97 F-150 Progress Thread!
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 20
Likes: 1
97 F-150 Progress Thread!
Hey there everyone!
So as I mentioned in the thread about my spooooooky noise, I bought an F-150 as a project truck exactly a week ago today. I thought it would be fun to document my progress starting with a few pics of what she looks like now, a list of the things I know I need to fix, and a list of my intended upgrades.
Then as time goes on I will update the thread with each of my fixes, upgrades, and exploits with the truck.
Before I get started I'll give you a little background on why I'm doing this and not just buying a new truck and hitting the woods! I am by no means a mechanical expert... My Dad was. He was ASE certified, had the gold badge and everything and after he was injured and could not be a mechanic full time he taught at a technical school for many years. He built a curriculum from scratch for a Vocational School for troubled kids run by a Church in NY. He and I worked on a few cars together as I had been under cars with him since I was about 4.
He always had interesting used cars over the years and as much as I could as a kid, I helped him with his old blue blazer doing an engine swap, which he later sold. I helped him with his old beige Monte carlo which he gave away to somebody (from church ? I don't remember how we knew them) that needed a car so they could get to work. I helped him work on a Dodge Dakota he had, after I wrecked his Silverado in an accident when I was maybe 17 (wasn't my fault I promise). He and I helped his friend build a racing engine for a Studebaker Silverhawk. We did a LOT of work on my first 2 cars, a '77 Impala 4-door and a 2000 Suzuki Grand Vitara that we straightened the frame on in the backyard with a hydraulic ram and some chains and a really big tree.
I had a 94 C1500 Work truck for a while and we did a lot of work on that as well. But we always wanted to build a "Monster truck". An endeavor like that is never inexpensive and my family was not what I would classify as wealthy. I went to work when I was 14 at a McDonalds to try and help. I have been working everyday since. I skipped college to keep working but, it seemed like the harder I worked and the more I moved up, to try and get ahead of our issues the sicker Dad got.
He was a diabetic and despite all of our pleading did not take proper care of himself. Several years ago he had multiple heart attacks, a stroke, and had to have stents put in his heart. After that he could no longer work, but he still refused to listen to anyone plead with him to stop sneaking off and eating all the things that just made his condition worse. His addiction to eating basically anything other than what the Doctors said to, was in my opinion worse than nicotine addiction (something I kicked myself when I was 19). At one point we found him in a diabetic coma in 2012 because he miscalculated his insulin while up having a midnight snack as everyone else was asleep. It took 2 weeks for him to wake up from that and he was never the same after. From there it was a slow decline into dementia and deteriorating health.
As this went on, the bills got larger and larger and my brother and I worked harder and harder to help my Mom keep everything together. But I did not forget the dream of building this truck with my Dad. The thought of him working on it even passively, made me feel like it would be good therapy for his mind. I am now the VP of technology for a web hosting company, a title which I finally earned just a few weeks before Dad passed away. I tried to race that situation for years and get to a place where I could afford for us to have this project and build one last truck with my Dad, and when I was finally ready, and looking around for the right truck to buy, suddenly one morning last December he simply did not wake up.
A massive heart attack took him in his sleep, 3 days before his 59th Birthday. It has been hard and I want to build the truck he and I dreamed of building in tribute to everything he taught me about working hard and doing the right thing.
Dad and I had a history of naming my cars. My Impala was the White Knight, my Suzuki Grand Vitara was goldie, my Sx4 sport was Lulul Belle (named after a WW2 F4u Corsair) my Outlander (current daily driver) is named Bullet, my C1500 was named Rusty.
So my best friend Bryan and I have dubbed this F-150 "Heavy Metal"
Here's my list of everything I know it needs in no particular order:
Front Rotors, Calipers, and Pads. (The inside face of the drivers side rotor is being completely chewed apart) Hopefully I can get it to pass safety with just rotors and pads this weekend because I cannot afford calipers at this exact moment.
Rear Drums and Shoes
The tires are dry rotted as all hell so new Tires should be arriving today pre-installed on new plain black wheels.
Rear wheel bearings (thought it needed fronts too but Sunday when I went to take it apart to do this, the wheel had no play and I discovered the symptoms were actually due to the chewed up rotor)
New brake lines and fuel lines (such rust, much rot, wow)
New Alternator, my scanner says the charging voltage at idle is too low.
Brake Pedal return Spring is so soft that the brake lights stay on when I exit the truck.
