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1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck

grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 12:19:28 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Meet Big Red: Big Red arrived last winter for a total overhaul. Not a restoration- but more like "Everyone has said this truck should be scrapped, no one will touch it. I know you can save this thing" says my buddy Dave... It is actually a mashup of two different trucks. Something similar to what I've done more than a dozen times now. This one was done a long time ago and was quite the challenge figuring out what has been done, what it needs and the best plan of action to save it. Over 20 years ago the current owner bought it this way. It is a 1979 F250 (3/4 tonne) 4x4 chassis with a 1965 body sat on it. Many different parts were used to create it. Dave's been driving it a few times a year for the last two decades and says that it leaks water around the windscreen, the automatic floor shifter barely works, the rust is coming through everywhere, there is not enough interior cab space (He's 6'4") and a host of other problems. So I decided to take it all down, see what was salvageable and what wasn't. The main thing Dave was concerned about was the rust. He also wanted modern power. A new engine, transmission and transfer case. I never drove it anywhere other than the driveway/yard and it ran decent with it's 1989 Ford carbureted 302 engine but you could tell it was a pile of very tired parts. He also complained that it rode like garbage. Stiff, rattling and sketchy as all hell. I could tell that was true. The more I disassembled- The worse it became. I've got a bunch of pics, so this thread will be more images than words. It's got a new engine & lots of new sheet metal now- stay tuned


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 12:31:06 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	One thing that was apparent was the way they attached the floor pans together. From the 1979 donor truck- they welded that floor pan directly underneath the 1965 cab. This made it fit the 79 frame- if only just. Most of the 1965 pan was left in place to form a curse word sandwich of tar, bathtub caulk and truck undercoatings. Add in some aluminum plates, some brazing rod patch panels and body filler bubble gum for good measure. This trapped water between the two, but worse than that- the doors never closed properly so you had to SLAM the living daylights out of them to latch. Every single time. It was worse than a few of the junks that I built back in the early days. A big downfall of this curse word sammich- they sacrificed at least 3.5 inches of headroom and foot room. Looking at pictures it was clear the floor pan just didn't look right. There were other surprises along the way too.


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 12:46:42 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	I knew the body was 80% trash. So we set out in search of donor truck shell. Dave wanted to retain as much of Big Red as possible. Keep the "look and feel" of the family truckster. He didn't want a 2015 F250 4x4 chassis under it- which I explained would solve all of the driving issues. No, let's just "fix this one up a bit'. Ok- let's have a look at the frame, axles and suspension. We'll get back to the bodywork when we find a donor shell. So down to the frame it went: It was very odd- No real spring shackles to allow for movement of the leaf springs as they compress and relax. It took many hours to solve what the previous builder had done. Bits from the 1965 AND 1979 F250 suspension were cobbled together by cutting and welding garbage together until they found something that worked. Twenty years on- you can see the result. I call his driving this thing at 70 on the freeway- "Several near death experiences".
	Last Edit: Sept 18, 2021 13:51:52 GMT by grenade

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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 12:52:42 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Be sure to beat the frame with a hammer and check that it has structural integrity or this project is over! The frame was the best part actually. Once cleaned it was deemed worthy and I moved ahead. Also surprisingly- the front and rear straight 4x4 axles- were both rebuilt. Very good condition. I measured and internet researched until I found leaf springs, shackles and hangers that replace this literal pile of junk they used as suspension.


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 12:55:20 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Drill, bolt & weld:


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 12:58:59 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Nevermind that big stupid camper van- that's a project thread for another day. Last winter was cold- but this summer has been great so far. Let's get back to the 4x4. Once I mocked up the rear leaf springs I realized that the spring perches on the axle- were too narrow. So I replaced them.
	Last Edit: Sept 18, 2021 13:00:18 GMT by grenade

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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 13:02:34 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Now on to the front, equally as bad:


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 13:06:52 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	It took a bunch of work to get it this far. Now I needed to cut that floor out of the cab and get started fitting that thing together. Since I'm basically channeling this cab by replacing the floor- I decided to give Dave more headroom and foot room but making the floor actually sit below the frame where ever possible. But first- let's look at that now located Donor truck!


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 13:16:23 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Straight from the mountains of Tennessee, This was basically a giant wasp nest with wheels. But it had the steel panels we needed. Replacement panels for a 1965 F series truck are non existent. These just weren't the popular 67-72 trucks and as a result- no panels were available. (very few anyway)


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Paul Y Posted a lot Posts: 1,951	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck Paul Y @pauly
	Sept 18, 2021 13:18:44 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Looking forward to the next thrilling instalment! P.
	If I wanted 2 pedals I would have built a bicycle.... Woody's Build retrorides.proboards.com/thread/176466/woody-knife-phase-huge-cajones

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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 13:22:01 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	So I started cutting. I had a mobile sandblast unit come strip the Big Red cab down, so I could see how bad it was. I determined that it was less work to SAVE big red's cab than it was to try and utilize this blue cab, which needed repairs- as well as I would have to make it fit the 1979 frame. What a mess that made. But now I see there's a lot more repairing of this cab than I thought. Of course there is. In for a penny as they say...


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 13:23:56 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top



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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 13:33:52 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Here's where it gets interesting. In measuring both trucks' wheelbases I discovered that they were different. WHY? They were both long beds, factory cabs- how come they didn't match? After close examination I discovered why. The 79 chassis NEVER fit right on the 65 wheelbase. So the previous builder "stretched" the rear arches of the Big Red bed sides! Plus if you ask me- Big Red looked odd from day one and I could never put my finger on it. But now I knew why!


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 13:36:45 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	I determined that five inches of Blue Donor bed side needed to come out. Since I was fabricating an entire new bed floor anyway- My nephew and I set to choppin'.


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 13:41:06 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Never mind about that orange colored truck in the background- that's a 1974 2wd and also a thread for another day It was time to set ride height and mock up that 1965 body on top of the newly rebuilt 1999-2004 F350 Super Duty Suspension. On a 1979 chassis. That now has a 2018 engine. More on that later...


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 13:45:05 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	With a ride height determined, it was time to build that interior cab floor.


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 13:47:25 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	But WAIT A MINUTE.. I can't get the space maximized until I put an engine & trans/transfer box in this thing. Then I can keep the trans tunnel tight as possible. Let me go rustle up a motor...


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 14:17:52 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Waiting for the engine to arrive- I started repairing the door skins and various spots on the cab, using steel harvested from the blue donor:


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 14:23:41 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Is it perfect? No. Is it Kindig or even Gas monkey quality? No. Heck- I'm not a body guy but this is the way to save a truck that was going to rot away if I didn't save it. It will be driven and used off road. It will haul logs and do a little bit of trail duty. We were going for reliable, looks decent and nobody will be sad if it gets a dent on it. Now on to that engine...


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grenade Posted a lot Posts: 2,054	1965 Full Size 4x4 Pickup truck grenade @grenade
	Sept 18, 2021 14:28:49 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Enter a 2018 5.0L Coyote engine and 10R80 from an F150 4x4. All electronic EFI 430HP with a 10 speed auto. Push button shift on the fly transfer box. Although you will need to get out and turn the hubs to lock position. We might switch that to an auto version of hub later. It's still a massive improvement over the old cast iron floor shifted garbage case that only worked if you smashed it with a hammer.


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