1972 F-250 2wd to 4wd build

[rattle_snake]

Still dealing with squealing alternator belt. Has a few issues. First the belt was too wide and had minimal contact in groove, a '15355' that was 0.440 wide. Pretty much only the side of the teeth and not the belt itself. Found another '15355' that is 0.410" wide and is a better fit. but now it squeals much worse, I think the alt is locked rotor belt just sliding. Alignment is off a bit, crooked in belt plane. Need to fix that too, lengthen the bracket.

To keep wiring simple, I used 'crank+run' to enable alternator. if I unplug, start engine and then plug in, it doesn't make any noise. So the alt is reading low voltage at crank and initial fire-up and commanding full current/torque. This makes the belt slip.

So 'run' needs to be isolated from 'crank+run'. There are several ways to address electrically, but have susceptibility to glitching (relay) or voltage drops (diode) so I avoided at the time. Going to try a variable delay circuit in line with alt sense. Set to 5 seconds or so so alt kicks in after engine is running.

 

[rattle_snake]

I was able to fix the squealing belt issue. Reworked the alt bracket, cut of alt end and lengthened. Had to re-bend to bracket to work with new length, press brake worked slick for this. Now it fits very well and belt alignment is right on, bolts go right in. It looks the same as before so no pics. PITA but belt squeals irritates the shit out of me.

 

[evernoob]

Without belt squeak is it really a Ford?

 

[rattle_snake]

I dunno. is a sober Irishman still Irish?

I had hell with the 8 rib blower belt on my Cobra. Drove me to drinking. More. Have to run a specific belt type even with pulleys properly aligned and tight as F.

 

[rattle_snake]

Disclaimer: The following images my be disturbing to those with decent welding and body work skills. Proceed with caution.

On this job I tried to learn from previous experiences. I cleaned all the undercoating off (I hate that stuff!) and ground backside of panels clean to not contaminate the welds. I tried to get vertical cuts as parallel as possible to minimize gaps to fill. Can't really measure distance across due to tire in the way so used math, pythagorean, to make sure both were at right angle to horizontal cut. Once cut out, I used butt clamps to hold piece in place and touch up gaps in horizontal cut with cut off wheel. This gives a consistent gap, then move up to minimize gap. Can't do this for vertical as it just removes material and make gap bigger. Tacked in place and then cut lower edges back about 7/8" each to align the fender lip angle.

Hand formed 2 scabs to fill in the gaps. I enjoyed this part and was relatively easy.

After lots of booger welds and more grinding I had the basic form done. Also cut out the fuel fill hole and filled in with a square scab. The rear seam didn't come out so well and ended up with a trough. I hammer and pried some of it out but decided to use some filler. The body naturally curves there anyway. I placed horizontal cut on the flatter part, between upper body line and lip edge, difficult area to grind. Used a mini belt sander to get into that area.

Then 2 minimal coats of filler and 2 coats of rattle primer, to identify all the mishaps and errors of my work.

I had just enough wintergreen rattle can to do the left side. Piss poor match but I already new that. The front was not as bad as the blend was in the narrow part at the top of the arch. On the bed the blend is the whole panel twice. May paint the whole thing, will see how far next can goes.

Decided to leave the trim holes and minimize the scope of this job to just the wheel arches. The other fuel fill hole is irritating me though...
Axle still needs to move forward to look right and stuff further up in.

Really happy with the look of the larger arches. Looks like it could have come that way from Ford.

Got started on the other side with help from my assistants. I think it took me about 8 hrs to do the left side. Cutting is quick, grinding sucks.

 

['84 Bronco II]

Looks like it came out pretty nice! Very subtle; I probably wouldn't notice if I came across the truck in person unless it was pointed out.

 

[FleshEater]

Man that actually looks really good!

 

[Loki89t]

Wheel opening looks good. I really wanted to do the same on my old truck when it was on 42's but never got the chance.

 

[redneckK20s]

I might have to steal your wheelwell idea for my squarebody. It looks factory.

