Ford Highboy with a Roar - 4x4 F250 Gets a Godzilla
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- Thread starter
- #82
snowed here this weekend! got my door locks installed, wiper/washer bezel too. started working in the instrument cluster but there still some wiring to be done on the sub harness.
new bezel for the instruments - shoulda bought a new lens too, will put one in my next parts order.
i also stuck on an air filter temporarily so i can still play with the truck. i’ll come up with something better looking at some point in the future.
and finally we got the front bumper on! i was planning on a winch bumper but i really like the stock chrome one. for $250 i figured it was worth a shot. brother and i got some brackets made out of 0.25”.
honestly the frame side brackets were such a pain i didn’t take any photos. use your imagination!
finished product:
really pleased with how it came out! the chrome finish on this bumper is really nice.
new bezel for the instruments - shoulda bought a new lens too, will put one in my next parts order.
i also stuck on an air filter temporarily so i can still play with the truck. i’ll come up with something better looking at some point in the future.
and finally we got the front bumper on! i was planning on a winch bumper but i really like the stock chrome one. for $250 i figured it was worth a shot. brother and i got some brackets made out of 0.25”.
honestly the frame side brackets were such a pain i didn’t take any photos. use your imagination!
finished product:
really pleased with how it came out! the chrome finish on this bumper is really nice.
Jealous of the snow and love the progress!
Whereabouts in Georgia? We’re up north and nothing here. Seems south got it all…
Whereabouts in Georgia? We’re up north and nothing here. Seems south got it all…
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- #84
parents/shop are in jones county, a little north of macon. solid inch or two and the roads are even safe
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- #85
not much update this weekend. stole an antenna off of a truck we had in the field and it fits great. ford made the same antenna for over 4 years. also welded on a resonator to the exhaust - took the time to tig weld the 3” section of exhaust because i need the practice. i also installed a speedometer cable from an 85ish f250 that worked like a charm!
it snowed again this weekend and windchill was 2°! i know lots of dudes on here put up with that regularly but not me, i’ll come back when it’s warmer. next task is taking driveshafts to my local driveline place to be balanced. front shaft also needs to be shortened 2.75”.
still haven’t decided on a color scheme for the interior either.
it snowed again this weekend and windchill was 2°! i know lots of dudes on here put up with that regularly but not me, i’ll come back when it’s warmer. next task is taking driveshafts to my local driveline place to be balanced. front shaft also needs to be shortened 2.75”.
still haven’t decided on a color scheme for the interior either.
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- #86
driveline service atl got this knocked out in under one business day. if anyone is in the area and needs driveshaft work, mark killed it. above all else, the price was INCREDIBLY fair. hoping to get them in and tested this weekend!
Really nice to find shop that does good work at a fair price these days.
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- #88
driveshafts did the trick! still tweaking the fuel map some and the startup map could use a little work but finally did my first pull at full throttle and dang this thing scoots.
i finished welding up the front end, added a crossmember, and gave it some paint:
i also patched the shifter hole in the tunnel cover AND got the transfer case shifter kinda figured out. i plan to ditch this z shaped lever for a straight one but didnt have and 1/2” round stock at the shop.
tidied up a bit of the wiring around the battery and took it on another drive. pretty happy so far.
i finished welding up the front end, added a crossmember, and gave it some paint:
i also patched the shifter hole in the tunnel cover AND got the transfer case shifter kinda figured out. i plan to ditch this z shaped lever for a straight one but didnt have and 1/2” round stock at the shop.
tidied up a bit of the wiring around the battery and took it on another drive. pretty happy so far.
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- #89
bought the cheap hardboard headliner from summit so i could avoid paying shipping on one.
the original headliners were a perforated hardboard. i added a perforated vinyl in a similar color. found this at a marine supply shop online and it’s much higher quality than stuff from amazon or the like.
the original headliners were a perforated hardboard. i added a perforated vinyl in a similar color. found this at a marine supply shop online and it’s much higher quality than stuff from amazon or the like.
That looks great! I've used the plastic headliners in a couple driver Highboy restorations and I like them. They're easy to clean and look pretty good once installed. I did a '71 Highboy real nice in Calypso Coral with a Cummins/manual. Sold it nearly 20 years ago to fund business stuff. It was a really nice truck when I sold it- Eat off the bottom of the cab. It's traded hands 8 times that I know of now and every time it pops up on marketplace or craigslist it looks rougher and rougher. Body is heavily dented, seat and dash are tore up- The dash I painstakingly reconstructed to look original has been cut apart for double DIN lol. Seat is shredded. But you know the one thing that still looks nice in the pictures? That plastic headliner I installed lol.
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- #91
headliner went in pretty well - i think it looks very oem+
also got a carpet in this weekend! also added a bunch of rubber plugs to the factory holes in the floor. this carpet is ACC 80-20 loop in charcoal. it suits the truck nicely and was formed well to the floor. bummed it didn't come with an eyelet for the high beam switch though.
i also finalized the shift lever for the transfer case. used a shift knob from a 60-something ford tractor. i would have gone with the original style but the np205 shift pattern is different from a bw1356 and would rather no indication instead of incorrect indication.
all told i am pleased with how the interior is shaping up. i still need to sort out a radio and the a/c, door cards, seat upholstery, visors, seatbelts, dash pad ($$$) but it's at a comfy enough to drive to town state now. rear bumper and finishing out the exhaust are kinda the last things to do before i register it i think. yokohoma makes the geolandar m/t in a 255/80r17 that would look real nice on this too. maybe once i pay my taxes i'll look into new shoes.
