Rembrant Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 Thanks, Cory. And I now remember the previous post, but I didn't pick up on that you used a glue gun. Yes, you said you did, but.... I'm reminded frequently that I have some changes to make 'cause my bezel has Upshift in the far left opening and I need it to say Check Engine when I go to EFI. But that can wait. Good day gentlemen, I had another productive knuckle busting weekend wrenching on the old 1980 project truck...which reminds me, I need to come up with a name for the clunky old thing. My friend Rodger gave me a hand again on Saturday and we got all new front brake lines and calipers installed. The rear brakes are non-existent currently (plugged at the master cylinder) until I can get the back half of the frame finished. Anyway...it finally rolled out of the shop for the first time since August of last year, and under its own power for the first time in probably a decade. First couple tests were laps of the parking lot at my work...lol. And after a couple laps of the parking lot, I was confident enough to take it out on the street, but still couldn't go too far, but still managed to get it into 2nd gear. Even though this truck has 3.55 gears, it felt just like my '84 with the 3.08 gears. I'd have to do the math, but the low profile tires and 3.08 gears probably have a similar final drive ratio as the 3.55's do with the 31" tires. Anyway, that was yesterday...but getting the old 41 year old heap out for its first real drive was a treat nonetheless lol. With that done, I was able to attack the back half of the frame this morning, and removed another 19 rivets from the frame. I am so done with removing rivets I think I've had enough of that for now. What I did was the 4 leaf spring hangers and the one remaining upper shock mount. I replaced all the rivets with bolts for now and then spent an hour grinding the rust off the frame so I could apply a coating of Ospho. I'll be pulling the leaf packs and hangers next weekend to finish some patches on the frame and to install new leaf bushings, then frame paint. So much to do, so little time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 Good day gentlemen, I had another productive knuckle busting weekend wrenching on the old 1980 project truck...which reminds me, I need to come up with a name for the clunky old thing. My friend Rodger gave me a hand again on Saturday and we got all new front brake lines and calipers installed. The rear brakes are non-existent currently (plugged at the master cylinder) until I can get the back half of the frame finished. Anyway...it finally rolled out of the shop for the first time since August of last year, and under its own power for the first time in probably a decade. First couple tests were laps of the parking lot at my work...lol. And after a couple laps of the parking lot, I was confident enough to take it out on the street, but still couldn't go too far, but still managed to get it into 2nd gear. Even though this truck has 3.55 gears, it felt just like my '84 with the 3.08 gears. I'd have to do the math, but the low profile tires and 3.08 gears probably have a similar final drive ratio as the 3.55's do with the 31" tires. Anyway, that was yesterday...but getting the old 41 year old heap out for its first real drive was a treat nonetheless lol. With that done, I was able to attack the back half of the frame this morning, and removed another 19 rivets from the frame. I am so done with removing rivets I think I've had enough of that for now. What I did was the 4 leaf spring hangers and the one remaining upper shock mount. I replaced all the rivets with bolts for now and then spent an hour grinding the rust off the frame so I could apply a coating of Ospho. I'll be pulling the leaf packs and hangers next weekend to finish some patches on the frame and to install new leaf bushings, then frame paint. So much to do, so little time! I bet it's a great feeling being able to move it around under it's own power rather than having to push it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 Good day gentlemen, I had another productive knuckle busting weekend wrenching on the old 1980 project truck...which reminds me, I need to come up with a name for the clunky old thing. My friend Rodger gave me a hand again on Saturday and we got all new front brake lines and calipers installed. The rear brakes are non-existent currently (plugged at the master cylinder) until I can get the back half of the frame finished. Anyway...it finally rolled out of the shop for the first time since August of last year, and under its own power for the first time in probably a decade. First couple tests were laps of the parking lot at my work...lol. And after a couple laps of the parking lot, I was confident enough to take it out on the street, but still couldn't go too far, but still managed to get it into 2nd gear. Even though this truck has 3.55 gears, it felt just like my '84 with the 3.08 gears. I'd have to do the math, but the low profile tires and 3.08 gears probably have a similar final drive ratio as the 3.55's do with the 31" tires. Anyway, that was yesterday...but getting the old 41 year old heap out for its first real drive was a treat nonetheless lol. With that done, I was able to attack the back half of the frame this morning, and removed another 19 rivets from the frame. I am so done with removing rivets I think I've had enough of that for now. What I did was the 4 leaf spring hangers and the one remaining upper shock mount. I replaced all the rivets with bolts for now and then spent an hour grinding the rust off the frame so I could apply a