Wow, super badass bud. That thing has been resurrected for sure. Damn good job
Elrod's 96 F-150 Restoration
- Thread starter ElrodKTPQ_89
- Start date
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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Thanks man! It's the truck I wished I had in high school so I promised myself that one day I would find one and make it mine. First phase was just to get it back in original running/driving condition and enjoy it like that for a while. Down the road I plan on a gear change with a trac-lok rear dif and may build the 357w with a good top end one day too. I haven't decided what gears to go with yet. I don't plan on lifting it or running larger tires than what I have now. I may haul my 60 horse tractor with it in the future but that's about it.
Here is my sones project. Son bought it a year ago from a brother in law that he was in the process of fixing up. Its a 89 F250 351 2wd camper special that cam with a 5th wheel hutch. Its in great shape besides some common rust spots.
I think its great you found a project to relive your child hood
I think its great you found a project to relive your child hood
Paladin1001
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Super cool truck, my son is 16 and I found a 95 Eddie Bauer 5.0 F150 2WD reg cab long bed 5 speed for him, it runs but has a weak cyl. We are going to replace the engine and I am trying to decide if I want to find a 351W or just leave it stock as a 302. Since he is 16 I think the lesser power engine is safer. Later though we may wish we put the bigger one in. I really enjoyed reading your write up, that was quite a feat! Good job and thanks for posting!
^ i agree 100%
Keep the progress coming! Im loving this thread! It kicks a$$!
Keep the progress coming! Im loving this thread! It kicks a$$!
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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I would say go ahead and find a 351w, in stock form mine is pretty tame...my 4.6 3v F-150 would outrun it and that thing is a pig lol. Down the road you already have a good platform to build up too. And thanks for the comment too!
Thanks man, I'm gonna dig into it this week and see if I can get the exhaust leak fixed and do something about my power steering pump leak too.
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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Got my exhaust leak fixed today. I suspected at first that I had blown the manifold gasket due to the smaller amount of material on the gaskets that came with the headers vs oem exhaust manifold gaskets.
So I swapped gaskets, put everything back together, fired it up andddd..................still leaking..
So I stuck my hand behind the head and found that my thermactor plug had backed out and was missing -.-
A quick trip to town for some plugs and I'm back in business. Looking back I should have checked that before pulling the header but I forget that the van engine being a 95 has the smog ports in the head and the heads from 96 didn't have them. Oh well easy enough of a fix. I drove around about 10 miles after then parked it back home. I think I'm gonna call around this week and see about getting it into a shop soon to see about getting the transmission fixed.
So I swapped gaskets, put everything back together, fired it up andddd..................still leaking..
So I stuck my hand behind the head and found that my thermactor plug had backed out and was missing -.-
A quick trip to town for some plugs and I'm back in business. Looking back I should have checked that before pulling the header but I forget that the van engine being a 95 has the smog ports in the head and the heads from 96 didn't have them. Oh well easy enough of a fix. I drove around about 10 miles after then parked it back home. I think I'm gonna call around this week and see about getting it into a shop soon to see about getting the transmission fixed.
Smart of you to check that. I drove many miles with that plug missing just thinking I had an exhaust leak.
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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Update time before I lose track of things. After the whole exhaust leak ordeal, I kept having a small power steering fluid leak so went ahead and got a new pump. Cleaned everything up while I had it out too. New pump is in now and so far so good!
And finally on March 22 I took the truck to have the transmission replaced. Hoping to have it back sometime within the month and really hoping that this is gonna be the last big hill to climb with this build before I can really start enjoying it. I also made a trip to the wrecking yard the other day to scope out some possible gear donors and have one prospect in mind. It’s the same truck that I got the transfer case from, a RCSB 4.9/5 speed H9 axle code which is 3.55 w/limited slip rear and open front. As soon as I hear back on a price for the gears I’ll decide if that’s what I’m gonna do or change direction. My current DD (08 F-150) has the same gear and did pretty decent even when I was running 35x12.50’s so if I can get this truck in that same ballpark I’ll be pretty satisfied. Either way the 3.08’s and open diff have got to go lol.
And finally on March 22 I took the truck to have the transmission replaced. Hoping to have it back sometime within the month and really hoping that this is gonna be the last big hill to climb with this build before I can really start enjoying it. I also made a trip to the wrecking yard the other day to scope out some possible gear donors and have one prospect in mind. It’s the same truck that I got the transfer case from, a RCSB 4.9/5 speed H9 axle code which is 3.55 w/limited slip rear and open front. As soon as I hear back on a price for the gears I’ll decide if that’s what I’m gonna do or change direction. My current DD (08 F-150) has the same gear and did pretty decent even when I was running 35x12.50’s so if I can get this truck in that same ballpark I’ll be pretty satisfied. Either way the 3.08’s and open diff have got to go lol.