The Radio does not work, but upon hearing me tell my brother this my Mom insisted on ordering one for me as a birthday present. So I have a Kenwood double din radio with a 6 inch screen in the mail (Thanks Mom!)
The coolant reservoir looks like swamp thing lives in it so that system needs a thorough flushing.
There is some rust in the rear corners of the cab I need to cut that out and weld in some new metal (Speaking of, what sort of welders do you recommend for this type of work my dads old Lincoln electric does not work and I am in the market for a new one)
Ball Joints
Rear Leaf Springs + at least one shackle needs to be replaced.
There is a cable dangling in the engine bay on the top front drivers side next to a place where it looks like "something" used to be mounted... gotta figure out WTF that was and fix it.
Since I Actually have Inner/outer front bearings and seals I will pop them in when I replace the calipers.
There is an exhaust leak right after the cat that needs a wee spot weld
Apparently my friend Matt says the brake lights only work sometimes after driving behind me for a while.
The left turn signal relay sometimes clicks faster as though it had a bulb out, but both left signals work, and sometimes it does not click on at all so I am thinking the bulbs aren't my problem. I vehemently despise folks that do not properly signal so this fix is a priority for me.
The overdrive button apparently doesn't actually do anything.
There is some rot in the bed behind the rear wheel on the drivers side.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Planned Upgrades!
- A couple inches of suspension lift, 2 to 4, nothing crazy.
- New Paint
- An alarm with remote start
- New Speakers, and a modest Amp/Sub behind the seat (not looking for cochlear trauma but I like some bass)
- Diamond Plate Toolbox in the back bed
- 4x KC Daylighters on a Bar behind the Cab
- A black powder coat steel front bumper with grill guard and a winch
- 2 more KC Daylighters on said bumper
- New LED Head lights
- Some slightly large tires to go with that suspension lift and look "monster trucky" without requiring a ladder for ingress.
- Covered toggle switches for all those lights... I love toggle switches they are my weakness.
Insane Upgrades I want to do but everyone will want to talk me out of it:
Remove that tired V6 and drop in a crate V8
Remove impossible for me to fix myself slop-box, and install glorious, easy to maintain, manual transmission.
Solid Front Axle and 2wd to 4wd Conversion with divorced x-fer case
Replace rear Axle with a Dana
Here's to a long, fun, and interesting project for me and anyone who follows along!
-Steve
So as I mentioned in the thread about my spooooooky noise, I bought an F-150 as a project truck exactly a week ago today. I thought it would be fun to document my progress starting with a few pics of what she looks like now, a list of the things I know I need to fix, and a list of my intended upgrades.
Then as time goes on I will update the thread with each of my fixes, upgrades, and exploits with the truck.
Before I get started I'll give you a little background on why I'm doing this and not just buying a new truck and hitting the woods! I am by no means a mechanical expert... My Dad was. He was ASE certified, had the gold badge and everything and after he was injured and could not be a mechanic full time he taught at a technical school for many years. He built a curriculum from scratch for a Vocational School for troubled kids run by a Church in NY. He and I worked on a few cars together as I had been under cars with him since I was about 4.
He always had interesting used cars over the years and as much as I could as a kid, I helped him with his old blue blazer doing an engine swap, which he later sold. I helped him with his old beige Monte carlo which he gave away to somebody (from church ? I don't remember how we knew them) that needed a car so they could get to work. I helped him work on a Dodge Dakota he had, after I wrecked his Silverado in an accident when I was maybe 17 (wasn't my fault I promise). He and I helped his friend build a racing engine for a Studebaker Silverhawk. We did a LOT of work on my first 2 cars, a '77 Impala 4-door and a 2000 Suzuki Grand Vitara that we straightened the frame on in the backyard with a hydraulic ram and some chains and a really big tree.
I had a 94 C1500 Work truck for a while and we did a lot of work on that as well. But we always wanted to build a "Monster truck". An endeavor like that is never inexpensive and my family was not what I would classify as wealthy. I went to work when I was 14 at a McDonalds to try and help. I have been working everyday since. I skipped college to keep working but, it seemed like the harder I worked and the more I moved up, to try and get ahead of our issues the sicker Dad got.
