1980 F150 Shortbox 4x4

[FuzzFace2]

It really does look good! Can't wait to see it all come together.

The day where your truck is delivered/picked up from the body/paint shop is a really, REALLY special day. I remember it well, and it sure felt good. CONGRAT'S!!!!

You sure that is primer it looks to good to be primer

On the wrap I have thought about it on mine but I would need to farm that out as I have never done that before. When I paint my truck I can say I have done everything (so far) other than the pressing out / in of the kingpin bushings to the spindles.

On the projection head lights will you be doing a write up on parts used, what is needed to install and how they work?

I like the projection lights on the wifes Subie but don't know if I would like them on my truck mainly the look.

Dave ----

[gtanns]

You sure that is primer it looks to good to be primer

On the wrap I have thought about it on mine but I would need to farm that out as I have never done that before. When I paint my truck I can say I have done everything (so far) other than the pressing out / in of the kingpin bushings to the spindles.

On the projection head lights will you be doing a write up on parts used, what is needed to install and how they work?

I like the projection lights on the wifes Subie but don't know if I would like them on my truck mainly the look.

Dave ----

Yup it's the primer! I'll do a write up on the projection headlights when i get there for sure.

Gastank Update. The guy I sourced for the tank is away travelling till April 1, so I'll probably have both tanks completed by 2nd week of April.

This is the process so far. He came up with some CAD drawings, and has started fabricating the driver side tank. He's using 3/16" steel, capacity should abuot 180 litres, or 47 gallons, so enough to get to the backtrails!

I also picked up a sender, pump, and vent from Summit:

CAD drawing for Driver side:

Actual progress on Driver side:

CAD drawing for Passenger side tank (yet to start fabbing this one)

[Steve83]

He's using 3/16" steel...

Actual progress on Driver side:

That doesn't look like steel.

[Gary Lewis]

Yup it's the primer! I'll do a write up on the projection headlights when i get there for sure.

Gastank Update. The guy I sourced for the tank is away travelling till April 1, so I'll probably have both tanks completed by 2nd week of April.

This is the process so far. He came up with some CAD drawings, and has started fabricating the driver side tank. He's using 3/16" steel, capacity should abuot 180 litres, or 47 gallons, so enough to get to the backtrails!

I also picked up a sender, pump, and vent from Summit:

CAD drawing for Driver side:

Actual progress on Driver side:

CAD drawing for Passenger side tank (yet to start fabbing this one)

Tank looks pretty!

[gtanns]

He's using 3/16" steel...

Actual progress on Driver side:

That doesn't look like steel.

Yup that's cause it's aluminum lol

[gtanns]

Yup that's cause it's aluminum lol

Some late night updates! Time is goin fast now and its coming together quick.

Ripped out the inside firewall stuff and everything, dynamat and insulation on the floor. thought i had a leak but ended up when you dump a lot of water on the windsheild the volume is too much flow for the little air vent in the door by the highbeam switch. cleaned out some muck that had been stuck in there years.

Engine in and headers on; 2000 b&m torque converter

Ps header is touching the frame, just. on the one pipe, gonna take it off and nudge it over/make it fit here with a 2x4 maybe, it touches between a crossmember on the frame.

Ds header is pretty close to the oilpan, going to do the same here. There are some pretty great heatshield companies out there, so probably use some here also with some air clearance.

the ds header had to take out the drive shaft, and will have to take off the dipstick tube also and then snake it back to the pan. I just bent the tube enough to mock up the ds header first.

Going to run side dump 2.5 exhaust on both ds adn ps and route them under, and then along the outside frame with a flex join and then 45 in front of the rear wheels

Comin along though! That's it for today

[Gary Lewis]

Some late night updates! Time is goin fast now and its coming together quick.

Ripped out the inside firewall stuff and everything, dynamat and insulation on the floor. thought i had a leak but ended up when you dump a lot of water on the windsheild the volume is too much flow for the little air vent in the door by the highbeam switch. cleaned out some muck that had been stuck in there years.

Engine in and headers on; 2000 b&m torque converter

Ps header is touching the frame, just. on the one pipe, gonna take it off and nudge it over/make it fit here with a 2x4 maybe, it touches between a crossmember on the frame.

Ds header is pretty close to the oilpan, going to do the same here. There are some pretty great heatshield companies out there, so probably use some here also with some air clearance.

the ds header had to take out the drive shaft, and will have to take off the dipstick tube also and then snake it back to the pan. I just bent the tube enough to mock up the ds header first.

