1972 F-250 2wd to 4wd build

[SLOWPOKE693]

I know I've said it before but...... That truck is

 

[Deleted Member]

So I am getting ready to revamp my A/C in ol Limey too... I have read that the switching over to R134a should be roughly 80% of what the R12 was. Is that why your pressure were 25 Low and 250 High side? Typical is what 40 lbs. low and 250~ish high, right?

 

[Provience]

Drove on some rocks. More brakes would be good.

what are you currently running for brakes?

 

[rattle_snake]

I know I've said it before but...... That truck is

Thanks man. Happy to be getting some enjoyment out of it instead of just pouring time and money in it.

So I am getting ready to revamp my A/C in ol Limey too... I have read that the switching over to R134a should be roughly 80% of what the R12 was. Is that why your pressure were 25 Low and 250 High side? Typical is what 40 lbs. low and 250~ish high, right?

Yes the 80% guideline is about right. I think OEM system wanted about 48 oz R12, so put in 36 of 134a. Pressure tables for 134 are usually orifice tube and my system is a thermal expansion valve, so different pressures. I think 25/250 is about right after some more info. Easy to overfill so started on conservative side and did a road test.

what are you currently running for brakes?

axles have stock 1994 F350 brakes, 12" disc/drum. Front has aggressive pads, but only work well when warmed up. I replaced stock M/C and dual diaphragm booster. Brakes that came off 2WD setup were essentially the same as now, dual piston, rear drum.
Next step is a smaller bore M/C.
Then hydroboost
Maybe rear discs, more for weight saving
bigger front rotors would be last $tep

 

[rattle_snake]

Broke down an bought a new vac pump. Had an relic that would slightly seize and not start without bumping armature. I tried to pump down the system immediately after filling pump with oil and installing drier. New oil is hygroscopic.

Had to add some 90* adapters to the service ports on the compressor to allow use of quick connects. R12 threaded ports suck and make a mess before shrader closes. System was cooling well with only 24 oz, pressures didn't rise much after 3rd can. Takes awhile to fill vapor from low side as can gets cold, and it's pressure drops relative to the rest of the system.

New drier and final install. The one 90* #6 fitting doesn't match the others.

Not terribly ugly or overwhelming in engine bay.

Glove box is lost to the HVAC system and become access door. But fits gloves and an EZ deflator.
Didn't get a 2nd defrost tube so used the previous hack of plastic flex tube. The temp control/t-stat appears to not work, won't cycle off. maybe probe needs to be secured better.

 

[Provience]

Thanks man. Happy to be getting some enjoyment out of it instead of just pouring time and money in it.

Yes the 80% guideline is about right. I think OEM system wanted about 48 oz R12, so put in 36 of 134a. Pressure tables for 134 are usually orifice tube and my system is a thermal expansion valve, so different pressures. I think 25/250 is about right after some more info. Easy to overfill so started on conservative side and did a road test.

axles have stock 1994 F350 brakes, 12" disc/drum. Front has aggressive pads, but only work well when warmed up. I replaced stock M/C and dual diaphragm booster. Brakes that came off 2WD setup were essentially the same as now, dual piston, rear drum.
Next step is a smaller bore M/C.
Then hydroboost
Maybe rear discs, more for weight saving
bigger front rotors would be last $tep

i'd suggest hydroboost before swapping out the master cylinder, junkyard hydroboost is ~$75 just about everywhere (or less) and should give you a pretty significant upgrade, then if you need to you can tune the master cylinder. biggest difference between any of the junkyard hydroboost setups is the firewall mounting, either try to find something that will line up with what you have or just plan on fabbing up a mount/reinforcement plate as needed, doesn't take much.

rear discs are cool, but properly adjusted drums should be fine.

for the front rotors, the newer dodge stuff should get you to a 14" rotor that is 8x6.5 and be much cheaper than custom aftermarket just due to mass production iron rotors, again might need to make a new mount for the calipers, but maybe not if they will fit on you knuckle ears. I suggest dodge because they should fit much closer than the GM stuff and they didn't go to the funny bolt pattern the way that ford did.

as long as you are already running a 17 or 18" wheel it should be reasonably cheap.

either way, truck is badass, enjoy and thanks for posting :D

 

[rockota]

I'll up my offer to $3.50 + shipping.

