Sharkdance's 70 F250 project (condensed)

[layedout72]

did you replace the wiring harness? im trying to figure out which would be best to buy for me.

[Sharkdance]

layedout72,

The wiring harness was replaced out of necessity. About a year after I bought the truck I had a near melt down at the gas pumps. (right after pumping 18 Gal. of fuel)
Turned out it was just the starter shorting out but then I found a wad of wires under the dash about the size of a small base ball with 3 zip ties around it.
Nipping the zip ties let em all fall out into a mess. The harness was trashed.



I was lucky enough to salvage a 99% perfect wiring harness from the donor truck as well as a solid cab that only needed new floor pans.
So I was able to correct two major problems with the truck with only one donor. (rusted drip rail and bad electrical)

After cleaning, checking and re-taping the donor wiring harness this is what I had to put in:


*Mark*


Felt good to have connector on the end of every wire and it goes in pretty easily without the guess work.

As for whats best for you? You have to weigh that for yourself. Prioritise your repairs based on safety, reliabilty, and realistic funds and you cant go wrong.

[71 LONG BED]

Prioritise your repairs based on safety, reliabilty, and realistic funds and you cant go wrong.

Great advise Sharkdance!!!

[layedout72]

well it looks like almost everything was cut and redone......and is by FAR from safe. The motor needs to be pulled, and re-gasketed . Im thinking maybe a christmas present could by my harness. We shall see what happens.

[Sharkdance]

Welp, I guess its past time for me to admit that I dont have much of an update.
Cept the fact that I have been driving my truck daily now for the last couple of months.
While Im disappointed that I didn't get everything done that I wanted to before I started driving it again, I am happy to at least be driving it.

Most everything went well and what Im looking at doing next is finish my body work/paint job and begin the build of my 410/C6. And of course I have to say; That I couldn't have gotten this much done without the help of this forum and its members.

Thanks guys!! Im very greatfull for this site and its members.

[ExplorerNC]

Looks good Shark! I really need to put a cab on my 72 Explorer, but it looks good for now. That will be a someday project.

[69F110]

Shark...I just read through this entire posting...awesome job man! That baby is looking good. I applaud you for your attention to detail. Like you said, knowing that every bolt is tight, every wire has a connector...simply awesome. Great job and thank you for posting the pics.

[mljjones67]

Looking good man. I wish my truck was closer to being done!! Happy driving

[Sharkdance]

Greetings all,

Welp, just an small update. More of a whats been going on update than an progress update.

She has been back on the road since mid January. At an average of 25-50 miles per day.
Been driving her to work and back every day and kind of making up any other odd trip I can during the week ends just to drive her some more.

Improvements made since before rebuild:

No more rust around drip rail. Drip rail groove was cleaned out down to bare metal and re-sealed with a seam sealer by Wurth before repainting.

New floor boards welded in and Hurculiner rolled on both sides of bottom of cab.

No more rust in bottom corners of outer door skins. All rust cut out back to good clean steel and new patches welded in, ground down, and skim coated with body filler just to hide the welds.

Door and fender trim holes welded shut, ground smooth and skim coated with body filler. (Still need to do bed)

All rust cleaned out of and off of hood, inner and outer fenders, cab, doors and bed. (Still need to do tailgate)

Frame cleaned and painted with two coats of black Rustolium.
Primed, sealed and painted (green) from cab forward with LOTS of imperfections. (back yard paint job complete with amateur body work)
Bed stripped and primed (Grey) but before bolting it to frame the bottom was cleaned, scuffed, and painted with a heavy coat of black Rustolium.

All new door, glass and hood seals installed.

New firewall cover installed.

Used but almost perfect condition wiring harness installed. (old one was a rats nest)

Refurb of factory A/C unit that hangs under dash.

Good condition seat and dash pad installed. (old dash pad was trash)

General clean up of FE/C6 before re-installation and corrections made to rigged A/C, P/S, Alt bracketing. (previous owner had some brackets installed wrong and shimmed with washers to compensate)

Things Ive noticed since Ive started driving her again:

The cab is MUCH quieter inside now due to new seals, firewall cover, and heavy coating of Hurculiner on floor.
Even with no insulation, carpet, or floor mats the only heat buildup noticed is on the passenger side floor board next to the hump. (right where the header is close to the floor) And its not that bad. A little warm for bare feet but no worse than it was before with factory insulation and rubber mats.
So far the Hurculiner on the floor boards is wearing great. I recommend it to anyone. And being able to just open the doors and hose out the inside of the cab is nice.
Oh, and I can actually hear my radio now.

With the installation of the new (to me) wiring harness it sure is nice to have everything work now. Even the little light inside the cigarette lighter well works.

I still have to slam the doors a little hard to get them to close all the way because of the new seals but its getting better as time passes. As the seals wear in, the doors are getting easier to close.
I have noticed that when the temp drops below 40° the doors close effortlessly.

Even though I wish I could have completed more and did a better job of the paint/body work I am still proud of what Ive accomplished in 9 to 12 months.
Especially since I did it myself. (with help from some special forum members)
The original goal of this project was to just do a cab swap to get rid of the roof rot and bad wiring harness. In the process I was able to take care of a multitude of other things I had future plans for.
Now that the calendar has rolled over a new year I plan on setting a new set of goals and continuing the work on my truck while I drive her.
I figure, most of the hard work is already done.

Future plans include:

Finish body/paint job.

Front disk brake conversion.

Build spare FE engine into a 410.

Re-build spare C6 tranny to handle said 410.

Re-install floor shifter. (I miss it)

And somehow in the midst of all of that I wanna find, afford, and install a low profile tool box and bed tonneau cover.

Will see what this year brings and as usual be in need of advise and critiques from this forum.

Sorry this post got so long but I just wanna end this post by thanking Keith and everyone here for all of your help on this project. I can honestly say that I wouldn't have gotten this far without you.

[trukcrazy]

Nice update Shark. I am still impressed with the work you did and the support from your family as well. I look forward to seeing the work finished and new pictures once that is done. Keep it up, thanks for sharing.

[Sharkdance]

*I need to make a correction to my earlier post. I had said that my truck has been back on the road since mid January when I meant to say November. (of 06)*

Thanks John. Appreciate the positive thoughts. And your right to mention the support of family too cuz while I did the work on the truck, the wife got me back and forth to work without complaint and the kids were my little helpers too.

Both my wife and I realize that this project may never be completely finished but she says that if it makes me happy then thats what I need to be doing.
So I promise to keep updating and posting a pic or two as I continue.

[71 LONG BED]

Great update, Sharkdance! Good to hear from you. Keep the pictures coming. I sure hope to be able to do a frame off someday. The fact you did it on a limited budget and all by yourself (with some help from friends, of course) is an inspiration to me.

[69F110]

Sharkdance,

Great update. Your wife sounds like an awesome woman...some just don't understand men and their trucks.

[ezernut9mm]

great read sharkdance. thanks for sharing your experience with us!