robert's 61 F350

olliesshop · Post by **olliesshop** » September 20, 2010, 2:52 pm

Looks awfully nice !!!

rwhistles · Post by **rwhistles** » September 20, 2010, 3:33 pm

Thanks fellows I do a little here and there when I can. I like to think of it as a preservation as it's not a true restoration.

SixtySix Ford · Post by **SixtySix Ford** » September 21, 2010, 7:13 pm

Thats lookin mighty fyne!!!!

I wanna see more white face gauges!!!!!! :shock:

And I just ordered mine!

rwhistles · Post by **rwhistles** » September 25, 2010, 7:24 pm

Today one of my sons came over to help swap out the front axel

out with the old in with the almost new

This is a 66 f350 axel. At the time I built it I used the backing plates and hubs from a 73 p350 cain't remember what I had to get to make the hubs fit the old spindles.bearings or grease seals but the spindles were the same.put new king pins and bushings,wheel cyls,brake shoes, and drums on it. I only drove it about a year maybe a little more before there was a fire in the cab.It has been sitting in the back since then so maybe all I will have to do is take it apart and clean it up and it will be good to go.

We got it hung in but not tightened yet still need to get new brake hoses and u bolts. Found 2 more 8 lug 19.5 rims hopefully I will have them sometime next month. I also have a dana70 8 lug to replace the 6 lug with but thats down the road.

rwhistles · Post by **rwhistles** » October 10, 2010, 6:46 pm

I decided to work on the wheels I'm gonna use after I get it converted to 8 lug.Need a few more parts before I can buckle the front axel up. Pulled both hubs and everything was fairly good to go after setting for several years. Just cleaned everything up and put it back together

Frist thing to do is get the tires off, Suprizeingly they came off pretty eash considering the crude tire tools I had.

the one on the right has had one coat of a water based paint remover I got at ace hardware. worked pretty well with a little scrubbing with a brush

After it dried I put a second coat on and used the brush and a small wire brush to get in the tight spots.then I sprayed it with purple stuff and used the brushes again. then rinsed it off with water. might do a little sand blasting and sandpapering before I prime it.

Had to boot Sam out of the way for the first two pics. He's my 9 mo. old golden retriever but he seemed so intent on getting in on the action I let him stay for this one.. If I get one wheel done a day I'll be happy.

olliesshop · Post by **olliesshop** » October 11, 2010, 3:29 am

Wow !!! That paint remover worked awesome. It almost looks like they were sandblasted.

Post by **Greg D** » October 11, 2010, 6:54 pm

Robert,
you seem to be abit like me - want to do it yourself.
But, have you considered having the wheels powder coated?

rwhistles · Post by **rwhistles** » October 11, 2010, 7:35 pm

Sure Greg, I would love to have the wheels, bumpers and mirror brackets powder coated the same color. Have thought about it, dreamed about it, but never called anyone to get a price. Didn't want to have my bubble busted. Guess I could strip them, then call and get a price of having just one side powder coated. Might have to make a phone call, tomorrow.

Thanks Greg.

64low-n-slow · Post by **64low-n-slow** » October 16, 2010, 10:31 am

Looks like Sam approves!

rwhistles · Post by **rwhistles** » October 18, 2010, 11:02 am

I got the other wheel cleaned up this weekend. after stripping the paint off I washed them with purple stuff to degrease them. Then I put them on the truck and spun them while I sprayed on the primer.

I used dupli-color self etching primer in a rattle can on them. Still waiting on a price for the front and rear u bolts from Stengle bros in whitehall,Pa.They custom bend u bolts.but did get the new front brake hoses from advance auto parts and got them on and plumbed up.only took them a week to get them in. Going to try and get the rear diff pulled this week. Im sure I can pull it myself but will definately need help getting the new one hung.

Hey Greg, I called a couple of places and the cheapest I could find was $65.00 per wheel think I'll just paint with a two part paint.

rwhistles · Post by **rwhistles** » October 22, 2010, 6:17 pm

It took all week to get the rear axel out. Boy were those u bolts rusted in. Beat on them with hammer for hours. Today I went and bought a can of licqiud wrench and sprayed them down several times then with a jack pushing up on the u bolt I hammered on the lower axel clamp until they broke loose. It still took quite a bit to get them loose.

I got the spring perches ground off.The last time I did this I left the origional perches on the 8 lug D 70 they were quite a bit shorter than the old 6 lug D 70 so this time around I will swap perches.Now I just need to get the 8 lug hung and tack the perches then drop it out again to weld them down tight. Then rehang it with new u bolts which should be here sometime after the first.

ezernut9mm · Post by **ezernut9mm** » October 22, 2010, 11:44 pm

cool upgrade, i still like the "looks" of the six lugs though. don't know why.

fire truck · Post by **fire truck** » November 28, 2010, 3:29 pm

Here ya go...

rwhistles · Post by **rwhistles** » December 20, 2010, 6:52 pm

been working on the truck off and on for the past few months.finally got the new u-bolts and buttoned up the new axels.I have the 2 front rims painted and new rubber on.Got one rear rim painted and tire mounted. Still waighting on the other rim to get here dont know when that will be.

I just put some old 16s on the rear to get it rolling will change to the new rims and tires when I get them done.I had previously painted the floorboard so while I waited to get all the parts for the axel swap together I went ahead and put down some sound deadner.Home depot varity. Now I need the floor mat and I'm almost done.

Post by **Greg D** » December 20, 2010, 8:29 pm

That is looking real nice Robert!

rwhistles · Post by **rwhistles** » December 24, 2010, 2:14 pm

Did a little tradin with a fellow I met that lives a few miles from me that has a 66 on a 79 4x4 chassis. ended up with a good drivers door window and channel. he has a lot of spare parts and needs a helping hand on his truck so needless to say we are gonna become best buds. while I had the old cracked window out I put some sound deadner in the door

will probably go back and put a second layer in.. up and down instead of sidways.now I got to do the other door.

rwhistles · Post by **rwhistles** » January 1, 2011, 9:22 pm

My Grandmother always said that whatever you are doing on the first day of the year is what you will do all year. So I definately made time to work on the slick.Have had the front bumper ready to paint for several week now but had to wait for it to get warm enough to paint. To be ready I brought the bumper in the house to keep it warm so I could paint it as soon as the temps were high enough.Well today was the day.

Here it is rideing on the new 19.5s.

ezernut9mm · Post by **ezernut9mm** » January 1, 2011, 10:52 pm

god that thing looks like a tank and i love it! that truck was a good score.

supersmitty · Post by **supersmitty** » January 9, 2011, 11:59 am

I like the wheels! That thing looks nice!

rwhistles · Post by **rwhistles** » January 9, 2011, 7:57 pm

Got the drivers door insulated today.

First I made a pattern of the door outer shell from inside the door out of heavy construction paper.

Then I cut out the piece for the door.

The fibre side was hard to cut.I tried a razor blade then a pair of scissors finally had to drag out my skinning knife. Had to sharpen it several times that stuff just dont want to cut.
I sprayed the top inside of the door with 3M heavy duty adheavise.Then I rolled up the insulation put it in the bottom of the door and began to work it up to the top and pressed it in place.then I worked the bottom up to the top and sprayed the rest of the door and got the rest put in place.
I think it would have been easier if the division bar and door glass run wern't still in the door and the door was off the truck.Oh well only one more door to do. I did notice when I shut the door it shut with a quiet thunk not as loud as it used to be.