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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Brought her back home yesterday evening with a fresh new transmission! So far so good, it shifts smooth as butter and finally just feels like a trustworthy truck. I'm gonna be driving it around as much as I can this weekend. Also spoke to my buddy that runs the wrecking yard, he'll let me get the front differential and the complete rear axle from that truck for $400, so as soon as funds allow I'm gonna head out there and snatch some parts and that will probably be the next thing the truck goes under the knife for. Besides that I still need to replace the clock spring, shifter arm boot, and get a replacement driver seat cushion foam and dig into my HVAC controls, the climate control knob is stuck on the warm side. Not sure if I'll be able to get it to free up or if I'll wind up replacing it but summer time will be here before ya know it and I'd love to have working A/C, even though the nostalgia of the vent windows feels pretty good too lol.
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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Time for a one month review! I've been driving the truck every chance I get since getting it back with the new transmission. So far all is still going great! I've put 6-700 miles on since the trans and just changed the oil yesterday once I put 1000 miles on the new engine. Probably would have been fine to run it longer but went ahead and changed it anyway. I did have a chance to put it in 4wd on two occasions this past week and everything works as it should, just not comfortable with the gears for the type of offroad driving I do around here.
Pros: It's a blast to drive, feels like a brand new truck, nostalgia factor and it gets compliments everywhere.
Cons: Still haven't fixed the A/C, 3.08 gears still suck, engine lugs pretty bad trying to cruise at highway speed and gas mileage suuuuuucks lol. It's been around 10-15 which I guess isn't that terrible considering all things.
If all goes well I'm gonna try to make a wrecking yard trip this weekend to pull those 3.55's and hopefully get rolling on that swap as soon as possible.
Pros: It's a blast to drive, feels like a brand new truck, nostalgia factor and it gets compliments everywhere.
Cons: Still haven't fixed the A/C, 3.08 gears still suck, engine lugs pretty bad trying to cruise at highway speed and gas mileage suuuuuucks lol. It's been around 10-15 which I guess isn't that terrible considering all things.
If all goes well I'm gonna try to make a wrecking yard trip this weekend to pull those 3.55's and hopefully get rolling on that swap as soon as possible.
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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Here’s a few random pics too. The red light on the dash in the second pic is from the bad clock spring, I had to grab a dash bezel from a different truck and never realized that the warning light configuration is different on various years.
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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Well I passed a milestone this weekend and got stuck for the first time. Trying to straddle some ruts and let my front right tire slip into a washout. Wasn’t a terrible situation we just chilled for a few until a buddy could get there to pull us out.
Hard to tell in the pics but the front right and left rear tires were completely off the ground, she wasn’t going anywhere.
Saturday morning I went to the wrecking yard and got the front diff and rear axle pulled from the donor truck.
Currently have the rear axle up on stands and soaking in kroil, gonna start tearing it down tonight and get it cleaned and ready to paint.
The front diff looks mint, it just needs to be cleaned/painted and I’m gonna drill and tap to add a drain plug.
The rear differential was missing the cross pin so I’m gonna make up a parts list and try to get things ordered before the end of the week so maybe I can focus on getting it rebuilt over the weekend.
Hard to tell in the pics but the front right and left rear tires were completely off the ground, she wasn’t going anywhere.
Saturday morning I went to the wrecking yard and got the front diff and rear axle pulled from the donor truck.
Currently have the rear axle up on stands and soaking in kroil, gonna start tearing it down tonight and get it cleaned and ready to paint.
The front diff looks mint, it just needs to be cleaned/painted and I’m gonna drill and tap to add a drain plug.
The rear differential was missing the cross pin so I’m gonna make up a parts list and try to get things ordered before the end of the week so maybe I can focus on getting it rebuilt over the weekend.
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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Also need a cover for the rear diff, anyone have one they need to get rid of?
Love those old trucks! I can only imagine the pita it was working with all that debri falling on you
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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Finished the gear swap finally. Did the rear axle rebuild and swap first and drove it around a little that weekend then did the front dif swap the following week and put a couple hundred miles on it this weekend. I didn’t really take that many pictures of the whole process so what you see is what you get, I was more focused on getting done than slowing down for tons of pics. Anywho quick pic dump:
Axle stripped, cleaned and ready for paint
New axle bearings and seals, cross pin and differential spring along with new carbon fiber trac loc clutches.
Rear suspension all going back together. This was a real easy swap. The most time consuming aspect was getting everything cleaned and repainted first.
Time to clean and paint the front dif. Good thing here I already painted the beams and everything up front so this was the only thing needing paint. I knocked this whole swap out in one night after work.
