Seapine - 1972 F350 flatbed build

[Jacksdad]

....I ran over a small car with my dad's triple axle boat trailer when I first put it on the road because the flat mirror sucked...

I know I shouldn't laugh, but...

I have convex mirrors on mine too, and they're literally a life saver. I'm totally reliant on my mirrors for reversing and maneuvering, and there's a lot of real estate to watch behind one of these things. The flat mirrors alone just don't do it.

[Ranchero50]

Yeah, it was bad. She was right behind the door when I realized I need to be in the left lane to get onto the interstate. At 60' long with a horrible turning radius I hit the signals, did a mirror check and shoulder check and went left. She was caged between a curb on the left and the trailer on the right and the left trailer tire mowed right over the front of her car while she was laying on the horn fully stopped. I saw her right as the tire ripped the front bumper off and the steam started coming out of the front end. I still feel if she hadn't stopped that we both would have been OK. I only had a couple hundred miles on the truck too. Blew a tire and broke up one of the fender sections but it did $6k worth of damage to hers. Six more months before it goes off the insurance and I can dump State Farm.

[SeapineF37]

....I ran over a small car with my dad's triple axle boat trailer when I first put it on the road because the flat mirror sucked...

I know I shouldn't laugh, but...

I have convex mirrors on mine too, and they're literally a life saver. I'm totally reliant on my mirrors for reversing and maneuvering, and there's much real estate to watch behind one of these things. The flat mirrors alone just don't do it.

whoa! haha but yeah no joke certainly adding the convex spots! and have an idea for upper mirrors that can extend out when i'm towing and pull back in for regular driving. will post a layout when i get it templated up... but i do like that these jrs will fold back if hit unlike the full towing west coasts and because of all the daily driving in close quarters that i'm going to do i hope this helps avoid some potential damage down the road. once i've got this body work done i dont want to deal with it again!

I'm glad you chose to stay with the period mirrors.
I'm also saddened that you're getting away from the wide Ranger trim. I know it's a PITA to find and keep in good shape and honestly I don't like the wide trim look, but your truck trimmed out as a Ranger level is really rare and the trim speaks that line nothing else on the outside.

yeah i honestly didn't know it was that rare when i found the truck. was just glad to get all the loaded options as the truck came with pretty much everything but factory ac. it made me think twice, but the trim was totally trashed and there was so much dirt caught behind all the trim that i mostly worried about rustdown in the future. the truck was from the high desert but where i live, the rain and humidity will have its way with her if i don't do something about it. ths all confirmed my plan to smooth her out including many of the body seams, and get a good paint job redone to her original color. the truck is parked outside and isn't for show so that convined me to go this route. if i feel bad about it down the road i can always add back new trim as original since i would have to find all new anyway. never been keen on the wide trim or any trim for that matter so doubt it will happen.

couple more pictures too...

welded up an open hole in the roof where a cb antenna had been installed.




and some work on the fenders. after sanding down some of the flat spots on the hood and fenders and looking closely at the roof you can def find the old hail damage.



also sanded down and epoxy painted the interior above the headliner after welding the roof.

[SeapineF37]

more roof work and upper seam welding...







like how its turning out after high-build primer.


so next step in the works is a big one. time to pull the front clip, repair inner fender (patch in the rusted out hole below the battery), paint the front clip, and while the front clip is off... we all know how this goes

[hfdco4]

Great work!!!!!!!!!

[Jacksdad]

Should be ready for paint soon at the rate you're going. Excellent work.
I'm so jealous of you guys with driveways and garages - I have an off street parking spot that's only mine outside of business hours, hemmed in by neighbors, and the closest electrical outlet is 100 feet away. Better than nothing I guess, but certainly not the best arrangement for a project that requires power tools and welding equipment.
Are you filling any other seams, or is that as smooth as she gets?

[SeapineF37]

thanks guys!

@jacksdad pretty sure all the engine work that i have planned while the front clip is off will slow down the progress haha
still planning on finishing welding up the upper seam across the cab rear roof but that won't be til i pull the bed back off for paint. headache rqack is in the way. also working on a side toolbox to move the battery and electrical on the passenger side and a larger fuel tank under bed on the driver side.
then welding up the gas tank hole by the driver door. pretty much all the seams done by that point other than some lower grille valance seams.

will post pulling the front clip and the start of the front end adventure later this weekend!

