1970 F250 Ranch Truck Build

[CountryDriven]

Hi yall! I'm Fred. Recently I found my dream ranch truck! I came across this in Oklahoma in a field and had to pick it up, it's really in great shape. Long term goal is to use it to build my ranch in the future. Short term goal is to get it running well so I can use it around our families small ranch this summer. Eventually I'm going to use the highboy frame/axles that came with it to turn it into a 4x4. However, this will come in time because I simply don't have the time or money currently between nursing school and the Army.

Details about truck:
-F250: Needed full floating rear axle and frame for towing! Gunna be my families tow rig for sure! We get hay and haul our horses to the trails quite often with our 1/2 ton dodge (which limits the amount of hay we can haul due to GVWR and tow rating. I knew for the heavy towing in my future it'd be safer and better to have a 3/4 ton so that's what I held out for!

-Numbers matching 360: Turned over and started without hesitation! Even ran off the old gas in the tank. No knocking or missing. However, has a terrible exhaust leak. Go figure I guess, pretty sure the manifolds have never been off the truck cause it has no gaskets.

-T18 4 speed: When I drove it around in the field it felt great! Didn't grind or fuss when shifting from first to second.

-Brakes: Has none... pedal goes to the floor. I'm gunna have to diagnose this and figure out what the cause is. I assume there is either a bad leak somewhere or the master cylinder is bad. Hopefully the pads are good.

-Original Paint!: A repaint could be in it's future but the original paint is still on the truck! Pretty awesome, really dig the patina factor.

What I plan on doing when I get home this summer:
-Buy battery (gunna see if I can get a used battery at pro batteries in fort worth)
-Fix brakes (need to diagnose the issue)
-Replace all bulbs and install license plate light
-Fix horn
-Replace windshield wipers
-Anything else that must be done for it to pass inspection

Following this I will continue the paper work for a bonded title (The highboy has a clean title, this truck has none as it was a exclusive ranch truck for a loonng time). Once I pass inspection and succeed at getting a title the engine will be coming out for a tune up. I really don't want to have the engine in the truck to do the exhaust manifold gaskets and I can refresh the engine a bit while I'm at it. When I "refresh" the engine I will:

-Degrease and clean engine
-drill out and install exhaust manifold bolts/gaskets
-Send intake, timing cover, oil pan, and valve covers to hot tank
-Full gasket set (probably wont pop the heads off though)
-Repaint
-New spark pulgs/wires/cap&rotor$points
-adress any other issues that would harm reliability
-rebuild carb
-new fuel/air/oil filters
-new oil
-Reinstall

Following/during this I will hopefully address other issues:
-Tailgate doesn't open
-No trailer wiring
-Fan turns on but doesn't blow
-Heater core blocked? (have to have defrost!)
-Has original radio but doesn't work
-Toolbox doesn't have key and is locked...need to find a cheap locksmith
-Rear diff oil
-Tranny oil
-Power steering SQUEALS when turned at full lock
-Needs all grease zerks lubed
-Roll down windows need lube
-None of the gauges work
-Instrument cluster plastic shield is very faded and needs to be replaced
-Gas petal sticks
-Need to search for and address other potential mechanical issues and solve them (brake pads? Wheel bearings? Steering components? Wiring failures?)
-After making it safe/reliable to drive addressing surface rust would come next!

Hopefully I can accomplish all this while I'm home this summer! It's far from a frame off restoration...which is what will occur when I place it on the 68 highboy frame. But I need to get my 54 chevy frame off complete prior to opening too many cans of worms haha..I have already posted my first video of the series for this truck and hope to video the repairs/progress I make for yall to see!
I'm very excited to start this project and definitely value the insight this forum provides me with! I've been lurking on here for many months prior to my research and am happy to join.

Video of the truck:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bYbwi-biHs

Pictures:

[popeyes71]

Fred! Nice solid truck, I like the color combo. Looks like your having a lot of fun with her already and have put yourself together a nice list of items you would like to get to. When you mentioned you had an exhaust leak, I thought, that isn't to bad to repair but when I watched the video and you fired her up, she sounded like a stock car racer! I look forward to seeing your progress on your project, keep us up to date!

