Finally, some progress.

[MN66]

It seems like I've been in the planning and parts acquisition phase for a long time, the past few weeks of work in the shop have been fun!

I'm doing a front suspension/power disc brake/PS/swaybar upgrade on my 66 F250 with parts from a 78 F250.

I wasn't able to reuse the spring coil seats from the 78 - they were rusted through. I was able to reshape the coil seats from the 66.

I spent too much time today trying to get the front clip off to make it easier to clean the frame and repair the radiator core support. I was defeated by that one last cowl bolt with the spinning capture nut. I've already cut an access hole through the fender, thankfully the repair will be hidden by the fender badge. Of course this all happened at the end of a long day, so I'm hopeful that with fresh eyes I'll be able to grab that sucker and get on with removing the front clip.

Regards,
Corey

I'm thankful that my father-in-law has given me the use of his shop for this project. He's got some pretty nice Model A's and T's in the adjacent space.

[shipwrecked]

love it! keep going. little progress is still progress.

[foodstick]

looks like a pretty solid survivor there...

[orangeRcode]

Like the look of the the truck and love all the area you have to work in your shop!

[MN66]

Thanks all -
It's a pretty original truck and I'm trying to keep it looking like it did when it came off the farm, with the exception of the front end upgrades and some slight engine mods.

Any advice on how to get that last cowl bolt free so I can get the clip off?

I was planning to hop on the chat last night to pick your brains, but fell into a food coma during the Super bowl...

My goal is to get this done in time for Slick Stock, but I plan to be there either way.

Corey

[jkimbrel65]

If your talking about the ones accessed from the inside pull a door hinge and use the smoke wrench,

Mike

[MN66]

That's the one Mike - I'll get after it with the smoke wrench.

[Truckrat]

Corey that looks like a fine place to get some work done.
Saw that big ole heater over in the corner so I am betting it
will keep that shop toasty inside so a guy can get stuff done.
Truck looks great and we would love to have you at SS truck
or no truck. Of course half the fun of it is driving your truck
to Slick Stock. Looks like you have a good upgrade going.
Hope to see you in Salina in August. Will be here before you
you know it. TR

[MN66]

Thanks TR -
It's a really nice space to work, unfortunately it's an hour away from my house. I just calculated that if I work on my truck every Saturday from now until SS, I'll only have 26 days to work on it, which is a little frightening. I'll get it roadworthy, and not worry too much about aesthetics.

See you in Salina!

[bruceandersson]

Pretty paint doesn't get you down the road. I had a 65 short bed that was a conglomeration of many parts. I drove it for years with the cab, hood and one fender white, the other fender red, the doors and bed blue. Other than the rattles it was every bit as enjoyable as when I finally got it painted.

[MN66]

Mine won't be that colorful Bruce, just a blue truck with some primer, a couple white doors and a green tailgate. Unless I use the red door and one white fender to give it a more patriotic theme...

[66camperspecial]

One of those nuts did the same on my 66 but I was able to pry the fender off and just smoothed out where the nut attached and installed a new nut and bolt. Now is the time to upgrade to a sway bar if you can find one,I got lucky and found a 76 in a local junkyard that had both front and rear sway bars and helped my 66 a bunch.

[MN66]

I was tempted to pry it off, but then I looked at where it was located and thought maybe if I made a small access hole in the fender right where the badge is located, I could grab the nut with a vice grip. I tried for a while, but it was the end of the day, and I didn't want to do any more damage until I checked in with the folks that I knew had done it before...

Fender_cut.jpg (274.02 KiB) Viewed 1214 times

Any thoughts on tacking the nut in place now that I have have access to it? The nut seems too thin to get a decent hold with a vice grip.

Next option is to use some heat to loosen it up and if that doesn't work, the smoke wrench will get it free.

Regards,
Corey

[MN66]

Luckily I did get a front swaybar with my parts truck. I've been keeping my eyes open for a rear swaybar, realizing that an OEM rear swaybar will be tough to find for our trucks. Has anyone found a swaybar that might work from later model GM or Dodge trucks? I recall reading that some of the other manufactures had 34" frames on later trucks, possibly even later F350 trucks had 34" frame width. Can anybody confirm or deny?

[MN66]

More progress today, glad to be in a heated shop when the temps hit -10F.

