FuzzFace2

How high the trailer was, 10' 6" for when going under low over passes or pulling into gas stations. Dave ----

Thanks guys I looked at the truck again and it does look to be a hole for the feedback system and the computer was mounted to the lower edge of the dash. As for the oil pan hitting the cross member I think the truck should be running a rear sump pan but that's me. I tried to get VINs but that is a no go till the trucks are pulled apart more so we can see the dash numbers or the titles. Guess we don't really need them but I would like to know what the trucks started as as it should help down the road. Thanks again Dave ----

Ok a buddy has 2 lets call them 80 to 86 short bed trucks. Both are 2 wheel trucks. We cant see the VIN on the dash on either truck. 1 has the newer glass and it covers the VIN, the other has dirt over it and cant get down there to clean it. I have asked him to give me the VIN numbers off the titles so I know what year the 2 trucks are, what motor, transmissions, rear axle & ratios they started life with. The parts truck has the newer "F100" badges on the fenders. Cant read the cert sticker in the door jamb and dirty VIN on dash. The under hood sticker has 3.8 information? Looks like the radiator support & 1 fender was replaced. Looks to be a factory 300/auto. not a feed back system as I don't see the hole in the firewall for the wires. Now what is close to that area is where the speed control wires & vacuum hose comes out. The speed control box looks to be bolted to the lower part of the dash where the feed back box would be. Truck has a 9" rear axle. The project truck has no cert sticker in door jamb, glass blocks VIN on dash. No fender badges Radiator sticker also has 3.8/auto but think the support has been replaced also. The truck has a 302/auto that I sure was dropped in it as the oil pan (front sump) is sitting on the cross member. This truck did have a feed back system as the hole in firewall is there with cut wires seen and the box bolted to the lower part of the dash inside. This truck is blue metal flake but has a red interior? Dome light has map lights in it, holding up what is left of the head liner. Truck has a 8.8 rear axle. So the school part: Any way to tell years with out a VIN? The HVAC control, both have AC, is different between them. On a 302 motored truck is the oil pan a front or rear sump? What frame mounts did the 302 trucks use and are they the same as other size motors used in our trucks? How many different blue metal flake colors were use in our trucks. It looks to be the same blue as the 2 or 3 of our members trucks. If the truck has electric locks did it also have the pin type rod sticking out the top of the door panel too? That is all I can think of at this time. As always thanks for any information you can give. Dave ----

It was not that hard to make work so Ford could have done the same easily and I know of someone else that took my lead and did the same. Don't get me wrong I like the look of the wood floor but for me to go back with it at the time, just the cross members were $1000, add wood, nuts & bolts, metal slats was just to much for a $800 truck LOL. What is nice is the way I did this is I can get the cross members, wood, etc. and bolt the sides onto it like the factory did. With this floor and being bed lined, it was done that way from the parts truck. I can throw stuff in the bed and it will stay for the most part and not worry about marking the floor. Yesterday I had 4 - 2"x2"x4'square tubing I took to a buddy's house and other than not wanting to mark the bed sides I was not worried about the floor. Dave ----

Thanks guys and yes "From the sounds of it, the truck is probably a hodge podge of pieces and parts." is an under statement from what I have seen! Being the wires are cut right at the wall and he has no plans of going with that system he will have to find a plug for the hole. I wonder if the box is still there if he could get any thing for it? I would like to know what motor came in the truck as I think it would help him some. Feed back would be a 300 IIRC so the 302 oil pan sitting on the cross member may have the wrong frame mounts if the 300 mount could even be used with the 302? I do know that are different or bolted in a different place or both? He is going to have fun with this build LOL Just hope he does not give up on it like the Chevy Luv with a 350/350 sitting in the garage has. Then again he is more of a Ford guy with a 66 Mustang and late 60's pick up. Dave ----

Took the truck to work Saturday morning (1:30am) and when I got home took the trash to the dump. Then got the 4 metal cross braces my truck came with for the bed and took to a buddy's house to see if he could use them for his (83 or 84?) flare side he just picked up. He also got a parts truck of the same years (does not know either trucks years yet) that has a 90's flare side bed on it. He would like to sell it and use the best parts from the 2 trucks to make a good one. Remind you of someone I also told him I might want the short bed frame and front suspension before he sends them packing but I know he is in no rush and either am I. Dave ----

