70 F250 Cab Swap - Continued - Her name is Ethyl..

[Sharkdance]

Well, 5% is really dark. And its true that its not legal to have it on your two front door windows, but Ive lived in Miami, Ft Myers, and now Jacksonville and have never known anyone here in Florida to get hassled about it. That is, unless they were acting/driving like an A-hole and the cops were just looking for reasons to ticket them.

[CJ,s 67 F100]

SharkDance, Man I'm glad your making such good progress. I didnt find this thread until now and had been wondering how your making out. Wish I'd known you needed a tubing bender I could have mailed you mine for a couple weeks. Glad its coming together.

[shanmeg1]

Sharkdance,
You sure are doing things the right way. I'm impressed because I know what a pain those brake lines can be. I only replaced the ones on the rear and it took me a long time without a bender. If I find a donor cab I'll finish the rest of the tubing but for now just got the rusty lines replaced. John

[Sharkdance]

CJ,s 67 F100,
Thanks for the coments. its apreciated.
No worries about the tubing bender. I made due without one for now and I think the shipping both ways would cost more than the purchase price of a new one. The thought is apreciated though.

shanmeg1,
Thanks. And yes, its a PITA doing it with or even without a tubing bender.
Well, for me it wasnt what I call hard. Just so time consuming cuz you just cant rush it. And when you have like a million other things to do, it just gets frustrating.
In the end Im glad I did it.

[Sharkdance]

Welp, I promised someone that I would update this thread with a pic or two and Im a man of my word.

As I said before in this thread. I had started the FE up but still had some work to do puting the exhaust and driveshaft in.

Ive come to grips with the fact that I have to finish putting my truck back together unfinished. I HAVE to be able to drive it before school starts back up for my kids and thats just a few more weeks away. I can always restart my project during the next school year summer vacation but for right now I need it for transportation.
With 3 kids in two different schools and only one car to get me to work it was pretty much a nightmare last school year while my truck was down.
My wife wont/don't complain but I know its tough on her to get me to work and the kids to school everyday with only her car. Plus when I take her car she is stranded at home all day with no transpo.

So, I have two choices. drive the truck with no bed and put some trailer lights on the rear of the frame rails or just put it back on and take it back off to finish it later. I will probably opt. for the latter because I don't think the truck will drive very safely with no weight at all over the rear wheels.
I will have a few extra bucks to finish working on the truck come tax time next year. I will re-start my project at that time.

For now Im just gonna have to clean and prime the bed and put it back on untill Im either ready to finish it or I find a better one.

I thank everyone for thier help and support while Ive been working on this project. Especialy Wideguage and Truckrazy. I couldnt have gotten this far without your help.
Ethyl is completely drivable now with the exception of bolting down the seat, dashpad, and a few other interior things.
I just have to find the money for insurance and a tag before I can start driving her back and forth to work again.

[Sharkdance]

More pix:

[flyboy2610]

Hey, you do what you have to do!
It looks real good as far as it got. You'll get it done next year.

[shanmeg1]

I think it will look awesome even with a primered bed. What color is that shark? John

[71 LONG BED]

The truck looks great. You'll be riden' in style! The cab is done so you'll be nice and comfy. Don't worry about the bed. It sounds like the bed will be the easy part after reading about all the progress you made on the rest of the truck. A little body work and some paint? that should be a sinch for you now. I agree with you, that the bed should be on. I won't be bad though. I can't wait to see the finished truck!! It's been fun following all your progress, I'll stay tuned...

[jzjames]

Hey. What a nice looking truck. Enjoy the heck out of it
jzjames

[Big D's 69]

Looking good man. What color is that? Looks like your hard work is gonna pay off when you get her all finished up!

[Sharkdance]

flyboy2610,jzjames
Thanks!

Big D's 69,shanmeg1
The color is an 05/06 Ford color called Light Tundra Effect.
Ive had more compliments on that color than I expected. Thanks guys!
But what you cant really see in the pix is the miss-match between the cab and the doors/fenders/hood. Several months went by between spraying them so they dont exactly match yet. This will be corrected once I get the bed back on and can spray the entire truck at one time with one more coat of paint.

71 LONG BED,
Thanks for the compliment.
Your right. The bed will be easy compared to what Ive already been thru with the cab swap.
But right now Im struggling against time and money to finish it.
Ive spent a day and a half cleaning and prepping the bottom of the bed with a wire wheel and now Im just gonna spray on some Rustolium black on the bottom so that I can flip it over onto the frame.
Im beginning to wonder if this bed is worth the time and materials Im putting into it so Im thinking its just gonna be temporary until I can find a better bed for the truck. Meanwhile I can still drive it even if it is ugly.

Here is what it looked like before I started cleaning it this week-end:
http://www.fordification.com/forum/download.php?id=4614
http://www.fordification.com/forum/download.php?id=4613
And the following pix are what it looks like this morning. I hope to have it setting on the frame today so I can sand and prime the bed sides soon.

[Sharkdance]

One last pic of the bottom of the bed sprayed with Rustolium. Just temporary untill I can find a better bed to do a better job with.
In this pic, you can see my truck in the back ground sitting in the driveway.
Putting the bed on today is gonna be fun.

[jor]

I gotta tell you, you are an inspiration! BTW, how much for the kid? I'll feed her and send her to college.
jor

[460 crew]

I gotta tell you, you are an inspiration! BTW, how much for the kid? I'll feed her and send her to college.
jor

I'm not sure I could handle another boss. I have a couple at work and 3 at home now, not including the PITA xwife and my mom.