Hey guys,

I could swear I posted a thread about my truck in this area, but according to the board, I have been remiss in this area. I did post in the introductions area, but I'm doubting too many people read that stuff.

Anyway, to set things formally right, my truck is a 79 F250 Ranger XLT Supercab Trailer Special 4x4. Yup, Ford went a little nutty with the badging that year, is my guess. I found it in Spokane, Washington and snatched it up immediately. It's got the original 400 in it, which I plan on rebuilding into something better with the help of Mr. Meyer. Currently, the body is at the bodyshop (is that redundant?), and the chassis is here at home. I didn't plan on doing a full frame off restoration, but when the bodyshop called and said, "Hey, we had to take the cab off the frame to do some repair work, so if you want, you can take the chassis home to clean it up". That's when things went horribly awry.

I took the entire chassis apart down to the bolt, and had all the hardware blasted and powdercoated, took the tranny out and had it built by a local shop here, and got a new NP205 transfer case. I tore out all the hardlines, and had them all refabbed by a brakeshop I know here in town, and reinstalled them with insulated clamps with stainless fasteners. I tore down and rebuilt the leaf springs myself, and I found that's not exactly the party I had thought it was. I installed all new bushings everywhere, even that hard to find one where the transfer case mounts. I managed to get the frame onto the back of my other pickup (Maynard) by myself, and probably should have died in the process, and took it to the powdercoater as well.

For the last few weeks, I've been reassembling all the components again, and just have to finish up the steering box so I can get it towed back to the bodyshop to get the body back on. I've also replaced the cab mount bushings, but didn't go with urethane and stuck with original rubber. I spent hours and hours in the local Ace hardware in the fastener aisle, and replaced everything with grade 8 bolts if possible, or stainless steel in the case of most non-structural fasteners.

Anyway, I've added a bunch of photos to my album so you guys can check on my progress. I'll be adding more as I move ahead (and money allows). I'm sure I'll be asking a bunch of questions when I start working on the engine, and electrical systems, but will try to keep things updated as much as possible.

'later!

tim

 

Man I love it. I hope one day I can do this to my truck.

 

Wow! I am in the process of starting work on my supercab. You have inspired me.

 

All I got to say is... wow! Nice work, that thing is better than new!

 

Good lord'n butter man.... Now that's a restoring job!

S-

 

Yeaaaa... I'm simply putting ''lipstick on a pig'' in my wanna-be restoration/rebuild.
Your frame looks AMAZING! Indeed, it looks better then new.

Congrats and good-luck

 

Duuuuuude!

 

The frame and axles look sweet. Can't wait to see it when you get the body back. You do excellent work.
Ray

 

Thanks guys...appreciate the input. Makes me think I'm not completely on my own with regard to doing this sort of thing.

Update: Just got the doors in from freight yesterday. I was over in Spokane, WA last week, walkin around this guy's 30 acres looking for usable doors. I found a couple, and my cousin who works for USF, threw them on a truck for me for no charge (gotta love savin a couple bucks when you can). I picked them up yesterday, and took them over to the body shop.

While I was there, I got to see some of the work that's been done. The bed, fenders, and hood have been shot, and they look pretty good. I've accepted that this is not going to be any trailer queen, and I refuse to get so picky that I drop 20k on a paintjob just for that "wet look". I can't afford that kind of paintjob, and I refuse to let Buford be anything other than what he is...a truck. I did go so far as to have everything media blasted down to the metal, and they DP-90'd everything (epoxy sealer). From there they did the mud work, primer, blocked, primer, wet sand, and finally shot. Looks pretty good so far.

Once I get the chassis back to the body shop, and they mount everything back up, it's going to be towed over to the Line-X place to have the bed, and the floor of the cab lined. After that, it's back home into the shelter that I've been assembling (when it's not raining or windy). I'll try to take some shots of everything when I get a chance, and add them to the album.

'later

 

Line X the floor of the cab sounds like a great idea. I wonder if POR-15 will do just as good? I have to replace the driver side pan and wondered how I could prevent the rust in the future.

 

POR-15 will probably help in the rust preventative department...I had new floor pans welded in, and like the body, they've shot it with epoxy sealer, then prime, then color. Since the color coat is so fresh, the Line-X will probably stick to it immediately...either that, or after a wipe down with grease and wax remover.

I'm going with the Line-X not only for the protection, but it's also supposed to serve as a good sound deadener as well. I figure with that, the carpet padding, heat sheilding, and Dynamat I'll be putting everywhere, the cab of the truck should be a relatively more pleasant place to ride in.

(Either that, or it'll at least make the inside of my cab about an inch shorter.)

 

Behemoth, your truck looks like it will be great when its all finished.(their never really finished, just driven until the next upgrade is started.) taking pictures is good. NEXT TIME mine is down to the frame i will take pictures too.

 

Beautiful! I'd LOVE to crawl around under your truck when you are done!
Dak

 

Someone on this site put foam in the pillars and said that it considerably decreased the road noise and engine noise in the cab.

 

I had thought about that. You can buy that foam in a spray can at Home Depot, and I'm sure it'd do the trick, but once it hardens, wouldn't there be the risk of squeaks and whatnot when it loosens with body flex? Maybe in rigid areas where there's no risk of that would be better. I'll probably just stick to the dynamat, and heavy padding on the ceiling under the headliner, and on the floor under the carpet.

After all, it's never going to be quiet like my Cadillac.....and if it was, that'd be a little creepy, I'm thinkin.