Yes on the bumper(s). Take a closer look at it besides the paint, it is custom in 2 ways. See the fog / driving lights built into the bumper? You cant buy them this way. Also see any bumper bolts? Nope the other custom touch. The rear bumper also dose not have bumper bolts. There was no way I could swing the $$ for re-chroming. I looked in to getting them wrapped in chrome but of 3 shops only 1 would even think of wrapping and the was in brushed SS as they were afraid of scratching the film when getting the air out from under it. They did give me someone else but you had to make an apt. for him to even look at it and with work hours I did not even try to call. That 1 shop said they start at $200 and up depending on the time it took to wrap. Paint was maybe $50 for the silver & clear pre-mix so just add to paint gun and spray. IIRC I used a Preval sprayer If you look closely at the left rear fender you will see a rear fuel filler door for a rear tank. Not an option on a flare side and with the stock front tank I now have duel tanks using the factory dash switch so it looks factory stock. The other is I replaced the wood floor with a style side metal ribbed one. Dave ----

That does not look like and auto with the stick up thru the floor? Other than the hood, the bent from panel by the left head light and a few marks here & there does not look too bad. Think anything you look at is a given will need a seat. That bed wood looks dried out more than anything. How long is that bed? Guess not long enough for the 1000 and the basket is there? I would look at this one on just how ruff it is and what work it will need if you can get him under 2k great or even at 2k may be good, again depending on work needed. Dave ----

I have a buddy with he thinks is a 83 or 84 F150 and that is about all we know of the truck. He told me the motor, 302/auto, did not come in that truck based on the radiator sticker as is has 3.8L. I think the support was replaced with a used one and why the sticker does not match. Then again the oil pan is sitting on the cross member so who knows? Any way a lot of wires have been cut & spliced for this 302 motor install but there is 1 hole in the fire wall with a bunch of cut wires hanging out of it. Sorry no picture(s) It is an oval shape hole more to the center of the wall at the back of the motor. Any clue what this hole & wires were for? I thought FI but I don't remember a large opening for the tank sending unit for a in tank pump or a return line. The truck has a flare side and no floor and why I side about the tank from what I remember seeing. If the truck had a feed back system, 300 six or 302, would this be where the wires went thru? I have never seen under hood of a feed back system to know where this system hangs out. I did not think to look on the inside under dash to see what was there at the time. His parts truck that could also be a 83 or 84, 1 is 1 and the other is the other he is not sure. It has 300 six that looks factory and I did not see this opening / hole and if the year(s) are right would be a feed back system. Thanks for any help you can give Dave ----

I see he hit on just about everything I did. I did forget about rocks thru the rear window and I should have known as it happened to me. I thought someone shot at me and hit the truck. I wish the owner would put half fenders covering the front axle wheels as it would also keep the back of the cab & rear window clean. On the truck needing the motor / transmission and a door that has been off for a few years would not be the way I would go. I think too much work for the money in return what you end up with in my book. Its just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Think I would still be looking at the larger trucks under the 26,000 weight CDL limit. I did drive a late 70's F600 dump truck for a paving co. back in 83. Gas 330 v8 with a 5sp & 2 sp rear. Truck was rated for 5 ton and a full load for us was 10 ton. This was before DOT came down on trucks like they do today and yes needed a CDL for it and when I got mine. Do you have old school buses for sale out there that would be under the 26,000 weight? Farmers use them around here and cut most of the back off leaving a few seats for workers to sit going field to field and the open back for product to take to a holding area. Might find a shorter one to mount the 1000 gal tank on. Dave ----

I would say early / mid 70's as I believe they are the call letters (lic. number from FCC) below the CB handle name. I don't know when they went to a 4 letter + number Lic. as I only remember a 3 letter + number Lic. Then again the box could be older but the call sign later? I also remember the CB boxes were big back in the day. The size looks to be about the same as my Radio Shack unit from the 80's Dave ----