[SeapineF37]

enough of the body work for now... this part i've been planning up for some time. i daily drive this truck so pulling the front end apart is kind of a big deal to me. have most of the parts and pieces for the procedure i think, but i'm sure stuff will come up to slow down putting the thing back together. borrowing a friends truck for a couple weeks while this goes down so i'm going to try and balance the "do it now while its apart" thing with some "keep it quick and simple" strategy. cleaning it up with some upgrades without getting sucked into full restoration mode. will see how it goes

overall plan: pull the front clip in one piece and repair inner fenders then paint inner fenders and undercoat bottom before replacing. at the same time, pull engine and tranny. clean up and paint, install new headers, new power steering pump, and new hoses n pulleys. clean and paint front frame rails and suspension along with firewall. clean up wiring and move battery and all electrical mains to toolbox under bed on passenger side. plus lots of little parts hoses etc while its apart...

lets do this!


amazed, but guess i shouldn't be by all the odd screws and borken bits on the front grille.
all the main bolts holding the clip to the cab and the bolts to the front radiator support were seemingly never touched before.
one of the hood hinges is sprung so found some good used ones to replace.



big hole under to battery mount (which was missing and battery just strapped to fender) is the biggest welding job to be done.



took time labeling all the wires, hoses and cables. and just cut out the old exhaust. had been replaced at one time by a single 2" muffler then reduced even smaller out a single tailpipe to the rear. headers and duals going to let her breathe like bever before. looking forward to seeing how much of a change it makes to the old girl.




oh man. all the built up grease and grime. pressure washer and degreaser and a bunch of scraping up next. at least the rust isnt bad!

[Ranchero50]

I'd probably skid the undercoating and go straight to a pair of later dentside plastic inner fenders. They fit for the most part and keep all the water spray off the body and cab mounts. The wheel lip really needs the trim pieces to finish it off (I need to buy a pair).

Also be wary of headers and the old direct drive starter as header heat is hard on them and it's a PITA to replace with the headers in place. Plus preheat and soak the manifold bolts before breaking them off. Common pitfalls of the design.

[Ranchero50]

I'd probably skip the undercoating and go straight to a pair of later dentside plastic inner fenders. They fit for the most part and keep all the water spray off the body and cab mounts. The wheel lip really needs the trim pieces to finish it off (I need to buy a pair). My spray undercoating peeled off after a couple months and I had sprayed it over fresh paint hoping it would adhere better.

Also be wary of headers and the old direct drive starter as header heat is hard on them and it's a PITA to replace with the headers in place. Plus preheat and soak the manifold bolts before breaking them off. Common pitfalls of the design.

[SeapineF37]

thanks for he tips Rancho. have a RobbMc on my wishlist but dropped the last big chunk of cash on hand for new Sanderson FF427 coated headers so hopefully the starter will last a little while longer... manifold bolts soaking. knocked out the front frame cleanup first. scrape and pressure wash. sandblasting and then epoxy black like on the rear of the truck. my friend curt continues to put in a bunch of work helping me get this stuff knocked out double-time. plus he is pretty handy with a paint gun




painting from the lower firewall seam down in the same black. upper firewall refresh in seapine green plus inner fenders in green all cleaned up thanks to inspiration from hackster.

trying to get this done inside of 2 weeks (3 weekends) so hopefully not too many hold-ups. already found one of the motor mounts in bad shape so replacements coming from napa. plus replacing front brake flex lines while easy access cuz they are in bad shape.

[SeapineF37]

firewall prep was slightly less grimey but took longer than the frame work.





man this truck was dirty. also more soaking of manifold bolts and getting ready for engine cleaning.

[Ranchero50]

Frame turned out really good. I wish I'd spent more tome on mine but it what it is.

While the engine is out is the time and make sure you hard lines are in good shape. My brake light stayed on and it was a bear to get the differential valve apart behind the steering box.

[SeapineF37]

Frame turned out really good. I wish I'd spent more tome on mine but it what it is.

While the engine is out is the time and make sure you hard lines are in good shape. My brake light stayed on and it was a bear to get the differential valve apart behind the steering box.

Thanks Ranchero. Happy with how she is cleaning up. Will def go through the brake gear up fron while its wide open. good tip

Here are some pictures of the firewall pant work complete.

[SeapineF37]

engine cleanup done! things moving quickly with the help of my friend curt and my son ethan
got the manifolds off w only 2 broken bolts. funny a few came out out real easy, but 2 - they just wouldn't. heat, all the soaking. nope. they broke. drill and e-z out and a few hrs of extra work. glad i didn't attempt that in the truck with the fenders on... cleaned up all the threads all around when finished.






then paint prep and hi-temp black...





and then back into the frame! new motor mounts and the big stuff is back in place.
will keep working on front end details while going back and forth between body work on the front clip.