 6' teenage boy in the back seat. It is now mostly a people hauler and tow vehicle. I have 4 grandchildren, all still in car seats, (2 local and 2 in the Austin, TX area) and it is nice to be able to have all 4 and the wife in one vehicle when we are all together (plus 2 more). We still tow our boat as well as a Toy Hauler that's about 33' long and a few other trailers. Other than the rust, the truck is in great shape, no dents, dings, or missing/non-working parts. Now that I have bored you with all of those details, The PLAN:

I originally was going to replace all 4 doors and have the rockers replaced. I was going to clean up the frame as best I could and go about life. That has morphed into this.

Since my daughter and her family live in the Austin area I thought I would pick up some rust free parts to help with the plan. What I ended up with was this:https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...a057353233.jpgAnd all the junk insidehttps://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...9c54a1ee63.jpg

A 2000 EX Limited 2X4 6.8L, with no engine, transmission, front seats, wheels, (and other minor items) and most importantly NO RUST. I brought it home in July 2017 and thought and thought and changed my mind numerous times. I'm going to use the rear passenger doors and any other body parts that are no longer available. I wanted to make this truck as new as possible and had already decided on:

New springs (most likely whatever Jr suggests)
Shocks
All brake lines and cables
Fuel lines
Add rear anti-sway
R&R all wear items for suspension
New oil pan
Fix oil/fluid leak(s)
All fluids
New radiator
All rubber hoses
Swap hitches

With all of this and deciding to clean my frame well, I figured most of the above work would be easier if I just lifted the body off of my (Ohio) truck. If I was going to go this far I figured (and with Nicmike's encouragement) I decided to swap frames. So now it will have a Texas frame and an Ohio body (with the rust fixed). So the Texas truck will be donating more than just body parts.

This is a huge under taking, for me anyways, as wrenchen is something that I do only when necessary. I have learned a ton from this forum and the people on it, so hopefully that and some friends helping me, I can git 'r' done.

Stay tuned

Please take LOTS of pictures! Looking forward to watching the progress!

A few before pics

The Texas truck in the barn getting ready to dismantle.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...b417dfd881.jpg

The Ohio truck with our toy hauler. WDH bars not on since I was just moving it from the house to the barn.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...5e12cc1a4e.jpg

The Ohio truck with the local food pantry trailer that I use to pick up food twice a month from the food bank.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...8205a7e563.jpg

Apparently no pics pulling the boat.

Matt, this has the potential to be a great thread, and it WILL help a lot of people in the same boat as you. Looking forward to the details on the process! You planning body mount replacements?

Reps for taking this on!

I look forward to seeing this build. I too am an avid hater of salt. :-drink

Yes!! Love to see these threads!! Can't wait!! Good luck!!

:-drink

I assume you mean the rubber insulator between the body and frame. I have not had any problems with the ones on the Ohio truck, but I was looking at replacing everything that wears especially if it is only accessible while the body is off. I haven't looked into it yet, although I suspect they are not available anymore. What are your thoughts?

will be a fun adventure forsure.

subscribed. Love build threads

I miss being back home in Texas. Only 2.5yrs till I retire and go back. Never see salt again!

I am thinking your upper and lower washers that sandwich that rubber insulator are rusted out when you get the body off. You can still get them. Just order the F250 set, but NOT the 08+ sets. They are junk. Made of some foam junk that falls apart within a couple of years. Get the old rubber ones for a same year F250...or as close as you can get to same year.

Best of luck to you! Nice to have rust free donor. I had to make some of the rust repair panels for my Ex which was also from Ohio coincidentally lol!

The previous pic of the Texas truck in the barn is pretty much how I bought it. After some work it now looks like this

Just prior to lifting the bodyhttps://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...5e13506aa0.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...8d097cd842.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...f6bcea2301.jpg

I didn't document much of this part as a fair amount of the dismantleing had already been done. A few notes:
1. Other than the front passenger door wiring (which was already cut when I bought it) I was able to unplug the entire wiring harness and keep it intact, other than a few broken clips due to brittle plastic. To accomplish this I did have to take the dash down to the firewall.
2. I didn't spray a single bolt/nut. Everything just unbolted with no problems. You rust belt folks get how different this is for us.
3. Since I did this at home (without a lift) I made some blocks that I thought would make it safer to lift the body using a variety of jacks, jack stands, cribbing, etc. I took some scrap 4x5 oak and cut a kerf wide enough to slide over the rocker. I actually made it tight enough that I had to drive them on. This enabled me to jack and support the body from the rockers without damaging the rockers, since I may need to use some of rockers in the rust removal process on the Ohio truck. The blocks were tight enough that there was no movement of the blocks once I drove them on.
4. I underestimated how heavy the back half of the truck was, compounded by how much of the front end was now off. I could still jack at the very back of the rockers where the wheel well and C post come together, but this was not where the blocks I made were located. I then needed to support the body all the way in the rear. I just used cribbing and jack stands under the body where the most rearward body bolt is located. This will be interesting when I use a lift to lift the Ohio body off of the frame since I won't be able to support the rear in the same manner. I may need to employ some counter weight on the front. We'll see.
5. Since there were only 2 of us working this was a slow process. Lift, support, move, lift, support and so on.
6. Going up was actually easier than coming down.

End view of block
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...134aa74268.jpg

Blocks in place
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...f2694f84fb.jpg

Supporting rear
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...12c4c9294b.jpg

Why didn't I just use the forklift to lift the body???? Forks are too short, hard to control slowly, and what fun would that be.

Well done! Reps! So, where would you say the center of gravity is on the body?

On the Texas truck, probably near the rear of the rear door. But that truck had no fenders, hood, dash, etc and all the interior wiring harness is behind that point.