Gary Lewis Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Thanks guys! Gary, my buddy's father has a landscaping business, so we used his Bobcat to load everything in my truck. I used my engine crane to lift the axle, drove the truck out from under it, and then lowered it to the ground. Then I did the same thing with the frame, so as not to risk damaging my truck. Jim, the pinhole cowl was in rough shape, and ended up getting cut in half with the rest of the cab. One interesting thing to note, the cab was cracked around the passenger side hinge area, just like my cab is. I'm relatively new to this cracking phenomenon, is this a bricknose thing? Has anybody seen this on a bullnose? I cut a section out of my spare bullnose cab to repair my cab, but just found it interesting to see another truck with the same issue. Good plan on the lifting. On the cracking, I've not seen that in any of the Bullnose trucks I've been around. Have you posted pics of the cracks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 Good plan on the lifting. On the cracking, I've not seen that in any of the Bullnose trucks I've been around. Have you posted pics of the cracks? I will create a new thread to gauge other's opinions. That way more people can see it and chime in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted December 18, 2020 Author Share Posted December 18, 2020 I will create a new thread to gauge other's opinions. That way more people can see it and chime in. Pulled the diff cover to gauge overall condition of my new axle (I was looking for water/mud intrusion) and I'm happy to report that I don't see anything crazy. I'll eventually be going through this axle when I throw in a True-Trac, so it's good to know there's nothing too rough in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Pulled the diff cover to gauge overall condition of my new axle (I was looking for water/mud intrusion) and I'm happy to report that I don't see anything crazy. I'll eventually be going through this axle when I throw in a True-Trac, so it's good to know there's nothing too rough in there. That's great news, Shaun! That in itself is probably worth what you paid for the truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted December 18, 2020 Author Share Posted December 18, 2020 That's great news, Shaun! That in itself is probably worth what you paid for the truck. Yea, I'm pretty relieved. I took a gamble buying the truck strictly based off of a few pictures. But the axle and the 460 frame perches would have cost me more than what I paid for the whole truck if I were to buy them separately. Sometimes it pays to buy a complete (or in my case incomplete) truck for parts. Also, the one thing did not cut up on this truck was the engine crossmember. It's perfectly intact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Yea, I'm pretty relieved. I took a gamble buying the truck strictly based off of a few pictures. But the axle and the 460 frame perches would have cost me more than what I paid for the whole truck if I were to buy them separately. Sometimes it pays to buy a complete (or in my case incomplete) truck for parts. Also, the one thing did not cut up on this truck was the engine crossmember. It's perfectly intact. LOL! He cut up the one that mattered and left the one that didn't alone. There's no reasoning with how and why does something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Yea, I'm pretty relieved. I took a gamble buying the truck strictly based off of a few pictures. But the axle and the 460 frame perches would have cost me more than what I paid for the whole truck if I were to buy them separately. Sometimes it pays to buy a complete (or in my case incomplete) truck for parts. Also, the one thing did not cut up on this truck was the engine crossmember. It's perfectly intact. Hey Shaun, can you weigh in on the 'Lila-'81 F100' thread about what it takes to put a later hydraulic clutch pedal box into an early 3-on-the-tree cab, and what happens with the steering column? Jaci and her husband (who is a mechanic) have a Aeronose donor, but I've pointed out that she needs to figure out how to drive the '81 speedo with no cable boss on the M5R2. I know you have pics and experience with changing the tabs on the firewall to mount the pedal support, but Its a bit beyond me to explain the two piece column with a universal in the cab, and I know the whole retro/resto thing is a path you've walked before. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted December 28, 2020 Author Share Posted December 28, 2020 Hey Shaun, can you weigh in on the 'Lila-'81 F100' thread about what it takes to put a later hydraulic clutch pedal box into an early 3-on-the-tree cab, and what happens with the steering column? Jaci and her husband (who is a mechanic) have a Aeronose donor, but I've pointed out that she needs to figure out how to drive the '81 speedo with no cable boss on the M5R2. I know you have pics and experience with changing the tabs on the firewall to mount the pedal support, but Its a bit beyond me to explain the two piece column with a universal in the cab, and I know the whole retro/resto thing is a path you've walked before. Thanks! Well, the semi-float rear axle is out. I also took out the light duty springs and have been working on cleaning up the HD springs from my parts truck. I'm in the process of cleaning up the brackets for the sway bar links and will work on mounting those while I have unlimited access to the frame before I throw the rear leaf springs back in. I'm looking forward to seeing those hubs sticking out a mile past the center bores of the wheels. Something about exposed full-float hubs just looks cool to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Well, the semi-float rear axle is out. I also took out the light duty springs and have been working on cleaning up the HD springs from my parts truck. I'm in the process of cleaning up the brackets for the sway bar links and will work on mounting those while I have unlimited access to the frame before I throw the rear leaf springs back in. I'm looking forward to seeing those hubs sticking out a mile past the center bores of the wheels. Something about exposed full-float hubs just looks cool to me. I agree, Shaun! Those hubs sticking out look "mean"! Good progress, and as Jim says, progress is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 I agree, Shaun! Those hubs sticking out look "mean"! Good progress, and as Jim says, progress is good. Got some work done on the F350 over the new year's weekend. I managed to drill the six holes needed for the 4x4 sway bar link brackets, painted the brackets, and then installed them with new hardware. I finished cleaning up the rear leaf springs, and layered them with a couple coats of paint. I re-installed them, but have decided to replace the center pins, hence the c-clamps. I also moved the full-float Sterling back under the truck, and cleaned the green paint off of the hubs and coated them in black paint as well. On a side note, does anybody know where to get new U-bolts for the rear sway bar brackets that go on the axle? Mine are crusty, so I need to replace them. Ford only sold them in a kit, so that's not an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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