NOW WHAT ?????

The old 78 ford 2 wheel drive, that I had in high school, which is still in the back yard awaiting new life


This is the one ton..... that just gave up on me......

Heres why I share them with you........ The cab on the 1 ton is rusted out completly on the underside , its been wrecked once before, and semi repaired, and I have no sentimental attachment to it....... Then I have the 78, that has surface rust, and the floor boards need replaced again, and I do have sentimental attachment to it.. It belonged to my grand dad, and I bought it from him when I was 15, and the two of us got it running again........ As some of you know, I found a few things in the motor that was pretty nasty ..... Well, My buddy works at the ford dealership as a mechanic, and he came by and looked the motor over(I know very little about the 6.9) and said the motor is as good as Junk...... so, rebuild, new, or swap.......... Now, the good stuff........ The frame has had alot of work since I have had it, I have replaced every leaf spring under the thing, I have a D60 rebuild kit for the front end, and the rear axle has been redone...... Im thinking that I am going to junk out the 85 cab, fenders and motor, and then get a motor from my buddy, swap it in, the mount the 78 cab on the frame, and get new life in the 78 in the form of a BA one ton............... The motor was built by my friend for his rock crawler that he used in competition... It is a 351 winsor, the block has been decked, it has had heads reworked, ported, and polished, it had castiron rings put in(the chromoly wouldnt seat) it has ported manifolds, a Holley carb on it, and a C6 and NP205 behind it.... the truck was junked out after his kid rolled it, and it has been sitting on a stand for 6 months.... It runs really good,(we fired it up last night) He offered it to me for 800$........... In his bronco with 4.88 gearing, he pushed 315 horsepower, and just under 500 ft.lbs. of torque....... I dont want a tow horse, more of just something to buzz around town in, and get a few things for the ranch, as well as occasionally pull a vehicle..... What do you all think? i can get you all more pictures of the 78 if you want them.....

if you got the time do it. I want the roll bar from the 78 lol

it only mounts on the bed sides, more of a headace rack type deal..... you pay shipping, its yours

I would keep the 78' and pilage all the parts you can off the one ton. As far as the motor goes its really up to you, but 500Lb-ft does sound nice...

well, the 78 frame is bad, and the truck bed has more holes in the floor than metal.... so, im thinking frame swap, and the 351....

ya but that prolly be high for shippin

While thats going to be a lot of work, it definately sounds like a great plan batty.

think itll be tons of work? should be fairly easy, I have to remove the motor mount locations anyway, and I already have a set of custom ford engine mount towers, from the 460 swap into the 78 that didnt pan out, when I found out the 460 block was cracked..... Then I need to redo the floor in the 78 anyway, I redid it back in highschool, before I really understood trucks much, and tried to do the floor with a stick welder...... SO Im thinking cut the floor, make the cab fit, I aint swaping the bed, then make the motor sit where it should, use the good parts from the 85, such as radiator, and find a trans cooler........ Has anyone done anything like this? Am i in for a huge suprise on the complications of this swap?

merlin5577 wrote:

As far as the motor goes its really up to you, but 500Lb-ft does sound nice...

Yes but is 500 ft lbs enough?

fit the motor before you fit the cab to the new frame.. it makes it alot easier to move the motor and trans around when there isnt a cab in the way..

batty1214 wrote:

merlin5577 wrote:

As far as the motor goes its really up to you, but 500Lb-ft does sound nice...

Yes but is 500 ft lbs enough?

From a guy who has a truck with an engine putting out more then 500 ft-lbs, the answer is no. You can never have to much torque.

Yes, its going to be a lot of work Batty, but it will make a nice truck when done. Like Joe said, fit the motor and trans before dropping the cab. And I would do all your cab work before you put it on the frame. More room to work is always good.

That is true... I could make the motor, and tranny fit, then fit the cab to that. Then the flat bed can be moved as needed..... thats all good suggestions.

That's exactly the same way I'm doing my 57 Chev truck. Engine is on the chassis now, then as soon as I finish all the plumbing and mounts. I'm gonna go get the body and drop it on the chassis and start working on the body mounts.

how much would shippin be on the headache rack?

So What's the Verdict ???? Was the NOW WHAT ???? answered?

Jared Olson for SO IL wrote:

how much would shippin be on the headache rack?

should cut into a few peices to ship it and then reweld it when u get it jared.

Jared Olson for SO IL wrote:

how much would shippin be on the headache rack?

i dunno.. all it is, is 2 1/2 inch pipe with 2 weldable 90 degree elbows, and some angle to mount on the bed rails.... ill bet the price for shipping would be more than what it costs for the materials....