 

[350TacoZilla]

Agreed! I thought about doing it to the rear of my 63 GMC stepside but I need so much opened up it would likely take 3 patch panels per fender to fill in all the metal, and I have 0 talent for forming new metal myself. I might try my hand at making a mold for fiberglass flares.

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks guys. I try to avoid body work, I like to weld thick material that won't just evaporate when hit with massive electrical current. Filling holes sucks.

Finished up the other bedside which makes all 4 well opening mods complete.
I took a few more pics but process is the same.
HF butt clamps to hold the pieces in. Cheap and work very well. There may be a better way but these are way better than nothing. Since the hot welds shrink, one is often forced to hammer the welds (as one should) to get the clamp shank out. I could have used 12-16 clamps but I had only 8 so I moved them around as I welded.

After initial tacks are done I verified the panel alignment and touched up a few spots with the hammer and dolly. The goal is to avoid having one panel higher (plateau) than the other were it will never grind flat. The lower corners are cut back further to align the lip.
I ground the back side of the welds to prevent cutting my hands later and painted to prevent corrosion.

 

[holdmypocket]

Do you weld the rest of the seam with a billion tack-welds or does it get filler? (I've always dreamt about doing this but haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet.)

 

['84 Bronco II]

What size welding wire are you using? I have a bunch of sheet metal welding in my future and I am curious if it would be worth investing in a roll of .024.

 

[rattle_snake]

Do you weld the rest of the seam with a billion tack-welds or does it get filler? (I've always dreamt about doing this but haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet.)

yes one billion welds. One could argue that it isn't needed and do less and fill with filler. I spent a little extra time and fully welded to keep moisture out of seam. Used a flash light from behind to find any holes and filled them in. Then a layer of filler and sand off 95% of it leaving only a little bit to fill low spots next to weld seam.

 

[rattle_snake]

What size welding wire are you using? I have a bunch of sheet metal welding in my future and I am curious if it would be worth investing in a roll of .024.

I'm lazy so I used the 0.030 I had on hand. 0.024 would be better. Some use Si-Bronze. less heat less grinding. I'm running my miller 211 at the very bottom of it's range on 220v

 

[rattle_snake]

With rear wheel opening enlarged I was able to move forward with suspension changes, mainly lowering ride height. For the rear I used the parts I had ($0) as I didn't know quite what I would end up with. Now that truck is complete and full weight I wanted to make some adjustments. Overall it sits too high and will benefit from lowing CoG both on and off road, and eases angle of all the links. So improved instant centers front and rear and steering/track bar angles.

For the front, the driveshaft angle limits droop so decided to compromise with limiting droop with limit strap and lowering ride height another inch. I called Accutune and they suggested lighter spring rates that equal length of shock fully extended, 12" 200# and a 14" 300#. Seems backwards to me that less up travel would use a lighter spring.... They tune suspension for a living I don't.

To get them installed I disconnected the drag link and limit straps so axle could drop out enough to get shock loose. I was able to swap springs with them in the truck. Bump stops stayed as-is, travel is now 4.5" up and 6" down.

For the rear I guessed at what I though I needed and cobbled together some blocks with stuff I had. I wanted to lower by 1.5" and move axle back 0.5". I had some 2" (1.9 actual) blocks from my 2014 F250 but the existing ones were 4.25" So I added some height to get the difference I wanted. The blocks are cast steel and weld fine. Drilled the spring pin hole offset to move axle relative to spring. Picked up some 5/8" u-bolts from Barnes. The bump stop perch is in about the same location, not ideal but can work with it for now.

The spring plates also needed pin offset so I hacked up what I had. Welded a 5/8" washer into the stock plated a 0.5" back.

Moving axle up will utilize most all of the upper portion of the shock, so travel ended up at 7" up and 7" down (at the 12" shock).

 

[rattle_snake]

After getting hardware installed I re-adjusted most of the suspension settings due to different link angles. Caster moved to 7.5, so set it back to 5.5" Recentered axle. Adjusted dual rate sliders on coilovers, they were way off before. Check rear pinion angle, traction bar forces so it was OK. Since I had to preload it up about 1.5* before, it should be right at neutral (no load) now. Front axle is farther forward, will probably move it back 0.25 or so at some point.

