1968 F250 Project

[1968-f250]

Keep up the good work. Nice cabs are hard to find around here as well but I don't think I've ever seen one in as rough a shape as yours.

It is hard to find any replacement sheet metal around here that is cheap. Everything was hauled off for scrap when the price went up. That is why we are putting all the work into this cab.

Take a look at the bed...



Whoever "fixed" the bed welded sheets of tin to the box. I wonder who's idea that was. In this picture the tin was already cut out. We are going to try to save the box, but if we can find a replacement that would be great.

[1968-f250]

Not really and update today, but lots of pictures.It is almost July already and it still feels like spring here. It seems that every time I get a chance to work on the truck, the fog rolls on in, and soon enough it is raining. The garage is full of other projects, so work on the truck all depends on weather until there is room in the shop. Once the cab is finished my next goal is to get the truck inside the shop and use the chain hoist to remove to box. Then I can start cleaning the rear frame.

Only surface rust on the frame




Once that is cleaned I'll be able to put a coat of paint on it.

The bumper mount also needs to be fixed. Only one side was rusted, the other was perfect. Why did one have to rust?





I also took a better look at the passenger side door, at one point it must have been caved in. It looks as though almost the entire bump on the door is bondo! You can see where it curves down from where it should be in the picture



It would be great to find a replacement door. My dad and I are going to be heading up to Iola, WI for the large car show and swap meet. Hopefully I can find some parts there.

The driver's side door is straight, and has had no prior work done to it



The lower part of the door is fairly bad. It shouldn't be that hard to fix






The king pins are also shot. You can rock the wheels slightly back and forth towards the frame.


The cab corners are also rusted. It would be a challenge to try to fabricated them. I might just end up buying them.





I also found this eye bolt inside of the cab mount.



It was painted the same blue as the truck. I thinking that maybe when the cabs were painted,these were bolted to it to hold the cab . A factory worker could have put it in there so that the truck would have had a rattle since new on. Does any one know if those eye bolt would have been used in the factory?

I might start working on patterns for the driver's side floor pans and the fire wall later today. That's all for now.

[1968-f250]

Made a little progress today on the truck. We wanted to work on the truck out of the sun, so the 67 and 66 mustangs had to give up their spots.

Here is how the truck was positioned inside to work on.



We started working on the truck, I pulled out the nightmare cab mount fix on the driver's side while my dad started fabricating the cab mount for the pass. side out of 8th inch steel.

This is what the lower part of the mount looks like so far




Here is what the driver's side cab mount looks like



So, we were just about to start fabricating the floor pan patches for the driver's side, and it started to rain . The forecast called for clear skies for the whole day. Yeah right, The 66 mustang convertible was sitting outside, and so was the 67 with a ton a bare metal . We scrambled to turn the truck around with the skid steer, shoved that in the garage, and then took care of the mustangs. Can't anything ever go right for a person?

After that nightmare we got a little more work done on the truck after it cleared up. My dad made the pattern for the fire wall on the drivers side, and then I fabricated and fitted it in place

Rusted area on fire wall



Here is the patch fitted in place





This is how the truck will sit for a while until we can work on it again. Can't wait to start welding



Not sure if we should remove the cab to clean and paint the frame and the bottom of the cab, or just leave it for now. This isn't going to be a high class restoration, just want to get it road able for a daily driver. Any thoughts?

[Calfdemon]

Up to you... But it is a lot easier to do now while you have it in its current condition. If you put it back together and decide later that you want to do it, or wish you had, it is going to be a lot more work and a pain in the arse.... I am of the school of thought that I would rather do it and not need it, then not do it and need it later. Of course, that is why my quick, projected 6-8 month project to make my crew cab look halfway decent and get road worthy has turned into a 3 year (so far) project that is going to be closer to a show truck than a daily driver . But that being said, I am glad I am doing it the way I am and not cutting corners. This way, I shouldn't have to take it back apart later to fix something that I didn't do the first time.

With your truck though, you guys definitely have your hands full already. I applaud you for tackling this project and doing the work you are doing. You are a braver man than I... I would have taken one look at all of that rust and ran the other way. Kudos to you guys for saving that truck and giving it a second life!!

[1968-f250]

Up to you... But it is a lot easier to do now while you have it in its current condition. If you put it back together and decide later that you want to do it, or wish you had, it is going to be a lot more work and a pain in the arse.... I am of the school of thought that I would rather do it and not need it, then not do it and need it later. Of course, that is why my quick, projected 6-8 month project to make my crew cab look halfway decent and get road worthy has turned into a 3 year (so far) project that is going to be closer to a show truck than a daily driver . But that being said, I am glad I am doing it the way I am and not cutting corners. This way, I shouldn't have to take it back apart later to fix something that I didn't do the first time.

With your truck though, you guys definitely have your hands full already. I applaud you for tackling this project and doing the work you are doing. You are a braver man than I... I would have taken one look at all of that rust and ran the other way. Kudos to you guys for saving that truck and giving it a second life!!