Thanks guys That is the factory colors on the truck and AFAIK the way it left the factory. It is also single stage just like the factory did back in the day. It was hard enough to find the time to put the 1 stage paint of for each color. White let dry tape up and paint the red then did the same on the bed. So that is 4 different times for painting and if I did a clear over that add 2 more times (1 for cab & 1 for bed) for painting and that was never going to happen! Then you have the $$ for clear, just the red for inside, under hood and outside was $1000 with hardener & thinner. Then add $$ for the white with hardener & thinner and that is for paint only. You still have primer & thinner and all the body filler and supplies to sand it down just to get it to the paint stage. Body work supplies are not cheap and if you have a shop do the work add labor on top. Dave ----

The NAPA is a loaded question thing LOL I first started getting my body supplies from a Car Quest that did body supplies but they sold out to a NAPA that moved down the street and no longer carries body supplies. I then had to go to the next town over to the NAPA that carries body supplies and where I get all my auto primer & paint from. I like the tube / gun as you can squirt it into the cracks "sealing" them. I then went over that with the brush on to make it look like factory done sealer. Thing is if you don't need a full tube how long will it last? I used most of the tube and I am sure by the time I need it again on the next project it will be hard. The brush on, comes in a can, was still good a few months later when I needed to hit some other areas. 3M also makes a Drip Check sealer in a small squeeze tube, like weather strip glue, you can squeeze into cracks and then use the brush on seam sealer. Might try on line for the SEM sealer if you cant get it local, like Amazon? Dave ----

1 thing to worry or think about on the larger trucks is to keep is below the 26,000 weight limit unless you have a CDL. Then you get into what endorsements you would need on the CDL for the tank. I forget what the limit is but might be 1000 gallons+. Now if I under stand it (could be wrong too) if you did 2 or more 500 gallon tanks you are ok but DOT is looking into maybe changing this because beverage truck have more than 1000 gallons but it is all in smaller bottles. The other is air brake endorsement for the truck and now if you don't have a CDL is the endorsement for a auto (can only drive auto trucks) or stick (can drive stick or auto). So with that out of the way and if you are worried the F500+ trucks may be out of the question because of the 26,000 weight CDL thing but that is what I would go with if I could. You could then go with bigger tank(s) (if not worried on the CDL) so less trips. I like the looks of the older large trucks but you are right on the "getting parts" thing. You brought up brakes for parts, don't know how hard it may be to get. Then you have wheels & tires. Older truck use split rims (wheels) and a lot of shops will not touch them so need to check that part out. Then you have tire size I hear some sizes could be hard to come by. Can a F450 / F550 truck carry the tank(s) with out over weighting the trucks? To me they look like rebadged F350's and don't know if they can carry the extra weight but that's me. On the CC trucks with out a bed I don't think it would matter as long as the rear wheels were covered, only need mudd flaps (look at 18 wheel tractors without a trailer) but small fenders over the wheels would keep a lot of wheel spray off everything. Don't know if I helped or hurt? Good luck Dave ---- ps you may want to check out here to see what is posted on large trucks. I don't look in this area but may help you https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum232/

From what I heard of wrapping headers it is not the thing to do. Because the header tubes are some what thin the wrap keeps the heat in as it is made to do but this heat hurts the tubes and they tend to crack. I also hear the wrap keeps in moisture and they rust sooner but that could be the heat? Unless I had to wrap to keep heat from another part I would not do it. I also think on headers rusting out if not coated might be BS? Most that have headers on a car or truck don't drive them as DD so now they have burned off the "paint" and then left sitting till driven maybe on weekends. This will have them rust faster then if used every day. You will also find this on normal exh. pipes & mufflers if let to sit a lot will rust faster than if driven every day. Just my .02 BTW how low will the headers hang below the frame of the truck? Can you tuck the system up even or above the bottom of the frame? I say this because you are building this for "over landing" so you don't want to get hung up on a low hanging exh. system. Dave ----

The 2nd and 4th look to come with the extension harness so you can plug them right in to the trucks main harness. The first one comes with a pig tail and if you have the harness extension (like the 2 above) that goes from the main harness (like my truck had also) you just need to come up with a way to join the pig tail & extension. I had to cut the extension harness plug off to join the pig tail to get mine to work. I cant tell what the 3rd has for wires other than the 2 dark (black & brown?) in the picture so it may have a pigtail? Dave ----

