68 f100 restoration.

[hfdco4]

I like your welding skills, really good job on the floor repairs!

[Fordkid68]

Thanks Paul!

[Fordkid68]

Made some progress on the truck the last few days. Here is the floor pan from underneath, other than the red primer it almost looks like it hasn't been patched.

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Also got the windshield removed. It came out pretty easily, and all in one piece!

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Now the next thing is to weld the holes in the dash, since the windshield is out.

[Fordkid68]

I got the dash welded up, and it didn't turn out too bad. I will just have to grind the welds and put duraglass over top.

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Also got the cab tipped on it's back to work on the bottom of it.

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Sorry, I do not have any pics of the engine, although I have been making progress. It is at a friends shop where we are working on it. It is a 351 Windsor that was originally from a police car, so it has stronger connecting rods than stock. So far we have torn it down to the complete block and pressure washed it to get most of the crud out of the water jacket.
Now we have to take it to be tanked and cleaned.

[Fordkid68]

I had to put a patch on the cab support that runs along the back. There were some holes on the passenger side but the drivers side is completely clean.
This is what the passenger side looked like

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There was a lot of dirt and mouse nest inside

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Got all the junk cleaned out.

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[Fordkid68]

Instead of buying a patch I decide to make it myself using pieces of an old bed frame, which is super strong high carbon steel that is much thicker and stronger than factory.

Here is a piece ready to be tacked. Speaker magnets work really well for metalworking.

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Got the bottom piece welded in, and drilled a 1/2 inch drain hole on each side to hopefully eliminate buildup of water and debris to stop it from rusting

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Her is the patch all done, I used two pieces of angle iron from the bed frame, one on the top and one on the bottom, but they were too skinny so there was about a 1/4 inch gap between the two, so I welded another piece on top to fill in the gap and make it stronger.

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It may not look good but it is definitely a lot stronger and tougher than it was! And the thicker steel will take longer to rust out than sheet metal.

[Fordkid68]

I'm getting ready to tear the front suspension apart, and the right kingpin needs replaced. The left one looks original and has no slop at all, but the right has been changed by the previous owner and has tons of slop. I don't know if changing kingpins is something I can do myself? Or should I find a shop that will do them? Also do you have to replace both, or just the one that's loose?
Thanks.

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[cumminskiller]

Hey looking good so far you're cruising right along. If it were my truck and had it torn down that far I'd just replace both kingpins then you knw they are done. You'll likely want to have it re aligned anyway so.... Keep up the good work!

[Fordkid68]

Thanks for the tip!

[hfdco4]

Looking good man, keep up the good work.

[miller]

Tipping that cab back was a good idea. I need to do some work on mine. How many guys to do that?
Thanks- Troy

[Fordkid68]

We tried to get it with two of us, but it was too awkward for us, so we had to do it with four and it went pretty smooth.
I'm just going to leave it up like that to paint the front half of the frame and bottom of cab, then flip the cab down and paint the back of the frame.
It will save us from having to actually lift and move the cab.

[Fordkid68]

I got some more work done!! The progress is slow but steady. My goal is to finish it by August, which is only 5 1/2 months away!


I was wire wheeling the floors to get ready for paint and a few pin holes opened up. So I welded small patches over them.

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Also put a patch on the driver's cab mount. I cut out the rust, which was only on the first layer, and welded on a patch made from angle iron over it. I did not butt-weld it but just put it on top.

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Removed the engine perches.

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Hopefully now that the weather is warmer I can start painting the frame and assembling the truck!

[Fordkid68]

Well, I didn't get as much done today as I wanted to, but still managed to accomplish quite a bit.
I started by taking the tie-rod out, which actually came out pretty easy.

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Do you think it needs aligned?

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[Fordkid68]

Then I started unbolting everything. It did take a while but I did not have any major problems, I think the hardest part was getting the cotter pins out of the radius arms.

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Got the right side out.

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Now both sides are out.

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