coating of Ospho. I'll be pulling the leaf packs and hangers next weekend to finish some patches on the frame and to install new leaf bushings, then frame paint. So much to do, so little time! Well done, CORY! Getting to drive it must be such a high! Such a wonderful feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlongo33 Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 Well done, CORY! Getting to drive it must be such a high! Such a wonderful feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 Awesome! I really like the wheels on there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 Awesome! I really like the wheels on there! I know its a BIG step when they move under their own power well done At least you did not have the issues I had even moving it in / out of the garage, broke the Z bar pivot on the motor side both moving in the garage and the first drive. Do you know what you are doing for a bed yet as I think you said you don't have all the needed parts to put the flare side back on. Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 Do you know what you are doing for a bed yet as I think you said you don't have all the needed parts to put the flare side back on. Dave ---- Dave, I know what I'm doing with the bed...sort of...lol. I have it all sorted out except for the floor, and I'm still unsure what I'm going to do with that. I just picked up my new bed sides on Friday, and will be getting some of the smaller parts in the coming weeks. I got front and rear sills from a guy in Georgia. They're not perfect, but they're way better than what I had (which was none). The original tailgate is in surprisingly good condition. Somebody had the foresight many years ago to drill holes in the back side of the tailgate so that it could be sprayed with rustproofing inside. I also have the original headboard, which is pretty rotten across the bottom, but is fixable. I'll be working on this in coming weeks, so I'll post up some pictures as I go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1986F150Six Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 Do you know what you are doing for a bed yet as I think you said you don't have all the needed parts to put the flare side back on. Dave ---- Dave, I know what I'm doing with the bed...sort of...lol. I have it all sorted out except for the floor, and I'm still unsure what I'm going to do with that. I just picked up my new bed sides on Friday, and will be getting some of the smaller parts in the coming weeks. I got front and rear sills from a guy in Georgia. They're not perfect, but they're way better than what I had (which was none). The original tailgate is in surprisingly good condition. Somebody had the foresight many years ago to drill holes in the back side of the tailgate so that it could be sprayed with rustproofing inside. I also have the original headboard, which is pretty rotten across the bottom, but is fixable. I'll be working on this in coming weeks, so I'll post up some pictures as I go. Looks great, Cory! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 Looks great, Cory! Thanks David! It's coming along, one bolt at a time. Once I get the Flareside bed built for it, it will at least look like a complete truck again, albeit a ratty one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 Looks great, Cory! Thanks David! It's coming along, one bolt at a time. Once I get the Flareside bed built for it, it will at least look like a complete truck again, albeit a ratty one. More progress in the rust bucket garage this weekend...and well, some non-progress. I pulled the rear leaf packs off one at a time to replace bushings and clean rust, add some steel plates here and there, and paint. I ran into a major snag with the rear leaf forward bushings. Apparently Ford changed the size of them (or, some of them) in 1994, but nobody told Moog as the bushings I had purchased were the older style (OD too small). I bought them from Rock Auto six months ago, but the issue is with Moog's listing. Seems it is a fairly well known issue...IF you know about it...lol, which I did not. The Moog parts were supposed to fit, so why research, right? Oh well, can't cry over it now. Found this with a little digging on Google... It looks like the bushings ARE available from a couple spring/suspension vendors, but they're bloody expensive at $30-$40 each, compared to something like $8 for the Moog ones. So I'll make some calls to the leaf spring shops tomorrow and see if they have or can get the correct bushings. If that doesn't work I'll either sleeve the bushings (sheet metal sleeve and tack it to the bushing shell) or worst case scenario swap out the 1995 main leafs for a set of 1980-1993 leafs. Anyway...a day in the life of a Frankentruck. I'm sure going to miss the use of this Forklift soon...it makes for a great leaf pack holder when pressing new bushings in. And it also doubles as a workbench, paint bench, etc... So I removed all four leaf hanger brackets. The forward ones I just cleaned up and painted, the rears I had to replace. The passenger rear was especially bad. I got the driver's side all back together and the outside of the frame rail painted. Passenger side is partially assembled. I need to weld in a couple small patches where the rear hanger mounts on the frame. Tomorrow is going to be All MIG Monday... It was my goal to have the whole back half of the frame finished by the end of Monday (Holiday in Canada tomorrow). That's all welded and painted up...EXCEPT without new front bushings installed. BUGGER. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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