Project Ferdinand

Hey guys, figured i would share a build thread.  This is my son's first truck and first project...it all started with a free 1980 F-150 4x4...It was a bit rusty to say the least, but drive train was stout and interior was good:




that led to the quest to find another truck we could perhaps swap drivetrain and teach the boy some skills along the way:





Truck we found was a 1981 F-100 2x4, that supposedly did not run with a Y-Block and a 4 speed.....  Needless to say it had neither of those.  The seller really did not know what he had.  It is a 255 with a 3 speed that has been converted to a floor shifter.

Did not matter because original plan was to swap everything any way........

BUT plans change! Truck runs, shifts and stops well....

New plan:  chip away at what needs to be addressed, safety first and then cosmetics.  As we do that we are tearing into parts truck and using and selling what we can.  Drive train will be pulled gone through and cleaned up for an eventual swap.....But right now run truck as is sort of..lol

More pictures and progress to follow....  

More Pictures and progress:

Neat way to teach your son!  I love it!  

So, the '80 is the parts truck and it is the '81 that is running and being brought up to snuff?  Quite a change of plans.

So, are you staying with the 255 or changing to the 300?

for time being truck will stay with 255...rear shackles are thin and one hanger is thin so to be safe we are replacing them...What a better time to lift it!

and truck will get a 4" inch lift all springs, and 35s

in the late spring early summer, the plan is to have all of the 4x4 stuff ready to get get swapped into the 81'

This weekends progress:  New body bushings, fix mounts/core support, patch floor pan with new floor pan, install flowmaster exhaust, clean up some wiring, new gas tank sending unit and mount done....no more roadkill gas can set up........... onto the pictures:

If you are going to replace body bushings check out this video, fast forward to about 2:35 mark guy makes a clever tool for separating the mounts.  Thank god i saw that or saws all would have gotten a work out.
 Chevy bushings are different and that's what i was expecting not the pressed sleeve design



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8bbh8bwUhs&t=287s

Oh, I've had that view and pile of trash too many times.

I wish ANY of my bushings had come apart like that!

you've now got a good foundation for your project.  

we had one bushing fight  us bad, broke all thread twice and stripped the thread another time but we always win....lol


milling wood this week, and making some metal parts to rebuild the bed hopefully that will be this weekends project

What kind of wood do you have?

Of all the domestics I can't think of anything I like better than Black Locust.
Cut from the tree it's low moisture (like a heavier Ash)
Trunks are often gnarly, but the sawn wood stays pretty flat, it takes fasteners great and doesn't rot.

As a firewood it's second only to hickory for btu's.
And if you're not prudent it'll melt a hole right through your stove.

Looking forward to see how it turns out.  

This project reminds me of when I got my truck. Spent a lot of quality time with dad and learning a ton. Your son won’t forget it and he’ll learn a lot. I don’t think my dad realized how much of a gearhead I was going to become when he took me to see a neglected, grimy, old Ford after church that day. Have fun with it, I’ll be keeping up with it

i teach wood production so i have all sorts of good wood and machines at my disposal.  My buddy who is also a tech teacher (we share classroom) is a ford guy and definition of old school, he has a ford collection that is awesome...we are talking out what we should use.....some ideas so far oak (not sure what species yet), maple and ash..even joked about mahogany (too soft) that we have had laying around the shop what seems like forever.. are at top of list I was also entertaining using zebra wood, pretty cool stuff


 when we figure it out the boy will learn how to run planer/ jointer/ table saw ect...

How old is your son?
It's great that you two have something to work on together!

Don't use maple or ash.
Neither maple or ash will last if they see any weather.
Maple is hard enough (ash isn't imho) but has so much free sugar that it will promote decay even when kiln dried.

White Oak heartwood is a good choice because of the tyloses formed in the cell walls.
But still do your best to seal end grain before you tuck it up against the fenders and bed 'ledges'

Tough and resilient.  Quartersawn will show nice ray figure and move much less than flatsawn stock.
The only disadvantage is that tannic acid will cause black stains from contact to iron.
Old time trappers would keep their traps from rusting by boiling them in a 'stew' of oak bark, turning them black.

That's why I suggested Locust.
While ring porous it doesn't have wild figure, mellows to a beautiful honey color before weathering and wont blacken on contact with iron.
Anything that makes a good fence post is going to last.
If I were in Oklahoma with Gary, I'd suggest Osage.

Cam is 16.... we just cleared a bunch of locust at my brother in laws place to no joke build his garagemahal... a legacy post and beam barn that is 72'x56' we have been working on it all summer....thanks for the advice...even though i teach woods i disgrace it with my presence....

That's so cool! He must be very excited about contributing to the build.  

Wow, nice sized barn.  

I don't mean to come off as 'preachy'
I'm a wood geek (autist) with a 'special interest' or.. passion for wood, but I still call myself a wood butcher.

Nature's composite material can have so many different properties.
There's almost always one best suited to our purpose.

all good...i am an extreme learner never turn away knowledge.....

we have done all the work ourselves with exception of shingling the roof






little ford themed light box i made for a former student for his wedding

Awesome thread! Love the truck, keep posting your progress! And, that shop is wayyyy cool, would like to follow its build as well. Really enjoy watching things come together.

BTW, please feel free to send me photos and a story on the truck for our Truck Of The Month contest. On the main page, look at the topic "I WANT YOUR TRUCK".

Will do....ya my brother in law is a tech teacher too, and his shop is going to be more wood orientated he's a woodchuck but is into cars and heavy equipment stuff...been a fun build on both fronts

That Fairlane wagon was sharp. What year is it, 1967?

galaxy not fairlane....1968 one year only body style...i have all paper work from original sale all the way through the present, car was originally purchased in oxford Mississippi by the good reverend, was the churches car  for a long time.....purchase price 1968 $4,250

The Continental Church of the Reverend Horton Heat?

Definitely looks like something he'd be driving.