I finally got the 351M back from the machine shop! The shop took care of the internals (cam, crank, pistons, rods, rings, heads, valves, lifters, etc.) so all I had to do is assemble the rest of the engine. Having the long block out of the truck and clean I also wanted to get a coat of Ford Blue paint on it (gotta keep it classic!), Read More→

It’s been around 10 months since the last post, apologies! I’ve been steadily working on the truck and stacking pictures but have neglected to update the blog until now.

With that out of the way, onto the 1978 F250 rear brake lines. I used Eastwood’s flare tool (highly recommended), bender, and SS line. Read More→

Stalled

Unfortunately the build has been stalled due to a move in location in the last couple of months. I’m now quite a bit further from my Dad’s place where the build is going on. Couple that with winter arriving and it looks like we won’t be able to get back on it until Spring. Read More→

Cab Repair – Drip Rails

Getting back to the cab it was time to tackle the drip rails. They were in pretty bad shape but I didn’t want to go through the process of completely removing and replacing them. I decided to just lay in some metal and weld, hit the remaining rust with rust converter, Read More→

Engine – 351M Teardown

Now that we got the frame pieced back together and rolled out of the way it’s time to begin work on the 351M. The plan is for a complete teardown and rebuild. Machine work will consist of; bore, hone, crank balance, and having the heads gone through.  Build will be all new bottom and top end inner parts (stock except for oversized pistons),  Read More→

FRAME – Axle Breakdown and Frame Rebuild

After we got the frame all cleaned up and painted it was time to attack the axles. Everything got wire wheeled, cleaned, and Por-15’d. Shackles, shock mounts, Dana 60 rear, Dana 44 front, leafs, etc. etc.

After that we installed all new drum brakes on the rear axle and put the Rough Country 4″ Read More→

Frame – Frame Tear Down and POR15

Once I got the cab mounts welded up solid it was time to get the frame torn down, cleaned up, and hit with POR-15. You can see from the pictures everything was really rusty so it wasn’t the easiest teardown ever. Quite a bit of bolt cutting and a lot of penetrating lube. Read More→

Frame – Frame Cab Mount Repair

Even though I sourced a “new to me” 78 F250 frame the cab mounts were rusted through (very common). I used some 1/4″ steel I had lying around and cut out pieces to weld them in. I didn’t bother with trying to weld in large washers flush or anything, Read More→

Cab Repair – Cab Mount Repair

After all the floor pieces and pans etc. were tacked/welded in place the next step was to flip the cab over and beigin work on the bottom. You can see from the pictures it needed quite a bit of rust removal and the mid cross member section was fully rusted out on both sides (more LMC pieces to weld in). Read More→

CAB REPAIR – Metal Work Continues

After getting the pre popped LMC parts welded in place we had to move onto metal fabrication. So much of the cab was rusted out that the pieces we had to cut out were not available as re-pops. I just made some simple cardboard templates and cut out some 20g sheet metal to fit in those spaces. Read More→