1988 Ford F-150 Resto Thread!

[Steve]

Found a real nice set of rear spring plates. These things are praticly new! Still have paint on them. Much better than my corroded ones.

 

[Steve]

Got cabin fever and braved the snow to try out the spotweld cutter. This thing is amazing. Lightyears ahead of the old cheap ones ive had in the past. If i had this tool 14 years ago i would never dreaded aligments on the Ford Taurus.

 

[Steve]

Once i got the firewall reinforcement off the old cab i decided to not waste any time cutting out that firewall. It had many cracks in critical spots that made me decide to just modify the new cabs firewall. Ill use the reinforcement as a template to cut and drill new holes for the steering column and clutch m/c. Ill then just weld a 1/8" plate over the old harness holes and cut a round hole for the 88 body harness.

 

[Steve]

Could not find any spring center bolts short enough so i borrowed @Bigmac s lathe and made some!

 

[Steve]

Took the rear cover off the rear diff to check the posi spring and found milky fluid and pitted gears

 

[Steve]

I pulled the cover on the parts truck diff to see what gears were in there and a nice set of 3.55's!

Im going to Frankenstein a rear end. Use the carrier, axles, and pinion flange from my assembly and the gear set and housing from the parts truck.

 

[Bigmac]

Could not find any spring center bolts short enough so i borrowed @Bigmac s lathe and made some!

View attachment 166081

Great! And a mighty fine lathe it is!

 

[stihl_head1982]

I pulled the cover on the parts truck diff to see what gears were in there and a nice set of 3.55's!

Im going to Frankenstein a rear end. Use the carrier, axles, and pinion flange from my assembly and the gear set and housing from the parts truck.

View attachment 166088 View attachment 166093

Looks like there is no dust gathering on this project. (a derail question concerning a strut brand for my 2006 Dodge 1500 -- anyone got a recommendation? Gonna buy the parts online.)
Carry on. Can't wait to see the frame parts when they come back from the blaster -- all ready for the reassembly.

 

[huskyboy]

Looks like there is no dust gathering on this project. (a derail question concerning a strut brand for my 2006 Dodge 1500 -- anyone got a recommendation? Gonna buy the parts online.)
Carry on. Can't wait to see the frame parts when they come back from the blaster -- all ready for the reassembly.

I gotta replace the struts on my 05 f150 too. One side the spring broke at the bottom. Was gonna get the fcs brand with two struts and back shocks for 150 bucks from rock auto.

 

[Steve]

Looks like there is no dust gathering on this project. (a derail question concerning a strut brand for my 2006 Dodge 1500 -- anyone got a recommendation? Gonna buy the parts online.)
Carry on. Can't wait to see the frame parts when they come back from the blaster -- all ready for the reassembly.

Monroe quick strut. Get the lower strut bushings and bolts too. They are usually froze in the bushing.

 

[Steve]

I gotta replace the struts on my 05 f150 too. One side the spring broke at the bottom. Was gonna get the fcs brand with two struts and back shocks for 150 bucks from rock auto.

Stick with a good brand. Cheap springs/struts usually cause poor ride quality and noise.

 

[Bigmac]

Got cabin fever and braved the snow to try out the spotweld cutter. This thing is amazing. Lightyears ahead of the old cheap ones ive had in the past. If i had this tool 14 years ago i would never dreaded aligments on the Ford Taurus.

View attachment 165577

Can you show a pic of the new spot weld cutter? Curious if it’s the same style I used on the camaro!

 

[Steve]

Can you show a pic of the new spot weld cutter? Curious if it’s the same style I used on the camaro!

 

[Steve]

I need to get this place cleaned up!

 

[Bigmac]

View attachment 166293

That’s better than the ones I used, I like the interchangeable cutters!

 

[Bigmac]

I need to get this place cleaned up!

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That’s not bad...I can see the floor

 

[Steve]

That’s not bad...I can see the floor

You should see outside the shop. Beds, cabs, stuff everywhere!

 

[Bigmac]

You should see outside the shop. Beds, cabs, stuff everywhere!

Your just in full project mode! Don’t throw anything away until your completely done! You never know what you will need!!

 

[Yukon Stihl]

I need to get this place cleaned up!

View attachment 166306 View attachment 166307 View attachment 166308

looks cleaner than my shop and my 7500 Topkick has been down since xmas with the tranny out,wish i had your time to work on stuff

 

[Steve]

looks cleaner than my shop and my 7500 Topkick has been down since xmas with the tranny out,wish i had your time to work on stuff

I mainly work on it a few hours after the kids go to bed or on my day off durring the week when the kids are at school.