Even though height change is minimal (1, 1.5) it seems quite noticeable to me. Not as big and beastly, but now tailgate is only 40". Can see link angle is imporved and operating were horizontal offset (bump steer) is reduced.

driving up on same obstacle, rear tire no longer contacts (although it looks like it does in this pic). This is with axle and well opening both moved up, and axle moved back. Could go back a bit futher...
This is with front left tire on 24" tall wall. Front does about half the flex the rear does. 13" difference at rear tires. Lots of shock left.

At this point the spring is just getting to overload and has a ways to go to stop. Will rub inner wheel well and/or outer lip first I assume. This will dictate spacer I can run on rear.

The lower trim still fit OK so I put it back on for now, have to minimize scope if I ever want to move on to the next thing.

Bed rail measures flat but truck seems to sit nose up a bit. I think I will fab some decent rear blocks and spring plates that are 3" tall and have 3/4 offset. Bump stop perch moved up to top. Glad I build something quick to test for free.

So how does it drive? About the same as expected, since change was small. Can tell CoG is a bit lower. I did notice improvement in panic stop/swerve with coilover slider stops set correctly. The are 1" up from slider @ride, so transitions to harder lower spring after only 1" of up travel.
I've got the suspension dialed in good, it rides better than my 2014. Goes down the road straight no hands on wheel over 65. Not bad for a big tall truck on 40s. Lots of unsprung weight, terrible fuel consumption.

First full-tank fill up yielded 6.5 mpg. This is all in town stop light to stop light, burn outs, brake checks. I expected 7 (city) and maybe 10 best case. That said total usable range is about 200 miles, less than I wanted. Tanks is 31g, low level warnign starts at 5g left. So can only fill about 27-28 gallons without getting too low. 28*7 = 196 miles.

 

[rattle_snake]

The fuel pressure regulator on the Holley Sniper isn't consistent. Initially it was about 62, which seemed close enough to 60 psi target, gauge accuracy unknown. It has crept up to 65 cold and 72 hot, so pretty far off and system has to adjust pulse width down 10-20%. I tested return line, all good no extra back pressure. Removed regulator from TB and checked input filter/screen, clean. Not sure a new internal FPR will be any better? Considering an external adjustable one. have to do some more research.

Edit: Trying to get on Holley forum for a week, still having issues.... called tech support, got new FPR on the way, will see what happens.

 

[Snowracer]

love the body work on the box, just looks right now with the big tires

is your fpr in the throttle body? i have a fitech on my bbf and its on the body and seems to be a common issues so i have been looking into doing an inline fpr as seems to have better results from my searching

 

[rattle_snake]

love the body work on the box, just looks right now with the big tires

is your fpr in the throttle body? i have a fitech on my bbf and its on the body and seems to be a common issues so i have been looking into doing an inline fpr as seems to have better results from my searching

Thanks man. yes the FPR is integrated into the body. The spring/diaphragm is once piece and not adjustable. If the replacement from Holley doesn't resolve, and gauge accuracy is verified, I may go to an external adjustable unit.

 

[rattle_snake]

Got the bedside toolbox modified and installed. The relocated front spring hanger for the longer 63" chevy springs interfered with the toolbox so it needed to be chopped up. The metal support brace cleared the hanger so after considering a few options I decided to leave it on and cut out the minimal amount. Patch with metal because, well it's what I have.

Trimmed the patch and left some tabs for reinforcement points. Welded patch right to the support brace. Couple rivets. Quick, easy.

Some satin black Krylon and RTV from inside to seal it up. Ready for installation.

Just barely clears the hanger.

Wrestled it in one least time and secured. Interior volume lost was minimal and still large enough for a 12" drop hitch and tools. Overall turned out OK, glad to not have this crap in the cab anymore.