[CountryDriven]

Fred! Nice solid truck, I like the color combo. Looks like your having a lot of fun with her already and have put yourself together a nice list of items you would like to get to. When you mentioned you had an exhaust leak, I thought, that isn't to bad to repair but when I watched the video and you fired her up, she sounded like a stock car racer! I look forward to seeing your progress on your project, keep us up to date!

Thanks popeyes! The color combo is really growing on me. She's a blast for sure and will be a nice little project. The exhaust leak is reallly bad hah. A lot of the bolts are already broken off so it'll be an tedious repair...but it will probably be a cheap one so that's ok! I'll keep ya'll posted! currently doing research since I don't have the truck with me here at college!

[CountryDriven]

Update from this weekend:

Accomplished several things (and revealed several issues as well haha!).

Brakes: Replaced master cylinder (cheap...$19). After this I was able to half way bleed all of my brakes with a harbor freight pneumatic brake bleeder, well all except the drivers side front brake. After troublshooting (cracking open all brake lines prior to the drivers side front brake to check for flow) I found that the rubber hose was clogged. No problem, went to the parts store and got a new one. After this all 4 brakes worked, although I definitely still need to bleed the lines some more. The pedal is spongy but I can lock up all 4 brakes so it's getting there I suppose, just needs fine tuning.

Carburetor: My dad said it probably wasn't the best idea to run/drive the truck too much more due to the fire hazard it possessed (well still possesses but I'll get to that in a bit). So I went to the parts store and got a rebuild kit (they only had one for a 75 2100 instead of a 71...I don't really know the difference but it worked out). After this I tore into the carb and cleaned it up while installing new gaskets, fuel filter, etc.. The truck ran much better but still needs a lot of adjustment. I'm ignorant when it comes to carbs and forgot to dry-set the bowl. I also need to adjust the idle mixture screws, they are definitely out of whack. So on a positive note fuel no longer leaks out of the accelerator pump, and I fixed the throttle sticking by adding a spring. On a negative note fire still shoots out the top every now and again when I first start it up (flooding?), and it runs kinda rough.

Ignition: Replaced all the spark plugs, and I'm happy I did. While they all looked perfect on the internal side, they had oil everywhere on the upper threads and socket end. Does this mean they are all fouling or what? The whole engine is covered in layers of oil from old/new leaks so maybe it's just accumulated on the outside. I'm pretty certain one was fouled because it was already backed out a bit...After this I replaced the cap, rotor, condenser and point. I don't really know how to adjust the point so I just installed it to where it is just touching the middle rotor. If someone could guide me towards how to properly adjust this I'd appreciate it! With this said, it ran no better or worse after doing this maintenance.

Cooling system: Replaced the 180 degree thermostat with a oem 195. Doesn't overheat so far which is a surprise (well not after carb rebuild anyhow). Also replaced the temp sender and added prestone coolant flush to flush out the system. Everything seems alright here, temp gauge works good now.

Instrument cluster: Seems like all gauges are actually working now! Speedometer shows speed, I'm getting good oil pressure, Alt shows power, temp gauge shows temp...

Lights: Replaced all lights and got all but some of the running light working (not required to pass inspection??), hi/low didn't work initially but changing out the switch fixed this issue. Also relocated and installed a new license plate light.

Horn: Horn itself works fine, gunna replace the contact behind the ring and see if this solves my problem...if not I'll rig up a button so it'll pass inspection.

Transmission: Truck wouldn't shift into 3rd...after adjusting the clutch a good amount it now goes in if I'm careful with it

There are some things I'm forgetting, but ultimately I'm just trying to get her to pass inspection After that I'm going to have to do alot of paper work to apply for a bonded title (if anyone has done this in Texas please chime in!). Supposedly it must posses a value of 4000 or more for a 25+ year old vehicle to qualify. This is the only aspect of the process I'm worried about. I'll keep y'all updated and will post a video following inspection!