Turning out phenominal.

 

[rattle_snake]

i'd suggest hydroboost before swapping out the master cylinder, junkyard hydroboost is ~$75 just about everywhere (or less) and should give you a pretty significant upgrade, then if you need to you can tune the master cylinder. biggest difference between any of the junkyard hydroboost setups is the firewall mounting, either try to find something that will line up with what you have or just plan on fabbing up a mount/reinforcement plate as needed, doesn't take much.

rear discs are cool, but properly adjusted drums should be fine.

for the front rotors, the newer dodge stuff should get you to a 14" rotor that is 8x6.5 and be much cheaper than custom aftermarket just due to mass production iron rotors, again might need to make a new mount for the calipers, but maybe not if they will fit on you knuckle ears. I suggest dodge because they should fit much closer than the GM stuff and they didn't go to the funny bolt pattern the way that ford did.

as long as you are already running a 17 or 18" wheel it should be reasonably cheap.

either way, truck is badass, enjoy and thanks for posting :D

Thanks for the info. not sure what donor would be best, '99+ superduty perhaps.
The '94 knuckles are the last year of integrated caliper slides, so not friendly to modifications like '95 and up with just bolt holes. Really wish I would have had a '95+ axle...

I'll up my offer to $3.50 + shipping.

Turning out phenominal.

Have to beat it up and enjoy before I can think of selling.
Still a way to go to get it where I want.

 

[72Pstroke]

There is a glove box liner that will fit those. I don't know if anyone is reproducing it or not. It is about 2" deep.

 

[rattle_snake]

Interesting. I think I can mod the full size sheet metal one I made to fit vertically in the space. Not sure if would be better or just block access.

 

[rattle_snake]

After assessment of A/C performance I went to hook up heater hoses to new 4 port valve and noticed I bought the wrong flavor. Need push to close and had push to open. Shit. I'm a cheap bastard and highly impatient so looked into mods to swing the other way. Analyzed the 2 flavors and flow diagrams to figure out if manifold body was the same, a different bracket or what exactly. Ended up rotating bracket 180 which puts it out of line with lever, but was able to drill a new hole for cable clamp and orient cable at different angle. Works well enough.

Hoses hooked up. more and more crap in engine bay. Next is wiper washer system to further clutter, but of course coil over tower is where reservoir should go.

 

[rattle_snake]

Cab is loud and hot so going all in to mitigate. Pulled headliner and installed some Kilmat on roof.

Then a layer of bubble insulation, mostly because I had it on hand. Factory had some Jute insulation already.

The 50 yr old headliner was faded, warped and sagging. Broke it just handling it. Being a proud 'Murican redneck a flag seemed the right addition and repair to honor vets and piss off the shitbag liberals. If the flag offends you, fuck off!

but now it sags worse so going to get a new ABS molded headliner and do a better job. Put it on upside down, fuck me...

 

[Deleted Member]

Good idea on the r6 insulation! I have a bunch leftover from another project, gonna put it up there as well as the doors.

 

[rockota]

Good idea on the r6 insulation! I have a bunch leftover from another project, gonna put it up there as well as the doors.

that hit the "why didn't I think of that?" list....

 

[Provience]

stupid question, what are you using to secure the flag in place for your headliner? i've got a flap of fabric with some plastic fasteners and lot's of duct tape, currently.

 

[Deleted Member]

that hit the "why didn't I think of that?" list....

I used it everywhere in the little Toyota Van... just never thought about the cab of this F100... may prolly help reduce some noise in the doors and overhead for sure.

 

[rattle_snake]

Good idea on the r6 insulation! I have a bunch leftover from another project, gonna put it up there as well as the doors.

side benefit of foil insulation is bidirectional electromagnetic shielding. Prevents both psychotronic mind control and mind reading from various organizations. Terrestrial or not. No need to wear your foil beanie when in the truck..

stupid question, what are you using to secure the flag in place for your headliner? i've got a flap of fabric with some plastic fasteners and lot's of duct tape, currently.

I used spray adhesive and glued directly to the headliner. Will see if it will stand up to the heat. Can stated 'not for headliners'.