Going to run side dump 2.5 exhaust on both ds adn ps and route them under, and then along the outside frame with a flex join and then 45 in front of the rear wheels

Comin along though! That's it for today

It sure is looking good! Engine looks great. What did you wind up using as pistons and cam? Carb?

Hope you did get the leak fixed. Those things are pesky and can be a major problem.

On the headers, those issues are one of the reasons I don't like headers. Big Blue's drivers's side header is touching the frame and makes serious clunks as you shift gears.

Anyway, it really is coming together nicely! You think you'll have it running over the holiday?

[gtanns]

It sure is looking good! Engine looks great. What did you wind up using as pistons and cam? Carb?

Hope you did get the leak fixed. Those things are pesky and can be a major problem.

On the headers, those issues are one of the reasons I don't like headers. Big Blue's drivers's side header is touching the frame and makes serious clunks as you shift gears.

Anyway, it really is coming together nicely! You think you'll have it running over the holiday?

I'm going to have to get back to you on the pistons and camshaft. I know they were Silv-o-lite pistons and a comp cam flat tappet. (I thought i was getting a roller cam, so i was kinda choked about that). Gosh does this ever take a while lol..been non-stop on this thing. I was expecting some hiccups, but yeah.. there are always more than you anticipate! I'm getting married Oct 12th so REALLY doing my best to get this thing rolling by then!

Here are a string of updates:

HEADERS:

Hooker 6916HKR - I had some trouble fitting these as the pipe was touching the frame on PS and also very close to the oilpan on DS. After three rounds of heating and banging around, they fit! Wrapped them in DEI Titanium header wrap.

EXHAUST:

Dual side dump exhaust routed quite nicely actually. I was all stressed about where to route these the way I wanted, then had an aha moment and they routed very nicely ! Magnaflow 12256 I think and 304 stainless 2.5" pipe. I just polished the tips. Also not seen in the pic, the DS exhaust has the FiTech oxygen sensor mounted near the front

INTERIOR VINYL:

Used this stuff called Rapper Xtreme. it's 4-way stretch snowmobile vinyl rated for like -40. And I got this contact adhesive called DAP Weldwood Contact Adhesive. Couldn't find it in Canada so i ordered to my American mailbox and brought it over. It is top notch. Highly recommend!

For the doors do a rough trace and then start from the middle out. The vinyl stretches nice, but don't over stretch it, or you will be left with a ripple at the end. After one part sticks, map it out with your hands and use a sharpie to mark the underside some points where to spread the glue for the next part, and so on.

With the headliner, i had the advantage of having the back window out so i used clamps to hold up the vinyl while i marked it with a sharpie. I made guideline marks and then did the same thing and glued one section at a time. i put painters around the edges so that the contact cement wouldn't glue down on the edges. The interior plastic trim finishes about 1/4" off the ceiling. The vinyl is not that thick, so I cut pieces of an old headliner and then glued them around the edges at the end to finish it (you can see this in the photo of the interior light).

Behind the seat same idea.. i put some relief cuts in that series of dimples across the back

EXTERIOR VINYL WRAP:

I bought 3M Satin Black vinyl, and hired this guy to come out and do it. Unforuntately, there were some delays getting him to come out to finish so it put the project behind a month, but it's finished now and the work is good. I used black plastidip to spray parts of that piece between the hood and the windshield (i took this from a 1987 so instead of the straight holes, it's a LOT of perforations)

GASTANK & REAR WINDOW:

Tank is in and I used this pump and this sending unit and have 3/8 PTFE braided line with an inline 100 micron filter. Got the charcoal filter line plumbed in and then have another air vent line that will thread into the side of the filler neck.

After the vinyl was done, I could put in the back window. Got the lightest tint available from CR Laurence for the window. Stretched the new rubber around it and then took a 1/8" string and ran it along the inside of the rubber. Had some helpers hold it in place and i worked the rubber in starting in the bottom middle and towards the corners pulling the string. Of course the string broke a couple times. There was a lot of sweat and swearing during this process, and blood actually from inadvertently punching myself in the head when the string broke, but with the help of additional hands and a plastic wedge, we were able to get it in. I put Black auto adhesive in the corners just to secure any potential gaps... thought i had it covered, but then unforuntately noticed a bit of water along the bottom DS section of the window after a rainstorm...will investigate further later, but it's good for now!

 

[gtanns]

I'm going to have to get back to you on the pistons and camshaft. I know they were Silv-o-lite pistons and a comp cam flat tappet. (I thought i was getting a roller cam, so i was kinda choked about that). Gosh does this ever take a while lol..been non-stop on this thing. I was expecting some hiccups, but yeah.. there are always more than you anticipate! I'm getting married Oct 12th so REALLY doing my best to get this thing rolling by then!