That is amazing! I swear I had my replacement mounted high enough - basically followed the original mounting pattern but the top is definitely not sealing against the hood lip. Any tips on removing the stuff? I did not know there was sealer to be used? Mine went on dry and I don't think it leaks but I don't go under the hood when it is raining to check. BTW it will stay dry as I don't plan to have the truck out in the rain much to worry. Dave ----

I FIXED it for you The first coat of seam sealer was from a tube and caulk gun. Let set up a day or so and used the brush on over the top of the tube stuff. I did this top & bottom of the floors, rockers, etc. Then did 2 coats of Duplicolor roll on bed linertop & bottom Dave ----

Don't let the NC in my sig fool you I am from CT up till 2015 and did body work so I know rust. Maybe that is why I bought this down here LOL The other side was the same 4 years later and a lot of work Dave ----

Well I'm still hoping to meet my southern forum buddies at some point and time! I'm working on it;). I actually flew to Florida to buy a truck back in 2006. I was traveling to the US regularly with work in those days, and bought this lovely '97 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 in St. Pete's and drove it back. I did it on the tail end of a work trip, so it didn't cost me anything out of pocket to get there. I'll never forget the trip. The US Exportation rules have since changed, but at the time you have to have the vehicle title to the US customs office 3 full days before you arrived to cross the border. Problem was...I got to the border in only 2 days, and then had to hang around podunk Maine for about 30 hours before they would let me go...lol. The Canadian dollar was almost on par with USD at the time, and later did hit par, but it has made a complete switchback since then and is now back where it was 20 years ago. A US dollar costs me about $1.35 right now. Still, I think about flying south to buy another truck all the time. I think a lot of us up here have a very strong urge to do so. This Flareside is nice...and the price is even nicer, but it surely needs work...probably lots of it. I don't mind the rust on the box and even the cab corners...but what does worry me is the rust all around the seams of the roof. I'd be willing to bet that this truck is worth saving, but I betcha a week of my wages it's going to need a cab;). That truck is only $73 more than what I paid for my truck Dave ----

That picture of the rear floor & wall is why I still have the parts truck cab. It would be just my luck I would scrap the cab and then buy a truck needing that part Even the front cab side mounts are in good shape. The floors & rockers are ok but if I was going to mess with either I wanted to go with new panels and did. I would have been running away (vary fast) from that truck if it were mine. You did a great job bringing it back from the dead LOL Dave ----

Thanks Putting off the NP435 transmission swap by doing little things LOL I have new sun visors to dye red, put together and install. Then fix the A pillars dye and install. If I have the windshield fixed from leaking, guy that installed it did a crappy job I will either get carpet, keeps the noise down, or rubber mat, easy to keep clean. Dave ----

Yeah I have a feeling it won't be fun to remove the garage seal and adhesive...LOL. Luckily I still have the spare seal from the kit, just have to get a new tube of adhesive. Why the glue? The factory seal was never glued on, I did not use any glue and have not heard of others using glue. Dave ----

Started upper 50's and dry it is 69 and raining now, talking of heavy rain & wind for tomorrow. Every one be safe with the crazy weather you may get. Dave ----

I don't know on the intakes. First thing off the top of my head is that the '88 engine will be set up for serpentine belt and will therefore have a reverse rotation water pump from your '85 302. So if you're keeping the V-Belt arrangement on your '85, you'll have to replace the water pump on the '88. I'm not sure if the timing covers are different between the two different rotation pumps or not...check on that just in case. Either way, you could swap the '85 parts over to the '88 block. The engines...as in the blocks/heads will have mild differences. The '88 302 will have E7 heads while the '85 heads will be either D8 or E6 versions. The '88 will likely have slightly higher compression. I am sure the timing covers are also different to match the pump flows. I seen it posted with pictures, maybe on that other forum? I could be wrong on that but I think there were 4 different covers. Normal - oil stick in cover and other not. reverse - oil stick in cover and other not. Other wise just 2 covers normal & reverse to match the pumps. Cant answer anything else sorry. What about oil pan sumps & rear main oil pan sealing area? Did the pan change between the different rear seals? Dave ----