Hydroboost- I’d really recommend going with a unit out of a super duty. The push rod length is a little bit longer than the factory one, and the bolt pattern is probably metric, but all you have to do is build a new mounting bracket to replace the factory one on the firewall to fix that. The mounting studs need trimmed down a bit, you need to find/make a bushing for the pedal rod, and cobble together some lines of course.

It gives you a lot better parts availability if you were to need to replace it on a road trip. Motorcraft is still selling them brand new with the pushrod and spring included, so you don’t have to spend hours digging through junkyards looking for pieces. And you can bolt a super duty master cylinder right up to it and be ready to run disc on all 4 corners. Only downside is the fittings on the master are on the wrong side, so you’d have to make new lines again.

I did a thread on here a while ago about swapping a vacuum booster for a v10 super duty into my 79. I’ll find that and drop the link in this post. If I can figure it out, I have no doubt you can make a work of art out of it. I don’t think you’ll be able to get away with that vacuum booster though, because my 302 got pulled in favor of a 460 and with the west coast bronco’s motor mounts the valve cover and the booster want to occupy the same space. So I’m working on swapping in a hydroboost unit myself too

Edit-

Booster bracket

Thanks for the info and link. The 11" booster is 50% more area than a 9", so should be a noticeable improvement. Looks like it should clear my valve cover. I think going right to hydroboost would be my best option.

 

[rattle_snake]

Been brain dead for awhile so puttered on a simple project, fill hole. Edge was mangled from install/removal of fill pipe, so went to work with hammer and dolly until I had a flat edge to work with.

Bed metal is 18 ga so found a scrap to make a filler out if. The surface is radiused so put a bend in the patch before cutting to circle or welding. What you don't see here is the large crease and dent that extends from hole down to the bottom contour. I didn't either until paint.

I put a skim of filler over wound, sanded most of it away, a few coats of primer, and rattle can of factory (mis)match. Once dry I noticed the damage below. Used a long pry bar with dolly between metal to distribute force. Got most of it out, didn't want to hammer the new paint, so good enough for now.

Decided to tint the windows now that I can drive it in the heat. Went 20% on doors and back window. It was hard to find anyone willing to call back or work on old vehicle that is not in pre-cut database. Seems art of hand-cut tinting is mostly gone. I found a local small business willing to do it. They expresses concerns with ancient dried out rubber seal, 50yr old scratched glass and imperfections from hand cutting. The young man doing install really liked the truck and especially headliner. Took him 3 hours and he did a great job. He showed me every imperfection and what would not go away, like it was his own.
I did my share of tint back in the day and it would have taken me 8 hours to end up with a mediocre job. Well worth the $ to have a pro do this work.

 

[FleshEater]

Love this truck even more every time I see something new.

 

[rockota]

Not sure what I like more... that you fixed the hole in the bed or that you used duct tape on the hole in the cab.

 

[rattle_snake]

Love this truck even more every time I see something new.

Thanks 'Flesh. Feels good to have it complete enough and able to take it out and use it. Lots of future upgrades to go but can just tinker.

Not sure what I like more... that you fixed the hole in the bed or that you used duct tape on the hole in the cab.

I slapped the 'duct over the cab hole years ago when I was forced to remove the in-cab tank to make room for the subwoofer box. Priorities.
My dad keeps giving me a hard time about it, but I think it fits the truck well.

I will admit that I just trimmed the tape into a nice circle.

I'll patch it at some point, but I don't have paint for area, color unknown and badly faded. There is a body line that fades away in that spot so a bit more difficult.

 

[rattle_snake]

Built a simple belly pan in hopes to preemptively improve cooling when parked, crawling or stop-n-go traffic. Most all modern vehicles seal off cavitation or leakage paths around radiator. The 67-72 truck has some of this but areas for improvement. I also cut up the valance and changed the tight fitting bumper, so made the air return path underneath chassis worse. So biggest improvement for isolation was to block off this path with a short belly pan.
I used corrugated plastic sheet and a few fasteners. Cardboard template. Tapped 1/4-20 threads in frame. Used a short piece of tube as a crush sleeve to prevent crushing the material.

To prevent wind catching leading edge and ripping it off, I made it long enough to fit into bumper. This material is not rated for automotive use, 150 C, will see how it goes, or if it helps at all. Should catch all the leaking fluids and become a slimy mess itself soon enough. It does block access to things underneath, like alternator, so if no benefit will abandon or leave off in winter.

