Trish's project truck Morti

[TJlongworth]

So I'm going to warn everyone this is going to be a very long and detailed build thread, I'm venturing into some unknowns, and this is not a very common swap, with even fewer successfully completed. To date I have only found 2 very well done examples of this.

A little backstory, ever since I brought the flower truck home from the auction Trish has loved it. The weekend of camping kayaking and wheeling in New Hartford, Trish drove the flower truck to the property and she asked if I could find her an old ford pickup to drive. That's right up my alley so sure why not, she immediately started looking. It didn't take long for her to find the 70's body style fords. To be specific she wanted a 78 or 79. Well wouldn't you know it she wanted the most expensive fords currently. To put this in perspective this was on a Sunday. By Monday I had a line on a free cab ( thanks Jerry ) and the project was on the move. Well after some thinking, if I was to restore a 1979 truck with a big block and a 3 speed it would never get driven. Between fuel economy and ride quality it would be a dud. So like any good build, Facebook marketplace is your friend and enemy.

It just so happens there was a 2500 dollar 1996 ford f350 with a 7.3.... mint, Trish contacted the guy and it was just what we needed, a running driving truck with a junk cab and flatbed. 2k dollars later the first piece of the puzzle was secured. Friday of that week we picked it up and the disassembly began. Within an hour the flatbed was torched off and ready for the scrap yard. Next was the shitty part of removing all the wiring without cutting a single wire. Everything was assumed necessary for the swap. Many hours later the cab was removed and we were left with a frame, and engine.

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[TJlongworth]

So with a rolling chassis, I kept myself busy removing a lot of unneeded brackets and bits, along with 2 bad exhaust manifolds, and a bad shackle on the front axle, although it's crusty it will work perfectly. The next part was figuring out the body side of the project. The free truck didn't have a bed and that was kind of a pacing item to set the ride height of the cab. This is where the project went off the rails, Donny had jokingly sent an ad for a big brown truck. But it was 10k at the time..... And it was way too big. Well a couple weeks later the price dropped, so Trish contacted him. After talking with him I decided it was worth the drive. The truck was big, but because he never finished the project the body was as clean as one could ask for given the year. So we haggled and I opened my wallet.

A huge thank you, and I mean huge ! To Donny Jarrett and Alan for helping me out to get this thing home. I believe phrase that sums up this project best is " you didn't tell me it was original bigfoot big " the tires are 46" 19.5 wide

Once the truck was home and in the garage, the axles were yanked and the fun began, the paint even buffed up nice

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[TJlongworth]

So this pretty much brings us to current, the frame of the 96 now lives under the body of the 79 while the rest of the cleanup happens and the body mounts come in from LMC. Once that happens, it will be time to start fitting the cab on the 96 frame.

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[YJScrounge]

I'm frankly jealous...

Have my eye on a 71 bump side. Not doing anything though until the barn is done.

I'd prefer a square body Chevy. They and the Dodge's are bringing stupid money...

Then again, a simple 2wd with a 350 would be kind of cool and way cheaper to maintain...

 

[DrazJR]

To the little part I have had my hand on it’s been a ton of fun, the pictures don’t do justice of how tall the truck was till your standing next to it


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[gorilla_skater]

Very cool Tom! Sounds like it'll be a restomod for the ages.

 

[2ndgearhero]

Yup, gonna be watching this one.  Damn look at the bend in those leafs!

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[redjeep]

Bring... Bring...

Hello, Quadratec,

Yes,  I'd like to order the 30 inch EZ Ride lift springs for my truck.

Hold on, let me check my stock.........

Sorry, I just sold the last set to some guy with a brown Ford up in New England.

Maybe you can find a set on E-Bay or Craigslist, I can't seem to re-order those.

All right, thanks.

Click, Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[A new level]

Those springs are ridiculous! lol Going to be an amazing build. One of the best bodies Ford has ever done.

 

[massxj]

The move went way too easy.

that thing was fucking tall

 

[PLONG]

Hi,

I've been helping  :mrgreen:

 

[PLONG]

.

 

[JeepinMaxx]

Now you need a project to use those springs on  :rotflmao:

 

[redjeep]

Take a couple leaves out and I bet they'll flatten right out  :beat:

 

[Paul]

opcorn:

 

[BC Miller]

I thought you'd been kinda quiet on the forum lately. Now I know why.

 

[mudpit]

Wow! It looks like a truck.


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[JohnyPro]

Wicked cool! good taste Trish, and I can’t wait to see the fab work Tom!

 

[TJlongworth]

Its been a couple weeks, And to say a ton has happened as far as progress is an understatement. First off I would take a moment to say how much I appreciate having such a creative, supportive, and hard working group of friends. Its not often I reach out for help, but without some great friends this process would have never gone as well as it did.

I had spent every free moment in the garage leading up to the big weekend, prepping, cleaning, measuring, and remeasuring everything. The plan was to first remove the truck bed off of the 79 frame, and then place it onto the 96 frame. once that was done the cab could be moved over. Simple Right ?

The first hurdle was that the 79 frame and body was not a roller, it was essentially stuck on the car lift, thanks to Donny and his little trailer ( MVP of the weekend ) the plan was to put the entire chassis on the trailer and move it forward enough to remove the bed with the car lift. It didn't work that way, The car lift arms don't go high enough.

Switching gears, we ended up using the forklift, and very carefully maneuvering it into the garage and managed to get the alignment perfect. with some careful rigging, and some watchful eyes the bed was off and the truck could be rolled out of the garage, and then the 96 frame rolled in.

 

[TJlongworth]

With the bed on the new frame it was time for the cab, the 79 rolled back in on the tiny trailer and the cab was lifted off with the lift. much easier ... until we realized the cab all the way up, barely clears the engine. with the old frame and engine out, we could roll in and position the cab on the 96 frame. with some maneuvering, the cab set right down. It was supported by the lift since none of the body mounts would line up.

After the stress of all the parts moving had subsided it was nice to know none of the body panels took any damage, and almost everything lines up quite well with very few modifications.