74 F-100

Well, this week I have been hard at work, allthough its not really work because its way to much fun... before I start here is some insite on this project,

This project is a 1974 F-100 2wd longbed, not the greatest looking truck on the face of the earth, but a great platform to build off of. I will be restoring this truck for my dad, since he has provided me with so much in my 19 years of life. Just though I would start repaying him the only way i knew.

He has had this truck for 20 or more years, engine has been replaced once back in the early 90's and is still running fairly strong. Though that will have to change too




I have taken a 74 doner F-100 and stripped it of all the sheet metal which will not be used other than the bed.



Taking the cab off was the most ghetto task, but with the help of my brother it didn't take too long, though we had to remove the rear wheels so we could drag it under the cab.



Would have been alot easier (and fun) if we could have just pushed the cab off to one side and let it tumble over. hah



after 2 days of working on the frame, getting it stripped down to nothing.


tank removed, fuel and vent lines, brake lines, basicly everything so i can get it nice a clean. got quoted $125 dollhairs to get it blasted... is that reasonable?



surprisingly the frame pressure washed up pretty nice, other than the surface rust, its good to go. cross measured multiple times, no more than a 1/8 inch out.



the suspension is loosly held on, just so I can still roll it out of the garage if i have two, because our family owns 6 cars and if one breaks we may need the bay and my brother and I always help friends with there vehicles and allow them to use the garage as long as there willing to clean it so you never know when I don't feel like cleaning . We have 3 bays, but sometimes that still isn't enough... Especially with fords and jeeps around the house.

This weekend looks like I will hopefully be getting it blasted, got some nice cold fresh por-15 in the fridge waiting for it.

been a long time since I first posted, didn't do much on the updating with pictures as I made progress, but I did take some along the way. I'll just cut to the chase with the pictures...

For some young bucks, you guys aren't afraid to dig deep. Nice work. Thanks for sharing.

Looks like a great work environment. So much space and it looks fully dedicated to automotive work.

Its been another year and not alot of progress has been made. Between family, friends and trying to start my own automotive business I have been side tracked for most of the summer. Even without a gf, and a real job I still can't find enough time to play with the truck.


I am in the body working stages with the truck now, maybe thats whats holding me up since its not my favorite thing to do.

The donor bed was in a little rougher shape than we hoped for, had to make patch panels for the rear corners (left and right). Which is a pain to weld too because its super thin. Welded up 100 push holes that use to hold the bed cover on.

Both cab corners are getting replaced, currently have one cut and almost ready to be welded in. Dennis Carpenter is right down in concord so its a nice quick drive for most of the sheet metal. They use ford tooling so its fits like a charm.

The lower door skins will need a little repair from where they did not drain properly so that will have to get addressed next.

Luckily all the body work im doing is hidden under a peice of molding at the bottom so it doesn't have to be perfect and that is fine with me since its not going to be a show truck, just a nice performing decent looking work truck that will never rust.

Mechanical wise I have the power steering box on, with brake booster and new master cylinder. All rear brake componets new including line made from cunifer tubing. Steering linkage is on but not sure if it is worn out, will get replaced after test drive.

What has been done...

The Front suspension has been overhauled. New kingpins were pressed in. new greese caps and fittings, new pivot bushings and the I beams were por-15. Radius arms completed with new poly bushings. All body mounts were replaced with poly bushings from Jeffs Bronco graveyard. (highly reccomended site) The front rotors have been turned just to smooth out and repacked bearings. Reusing good calipers with a fresh coat of paint. Using old flex lines in front since they looked fairly new anyways.

The rear leafs have been clean up w/wire brush and POR'ed.
Hoping it doesn't effect ride quality, some were saying should have used telflon spray paint?

suspension wise all that is needed is to switch springs from origianl truck because it has the heavy duty springs for the 390 FE. Por them. Get new shocks and retighten all suspension componets.

For the fuel line I copied the original line for the most part, used aluminum 3/8" tubing from summit. Used rubber isolators with rivets to the frame. Came out very nice with the help of my brother again. Mechanical Engineer Student on his last year. haha
Only concern is the new line had a thicker wall therefor decreasing the inner diamater compared to the factory steel line. Should be alright since the engine will be a mild build under 400hp.?.?

Rear axle is assembled but don't know for how long. Checked the gear pattern and adjusted the pinion depth a little with a shim kit. Made it better but may just end up swaping the one from the known good truck. Had new outer wheel bearings pressed on. One axle has alot of runout on the flange, not going to change it untill i see if it causes vibration.

It's looking good. You've come a long ways.

What's that other frame in the foreground of the pic?