[CountryDriven]

Alright some good/bad news , the truck did not pass inspection. All three places I went to claimed it had too bad of an exhaust leak..so unfortunately that means I'll have to wait until I fix this to be able to pass and carry on with my bonded title deal... The good news is that I'm motivated and have made a lot of headway towards getting this accomplished. Starting thursday with the help of a friend, we got the brakes working pretty good. A dog actually ran out in front of us on the way into town and I was able to bring the rig to a halt quite quickly! We also ran her a good amount and drove it some prior to inspection. The truck would run ok but not well by any means. After rebuilding and tuning the carb I figured it must be a timing issue with the help of some good people over at ford-trucks (link: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/14329 ... ssues.html). After some research I saw that these trucks have plastic timing gears, or atleast mine does... so I took off the fuel pump and sure enough there where plastic teeth all over. With this and the broken exhaust manifold bolts issue, I decided it was time to go ahead and yank the engine.





Please be aware that I'm on a budget here. I'd love to overhaul or rebuild the truck, but for now its on a "if it aint broke don't fix it" type of basis. I've done a good amount of projects like this in the past and the "while you're at it" idea is good, but I must stay within my college budget. With this said I don't mind investing a lot of sweat equity , I knew what I was getting into when I bought this ol girl . After tearing the engine out I disassembled and labeled everything I removed. During this I cleaned the engine up with a paint scraper, wire brush (on drill), die grinder, and finally soap and water followed by mineral spirits and a light coat of wd40 to prevent rusting until I can paint it. Here's what I got it down to this weekend:





The plan for this weekend is to accomplish as much as possible on this list:
-Drill/retap exhaust manifold bolts (I think about 5 broke off)
-Make sure exhaust surfaces are as flush as possible (will check and use jb weld if I find bad low areas)
-Install new exhaust studs http://www.ebay.com/itm/121637935456?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT
-Remove oil pan/timing cover
-Clean out all loose teeth in engine
-Replace oil pump/clean out screen of debris http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php ... 57&jsn=577
-Replace timing set (just line up dots correct?) http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php ... 2657&jsn=8
-Seal up engine with some RTV
-Do final cleaning and paint engine
-Clean water pump, seal, install, paint
-Reinstall distributor (from what I've read, I need to find TDC by putting my thumb over the spark plug, centering harmonic balance to 0, and install distributor with label facing radiator, How will I be able to locate cylinder #1 position on dist?)
-Install exhaust manifolds w/ doubled up felpro gaskets
-Install new clutch (flywheel looks great, but clutch is worn)
-probably install alternator brackets
-put engine back into truck
-reinstall power steering w/brackets
-Bolt up exhaust
-install new belts
-new rubber all round
-re-clean carb and install
-reinstall starter
-new oil/oil filter
-new air filter
-new pcv valve (thats whats on the back oil cap right?)
-new spark plug wires
-new water in rad w/ flush additive (still dirty)
-reinstall/replace everything else I cant remember at the moment
-tune timing with timing light
-tune carb with vacuum gauge
-solve the issues I'm going to run into

And hopefully after this my exhaust leak will be repaired, and my engine will finally run smoothly! I hope to get it inspected and on the road reliably asap, got a lot of cool adventures planned with this truck this summer!

[vicp21]

Looking good so far. Keep plugging away at it.

[popeyes71]

Sounds like you have a good direction on getting things back together and I understand doing things on a budget! You may want to think about doing a compression check or even a leak down test on the motor if you haven't done that yet. It will help you determine the condition of the motor inside and how much further you may have to go. I would hate to see you do all that work on your list and then have to pull the motor again because of something else failing inside the motor.

