1978 F250 build

markfuga · Sep 3, 2016

So after completing the sheet metal work for the firewall, the front bumper was a gift

Fitting the 78 bumper to the 96 frame was as simple as cutting the first six inches of the 78 frame and turning those pieces into brackets to hold the bumper. The brackets bolt to the inside of the 96 frame and are the PERFECT width to align with the holes in the bumper. Couldn't be easier!

The 78 frame starts to widen soon after the tips of the frame so I had to cut at an angle along the frame to avoid the widening and add some 1/4" plate to extend the brackets. I also cut about 2 inches off the 96 frame to allow everything to align properly.

markfuga · Sep 3, 2016

Here's the bumper

markfuga · Sep 4, 2016

Finalized the installation of the bed today so figured I'd share the secrets.

The two rear bolts (near the tailgate) and the two bolts close to the shocks line up in the holes already in the 96 frame. The holes close to the front of the fuel tank do not line up but are easily re-drilled into the frame. Unfortunately the bolts move back and outward which puts them further into the "pocket" of the cross member for the fuel tank. The original location was already hard to access, so now it's a little tougher :fustrate: (see red arrow).

The forward two bolts are actually set inward in the bed (the 78 frame narrows) and don't line up over the frame rail at all. I had to weld some half-round tabs onto the frame to allow me to drill new holes. You can see the holes are right on the edge of the frame. I made the the tabs bigger than needed because I didn't know exactly where the holes would end up.

gwunter · Sep 5, 2016

That muffler saddens me, lol. Everything else looks great.

markfuga · Sep 6, 2016

It's actually a good sounding muffler on these engines (Walker 21470). I put it on my 58 during that engine swap and I get compliments on the exhaust sound all the time. Here's a sample of what it sounds like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3TKFQ5FJjc

Wayne · Sep 6, 2016

I'm impressed with the positive channeling of your OCD. Lookin' great!

JRLott · Sep 6, 2016

Yeah. That blue 58 is gorgeous and well done.

markfuga · Sep 7, 2016

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. Now that the weathers cooling off it's time to take the 58 out for some cruising.

Here's today's progress. There isn't enough space along the two inner fenders for everything that needs to go on them so I had to improvise. The drivers side inner fender is consumed with a battery, the under hood fuse box and the IDM. The passenger side inner fender has a battery and the heat/AC box for starters. It also needs the coolant degas bottle and the wiper fluid bottle BUT there's not enough room. It occurred to me to try a "SD coolant bottle retrofit" as a possible solution. I made two brackets and cut out the corner of the fan shroud and problem solved. The only issue with this mod is the small top radiator hose. It's directly behind the bottle, so I had to space the bottle out some to allow for a "comfortable" bend radius with this hose.

markfuga · Sep 8, 2016

Couple more details resolved.

I cut a small section out of the 96 cab to graft into the 78 cab so I can add the boot assembly for the transfer case shifter. The boot with it's plastic enclosure has a very specific shape, so using the piece of sheet metal from the 96 was the easiest option. I covered all the welds, including the firewall work in a heavy urethane seam sealer.

I used a piece of 16 gauge to make a spot on the firewall for the computer and the two fire wall plugs on the 96 harness. As I mentioned earlier this 78 came with very little of it's wiring harness left so I'm using the 96 harness for everything.

I chopped up the bracket for the wiper fluid bottle and bolted it to the inner fender. I also added a plate to the side of it to hold the starter relay. I was mostly done with the bracket mod when I realized I had no space for the starter relay. The added plate was an after thought.

markfuga · Sep 8, 2016

Here's everything set in place. I believe all the work under the hood is now complete.

markfuga · Sep 16, 2016

Had an OCD day today

I modified the 78 and 05 brake pedal brackets by combining them into one. The 78 bracket is dual purpose: it holds the brake pedal and the steering column. I'm using the 2005 booster and master cylinder so in an effort to keep the correct geometry between the brake pedal and the booster it seems logical to use the original 05 pedal parts. I "eyeballed" where I thought the pedal should hang and then where to cut and splice the two brackets together. Foolishly I finished welded the brackets before testing the fit in the truck. I then assembled it into the truck and was not happy with the pedal height; it's just a little too low for my liking. So.... cut it apart, run to the junkyard for a new 78 bracket and then get back to it. I can now make it perfect since I've done it once and know exactly what to do now

One extra thing I had to do was re-bend the 05 pedal arm to match the 78 pedal arm. It has to "wrap around" the column. This required cutting the foot off and rotating it to proper alignment. (78 on the left)

markfuga · Sep 16, 2016

Doesn't this look nice? Too bad I don't like the pedal height.

markfuga · Sep 16, 2016

Cut it apart and start all over. BUT... this time we have the luxury of using the old chopped up bracket to get EXACT measurements of where to cut the new bracket. I'm aligning the top 05 bracket holes with the center holes of the 78 bracket (vertical line going up the bracket). Last time I kept the top two holes on the 78 bracket. This change represents a 1.25" higher pedal. More to come, this is as far as I got today.

markfuga · Sep 19, 2016

Black paint means "I'm Done!"

Much happier with round 2.

markfuga · Sep 29, 2016

Couple baby steps forward. Painted the engine bay, set cab roof lights and drilled holes, started refurbishing heater/AC box.

Strokersace · Sep 29, 2016

Curious why you went with those kind of cab lights, and not the OEM Ford Style?

Vader's Fury · Sep 29, 2016

They look like the old oem style lights. Keeping it time period specific I would guess.

powerjoke4life · Sep 29, 2016

Awesome Build Man!! Should be one of the coolest Daily Drivers, I just hope you live somewhere warm cause it would break my heart to drive that in the snow after all that hard work.

Travis

markfuga · Sep 29, 2016

I agonized for quite a while over the cab light selection. I wanted to bring some chrome on top of the roof, but didn't want the traditional style (second pic). I had an old set of lights from a mid 90's and set them up there (first pic) to get a sense of spacing and they looked good too. I scanned Ebay for a long time and had several styles picked out and ultimately settled on that set.

Although the truck will be a daily driver, it will stay home on days when the roads are heavily salted. I'm in northern Virginia and we only see a couple weeks a year of salty roads.

markfuga · Oct 23, 2016

A couple more baby steps. Finishing up the paint on the cab so it can get mounted and I can start re-assembly. Can't get much further until the cab is back on for keeps. Going with a metalic brown/copper and the typical beige center.