 

[rattle_snake]

With toolbox done I still had no glovebox, as it is part of the HVAC box. The factory HVAC setup fills the glovebox cavity so I made a quick box out of 24 ga.

Good enough for a temporary setup until HVAC system is rebuilt/restored.

 

[rattle_snake]

Next project was building a fan shroud. I laid out plan onto some 24 ga, top of fan is above shroud, which adds complexity. Fan appeared to be 20" so I made hole 21" for a 1/2" gap. Too big for my press brake so used table edge and random scraps.

After main box was bend up, I test fit and realized steering box interfered. Made a cutout for it then realized the whole thing was too tall. Guess I can't measure that well. Radiator isn't precise or square. Plot thickens.
Made a compass to mark and guide plasma cutter in attempt for a round hole.

The provisions for the hoop exiting the box was a lot of work. I bent the existing flap into the right shape with a curved fold to weld to hoop. I spent more time on this and the other cutout than the rest of the box.

On a pervious vehicle that had engine removed too often, the shroud broke and became a 2 piece shroud. This was actually very handy in that instead of having to remove the shroud and fan together, the upper half could be removed, then the fan and so on. I had planned on doing this anyhow, but with height too tall I decided to make it a 'feature'. To leave some room for adjustment, I moved hole center down, and made whole thing 1/2 shorter for a nice fit. The extra metal to overlap like it was planned, for a better seal and structural rigidity. To secure the halves, I added some tabs to pull the hoop halves together.

Finish welded, paint prep and some more black paint. Doesn't look to bad.

After mount holes were located and drilled I could test fit with fan. Looks like fan was a bit more than 20". Guess I should have measured more accurately. So gap is more like 1/4" which is really tight. Was worried it would rub. Upside is that fan system efficiency is highly dependent on this gap and tighter is better.

Oblonged the mount holes to get shroud centered to fan and installed for last time. The 2 piece approach is really nice and upper radiator hose can stay on, which is a big benefit to me.
Went for a test drive and flexed out the chassis as much as I could. Didn't hear any contact. Inspected inner hoop for wear marks in paint, didn't see any. I had hoped the hard motor mounts would limit fan movement. So other than screwing up 2 of the 4 critical measurements it is a success. A lot of work with crude tools I have, took about 8 hours to complete.

 

['84 Bronco II]

Looks bitchin'

 

[Projectjunkie]

Very nice



I'm curious the brand of AC system your have, mine was the same way, packed in behind the glove box, maybe "frigiking"

anyways, the most knowledgeable old ford guy I know says it's way better than the factory AC of that era, mine would freeze you out

 

[rattle_snake]

This truck had the factory Ford system found in the ranger and explorer models. At some point the compressor/condenser/hoses were replaced. Still on R12. I have also heard the dealer installed systems of that time were more capable. I'm hoping this system will be good enough.

 

[Snowracer]

tool box mod turned out clean, like the rest of the build

your post over in gen about rotating Cs, is that just for drive shaft ujoint clearance like you stated few pages back? or do you need to do it for other reasons?

 

[rattle_snake]

tool box mod turned out clean, like the rest of the build

your post over in gen about rotating Cs, is that just for drive shaft ujoint clearance like you stated few pages back? or do you need to do it for other reasons?

Thanks. Yes just for driveshaft/u-joint angle correction.

 

[Snowracer]

Thanks. Yes just for driveshaft/u-joint angle correction.

ok might be stupid question but what size ujoint you running? as 1410s have more angle then then 1350s. ive also ran offset high angle ujoints in my rigs to help with binding at full drop.

just an idea before getting crazy and cutting that diff up

 

[rattle_snake]

I have a 1350 front shaft. Currently the shaft will bind at both ends at only 1" below ride height. So even a offset joint on diff end won't solve. Best case with diff up 12* or so I can get another 5" of drop for a total of 6" down (and 4.5" up). I set the limit straps to this for now. I'm afraid the 1410 setup would be a compromise in addition to the cost of new shaft/yolks.

Thanks for asking, I've been avoiding this job... Not decided on how yet. Air arc is temping they are cheap enough.