[CountryDriven]

Got some updates on my rig!
-tranny resealed
-replaced oil pump...again
-replaced oil pump driveshaft (broke in half https://youtu.be/TFaukZl4K1s)
-new exhaust mainfolds all sealed now (well I believe so much quieter but time will tell if I gotta take the stupid heads off )
-manual oil pressure gauge
-3 core aluminum radiator (keeps her nice and cool)
-heater core (heat and defrost work great)




Now onto the big part...
Posted this over at Ford truck Forum

Got me an 1970 f250 2wd in great shape. Body is real straight and she's a rust free Oklahoma truck too. Got the truck with a highboy frame w/axles, transfer, 4 speed in parts, linkages, and junk body. This was basically the only way I could afford a highboy, got this deal for $1200. Been driving the 2wd f250 for about half a year, its my dd at the moment and does pretty good. I've taken the engine out twice now...one time was to fix the terrible exhaust leaks, the other time was to replace a failed oil pump (long story short it was due to the stupid old nylon timing gear). Now looks like I'm gunna need to take the engine out for a third time , the rear main seal causes the truck to leak about a quart per 100 miles. (also burns alot I'm sure but definitely drips a ton of oil of the bellhousing). Initially I thought this oil was leaking from the tranny so I took that out cleaned it up, put in a new clutch, new seals, and put it back in. Well now I know that that was not the problem ha...Anyways I was thinking since I'm pulling the engine again I might as well go ahead and put it on the highboy frame. Just got some questions with the swap. Need yall to analyze/critique my plan as well. Do realize that this is on a super budget (thus the reason I haven't just rebuilt the stupid engine yet ). So a new open knuckle 44 or 60 wont be happening at this time unless my axles I got are severely screwed.

Plan:
Budget overhaul/seal:
-front "highly desirable" closed knuckle d44. First going to check the ring and pinion, if thats toast on either front or rear I'm going to disk dana 44 3.54 w/matching rear. Going to take it down to the kingpin bearings and see if those are worn, if they are good I'll be real happy. Then going to replace all the seals (just knuckle seals I guess?) Then going to go over brakes, and wheel bearings.
Questions on this: Are the 4wd wheel bearings on the lightduty axle the same as in the 2wd f250 light duty? That'd be super convenient. How do I check if the manual steering box is worn? Can I use my 2wd power steering column with the highboy's manual steering? Will doing the standard side-to-side and up and down wheel wiggle verify the steering components condition (tie rods and such)? How do I rebuild the hubs? If I get new hubs would they be compatible with a new axle in the future?

-NP205 transfer. Gunna reseal it with the kit on ebay, it is real cheap. Got the linkages for it, thank God. Any advice on maintenance to this unit? Plan on just new bushings, seals, paint, and go.

-T18 Tranny. Never seen a highboy with a T18. Will this work in place of the other tranny? It's in very good condition, got to look inside it. I'd get a driveshaft cut if that's what it took.

-Rear dana 60. Reseal, brakes, rubber lines. Done this several times...
Will the ebrake setup off my 2wd work on this axle? My 2wd Ebrake setup is in great shape.

-Manual steering: How do I tighten this up if it's worn? How do I check if it's worn? Steering column question listed above too...

Other questions: Will I be able to use the good brake lines off my 2wd? Will my bumpers bolt up? Will my Newer exhaust set up bolt up? The frames are the same width with the bumps 2wd and 4wd if I remember right. Will my aux gas tank bolt in there? Will the cab and bed bolt up?

Thanks for the help from the experts! Trying to get my dream of having an highboy to come true . I'm a college student and this is a farm truck, so this is why I have a strict budget. I'm cool with manual steeing and drum brakes at this point in the project. Gunna get some good 295/75 r16 bfg at's for this too, which is another reason I'm doing this frame swap (should help with braking vs my old hard rubber). 33.4 inch with 4.10 should be good all-round for highway and hauling.

[vicp21]

I believe the high-boy was just the old narrow bumpside frame with a dentside body. I would think ideally you would swap your engine and trans together since you've already put some work into them. In the tech area there's a section on engine perches that would cover any issues you might have to deal with. It's a divorced transfer case right? Do both trucks have manual steering?

[Wilfred of Ivanhoe]

Looking good!

[bwlyon]

Could you post some pictures of your highboy chassis? What year is it?