JR's 78 F150

[jr78f150]

here is a pic of when i first bought mine.it was in very rough shape. wrecked on the passenger front and almost as much rust as metal. the bed was completely rusted out along with most of the rest of the body. i welded in sections of the bed floor from an 87, made floorboards from sections of a hood,built the back section of the bed near the rear bumper from metal i got from work,made most of the drivers side cab corner,replaced the passengers side front fender, bumper,grill shell and grill,straightened the passengers side of the inner fender and cradle,replaced the doors thanks to Ed,fixed the drivers side front fender,repaired the rear wheel arches useing sections of front fenders,replaced sections of the bottom of the bedsides useing various metal from the hood and leftover front fenders,replaced some metal on the cab on the rocker panels on both sides in the curved parts below the door hinges,then freshened up the bottom end of the 351.then i started on the minor stuff like the lift,headers and exaust and paint.if i had what blood me and my son spilled on this truck id probably be able to supply the local hospital for a while. when i first hauled it home my son asked what i was planning to do with that junk.after i got started he jumped right in and later we started on a 78 bronco for him.

taken not long after i bought it home.the pics dont show the rust

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b366/jr78f150/f6939ba8.jpg?t=1230960831

welding in the rear section of the bed and bed floor sections.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b366/jr78f150/f98b58fe.jpg?t=1230963448

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b366/jr78f150/f8c9c3c5.jpg?t=1230963736

almost ready for paint.i found the doors thanks to Ed after this pic was taken.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b366/jr78f150/f876b229.jpg?t=1230963922

[jr78f150]

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b366/jr78f150/f876b230.jpg?t=1230964157

after paint and some reassembly i tried my hand at my first paintjob

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b366/jr78f150/f876b237.jpg?t=1230964049

interior pic.i added carpet and painted a good set of door panels to mach the busted up originals.they have held up really good.i used plastic adhesion promoter and rattle cans.cant even tell thay have been painted after several years of use
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b366/jr78f150/f6ed591a.jpg?t=1230965078

[blythe_mechanic]

nice truck, i want to do some thing close to that with blue or black out side with b/ue/white inside

[Salt-Man]

WOW!! you did great, it is amazing what we can do with this old junk most want to scrap and send off to the crusher. my wife asked me that same question when I brought home the bronk. good looking rig you got now, way to go dude its cool to hear what others improvised and used for their repairs :cool:...Rick

[jr78f150]

thanks guys but i definetly learned from a few mistakes.the biggest one was useing cheap paint. i figured since i had never painted before id buy cheap and repaint it later since i had alot more i wanted to do with it.paint turned out great but its already in real bad need of new paint and the cheap crap i used needs to be removed. another one was not to use lift blocks unless its a mall cruiser,they can mess up some nice bodywork and alot of parts when they fail in a bad place :mad:
itll be back in the garage soon getting new paint,a healthy 429, np435,A/C and most likely more lift. ive also over time added cab lights,cargo light,delay wipers,tilt column and cruise control

[Salt-Man]

yea but our trucks will probably never be done? there will always be something else to do to them.
they should all come with a buyer beware sticker that says,
" CATION, NEVER ENDING PROJECT, WORKING ON THIS RIG IS MORE ADDICTIVE THEN CRACK !" :D

[Johnny]

I didn't know that truck was in that bad of shape when you started on it Jr....

[79time]

Great job with the body work, love the color also!

[jr78f150]

I didn't know that truck was in that bad of shape when you started on it Jr....
i had no idea it was in that bad of shape either johnny until i pulled the bedliner then started grinding and sanding on stuff.even the tinny rust spots got huge once i started cleaning them up to work on them.it had been repainted over some very bad bodywork.

Great job with the body work, love the color also!
thanks Jay,to bad it was cheap paint. when i repaint im gonna try to stick with the same color in Dupont

[Highhorse78]

Looks good. Sure came a long way from what it was.

[blythe_mechanic]

very true , been working on my truck for several years and it took the mix and matching of tree trucks too do it
again great truck JR

"great trucks are built not bought" :D