Saw a guy on YouTube put studs in the diff to help with stabbing it in the beam, thought hell yea that’s a great idea. Studs were too long and wouldn’t allow the diff to line up while maintaining clearance for the passenger side stub shaft in the beam, so I had to remove all 4 and do it the old fashioned way which sucked balls but got it done.
Axle stripped, cleaned and ready for paint
New axle bearings and seals, cross pin and differential spring along with new carbon fiber trac loc clutches.
Rear suspension all going back together. This was a real easy swap. The most time consuming aspect was getting everything cleaned and repainted first.
Time to clean and paint the front dif. Good thing here I already painted the beams and everything up front so this was the only thing needing paint. I knocked this whole swap out in one night after work.
Saw a guy on YouTube put studs in the diff to help with stabbing it in the beam, thought hell yea that’s a great idea. Studs were too long and wouldn’t allow the diff to line up while maintaining clearance for the passenger side stub shaft in the beam, so I had to remove all 4 and do it the old fashioned way which sucked balls but got it done.
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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I spent the weekend trying to get a feel for the new setup so I did a bunch of mixed driving on highway and dirt roads. Cruised up on this little timber rattler Saturday evening. Now remember back to the post where I found a set of rattles behind the dash when I was taking the interior apart? Previous owner told me that he and his buddies used to ride backroads around his house and drink beer and look for rattlesnakes and those rattles had been lost ages ago. So rolling up on this one was pretty cool to me, first time the truck has done this in over 20 years.
Also spent some time at my camp this weekend doing some yard work. Didn’t take a picture but hauled a 16’ trailer with my zero turn no problem.
Next up is to replace the clock spring, shifter boot and driver seat foam and get the A/C working. Also thinking about adding a set of fog lights, there’s a company that makes a pretty clean kit for these bumpers. I can get all four clear, or two clear/two amber. I’m leaning more towards clear/amber combo, what do y’all think?
Also spent some time at my camp this weekend doing some yard work. Didn’t take a picture but hauled a 16’ trailer with my zero turn no problem.
Next up is to replace the clock spring, shifter boot and driver seat foam and get the A/C working. Also thinking about adding a set of fog lights, there’s a company that makes a pretty clean kit for these bumpers. I can get all four clear, or two clear/two amber. I’m leaning more towards clear/amber combo, what do y’all think?
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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Summer time update! Finally a few weeks ago I decided I'd had enough driving everywhere with the windows down and it was time to fix the AC. First step meant figuring out why my temperature selector knob wouldn't turn off of the heat side. I had to tear apart the HVAC controller and sand some of the pieces of the selector knob assembly then with a little grease had it freed up and able to switch to the cold side. After determining that the compressor I was using at the time was in need of a new clutch assembly, I instead ordered a kit with new compressor, dryer and orifice tube. Swapped everything out on a Saturday afternoon and got the AC working however I had a vacuum leak which made it default to the defrost vents. The very next day while driving about a mile from the house the belt came off. So I stopped, put the belt back on and turned the AC on again and after just a few seconds the compressor started screeching and trying to lock up again so I just shut it off. Called the parts house the next day and got everything sorted out with another complete kit to replace the one I had just installed under warranty. So finally on Sunday I was able to swap everything out again and recharge the system and it all worked this time except for the vacuum leak. After I made it home that night I sat down and went thru the vacuum system, found a couple leaks/loose fitting connections under the hood, then pulled the HVAC control out of the dash and found that the supply manifold had simply came unplugged. Popped it back together and bam all of the vents work like they should again!!
And the very next day my driver door handle snapped off
So as it goes with project vehicles, there's always work to be done. But good news is I have functional AC. I even went on a short trip offroad in 4wd with the AC blasting wide open which was pretty great!
Next up, I still have to replace the clock spring and driver seat foam but that's really about it until something else pops up. I'll try to add some recent pictures in a few, I don't think I took a single photo of any of the air conditioning woes.
And the very next day my driver door handle snapped off
So as it goes with project vehicles, there's always work to be done. But good news is I have functional AC. I even went on a short trip offroad in 4wd with the AC blasting wide open which was pretty great!
Next up, I still have to replace the clock spring and driver seat foam but that's really about it until something else pops up. I'll try to add some recent pictures in a few, I don't think I took a single photo of any of the air conditioning woes.
07GtS197
Well-Known Member
Great progress bro! I’d love an obs ford but I’m too picky lol. I’m holding out for that extended cab, 351w, e4od, 4x4 combo lol. And no rust.
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ElrodKTPQ_89
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Thanks! That was what I really wanted also was an ext. cab/351/4x4 and still kinda do want one honestly but doubt I ever will after all the work that's gone into this one.
