1978 F250 build

[markfuga]

I started this project a year ago and knew the progress would be slow so I waited to start a thread on it. Hopefully things move a little quicker now but I’m OCD when it comes to the details so it still could take a while. The project is a combination of a 1978 F250 body on a 1996 F250 frame which rides on a 2005 F350 suspension. This build is going to be a daily driver so I shouldn’t be going as far as I am with the cleanup of everything but I have a hard time with taking short cuts. I’m close to “substantial completion” at this point so I figured now is a good time to start a thread.

The engine received mild upgrades: Full Force stage 1 injectors, Adrenaline HPOP and a Beans D66 turbo. I also did the most important preventive maintenance items such as: re-seal the oil cooler, replace the oil rail plugs, new motor mounts, silicone intake boots, IPR pigtail, dual pulley tensioner, Melling M208 LPOP, new harmonic balancer, new water pump and probably a few other things I’m forgetting.

The transmission is a recent Jasper rebuilt E4OD so I’m going to run it “as is” to see how it performs.

The suspension both front and rear got every replaceable part replaced: 6 radius arm bushings, 4 ball joints, track arm ball joint and bushing, all tie rod ends, steering stabilizer shock, new front hub bearing assemblies, new Red Head steering box, all new seals, new rear bearings, new Detroit locker, new Hellwig sway bars, new rotors and calipers, new springs and shocks all around and many more trivial parts not worth mentioning.

The Exhaust was kept simple: 3 inch down pipe into a Walker 21470 muffler and out the stock tail pipe

Here’s the picture collection from the past year. I have many more pictures that show the “gory” details of things but just staying with the highlights for starters.

 

[markfuga]

5 more pictues

 

[markfuga]

Another 5

 

[Strokersace]

Interested to see how the sway bar works out with that mount. I wanted do mine that way but looks like there's going to be issues with the lower radiator hose.

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[gwunter]

I may have a swap like this in my future as well. Is there tons of room in the engine bay on that thing or is it an optical illusion? I wish my 78 250 had that good of a body!!

 

[markfuga]

The sway bar mounts are the originals from the 05 donor; I cut them off and welded them to the 96 frame. They absolutely will not work with the 96 radiator support in that position. The 96 support sits in that area and will not fit with the sway bar mounts I welded there. I'll be modifying the 78 radiator support with parts from the 96 support so I can easily compensate where needed.

Going into the weeds a little: I made a transfer jig on the 05 frame before removing anything. Then I used that jig on the 96 frame to locate the spring perches, sway bar mounts, traction bar mount and the steering stabilizer mount. This is how I located the sway bar mounts where I have them.

The engine is a tight fit against the firewall. I'l be doing sheet metal work for the down pipe, turbo and back of the drivers side cylinder head. Plenty of room on the left/right with the original inner fenders and lots of room up front for the radiator.

 

[Golddigger]

Lookin good. Sub'd.

 

[Vader's Fury]

What did you use to clean and paint the frame. Working on mounting the 05 suspension on my Ex now and that will be the next step.

It looks really good how you did it.

 

[79jasper]

This should be another great build. Like the 58 chevy.

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[markfuga]

The frame was cleaned with acetone to remove oil and what was left of the original under-coating. I used a variety of wire brushes on the angle grinder and sanding wheels get it ready for paint. I went the simple route of Rustoleum primer and semi-gloss black paint.

The 78 body is in immaculate shape which is the primary reason I decided to do this project. I came across the body as a "roller" without engine or transmission which made it ideal for this swap. I bought it from the grandson of the original owner, after the grandson had drag raced it for a couple seasons and got board with it. Aside from the visible surface rust in a couple places, there is no rust anywhere under the truck or hidden behind fenders, bedsides, cab corners, etc.

Here's a couple more pictures of where it's at today. I upgraded the rear tank to the 38 gallon so I could eliminate the front tank to make space for the electric pump and filters. I started the engine a couple days ago to check for any leaks or issues and found a small oil leak at the dipstick. Frustrating because I put a new oil pan on the engine and replaced the O-ring. I have a feeling the O-ring was not correct because it didn't seem like it had enough "compression" when I installed it. Now I know it didn't compress enough

 

[gwunter]

This is going to make me want to work on my 78. Can't wait to see more progress.

 

[markfuga]

Here's a couple pictures of the track bar bracket I built as part of the 05+ suspension swap. It's modeled after the Ford OEM bracket, bolts to the frame and ties back to the engine cross member and bolts to it as well. It's all 3/8" and 5/16" plate. I made a jig for it too so I can reproduce it if needed.

