My 68 F100 4x4 Project.

[hutch1973]

Currently gathering parts to redo my 68 this winter. Body is very solid and the least of my worries(ugly paint though). Have picked up some Leather bucket seats out of a 01 Lexus es (power everything + heat) and door rests. Making a run this weekend to buy a 70 parts truck with a factory 390 4bbl that's going to get put into mine. I need to regear it (factory a 6cyl truck, currently a 351w) so it'll break the sound barrier, or in this case, 55 mph. The plan for this winter/spring is to redo the interior and driveline. The final goal is a 390 with a touch of cam/headers/new paint (metallic blue) and to have the grill and hood trim chromed. Finally a mild lift so 33's look clean under it with some rims. It has to turn out because after I put all the money into it the old lady might force me to live in it

[heep70]

Cool

[hutch1973]

Nice Highboy. I was looking at one of those but when I was shopping for an older Ford but it wouldn't fit in my 1920's garage.

[dcbullet]

That looks like a cool project. For the seats, is all you needed to do was provide 12 volts for all the power gizmo's to work? I am unaware of how much power heated seats need...

[hutch1973]

Haven't put the seats in yet. I've done it before and it was as simple as running 12 volts, the heated seat didn't draw much juice. This is the first time I've put in seats out of such a new car and I'm waiting on wiring diagrams before I start it. The harness coming out of the drivers seat has 16 wires in it and I need to figure out which is which. The '01 Lexus has airbags in the sides of the buckets so I have to make sure I don't accidentally power up that circ.

[dcbullet]

The '01 Lexus has airbags in the sides of the buckets so I have to make sure I don't accidentally power up that circ.

Yeah, I'll say!

[hutch1973]

Finally got the wiring diagrams for the Lexus buckets to find out that the ES300 has it’s own computer for the seats. Swell. Going to spend many hours in the near future in the basement with a car battery and some jumper wires to figure out how to make it work. It will work. Also picked up my parts truck this weekend (donor 390 4V vehicle) to find the only part worth saving was the engine. Can’t get spark on the engine but the guy I bought it from (ebay) didn’t clean the thing out or have it ready like he was supposed too. Ripped out a bunch of wires that were supposedly for the plow and I’m assuming that’s why it won’t pop off now. Also had two carbs with it, one a Holley that looks about half there, the other an autolite that had the choke torn to hell. Checked the classifieds Sunday morning to find an Edelbrock 600 cfm w/electric choke for a $100. Guy bought it for a Mustang his wife made him sell. Yanked the carb off because he had $300 into it and gave it to me in the original box w/paperwork. May not be enough carb for the 390, but for a hundred bucks, enough to get the motor fired up, once installed, to determine how much cam and such is needed. Hopefully can get the motor pulled and parts truck out of the garage before Thanksgiving.

[spartman]

If you are interested I have a set of seats from a Taurus.

The drivers side is power setup.

I have some pics of them but could get better if interested.

[hutch1973]

I'll get the Lexus buckets working. I paid $300 for them so I'm not about to give up without a serious fight. According to the wiring diagrams they just need multiple 12 volt inputs, so I should be able to fab a mini harness to plug into the seats.

[hutch1973]

Just finished a deal on parts truck #2. It's a 74 F150 with an actual power steering set up in it that's functioning. It also has a two speed transfer case I'm going to use for my upgraded drivetrain. $250 on ebay. I'm doing really well with my parts trucks on there.

[hutch1973]

Finally got the above mentioned parts truck home and it's has a lot more parts then I thought it would. The inner fenders/radiator support are solid and it's a power disc front end. It also has a really nice hitch set up on the back that I'm hoping will work in my 68, but I have to measure the frame sizes. The best $250 I've spent in awhile.

[victimofwv]

judging that i measured my 70 f100 frame which is 2wd and my 79 f150 4x4 frame both have the same widths. i have been told 2,4, and 6 inches wider difference between 73-79s and 67-72s but these are both the same

[FORDification]

All '67-'72 frames are spaced the same. The '73-'77-1/2 Highboys have the same frame spacing as ours. All 2WD '73-'79 frames and '77-1/2 thru '79 4WD frames are 4" wider behind the cab.

victimofwv: where did you measure your '79 frame? If you measured it someplace in the front half it WOULD be the same. It should be " wider from the halfway-point on to the back.

[victimofwv]

so evidently the 73-79 f150 4x4 frames are the same as ours

[GT-Racer]

The '01 Lexus has airbags in the sides of the buckets so I have to make sure I don't accidentally power up that circ.

Now that would be funny,