Dave's '82 F100 Work In Progress...

Well here is my eclectic work in progress.  Its my dad's 1982 f100 with the 4.9L Straight 6, and automatic.  
I typically over engineer, over build all my project vehicles, and this is going to be the same way.  My dad is 80 yrs old, so the trucks reliability and safety are primary concern.  However, i have done some interior work including removing the mold in the cab, and replacing door panels and visors, just to be comfortable.  

The engine has already been rebuilt, new master cylinder, booster, SS brake lines, mid-ship tank, tail lamps and side markers, tires, and assorted electrical.  

Coming soon is the head lamp relays, ICVR, all the front steering components,  poly body mounts, and more.  So enjoy.

Here is the new grill, maybe installing it tomorrow.  Both the upper and lower trim are damaged, so i may see what the condition of those pieces on the truck and see what i can salvage.



Here is some of the ICVR, still waiting on the clasps.  



Here is the weather resistant relay(s) I'm using for the headlamps.



And here is an assortment of other things that have already been done.






And if anyone needs it, here is the instructions for the Energy Suspension Body Mounts.

Looking good!  

I assume "clasps" are the connectors that look like they go to a 9v battery?  And those relays are the same as I've used in several places.  They work well.

It's nice when parts come in, what's not nice is when you dont have time to work on the truck

That 1 door panel looks pretty good

FYI if the truck is a 82 would the grille you got with the FORD badge wrong?
I could be wrong and most likely am, you have the FORD letters across the hood?
Dave ----

The grilles were 1980 & 81 w/o the logo but with FORD on the hood, and then 1982 through 86 with the logo and no FORD on the hood.  So an '82 should have the Ford logo on the grille and no FORD lettering on the hood.

 told you I was wrong
I like the no badge and letters of the early ones

Dave ----

Here is a little before and after on the grill:





Emblem came in yesterday , but its not on the new grill yet.

In the process of changing the grill out, i discovered some natural weight reduction in the bottom of the radiator support.



Here is a collection of new hardware for the truck.


Here i fixed the driverside engine to firewall ground.  The old wire was tiny, corroded, and the middle section of the wire was swelled up, im assuming due to corrosion.  Ohm-ing it out, that wire had 150,000  ohms of resistance.  The new 4 awg wire has 0 ohms, so a minor improvement.





And here is some of the cluster fudge of the headlamp wiring.  Driver side  connector was melted, Passenger side showed signs of previous replacement, the connectors were corroded and loose, and at some point all the wires were painted red. Fixed both headlamp connectors with a set of high temp sockets,  added the relays, and fixed the headlamp/park/turn signal grounds.






You may also notice the quick disconnect on the battery ground post.  There is some kind of draw im still trying to find.  Every couple of days the battery is dead, when its connected.  It i disconnect the battery, and wait 2 weeks, and reconnect the battery, truck starts fine.  

 

Grille looks great!  But the weight reduction doesn't.  Are you going to attempt to slow that down somehow?

Headlight sockets look like the ones I used - excellent ones.  Ground wire resistance seems a bit high - good job replacing it.  And those crimped connectors are ugly, so I assume you replaced those as part of the relay upgrade?

On the power drain, having you tried pulling fuses one at a time with your meter across that disconnect?

I'm thinking about replacing the entire radiator support, I just haven't found a new nor used decent shape one too use.  But yes, it is on my list of rust repair to take care of.

I did replace those corroded crimped connectors, the red wire showed oxidation nearly 14 inches long behind those connectors.  I replaced the red and green wires, almost to the firewall, and replaced the ground wire completely.  Though the driver side socket was melted, the wires looked fine, and tested continuity and resistance, as far back as i could follow them, and they were fine.  I did replace the ground wire though.



As for finding the drain, i have not pulled fuses yet, The fuse box is another problem.  It shows prior issues, like a burned out fuse socket.  I'm in the works of mapping out, a new dash harness and fuse block.  The basis is a Ron Francis kit.

Fuse boxes are pretty easy to come by in a salvage.  And you can pull the connectors and move them to a new box.  Plus replace the bad ones when you find them.