 

[rattle_snake]

Did some prep for a longer distance camp/wheelin' trip last weekend. Replaced a worn out rod end on track bar. Picked up a new battery as the old was of unknown age and was starting to show signs of end of life. It has been in truck since I bought it 5 years and most car batteries don't last more than 2 years. Washboard roads will shake and flake the plates until a short. I wanted a lower profile battery, as I have to lean over the fenders to access things. I searched common case sized and ended up with an 'H6' type that has recessed terminals, shorter height, and a longer case. Old was a group 24.

I also tweaked the Hayden 2799 fan clutch to move it's temperature operating range down. I bent the tip of the spring and clearanced the mount post to effectively rotate spring and valve CCW by about 1/16". This was good for about a 5* temp drop. Another 5* would be nice but not easy to do robustly. Now it want so cycle between 200 and 210. T-stat full open is 193. Have a high flow t-stat to install and next.
before

after

 

[rattle_snake]

Went on a 300 mile weekend trip up to high elevations here in AZ, Mogollon rim. Was in low hundreds when we left, truck did good going up 7% grades at 65 mph, cold A/C blowing. Was a good test of cooling system and overall comfort of the vehicle. Exhaust is a bit loud in cab climbing hills. Wind noise on cab is minimal at 55 but annoy at 65. Not sure what else to do there. Roof is nice and quiet now.
Did have issue with fuel boil, need to dig into that. Fuel consumption is bad enough already, but did get 9.3 mpg going uphill. didn't check downhill with fill up yet but should be better. In-town is still 5 to 6.
Aired down to 10 psi. Rides OK for 6000 pig. Was able to do 30-40 mph on the dirt roads. 40s soak up the pot holes well. Front end hits bump stops occasionally, more gap would be nice, but can still push it pretty good though rough sections. Overall meets goal of decent ride at medium and slow speeds. Rest of group was all late model Toyotas.

Main goal was to make it back, which I did, so success. Gained some confidence but found more areas of improvement.

 

[FleshEater]

Showed the wife this truck. She said it’s really nice! Then proceeded to tell me that if I grab a 70’s truck for my next project she’d ride in it with no bra, a tank top, and super short jean shorts.

So, is this for sale?




Impressive that it made that 300 mile trip in that heat. Definitely my favorite build on here so far. Freaking awesome, clean work man.

 

['84 Bronco II]

Nice to see you getting out and enjoying it The truck is coming along nicely and I bet all that AC work has been worth it with the weather we have been having so far in the southwest this summer. It has been getting up to the mid 90s at my place which is right at 7,000' the last few weeks

 

[rattle_snake]

Showed the wife this truck. She said it’s really nice! Then proceeded to tell me that if I grab a 70’s truck for my next project she’d ride in it with no bra, a tank top, and super short jean shorts.

So, is this for sale?




Impressive that it made that 300 mile trip in that heat. Definitely my favorite build on here so far. Freaking awesome, clean work man.

Need pics in said outfit before I can contemplate sale.

Thanks. It was satisfying to have mostly achieved my goal of a 'usable' 4 season vehicle. Still not as good as any modern truck, but good enough.

Nice to see you getting out and enjoying it The truck is coming along nicely and I bet all that AC work has been worth it with the weather we have been having so far in the southwest this summer. It has been getting up to the mid 90s at my place which is right at 7,000' the last few weeks

Trying to keep it mostly assembled so I can enjoy instead of just working on it. Yes the A/C is a game changer here in AZ, else it would just sit and I'll drive something else. The smoke from the fires is not helping either, staying really hot over night. 102 at midnight, and 108 at 10am!

 

[rattle_snake]

Been looking for a camper shell for some time now. I'm cheap and too lazy to drive far. Found this old turd for $120 delivered. Farm truck style.
Basic and very light weight. Have some ideas for mods including insulation, lights, wiring, sealing and so on. I guess I needed another project.

 

[Deleted Member]

Now THAT is what I'm talkin about man! Looks good! Love the vintage match to your truck.

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks Fleck'. Was hard to find 'regular' bed 8' camper. Most are trash with broken windows.

Steering is making some horrible popping and banging sounds. TRE at pitman is fucked already. I think I damaged it by lifting truck on the 2-post in the process of installing limit straps on front axle.