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So my 1989 fi50 was paralell parked in my friends neighborhood and somebody in a lifted f250 sped by and whacked her. The passenger side front of the truck is badly damaged. The radiator, battery, and all of the heating and ac stuff in that corner is gone. the fender and hood are shot. But the engine and transmission are both fine, along with everything behind the firewall. I plan on rebuilding the truck and doing everything I need to fix it up. I found on craigslist a rolling chassy that has a good frame, and its got the cab and wiring. The one thing is that this new chassy is a 4x4. so my first question is would it be easier to salvage what I can from the front end and covert it to 4x2, or should I find an adapter for the transmission to turn the truck into a 4x4. I will move the bed, tranny and engine, entire interior, rear end, and basically anything I can that wont require swapping the cabs will be put onto this new frame There are also a good number of things that i will still need to get like a bumper, radiator, hood, and quarter panel. Most of those I can get at a reasonable price at a junk yard.
The frame had a v8 in it so I will also have to get some engine mounts.
I am dead set on this project so I dont want anybody bothering me by saying that I should just buy a new truck or give up. I am looking for an answer to my one question and also wondering if anybody has some advice or experience.
Ill attach some pictures of the damage and the link to the craigslist frame. If there are any details I left out or different angled pics you guys wanna see, just ask. https://fredericksburg.craigslist.or...731105019.html
...would it be easier to salvage what I can from the front end and covert it to 4x2, or should I find an adapter for the transmission to turn the truck into a 4x4.
The easiest would be to leave the front axle in the replacement, but drop your 2WD drivetrain into it, and drive it w/o front d/shaft until you find a 4WD trans to swap in.
I HIGHLY recommend stripping BOTH trucks down to their last fasteners, tossing anything that's ruined, cleaning everything else, then picking the best of each part you have to build the truck. Keep all the original wiring with the engine. Only use the donor's wiring if it's EXACTLY identical, but in better condition. Virtually everything can be pressure-washed (especially while it's still assembled & sealed), so if you don't have one, get one. Even a cheapo electric will do wonders, and make the job MUCH more-pleasant. Once you're finished blasting, start soaking things in penetrating oil.
This is the perfect opportunity to upgrade anything you want, so spend some time thinking about how you want the truck to WORK when it's "finished". Then backtrack from that point to where you are now; planning, ordering, & junkyarding for whatever you need to make it turn out that way. You can have simple beater; or you can have heated memory mirrors linked to the RKE & memory pedals if you want.
Take 5x more pictures than you think you need to, and organize them so you can find what you need to see a year from now. This album has about 1/10 of the pics I took of the last truck I stripped:
So I posted earlier about my plans to rebuild my truck after it was hit. So I have pulled off the hood, radiator core support, fender, fender well, bumper, and radiator. Looking at the frame, at the horns, it is a quarter inch too far apart, and the passenger side horn seems to be pushed down lower than the drivers side. I have decided not to buy the new frame, and will do what I can to straighten mine out. Ill probably find a body shop with reasonable prices for putting it on a frame machine. So What Id like to do before that is pull out the engine, that way I can see more of the frame from above. So what im looking for now is if somebody can show me where to get detailed instructions on how to pull the 4.9l out of my truck, preferably with the transmission still on it. And I was also curious if there is anything I should do to the engine while its out, like are there any gaskets are parts that I might as well replace. The engine only has 80k miles on it, and it has never lost a drop of oil, so I cant thing of anything id really need to do, other than just clean and maybe paint the motor.
Pressure-wash it a few times before any more disassembly, and again after the engine is out. What else you do depends entirely on what you find. Post lots of pics. I always plan on replacing both engine mounts, because they're always broken. I'd also expect to find some exhaust leaks - probably between the head & manifolds.