 

[markfuga]

Here's some details on swapping the 78 cab onto the 96 fame:

1. Remove the rivets from the rear cab cross member and slide the cross member forward on its top holes. Use the top 2 forward holes in the frame and top rear holes of the cross member to bolt it firmly in place. Drill the other 6 holes needed to re-secure the cross member. This places the cab in the perfect foward/aft position for the bed to line up on several holes in the frame and has the fender opening correctly over the tires.

2. Drill new holes in the bottom of the cab just a little outward of the original holes to line up with the 96 cross member; the 96 mounts points are a little wider than the 78.

3. Remove front cab mount brackets from both frames. Cut the centers out of the 96 brackets and weld to the 78 brackets. The 78 body cab mounts are narrower and the holes on the brackets need to "come in" to line up properly. Aside from this one mod, the 78 brackets bolt up nicely to the 96 frame and have the proper "level" for the body mounts to rest on. This was the easiest way I could think of for getting the large, perfectly round hole needed for the body mount.

I'm working on the radiator supports now along with the radiator mounting brackets. I'll post those mods soon.

 

[markfuga]

All the mods to the radiator support are done. I had to make new radiator support to frame mount brackets because the 78 frame is narrower at the front. The 78 mount brackets were "in board" of the inner fenders and the new brackets are now "out board" to line up with the 96 frame brackets. The old "in board" brackets had to be cut back to allow space for the 96 radiator lower support. I cut them plumb to the support and boxed them so I could drill a hole for a bolt to hold the 96 lower radiator support. They are boxed to the width of the 96 lower radiator support.

The lower radiator support is the bottom section from the 96 and was cut where it starts to widen out. The lower sections fits well between the 78 inner fenders but I did need to trim 1/2 inch off each inner fender to give the width needed for the lower radiator support. Six bolts hold the 96 lower radiator support bracket to the 78 radiator support. One last mod was narrowing both rear facing sides of the 96 lower section to allow clearance at the sway bar brackets.

The upper radiator brackets are from the 96 support. I cut them off and welded them to the 78 support.

The AC condenser fits perfectly in front of the radiator. I had to "massage" all 4 mounting brackets to get it snug into the 78 radiator support. The brackets were all flattened out so it would tuck into the big opening in the support. The bottom two bracket had to be removed and lowered on the condenser for best fit.

 

[markfuga]

couple more pics...

 

[markfuga]

The firewall turned out to be more work than I was hoping for. I first tried some gentle massaging with the 4 pound hammer but it quickly became obvious that cutting out the firewall was necessary. I had to cut into the heater/AC box area as well to allow space for the down pipe. So 13 pieces of sheet metal later and a whole lot of welding, plus some trimming on the heater/AC box here's what I have.

 

[markfuga]

Here's a couple more pics. Notice I used this "re-sheet metal-ing" as an opportunity to fit the accelerator pedal. Although the pedal isn't in the pictures, you can see the three bolt holes for it. I also carefully spaced the sheet metal work around the engine so I can re-use the heat shield and still have a reasonable air gap between the shield and the engine. The shield is easily re-molded with a rubber mallet.

 

[gwunter]

That's unfortunate it required all that sheet metal work. Would a 1-2" body lift have helped?.....but I hate body lifts though.

 

[markfuga]

No, it's not a matter of up/down but rather forward/aft. Some "up" would help but I'm really pleased with where the body sits over the tires now so definitely didn't want to lift the body.

I "think" the engines are set back further in the mid 90's frames versus the late 70's frame. The reason I say this: there's too much extra space between the fan and the radiator. The fan shroud doesn't quite cover the fan so I'm going to need to make an extension on the front of the shroud to cover the fan (probably 1 inch). I've long since scrapped the 78 frame so I can't measure it, but I do think the engines are a bit more forward in the 70's trucks.

Another possible option for avoiding the firewall work would be to move the engine forward in the mid 90's frame. Not sure if this is possible though without looking further (oil pan clearance?). One draw back to doing this might be knocking the center of gravity out of whack that I'm sure the Ford engineers so carefully balanced these trucks around which allows them to handle like a fine Italian sports car LOL

 

[gwunter]

Yea, I thought about mentioning bringing the motor forward, but throwing sheet metal together is probably easier then rearranging everything but the axles. Lol.