Thanks for the kind words. This was one of those projects that the further you dig into it, the more problems you find And I was thinking, might as well take the cab off. The front and rear parts of the frame are going to be painted anyway, might as well do the whole frame. It shouldn't be that hard to do.

[jimmy828]

That is going to be some heavy duty work. Keep us posted on build. I hope i can learn something from your repairs. Like Calfdemon said, kudos on saving the truck. I'll be watching

[1968-f250]

That is going to be some heavy duty work. Keep us posted on build. I hope i can learn something from your repairs. Like Calfdemon said, kudos on saving the truck. I'll be watching

Once again, thanks for the kind words. Saturday I hope to get some more progress done. Plan on doing as much fabricating and welding as possible. I'm only 14 and I have already noticed how life can get in the way of projects

[flyboy2610]

I'm only 14 and I have already noticed how life can get in the way of projects

Sad to say, that usually doesn't improve much as you get older!
You're doing some very nice work on that truck! Keep up the good work!

[1968-f250]

I'm only 14 and I have already noticed how life can get in the way of projects

Sad to say, that usually doesn't improve much as you get older!
You're doing some very nice work on that truck! Keep up the good work!

It seems as though I'm slowly finding that out more and more over the years

Weather hasn't been to kind to me either when trying to work on the truck....

Anyway, thanks for the compliments

[1968-f250]

I have a little bit of progress from last Saturday that I was to lazy to post. The goal was to get both sides of the cab at the same point. The passenger side was all fitted and ready to be welded. The driver's side still needed the cab mount, floor pan and toe board fabricated.


Here is the to board and floor pan patch fitted in place




Here is the lower part of the driver's side cab mount. Both still need the front cover to be made.



This is what happens every time you use a hammer to fit patches in the truck... Rust... gotta love it!



While I was under the truck, I saw that the rear frame next to the shocks was bent inward...





Is this how it should be, or should it be flat Would it be something that is specific to 3/4 ton trucks?

Any way, both sides of the cab are at the same stage, just need to find some time to start welding All of next week I have summer camp for Boy Scouts, so that week is shot. Seems as though summer is almost over already

[1968-f250]

Somewhat major update for today. While I was gone at Boy Scout Camp, my dad finished up the front plates to the cab mounts, and we got some work done today also. It really feels good to get some actual progress done. We hope to head out to a local junkyard soon the we know have bumpsides in it to scout out some sheet metal.

Here is some pictures of his progress on the mounts...

Inspection hole cover made






He also formed them right away and fitted them to the cab







That brings us to today's progress. I welded a bit on the mounts to connect the two pieces so we could take them out and weld them better on the work bench

Here's me just starting to weld



Here is some of my beautiful welding
Some grinding will easily fix that




A stick welder defiantly lives up to it's name. Don't you just hate it when you can never get the rod to start laying down a bead

Anyway, here is the pass. side mount ready to be pulled out and welded better now that it is in the right position











Tomorrow I'll be cutting out the bad parts of both floor pans so we can get the patches welded in. Once that is done there are a few more things that needed to be fabricated to finish up the front of the cab. Then I can paint the firewall and the front frame. There is also some front suspension work that will have to be done, but I guess for now it'll be finishing one piece at a time as time allows. Soon school will be starting again That will really take away a lot of work time from the truck.

that's all I have for now. Should be able to post some more updates by tomorrow night.

[1968-f250]

This morning I cut out the bad sections of the floor pans so we can eventually start welding in the patches. It was fairly easy to use a snips and cut out every thing. The worst part to do was using a hammer and chisel to cut through the spot welds where the floor pan is connected to the rocker panel. It took me a few hours to get the job done, but at least it's progress

Pass. side cut out


the cab sure looks different without any mounts and minimal floor pan



Driver's side before


Driver's side after



Also have to do some work here...


And in the same spot on the other side...


That's all for now. if all goes well, there should be some more progress to post later tonight.

[Cipher43]

Looks like you are off to a good start. Also my frame has the same bend in it around the shock and its an F100

[1968-f250]

Also my frame has the same bend in it around the shock and its an F100

It looks as though on my truck that it is like that to fit the shocks, but i'm not sure if that is the reason.

Also, made some progress last night that i was way to tired to post. I welded up the cab mounts completely and finished grinding one of them. By the time i finished the first one it was way to late to start grinding on the second one. I hope to be able to finish grinding the other one later today. I never realized how time consuming grinding is
But once i got started, the time just flew buy. I had no idea that i had worked over 3 hours on the truck .

here are some pictures of the finished mount



Here is the finished one and the other next to each other


This one is ready for grinding



We bolted a piece of steel across each mount so they would not change shape while welding.

That's all for now

[Mancar1]

Wow it is amazing that you and your Dad took that on. Wow, my hats off to you.
It will look great when all the work is done. Course if it is a labor of love it is not work, but enjoyment.
I also have a 68 F-250.
Keep on Trucking.....John