He was a diabetic and despite all of our pleading did not take proper care of himself. Several years ago he had multiple heart attacks, a stroke, and had to have stents put in his heart. After that he could no longer work, but he still refused to listen to anyone plead with him to stop sneaking off and eating all the things that just made his condition worse. His addiction to eating basically anything other than what the Doctors said to, was in my opinion worse than nicotine addiction (something I kicked myself when I was 19). At one point we found him in a diabetic coma in 2012 because he miscalculated his insulin while up having a midnight snack as everyone else was asleep. It took 2 weeks for him to wake up from that and he was never the same after. From there it was a slow decline into dementia and deteriorating health.
As this went on, the bills got larger and larger and my brother and I worked harder and harder to help my Mom keep everything together. But I did not forget the dream of building this truck with my Dad. The thought of him working on it even passively, made me feel like it would be good therapy for his mind. I am now the VP of technology for a web hosting company, a title which I finally earned just a few weeks before Dad passed away. I tried to race that situation for years and get to a place where I could afford for us to have this project and build one last truck with my Dad, and when I was finally ready, and looking around for the right truck to buy, suddenly one morning last December he simply did not wake up.
A massive heart attack took him in his sleep, 3 days before his 59th Birthday. It has been hard and I want to build the truck he and I dreamed of building in tribute to everything he taught me about working hard and doing the right thing.
Dad and I had a history of naming my cars. My Impala was the White Knight, my Suzuki Grand Vitara was goldie, my Sx4 sport was Lulul Belle (named after a WW2 F4u Corsair) my Outlander (current daily driver) is named Bullet, my C1500 was named Rusty.
So my best friend Bryan and I have dubbed this F-150 "Heavy Metal"
Here's my list of everything I know it needs in no particular order:
Front Rotors, Calipers, and Pads. (The inside face of the drivers side rotor is being completely chewed apart) Hopefully I can get it to pass safety with just rotors and pads this weekend because I cannot afford calipers at this exact moment.
Rear Drums and Shoes
The tires are dry rotted as all hell so new Tires should be arriving today pre-installed on new plain black wheels.
Rear wheel bearings (thought it needed fronts too but Sunday when I went to take it apart to do this, the wheel had no play and I discovered the symptoms were actually due to the chewed up rotor)
New brake lines and fuel lines (such rust, much rot, wow)
New Alternator, my scanner says the charging voltage at idle is too low.
Brake Pedal return Spring is so soft that the brake lights stay on when I exit the truck.
The Radio does not work, but upon hearing me tell my brother this my Mom insisted on ordering one for me as a birthday present. So I have a Kenwood double din radio with a 6 inch screen in the mail (Thanks Mom!)
The coolant reservoir looks like swamp thing lives in it so that system needs a thorough flushing.
There is some rust in the rear corners of the cab I need to cut that out and weld in some new metal (Speaking of, what sort of welders do you recommend for this type of work my dads old Lincoln electric does not work and I am in the market for a new one)
Ball Joints
Rear Leaf Springs + at least one shackle needs to be replaced.
There is a cable dangling in the engine bay on the top front drivers side next to a place where it looks like "something" used to be mounted... gotta figure out WTF that was and fix it.
Since I Actually have Inner/outer front bearings and seals I will pop them in when I replace the calipers.
There is an exhaust leak right after the cat that needs a wee spot weld
Apparently my friend Matt says the brake lights only work sometimes after driving behind me for a while.
The left turn signal relay sometimes clicks faster as though it had a bulb out, but both left signals work, and sometimes it does not click on at all so I am thinking the bulbs aren't my problem. I vehemently despise folks that do not properly signal so this fix is a priority for me.
The overdrive button apparently doesn't actually do anything.
There is some rot in the bed behind the rear wheel on the drivers side.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Planned Upgrades!
- A couple inches of suspension lift, 2 to 4, nothing crazy.
- New Paint
- An alarm with remote start
- New Speakers, and a modest Amp/Sub behind the seat (not looking for cochlear trauma but I like some bass)
- Diamond Plate Toolbox in the back bed
- 4x KC Daylighters on a Bar behind the Cab
- A black powder coat steel front bumper with grill guard and a winch
- 2 more KC Daylighters on said bumper
- New LED Head lights
- Some slightly large tires to go with that suspension lift and look "monster trucky" without requiring a ladder for ingress.
- Covered toggle switches for all those lights... I love toggle switches they are my weakness.
Insane Upgrades I want to do but everyone will want to talk me out of it:
Remove that tired V6 and drop in a crate V8
Remove impossible for me to fix myself slop-box, and install glorious, easy to maintain, manual transmission.
Solid Front Axle and 2wd to 4wd Conversion with divorced x-fer case
Replace rear Axle with a Dana
Here's to a long, fun, and interesting project for me and anyone who follows along!