So Ive been sort of stuck on this rebuild for a good month now. Ive removed all of the damaged parts, but I cant start putting anything back together until I 1) get the frame straight, and 2) get the new parts. The body shop I think Ill be using said that I should wait until I have the parts. So that once they straighten the frame as close to factory specs as they can, they'll double check it by making sure all the body parts line up. But I have not been able to find the parts I need. Ive looked at several from craigslist, and Ive gone around my local junkyard, and all the trucks are darn rust buckets. My truck was rust free underneath when it got hit, and its been in the norther VA, DC area its whole life. So Ive been doing a few things to keep myself busy until I can find a good parts truck. Ive replaced the body mount bushings, painted the valve cover and a few other small engine components, The steering box is leaking fluid from the seal, which is something im trying to fix. Just trying to keep myself productive, once I can get a good parts truck, all I have to do is get the frame work done, put it back together, then get a paint job.
And heres a picture of what the truck is looking like right now. You can easily see that the frame is a little bit uneven, I did compare it to our 1990 that has not been in any accidents that I know of, all the damaged points I measured are within an inch of where they should be.
An inch is a LONG way off, but you can't measure it accurately enough without the proper equipment. That sway-bar crossmember can probably be straightened if you put it on the ground & stomp on it, or drive over it (with some cribbing to keep it from bending too far).
You should go to town on the engine & frame with a pressure washer & some PurplePower/SimpleGreen mixed with Dawn & water.
It sounds like the frame shop is just being lazy. The LESS body there is on the frame, the easier it is to take measurements & straighten it. Giving them body panels will just let them hide things they don't want to fix right.
If used ones are so hard to find, is there some reason you're not just ordering new parts?
If the steering box is leaking, it's probably ruined from the wreck. I'd find a replacement (probably a reman with warranty).
Update: a few weeks ago I Finally got all the part I need. all of them are able to be put on. but the fender and radiator core support dont line up on the passenger side. I had the truck brought to a body shop today, so they are going to straighten up the frame, and possibly box off the bent areas once they are straightened.
One thing though, is that the truck got really hot when I was driving it onto the trailer. It had been idling for a good 15 minutes and it was stil cold, and we emptied up all 4 gallons of coolant into the truck ,and I know that the thermostat opened up, so im assuming that there is either just air in the system, or since I havent attached a lot of the grounds that go to the hood and radiator core support, that some of the sensors in the truck arent going to be working right. Just thought Id ask about what you guys thik that could be.
I forgot to take pictures this time, but ill make sure to update you guys when the frame is straight again.
Alright, so I finally got the truck back right after Christmas. The frame looks pretty straight, but I do plan on parking on a flat surface and then going in with a tape measure and some body shims. I put most of it back together and am currently in the painting process. All of the panels are lined up pretty well and things are going well. I have already put the primer (epoxy primer from summit) on, so I'm waiting for the weather to get nice again so I can put on the actual paint. (Single stage enamel, merlot, form summit) The bed has been taken off for easier painting, and I wont bother putting the headlights, grill, and bumper back on until the painting is done. The bracket where the top of the fender mounts on was damaged in the accident so I got a new one and riveted that on. My grille guard somehow survived the accident, so I already have that mounted onto the new bumper.
The engine seems to be running as smooth as ever. although I haven't driven it on the road yet. It has developed very small leaks at the rear main seal, and the input seal for the diff. So I do plan on replacing those, and I had the clutch replaced by a mechanic a few years ago and I know that they would have put the cheapest one they could find in it. So I bought a heavier duty clutch kit made for towing and hauling, because I might as well do it while the transmission is dropped. And I guess now is a good time to replace the oil in the diff anyways, the truck only has 80k miles on it, so its probably the original gear oil.
Another thing I noticed is that the truck is running on low voltage. the gauge sits at about 9 volts while it's running. I had the battery tested, and it came out fine. So I'm going to have the alternator tested, and Ill look into the wire harness and see if there are any damaged wires I failed to notice. I have alse noticed that when I turn the key on, all of the warning lights come on, like normal, except for the charging light. That one stays off.
Ill go ahead and post some pictures tomorrow.
this has been quite a project but, I'm glad you haven't thrown in the towel. I love it when I see these old trucks driving around town. There are a couple really nice 92-96 F series driving around where I live.
11-17-2018, 07:15 PM
Rebuilding my totalled truck.