Here are a string of updates:

HEADERS:

Hooker 6916HKR - I had some trouble fitting these as the pipe was touching the frame on PS and also very close to the oilpan on DS. After three rounds of heating and banging around, they fit! Wrapped them in DEI Titanium header wrap.

EXHAUST:

Dual side dump exhaust routed quite nicely actually. I was all stressed about where to route these the way I wanted, then had an aha moment and they routed very nicely ! Magnaflow 12256 I think and 304 stainless 2.5" pipe. I just polished the tips. Also not seen in the pic, the DS exhaust has the FiTech oxygen sensor mounted near the front

INTERIOR VINYL:

Used this stuff called Rapper Xtreme. it's 4-way stretch snowmobile vinyl rated for like -40. And I got this contact adhesive called DAP Weldwood Contact Adhesive. Couldn't find it in Canada so i ordered to my American mailbox and brought it over. It is top notch. Highly recommend!

For the doors do a rough trace and then start from the middle out. The vinyl stretches nice, but don't over stretch it, or you will be left with a ripple at the end. After one part sticks, map it out with your hands and use a sharpie to mark the underside some points where to spread the glue for the next part, and so on.

With the headliner, i had the advantage of having the back window out so i used clamps to hold up the vinyl while i marked it with a sharpie. I made guideline marks and then did the same thing and glued one section at a time. i put painters around the edges so that the contact cement wouldn't glue down on the edges. The interior plastic trim finishes about 1/4" off the ceiling. The vinyl is not that thick, so I cut pieces of an old headliner and then glued them around the edges at the end to finish it (you can see this in the photo of the interior light).

Behind the seat same idea.. i put some relief cuts in that series of dimples across the back

EXTERIOR VINYL WRAP:

I bought 3M Satin Black vinyl, and hired this guy to come out and do it. Unforuntately, there were some delays getting him to come out to finish so it put the project behind a month, but it's finished now and the work is good. I used black plastidip to spray parts of that piece between the hood and the windshield (i took this from a 1987 so instead of the straight holes, it's a LOT of perforations)

GASTANK & REAR WINDOW:

Tank is in and I used this pump and this sending unit and have 3/8 PTFE braided line with an inline 100 micron filter. Got the charcoal filter line plumbed in and then have another air vent line that will thread into the side of the filler neck.

After the vinyl was done, I could put in the back window. Got the lightest tint available from CR Laurence for the window. Stretched the new rubber around it and then took a 1/8" string and ran it along the inside of the rubber. Had some helpers hold it in place and i worked the rubber in starting in the bottom middle and towards the corners pulling the string. Of course the string broke a couple times. There was a lot of sweat and swearing during this process, and blood actually from inadvertently punching myself in the head when the string broke, but with the help of additional hands and a plastic wedge, we were able to get it in. I put Black auto adhesive in the corners just to secure any potential gaps... thought i had it covered, but then unforuntately noticed a bit of water along the bottom DS section of the window after a rainstorm...will investigate further later, but it's good for now!

COOLING:

I bought a 3 row aluminum rad from Rock Auto that fit the old brackets for the original stock rad.

I also put in new tranny fluid (and yes loaded the B&M torque converter with fluid too when we put that in!) and then had another radiator laying around, so used that and mounted it in front of the big rad on the PS. Also, i picked up a power steering rad from an old HD F250 and installed that on the DS. I don't have a photo of the shroud/fans right now, but i've got two electric fans in there, and mounted a thermostat switch in the radiator to trigger the fans.

Project was taking too long at these guys barn, so for the last part here, I've had it towed to a shop that is going to get everything tight and hopefully have this puppy purring within a couple weeks!

[Gary Lewis]

COOLING:

I bought a 3 row aluminum rad from Rock Auto that fit the old brackets for the original stock rad.

I also put in new tranny fluid (and yes loaded the B&M torque converter with fluid too when we put that in!) and then had another radiator laying around, so used that and mounted it in front of the big rad on the PS. Also, i picked up a power steering rad from an old HD F250 and installed that on the DS. I don't have a photo of the shroud/fans right now, but i've got two electric fans in there, and mounted a thermostat switch in the radiator to trigger the fans.

Project was taking too long at these guys barn, so for the last part here, I've had it towed to a shop that is going to get everything tight and hopefully have this puppy purring within a couple weeks!

Wow! You've done a LOT of work!

It is really taking shape. I'd never thought of new vinyl on a door panel, or many of the other things you've done. Can't wait for it to be completed and hear the "I LOVE IT!!!" report.