It's funny how easily the front clip came off with a fresh start this morning. I removed the passenger door so I could reach the fender bolt and the spun nut with an open end wrench. Letting it soak for a week in Acetone and ATF potion must have helped, the bolt came out easily.

Front_clip.jpg (379.66 KiB) Viewed 1174 times

I scraped a ton of grease and grime off the motor and cross member and have the motor ready to pull out. I probably need to wait for the temps to come up a bit before I take it outside to power wash.

I'm wrestling with the decision to swap out my NP435 for a C6 that I have sitting around. My PS column is for an auto, so that was my original plan. Now I'm second guessing myself, because I really like driving the 4 speed. If money were no object, I'd put in a Tremec TKO 500 5 sp/OD.

Regards,
Corey

[BarnieTrk]

Corey,
If you're looking for opinions, I would tell you I WOULD STAY WITH THE NP435.

But then I prefer sticks over slushboxes; the way they sound and the way they keep me, the driver, more involved in the driving experience. Stickshift cars/trucks will soon become a thing kids read about - but have never driven.

BarnieTrk

[MN66]

Thanks BarnieTrk - one more seed of doubt in my mind about swapping out the 4sp.

One thing holding me back is the steering column for my PS upgrade. I've got an automatic tilt column from the 78 donor. Is it possible to replace the shift collar at the top of the column and remove the linkage at the bottom to make it appear to be a standard column? Can I simply remove the shift lever and leave the rest alone?

I think I mentioned in another post that my ideal would be a Tremec TKO 500 5sp OD. Just waiting for a windfall.

That's why I value this site - people with a lot more experience than I are willing to offer advice and opinions.

Regards,
Corey

[DukeRoche]

Hey Corey, that's a sweet looking project and I'm glad to hear your making progress. I feel like I never get out of the "acquisition of parts" phase so I'm happy to see someone break out. Keep the pics coming. As said earlier, little progress is still progress....Duke

[BarnieTrk]

Thanks BarnieTrk - one more seed of doubt in my mind about swapping out the 4sp.
One thing holding me back is the steering column for my PS upgrade. I've got an automatic tilt column from the 78 donor. Is it possible to replace the shift collar at the top of the column and remove the linkage at the bottom to make it appear to be a standard column? Can I simply remove the shift lever and leave the rest alone? Regards, Corey

I don't have any experience in your proposed steering column upgrade or mixing and matching their parts. While I like the idea of power steering, I don't know if a tilt option is that important to me.

I suspect that it wouldn't be that difficult to locate an entire late-model steering column with PS (even maybe with tilt) and be a standard shift style - to keep from messing around with the collar and linkages. I suspect you could also turn your 78 auto column into $$ to offset the cost of a stickshift-style PS column.

Are your clutch linkages and pedals still in the truck?
Are they and their bushings in decent condition yet?

If you do go ahead with the C6, realize that you'll need to also include change out the foot pedal assembly, the speedo cable, change from a flywheel to a flexplate, buy a torque converter as well as C6, have a new driveshaft made and likely move the trans mount/crossmember on the frame as well.

BarnieTrk

[MN66]

Not sure tilt is important to me either, it's just happens to be what I got with the donor truck. I might look for a std column for the saginaw box, shouldn't be impossible to find one here in farm country.

I already have the C6 and flexplate - it came with a 390 that I plan to rebuild eventually. I'm not sure what condition the C6 is in, but have a friend who used to own a trans shop who said he'd look it over for me. I would at least want to get a new torque converter.

I still have the foot pedals in place and everything is in good condition. I was under the impression that I could remove the clutch pedal and use the existing brake pedal.

I was not aware of a difference in the speedo cable, does it need to be longer, or different driven gear?

The trans mount is out of my truck now, so relocating wouldn't be a problem.

I'm leaning towards putting the NP435 back in and just removing the auto shift lever. I'll likely replace the front crossmember rivets and repace them with bolts in case I decide to use C6 at a later date.

Any thoughts on swapping 3.08 gears for the 4.10 rearend that I have now? I don't think I'll ever need to pull much with this truck, but I'd like to put on some highway miles this year (SlickStock). Am I going to be slipping the clutch every time when starting in 2nd, or do I just get used to starting in granny gear?