Chevra

Thought I would start a little thread to showcase the work I have been doing on my Grandfathers 1985 F150 and give a little background history on it. My grandpa purchased the truck brand new in 1986 with my dad (I was not born at this time yet haha). My grandpa served in the army when he was 18 and then returned to Canada to farm for the rest of his life. The truck didnt leave the farm very often and according to him the biggest load it ever hauled was some pigs once and while. He kept it in pretty good shape other then a very cheap paint job that was put on in the early 2000s. He handed the truck over to me in early 2015 when he moved into a care home at 89 years old. The truck only had 126,000 kms on it but it had sat outside every day of its life and it took a toll on things. So this is what it looked like when I got it.







I first began with just mechanical issues to at least make it safe to drive which included new tires and new brakes all around. The old 302 wasn't running to hot and was stalling all the time. I took it to a local mechanic that I know and he tuned it up and got it running great again. I am still in the process of learning how to adjust carbs and what not since I have never owned a carbed vehicle before. I then decided that I wanted to get the body work out of the way. I purchased new front fenders, and a cowl hood that I thought would sport it up a bit. After consulting with my paint guy we decided I either needed to buy new box sides or find a new box. Luckily I came across a box from an 84. It had taken a hit on the one side but it had no rust and would be much easier to fix then mine. So off came my box and I picked up my new box.

Chevra

I painted the frame at this point, just dont have pictures of it painted.



New Box.



Damage on new box.

And then the body work began! Here are some pictures of the work as it progressed.




Straightening the box out.









Hi build primer going on box.







[I] The cab was surprisingly rust free other then this one spot. Surface rust on the insides of the doors were sand blasted off.

Chevra

Fresh white paint going on







waiting on the rest of the blue!

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And then the blue started to go on and things came together beautifully!



Here is the finished product plus a new rear bumper and explorer emblems.










Close up shot because it is hard to see the grey stripe in pictures.

Chevra

And this is where I am at now. Winter is around the corner so I will be putting it away and brain storming ideas for next summer. On the to do list so far is different rims and tires, mud flaps, billet grill, front leveling springs, tinting the windows, dual exhaust and then further down the road will be some engine work (either swap in a high performance 302 or pull this one and beef it up).

Unfortunately my grandpa passed away this year at 90 years old, about 2 months before I was finished the paint job. But I know that he will always be riding right beside me and he would have loved it. This truck is filled with so many memories from not only my grandpa but also my grandma and my parents. Many more mods to come so stay tuned!

4x91

subed

84ordF150

That last paragraph brought me to tears inside. What a terrific tribute to your Grandpa ! He will certainly cruise with you forever ! I have my Father's '49 DeSoto, my Mother's '90 Cadillac Brougham and a '66 VW that my 21 year old Grandson has laid claim to since he was 2 years old. As a Grandfather, it does my heart more good than you know to see your dedication to this restoration. Thank You for sharing. I am definitely subscribed to this sentimental journey !

Chevra

Thanks for taking the time to read this! Great to hear that you have kept so many vehicles in your family. The sentimental value is what really makes a vehicle worth it. I will admit that I am not a Ford guy at all haha. I am 100% a GM person and all my other vehicles are GM. But I sold my SS Camaro to fund and make room for this project and I don't regret it one bit! I am 24 years old now and hope to be driving this truck for many many years and hopefully pass it on to my future children. If anyone has any tips or ideas of what else I could do to the truck let me know! Thanks.

Chevra

Decided I wanted to try to salvage some interior pieces before having to order new panels. The top dash panel was in good shape with no cracks because grandpa always had a sun visor in the windshield. But the door panels and the rear cab panels were so badly sun damaged that the blue was completely turned grey and parts of them were basically disintegrating. I went with the Duplicolor Vinyl paint which has a blue that matches the factory blue very well. It worked very well on the panels that were in good shape, I am actually very impressed with it. On the very sun damaged pieces it worked fairly well but I think I failed on my prep work. The areas with damage remain rough and I think if I would have hand sanded it smooth before painting the results would have been even better. So next summer I might be pulling them out and redoing it. I wish I would have taken some more pictures throughout the process but here is one.



Dash cap, pillar pieces and all other pieces without severe sun damage turned out perfect

The seat had a cover on it from the first day my grandpa bought it and it is in perfect shape thankfully. I managed to break one of the pillar pieces while taking it out. Thankfully I knew a farmer who had a 86 F150 that was about to go to the wrecker. He let me take whatever I wanted before they took it away. The interior was red but the duplicolor covered it perfectly and you cant even tell that the pillar piece used to be red. The truck I stole parts from was also an XLT so it had a few extra gadgets. I took the digital clock and put it in my truck which was all plug and play! I also stole the gauges from this truck which actually had a tachometer (mine did not). My gauges were also faded and these werent because the truck was kept in a garage. The only thing I didnt like was that these gauges had 250,000 km and mine only had 127,000km. I wanted to keep this mileage so after playing around with them I was able to role it back and its working great. Its surprisingly easy to change the mileage which is scary to think haha. I dont want to bore you guys but if anyone wants pictures I can snap some now that the interior is back in the truck. Next summer I will be working on what to do with the floor liner.

grizzstang

Looking good so far. I would like to see pics of the interior.


I will be following your progress on this one. It is nice too see any old vehicle brought back to life by someone who cares.


Nice Job!