As for the radiator support, remember that they changed in '85.  The 1980 - 84 supports mounted the radiators one way, and '85 and later mounted another way.  See our page at Documentation/Cooling System/Radiator Support.

Here is a small update, finished the grill with a new emblem,  Not quite right for the time period, but my dad loves it.  Also headlights are quite a bit brighter now.

Nice!

Yes, nice!  And almost no one will know the difference on the grille.  So if you like it, then well done!

Small update.  My dad built a storage solution for behind the seat.  It has removable and adjustable plexiglass dividers, as well as space on both sides for jack and fire extinguisher.

Your dad's done a fine job!
Looks like it will be really useful for him.

Well done!  Would he like to share his plans?

I can ask.  He is a retired carpenter.  All of it was made from scrap pieces from his workshop, the back panel is from a cabinet door for instance.  Originally he said he made it just a tad too big, where the top section hit a lip on the rear of the cab.  To fix it, he rabbited a section out, so it fits snug just under that lip.  In this zoomed in picture below, i pulled the storage box out a tad so you could see the adjustment on the upper section towards the passenger side.  Also its not bolted in yet, as i still have the body mounts to do, so the interior is being pulled out in May, when i get my required vacation from work.

Well, here is a small update.  It only took two weeks away to have installed a new bird nest in the engine bay.  Also i changed over the turn signal relay over to LED compatible type, added LED front turn signal bulbs, and rear signal/brake bulbs.  In the process i found  some much needed wiring to do, So i guess I'll add rewiring of rear of the truck to the huge list of stuff i already plan to do on my vacation next month.

Yep, it looks like some TLC in the wiring department is in order.  That ground doesn't look very grounded.  And the bird's nest hast to go.

Good luck!

new bumper sticker "being rusty keeps me grounded"

Minor update i suppose.  

I had a partial week off to working on the truck, Was supposed to be a full week, but after finding out my dad has been giving the neighbors the parts and materials i've been collecting for the truck, I spent much of my vacation tracking down the stuff.  My dad's 80, and definitely think his memory is going.  Any way, here is the little bit i accomplished.

 Emptied out the cowl and hvac ducting of leaves and wasps, installed new blower motor, added mesh to cowl, new wiper arms for hook style wiper blades.  Replaced the rear shocks, and the upper shock mounts.

Replaced only 1 rear leaf spring bushing. I tried unsuccessfully to press the bushing out, which seem to make things worse.  I had to burn the bushing out, new poly bushing went in with no issues, then i was unable to realign the leaf spring with its mounting location.  I tried unsuccessfully to remove the rear shackle,  one half of the plastic lower bushing fell out, the other side i could not get out, as it was right up against the frame.  As well as the top bolt from the shackle was right up against the bed, how the Firetruck (starts with F, ends with uck) do you get it out without removing the leaf spring from the axle and without removing the bed?  I've watch multiple video's on the removal and replacement of those bushings, and i had nothing but problems.  It took my nearly 8 hours to replace 1 bushings and realign the leaf spring. What a mess.

I was able to remove the rear gas tank, even though the trailer hitch was welded too it, that took about 3 hours.  I replaced most of the fuel line for the rear tank, the old nasty steel lines were replaced with Nicopp lines, and the hose sections were replaced as well, with suitable rated fuel hose. Also added an inline fuel filter before the new tank switch.  However the new tank switch is currently bypassed, Since the new rear plastic tank has not yet been installed since the vent valve grommet and hose magically disappeared from my supplies.

I didn't touch any of the front suspension, even though i have all those bushings for the radius arms, and   the axle pivot as well.  I have 1 shock, as the other ended up somehow mounted to the attic drop down door, and both brand new springs are holding up a section of ramp in the horse barn.  I am beyond frustrated with this crap.  My dad just seemed to "borrow" the truck's parts, or give them away, and i'm missing nearly an entire rolling tool box of tools.  Sorry, i have too vent a little.

I also have been unable to locate the rear spring mounts, front and rear, all the weather stripping and track for the doors, and the window regulators,  and the door hinge parts, and half of the energy suspension body mounts.  I contacted his neighbors, and friends, hopefully some of the parts find there way back.