also got a carpet in this weekend! also added a bunch of rubber plugs to the factory holes in the floor. this carpet is ACC 80-20 loop in charcoal. it suits the truck nicely and was formed well to the floor. bummed it didn't come with an eyelet for the high beam switch though.
i also finalized the shift lever for the transfer case. used a shift knob from a 60-something ford tractor. i would have gone with the original style but the np205 shift pattern is different from a bw1356 and would rather no indication instead of incorrect indication.
all told i am pleased with how the interior is shaping up. i still need to sort out a radio and the a/c, door cards, seat upholstery, visors, seatbelts, dash pad ($$$) but it's at a comfy enough to drive to town state now. rear bumper and finishing out the exhaust are kinda the last things to do before i register it i think. yokohoma makes the geolandar m/t in a 255/80r17 that would look real nice on this too. maybe once i pay my taxes i'll look into new shoes.
Super cool, really coming together!!
I grew up with these trucks and have been a lifelong Ford guy.
And I miss having the Hi Low switch on the floor
I grew up with these trucks and have been a lifelong Ford guy.
And I miss having the Hi Low switch on the floor
- Thread starter
- #93
finally starting to get nice out so i took the opportunity to wash the truck. had to use a ladder lol
i couldn’t think of anything to do this weekend so i got started with the radio side of things. 3d printed a little adapter deal for two 4” 2-way woofers for the dash.
then realized several companies make bolt in solutions for like $60. i like to think this was at least more fun though. baaarely fits in the provided space. you can see i also took the opportunity to tidy up some of the wiring since it’ll only get more crowded in here from now on.
the speakers will be driven by a 4-channel alpine amp (the franks red hot of class d amplifiers). this will do 55 watts per channel at 4ohms which is usually enough for my purposes. i’ll be handling all of the input efforts with a ds18 bluetooth unit. slapped it all together as a proof of concept this weekend, but the ds18 will be triggered by one of the buttons on the stock radio (once i find one that’s priced reasonably). the goal is to retain the stock look and am radio but still have the option of bt5.0. it all went together nicely and plays music! will be adding 2 6x9s in each cab corner and potentially a slim 10” sub. i see no need to over complicate this setup given it’s in a single cab pickup from 1972.
all that said i spent most of my weekend wire wheeling and painting our car trailer that we added new dovetails to, built a box for the winch setup, and reinforced the deck with 2x2 square tube.
i couldn’t think of anything to do this weekend so i got started with the radio side of things. 3d printed a little adapter deal for two 4” 2-way woofers for the dash.
then realized several companies make bolt in solutions for like $60. i like to think this was at least more fun though. baaarely fits in the provided space. you can see i also took the opportunity to tidy up some of the wiring since it’ll only get more crowded in here from now on.
the speakers will be driven by a 4-channel alpine amp (the franks red hot of class d amplifiers). this will do 55 watts per channel at 4ohms which is usually enough for my purposes. i’ll be handling all of the input efforts with a ds18 bluetooth unit. slapped it all together as a proof of concept this weekend, but the ds18 will be triggered by one of the buttons on the stock radio (once i find one that’s priced reasonably). the goal is to retain the stock look and am radio but still have the option of bt5.0. it all went together nicely and plays music! will be adding 2 6x9s in each cab corner and potentially a slim 10” sub. i see no need to over complicate this setup given it’s in a single cab pickup from 1972.
all that said i spent most of my weekend wire wheeling and painting our car trailer that we added new dovetails to, built a box for the winch setup, and reinforced the deck with 2x2 square tube.
- Thread starter
- #94
finally got some time to get up to the shop and take care of some stuff on the truck! albeit very little actually got done. i installed my sun visors and forgot to take a photo. did some test driving and transmission tuning and got it pretty ok. will probably pay someone to tune the engine even though it isn’t bad it could definitely be better.
had been chasing a crazy vibration in the front end and installed some different wheels and tires we had for another one of our superdutys, so i took a pic.
it looks good but maybe a little too private school for me. the culprit of my vibration is actually a bad tie rod end so i’ll replace that sometime soon. dragging my feet on finishing out the interior since it’s so dang expensive. i want to make sure the truck runs and drives how i want before spending any more money on aesthetics.
more soon!
had been chasing a crazy vibration in the front end and installed some different wheels and tires we had for another one of our superdutys, so i took a pic.
it looks good but maybe a little too private school for me. the culprit of my vibration is actually a bad tie rod end so i’ll replace that sometime soon. dragging my feet on finishing out the interior since it’s so dang expensive. i want to make sure the truck runs and drives how i want before spending any more money on aesthetics.
more soon!
- Thread starter
- #95
finally got to use the truck a little. dragged out my galaxie to start work. does this count as a barn find?
lots more parts on one of these... took all weekend but it is totally torn down and ready for body work. fortunately it only needs a little bit of rust repair in the trunk - my goal is to get this one painted quickly and on the road to enjoy but we know how that goes.
finally found a use for the mercedes
lots more parts on one of these... took all weekend but it is totally torn down and ready for body work. fortunately it only needs a little bit of rust repair in the trunk - my goal is to get this one painted quickly and on the road to enjoy but we know how that goes.
finally found a use for the mercedes
What year Galaxy and what’s the overall plan ?finally got to use the truck a little. dragged out my galaxie to start work. does this count as a barn find?
lots more parts on one of these... took all weekend but it is totally torn down and ready for body work. fortunately it only needs a little bit of rust repair in the trunk - my goal is to get this one painted quickly and on the road to enjoy but we know how that goes.
finally found a use for the mercedes
Cool looking ride, I grew up in those old fords