1986 F150 One Owner
 

It's official! For the first time in 34 years my F150 is out of service for the immediate future. I've been hanging around here for years watching others take on these restoration projects. Now it's my turn.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...bc7c9f57ba.jpg
The bed came off a few days ago but I did drive it to the carwash yesterday. No lights, no plates. I didn't even have my wallet with me.

So it's finally on.

Well, now that you are committed, I guess it's safe to say the rest of us were just faking. Very elaborate photoshop prank, now you're stuck in for the next, up to 6 years! ha! We got you :-missingt

I'm just now getting mine back together. Been up for days working on it, still making good progress, I'll sleep last year. Spent about 12 hours going over the dash harness. Man was that a booger getting back in the dash. As soon as I locate my parking brake I tossed in a pile 16 months ago I can move on to the column, then seats and rest of the interior. Hope to have her back on the road next weekend. What all are you planning on doing to your truck?

Welcome. Glad to see another Bullnose getting restored. Take and post plenty of pics of your build. You’ve came to the right place for info as the guys on here are very knowledgeable and love to help.

I guess my photo shop pictures of my rebuild worked :-X24
Yes what do you have planed?
Dave ----

I'm not so good with the photo shop, mine turned out three different colors. I'm a better story teller, mostly text updates. When are you going to get around to photoshopping those tailgate letters? Be awesome if you could show the transfer method, maybe a quick video?

:-X24 on the letters that was good
I will have to work on that
Dave ----

Ive been wanting to run you some about it but weren't sure if you were sore about it. But if you ever get around to it, I think we could make a little room for a brief write-up on the transfer method . Speaking of, I keep getting alerts for blue nos tailgate letters on eBay. I wonder if those age any better than the paint stripe? You think the op is gonna run us off? I do believe we have hijacked this thread.

The truck is relatively sound now. In much better shape than most of the other projects posted here. The end goal is to have a good looking and reliable driver. Not a show truck.

One of the issues to be thoroughly addressed is paint. The paint system used at the Kansas City plant for the 1986 model year was a total fail. The color would not stick to the primer. You all have probably seen some of these trucks with large patches of color gone and the gray primer showing through. If you still owned your purchased new '86 in the mid nineties, Ford would repaint it at no cost.
My repaint looked fine... for a while. Now twenty-five years later, time having taken a toll on the less than great paint job, it's over due for a refresh.

Another item long over due is the engine. The engine runs good, it always has. Only 130,000 miles on it. The rings went to hell after I drove the truck less than a mile each way, to and from work for years. Drove home for lunch a lot too. The last time I changed valve cover gaskets, I had to scoop sludge out with a spoon. Compression is from 140 down to 115. Blow-by is pretty bad. It has begun to leak antifreeze from somewhere in the back. I'm going to pull it and rebuild it. Probably stock.

Right now, starting off, I'm mostly working on the body and paint. The bed is off and needs wheel arches welded in. The doors need to come off for easier repair and prep. The driver's door needs a bit of welding. May or may not pull the cab.

I have plenty of photos already. I'll share what I have.

So you've had the truck since it was new? Still a foreign concept to me. I've heard of it, but dont know what it's like. That's pretty cool. My truck I have no idea what's been done to it other than it's obviously had a motor swap I think happened in 2015. But you were around for everything that happened. Instead of restoring a truck you're finally getting around to fixing that dent from when the kids swung the door open in the parking garage on that trip down to the coast. I think the difference is, you've got memories and I have a puzzle. I bought a project I'm trying to get on the road and you're putting a little love in a truck that's served you well for decades. Blows my mind. Can't imagine buying a new truck today and keeping it on the road for a decade even.

Should be a great project, looking forward to the updates!

On the letters I think I will end up getting white stick on letters as much as I would like to paint them on with a roller like the factory did [/hi jack]

It was not only Ford that had issues with the paint sticking. GM had the same issues, I had a 86 K5 blazer and the hospital I worked at had 3 Chevy trucks doing the same thing, it had to do with a change with the primers to paint.
Will you be doing all the work or farming some / all of it out?
I know the motor part some will need to be farmed out but was talking body & paint work.

As for the cab off, you already have the bed off could pull the nose to pull the motor so at that point it would be nothing to pull the cab so you can do a better job on the frame of cleaning & paint.
My project I think I was the 3rd owner but could have been more, so I did not know what I was really starting with. I am glad I did what I did as I found so much wrong with it.
On the K5 I was just tired of the truck and in 2002 bough my 2nd new truck and sold it for $500. I don't think I will by another new truck or car, My 81 F100 will (have to) last till I cant drive any more.

Good luck on your project and I will be following along
Dave ----

Dave, I had notifications sent when you or anyone else posted on your rebuild thread. I followed you in real time. Everything you did was more difficult than what I will face. Including your main nemesis, climate. I have heat and AC.

Thanks for setting the bar so low on time.

Here are some of the things I'm starting with.

Last week I cut out the rusty metal over the rear wheel arches. What I discovered is that Ziebart is really good stuff. I had the truck done when new and had several annual touch ups. Too bad they never managed to get any rustproofing down into the critical areas.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...e826d6baab.jpg
Pic of the back side of the offending metal. You can see rustproofing above the crease but none below.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...8a2969b485.jpg
The inner fenders are rusty but are not rusted through anywhere. They were, of course, galvanized from the factory. I want to leave them to save work, time and money. They are cleaned of any and all loose and not so loose rust. I treated them with the green stuff. I plan to Ziebart the repair and have a quote to do so. $50.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...479f493ece.jpg

Which leads to a delemma. I tig welded a set of arches a while back with good results. This time the existing metal is covered in Ziebart. To clean it off, I probably will have to remove the inside fenders. They absolutely cannot be tig welded with the rustproofing polluting the weld. My alternative, which I am learning about is flanging the base metal and then using a new to me epoxy adhesive system from 3M designed specifically for this purpose. Or, MIG welding, a process that I believe I can get by with using butt welds and less than pristine base metal. I have almost no experience with MIG welding 18ga sheet metal. I did make a living for forty years as a welder so I do have vast experience manipulating molten metal. My neighbor has a cheap flux core wire machine and a former work Buddy has a first class gas MIG set up that we would have to transport to my shop.

Other than the wheel arches, I have two small rust spots on the driver's door that I probably need to patch in with new metal. Also, a good inspection of the cab corners. I made a repair on one twenty years ago that still looks fine but should have the backside checked. This truck has never been wrecked. The bed is beat up a bit but I intend to salvage it. I already pulled out some dings with a stud gun. Got to pull a bit on one stake pocket still.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...cd8cdfa966.jpg

Motorcycle and rock hauling damage. Notice the missing color inside the bed which Ford did not repaint. They didn't do door jambs either.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...58cc53cac2.jpg

I have finished removing all the clear paint from the cab, hood and front fenders. I simply scraped it all off with a razor blade. It would not sand for **** but flew off with the blade. The clear, which was harder than quartz, was applied at a thickness of 8 mils. Figure at least 3 or 4 mils for primer and color makes this one thick paint job.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...c919df68f8.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...22f0c6538a.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...b8fb6cd935.jpg

Advice. After looking at these rain gutters, I think they might benefit from a total redo. I did make a surface rust repair on this one.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...2cc9da4077.jpg
Can this filler be taken out and replaced? Other options?