1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project

[ArdWrknTrk]

I always joke that there are more people in the state of California than in all of Canada...we simply have no buying power! It's complicated...there are brokerage fees, duties, freight charges, and of course tax. It all adds up pretty quick.....

We have a different market here too though, ya know. With the southern US, there are a lot of older vehicles still on the road that you just would not find up here anymore (likely the same in New England too eh?)

Yes, here in New England and farther west in the rust belt everything is all eaten up from winter salt.

I just had to patch what was left of my door back together because I can't find a good pair.

But I thought the whole point of a "North American Free Trade Agreement" was to minimize fees, duties and other impediments to "Free Trade"?

I understand that your taxes might be higher, and I get it that neighbouring States like New Hampshire have NO sales tax.

The EU was formed to overcome obstacles like this, and provide a more cohesive bigger trading bloc.

I can understand that Canada wouldn't want her currency tied to that of the U.S.

Without getting political, that 400' seems a mighty big gulf to cross.

Jonathan,

How different is a diesel support (other than having a bigger chin)?

If it is just that, I'm surprised there isn't a market for someone with a press and a plasma table.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I like what you've done with the core support! I was lucky and found a relatively rust free gas version just laying next to a truck in the junkyard, and it only cost me $40. It has a very small chunk missing from where the fender liner mounts at the bottom, but that is easily fixed with a patch like yours. I'll probably also end up converting it to run the 85+ style radiator.

Here in the south they don't rust out from the elements, but what does rust them out is battery acid. My old radiator support was eaten away on that side for that reason, and it got into the frame a little bit as well but a frame saver patch wasn't necessary since it was only just starting to corrode.

Seems a piece of Pigmat saturated in baking soda and set in the tray could go a long way toward preventing battery acid problems

[Rembrant]

Here in the south they don't rust out from the elements, but what does rust them out is battery acid. My old radiator support was eaten away on that side for that reason, and it got into the frame a little bit as well but a frame saver patch wasn't necessary since it was only just starting to corrode.

The Bullnose battery tray has got to be one of the biggest engineering failures in these trucks. It's installed UNDER the fender liner/apron....just sitting there in front of the wheel capturing water, salt, and dirt between it and the fender liner. I have never found one still intact in a Bullnose up here...never, not even close. Usually it is entirely gone except for the short little vertical tab bolted to the inside of the fender.

 

[Gary Lewis]

Seems a piece of Pigmat saturated in baking soda and set in the tray could go a long way toward preventing battery acid problems

I'm really glad I don't have to put up with all the salt and the rust. Having said that, the core support that Jonathan got me from Arizona still had some issues I had to deal with. It had a whole bunch of stress cracks that had started to rust, so I had to clean it up, weld it up, and then have it painted.

Anyway, Cory I like what you are doing! Well done.

[Gary Lewis]

The Bullnose battery tray has got to be one of the biggest engineering failures in these trucks. It's installed UNDER the fender liner/apron....just sitting there in front of the wheel capturing water, salt, and dirt between it and the fender liner. I have never found one still intact in a Bullnose up here...never, not even close. Usually it is entirely gone except for the short little vertical tab bolted to the inside of the fender.

Yep! A really good reason to move to a Bricknose battery tray.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Seems a piece of Pigmat saturated in baking soda and set in the tray could go a long way toward preventing battery acid problems

I keep forgetting (trying to forget?) those Bullnose trays never see the battery.

I do like the wedge base retention of the later trays over the hold-downs and J-hooks.

 

[nlongo33]

I keep forgetting (trying to forget?) those Bullnose trays never see the battery.

I do like the wedge base retention of the later trays over the hold-downs and J-hooks.

Looks good! funny Cam and I were doing the same thing this weekend with his truck....we were replacing body mounts and fixing at same time....I have a lead on a bezel for you i will know later in the week

[Rembrant]

Looks good! funny Cam and I were doing the same thing this weekend with his truck....we were replacing body mounts and fixing at same time....I have a lead on a bezel for you i will know later in the week

Thanks Nick!

Let me know on the bezels, sure. I have been looking for a black weave set...and a fairly specific set at that, but I'm open to all options in black. For the instrument bezel, I'd like to find a 1980 as the indicators are in different locations, and for the radio bezel I'd like to find one with CUSTOM on it, and even better if it has the clock cut-outs. Anyway...as noted, I'm also kinda cheap and trying to build this junker on a fairly tight budget. But...I did learn something interesting last night. A guy here in Canada has a couple sets of bezels for sale, one of which was black. It turns out he painted a 1984 Rosewood set, and man it looks really good.

So seeing this has me thinking. I have a fairly decent set of 1986 bezels in Burlwood, and maybe I'll simply paint them black. Not sure if I can make them as nice as the one above, but I thought it looked pretty darn good. The guy does some air brush work, so he probably has a little more skill than a knuckle skinner like me...lol.

[Machspeed]

Looks good! funny Cam and I were doing the same thing this weekend with his truck....we were replacing body mounts and fixing at same time....I have a lead on a bezel for you i will know later in the week

Thanks Nick!

Let me know on the bezels, sure. I have been looking for a black weave set...and a fairly specific set at that, but I'm open to all options in black. For the instrument bezel, I'd like to find a 1980 as the indicators are in different locations, and for the radio bezel I'd like to find one with CUSTOM on it, and even better if it has the clock cut-outs. Anyway...as noted, I'm also kinda cheap and trying to build this junker on a fairly tight budget. But...I did learn something interesting last night. A guy here in Canada has a couple sets of bezels for sale, one of which was black. It turns out he painted a 1984 Rosewood set, and man it looks really good.

So seeing this has me thinking. I have a fairly decent set of 1986 bezels in Burlwood, and maybe I'll simply paint them black. Not sure if I can make them as nice as the one above, but I thought it looked pretty darn good. The guy does some air brush work, so he probably has a little more skill than a knuckle skinner like me...lol.

Great project thread, Cory. I've learned a lot just reading through it, thank you. Didn't know the core support was so susceptible to rust. Based off some issues that I had to deal with, guess I'll be looking at that too.

[grumpin]

Great project thread, Cory. I've learned a lot just reading through it, thank you. Didn't know the core support was so susceptible to rust. Based off some issues that I had to deal with, guess I'll be looking at that too.

I like that bezel!

Knuckle skinner, ha! I feel more like a knuckle dragger sometimes!