'69 F350 project

[46stude]

Well, heres the scoop-
'69 F350, no engine or trans in it right now. Was originally a 360/NP435
truck. Rusty front floorboards, hood, & radiator support. A little rust on
the door bottoms, & about 4 different coats of paint. Needs to be
completely gone through.
But I ain't scared......

This truck will be my work truck when its done. I have a fuel injected 300
six for it, & will be backing it up w/ a ZF 5 speed manual tranny. Gonna
get rid of the welding bed & replace it w/ a regular flatbed. I'll be doing
the disc brake swap & will install power steering. She'll get new weather
stripping & a nice interior. Might even get AC, since I have a good
compressor & matching condensor from the 300's donor vehicle.

Got a lot of work planned for this old truck. I'll update here & in my photo
album when I have something to show.
http://www.fordification.com/galleries/ ... ?album=613

[72hiboy4x4]

Wow thats cool! Gotta love the trucks that work for a living!
and its almost a brother to my truck!

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/ ... ics146.jpg

this pics a little out of date, but it don't look no better!

If you were closer, I might have been interested in that welding bed!
Looking foreward to seeing your ol' work truck back in action!

[gonzalo medina]

That thing is sweet man. I have a good feeling about this one. Good luck and keep the pictures coming she's going to make one killer work horse. Remember you have hundreds of friends here to help in everyway because all projects encounter hard times.

[46stude]

Well, played musical vehicles today & got the F350 in my garage.
I had my '71 Riviera in there, so I had to move it out & around to
a safe spot on the property where it wouldn't be in the way.

Then we drug the F350 around & got it in. I rolled it back out & cut
the welding bed loose, then lifted it up & rolled the truck back in the
garage & out from under the bed. Stuck a trailer under the bed,
lowered it down & got it outta the way. It'll make some welder a
nice bed, but I ain't got no use for it myself.

Got a chance to look at the frame real close, & its in good shape. No
major cuts, welds, or bends that I can see. I also checked the measurements
on the '69 frame compared to my '81s frame, & they are
about the same. My '81 is a cab & chassis model & is the same 34" as
the pre-'73 models from the cab back. My factory '81 saddle tank should
swap over to the '69 frame pretty easily, & the rear tank looks like it'll
fit as well. I'll post a thread on that stuff when I get to that point, don't
worry.

Next project will be to cut that front bumper loose. Damn welders
don't bolt anything on! Takes a torch to remove stuff off an ex-welding
truck. Then I'll start disassembling the body so I can get everything
stripped & primered, & get the cab loose so I can repair the floors. It
was dark when I got finished up, so no new pics. I'll post some of the
bumperless & bedless F350 when I get back on the project.

[binder56jd]

most welders only own 3 wrenchs-the 2 that go to the bottle gauges and the liquid one(oxy/acy)

[FLATBEDFORD]

I just wanted to get into this dually thread. I'd like to do the disc brake swap as well. I'd like to see pics when you do it. Apparently we can use the discs from a '73 and up through the '90's truck, they should bolt right on. Yours has the newer one piece wheels doesn't it. I've go to get some of those.

[46stude]

I'll be sure & take pics & notes when I do the disc swap. As far as I can
tell, no one has done a dually-specific swap & documented it here. Hope
to get into that in early '07.

Yep, its got one piece 16" wheels. I'll prolly get 'em sandblasted & paint
them black to match the bed & brushguard I have for it. They're much
nicer than the old split rims- you can run load range E radials & get them
balanced...... and finding a repair shop to fix your flats is a whole lot easier!

[Jake11]

Do you have much experiance with 'ZF' tranny's? I would reconsider

[46stude]

I know they're considered one of the best trans out there. Why?
Something I'm missing? Can't say I've heard much of anything negative,
myself.

The ZF swap is one of the most popular conversions on all yrs of old Ford
trucks. Not quite as low 1st gear as a 435, but low enuff for most needs.

I've even considered swapping in a 4X4 ZF, just so I can put it in low
range if needed.

[46stude]

I'm gonna post a thread in the drivetrain section
about ZF 5 spd problems, just to see what feedback
I get on the subject. I've done a Google on "Ford
truck ZF 5 speed transmission problems" and came
back with pretty much nothing.

If theres a potential problem, I wanna know about
it beforehand.

[dablack00]

Where on the coast are you?

Truck looks good. I look forward to seeing the EFI swap.

[46stude]

Here's the link to my thread about the ZF trans:
http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... hp?t=16592


I'm near Corpus. The '69 came from your neck of the woods though- Splendora, TX.

[FLATBEDFORD]

I didn't think they rusted like that down south.

[46stude]

Heck, by Corpus Christi, TX standards my '69 is in
great shape as far as the rust goes.
The Gulf Coast eats up metal baaad. Houston isn't much better,
but they're a little farther away from
the water than we are. And our rust don't do like the
rust up north from road salt where it eats the vehicle
from the bottom up- our rust eats the vehicle from
every direction....

It can just about be stopped w/ good prep & paint, but it'll get the vehicle
eventually.

[69F110]

46stude...I like them all. When I see one of these trucks...I don't just see it as it is, but as it could be...(I probably should look at people the same way)...so, good luck with it. I see good stuff there man.

Thanks for the pics. I am living vicariously through you all right now, being over here in Germany. I should be back in july 07 and I'm getting a 69 F100 from cathynkeith.

Thanks,