-Steve
Last edited by F150-Steve; Feb 4, 2016 at 10:48 AM.
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 181
Likes: 15
Very cool thread, your enthusiasm comes through. If you imbed the pics in the thread and have a lot of them, it tends to hold people's interest more. The more work (read, click and go to other sites) your audience has to do, the less readership build threads tend to have.
Last edited by F150ken; Feb 4, 2016 at 10:02 AM. Reason: Added one of Steve's pics
Wow you have quite the project ahead of you man. It is good to have a plan to start with.
As far as the engine and trans the best thing would be to find a wrecked donor truck. Take the engine, trans, transfer case, wiring harness, vacuum lines, solenoids, gem, pcm, cluster, and steering column. Then you have to find a d44 or d60 for the front, get a custom drive shaft made, and setup your suspension. Another possibility is to take superduty axles from the same era and bolt them up.
I know that sounds like a lot, and it is, but it is definitely manageable. Good luck and ask lots of questions. There is a lot of knowledge around here.
As far as the engine and trans the best thing would be to find a wrecked donor truck. Take the engine, trans, transfer case, wiring harness, vacuum lines, solenoids, gem, pcm, cluster, and steering column. Then you have to find a d44 or d60 for the front, get a custom drive shaft made, and setup your suspension. Another possibility is to take superduty axles from the same era and bolt them up.
I know that sounds like a lot, and it is, but it is definitely manageable. Good luck and ask lots of questions. There is a lot of knowledge around here.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 20
Likes: 1
Very cool thread, your enthusiasm comes through. If you imbed the pics in the thread and have a lot of them, it tends to hold people's interest more. The more work (read, click and go to other sites) your audience has to do, the less readership build threads tend to have.
Thanks for the tip! I was still able to edit so I changed the links to embed!
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 20
Likes: 1
Everything else on my list is squarely in my comfort zone so these challenges should prove interesting.
Yeah, I expect the engine swap, 2->4wd upgrade and Auto->manual trans swap to be the most difficult things I have ever done. I know I have the tools, Dad left me every mechanical tool under the sun. I think that with a little help, a lot of research, and lot more wrench time I can pull it off.
Everything else on my list is squarely in my comfort zone so these challenges should prove interesting.
Everything else on my list is squarely in my comfort zone so these challenges should prove interesting.
Most people on here will tell you a Mig welder is where you need to look as far as body work goes.
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 20
Likes: 1
So my new tires/wheels arrived about an hour ago. Sorry the pics are so dark it started to rain on me while I was putting them on! I will take some better pictures this weekend!
These are the wheels: American Racing AR172 Baja I got them with the tires pre mounted and balanced from tirerack.
Ignore those beer bottles I lost them in the snow when I was clearing the driveway from the snow 2 weeks ago. I put them down in the cold to enjoy while I worked and then mindlessly buried them with the snow blower... Now they are revealed in the thaw. I don't usually just have bottles rattling around my driveway >_<
This one came out potato resolution. I think it auto-focused on my bike
I think they look really great, too bad they came so late in the day. but I'll update with better ones when I can take them in daylight.
Next stop: Front Brakes so we can pass NY safety inspection!
These are the wheels: American Racing AR172 Baja I got them with the tires pre mounted and balanced from tirerack.
Ignore those beer bottles I lost them in the snow when I was clearing the driveway from the snow 2 weeks ago. I put them down in the cold to enjoy while I worked and then mindlessly buried them with the snow blower... Now they are revealed in the thaw. I don't usually just have bottles rattling around my driveway >_<
This one came out potato resolution. I think it auto-focused on my bike
I think they look really great, too bad they came so late in the day. but I'll update with better ones when I can take them in daylight.
Next stop: Front Brakes so we can pass NY safety inspection!
Last edited by F150-Steve; Feb 4, 2016 at 05:51 PM.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 20
Likes: 1
Sooo It decided to snow here today... hard, and I noticed while jockying the cars around to clear the driveway that the cab is wet inside behind the drivers seat. There is water all over my toolbox and 20v Porter Cable drill and impact gun... super annoying! There is no visible rot in the roof, and no stream of water to follow so I suspect the rear window seal was leaking and got plugged by this super dense snow.
How do you guys/gals suggest chasing down and sealing a leak in the cab like that?
How do you guys/gals suggest chasing down and sealing a leak in the cab like that?