68 highboy

I was told I should do a build thread, i have had this project for a looong time, this was my first truck, I took my wife on our first date in this truck, it was my dads truck before me while I was growing up. I decided to do a body swap sometime in 2009, but a bad year in 2010 ( loosing two grandparents, a great grandma, and my father, as well as welcoming a second kid into our family took the wind out of my sail. I did work on it here and there over the years, but it has mainly been a looked over second thought. My kids are now at the age where they are starting to want to do stuff with friends over hanging with mom and dad, and I finally have the ambition to start working on the old girl again. So to keep me motivated and moving on the project I’m starting a build thread.

I’m currently found a high pinion open knuckle Dana 44 swamp, disc brakes and a better turning radius are my two major motivators to make this work.

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

I am cleaning up the selecto lockouts that came with the axle, and was wondering if they really should be packed full of grease like the previous owner had done. I am leaning towards a thin coating on all the splines. Anyone have any advise on how much to lube these?

 

[I Lean]

I don't know about Selectro specifically, but every other hub I've seen just wants a thin film of lube, like you said.

 

[Rot Box]

Selectro hubs are sweet! They complement that truck well imo. Thin film of lube for sure.

Magnalube might be a good option? I know where you can find some 😆

 

[BlackSheep]

I was told I should do a build thread, i have had this project for a looong time, this was my first truck, I took my wife on our first date in this truck, it was my dads truck before me while I was growing up. I decided to do a body swap sometime in 2009, but a bad year in 2010 ( loosing two grandparents, a great grandma, and my father, as well as welcoming a second kid into our family took the wind out of my sail. I did work on it here and there over the years, but it has mainly been a looked over second thought. My kids are now at the age where they are starting to want to do stuff with friends over hanging with mom and dad, and I finally have the ambition to start working on the old girl again. So to keep me motivated and moving on the project I’m starting a build thread.

I’m currently found a high pinion open knuckle Dana 44 swamp, disc brakes and a better turning radius are my two major motivators to make this work.

How about a photo of the rig?

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

Cooking up some goodness, bake at 500 degrees for twenty minutes. Serve on a bed of fresh grease. 🤤

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

I will get a better pic of the truck once I can roll it out into the daylight. Today I finished the drivers side bearing/seal rebuild and when I was installing the selectro hubs the inner aluminum has b crumbled. Dang as mile marker owns the selectro brand, I contacted them. They don’t make replacement parts. So after much debating and web searching trying to decide on a replacement hub. I decided a set of mile marker premium hubs would be a good upgrade. And yea I know that rim is crap, I’m waiting to purchase rims and tires until after the truck is drivable.

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

Btw, I would love a set of slot mags for this truck as they would be period correct. Anyone have some they want to get rid of?

 

[Rot Box]

You know my feelings on slot mags 😂

That said I think a set of shiny aluminum would be far better than the ‘always grey’ magnesium wheels. These would look sharp and give you a 17” which might open some doors for tire selection. Just a thought..

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Free Shipping - U.S. Mags Indy U101 Polished Wheels with qualifying orders of $99. Shop Wheels at Summit Racing.

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[Die Blaue Ziege]

Man I thought you had found my solution rotbox, $333 a rim? Good hell.

 

[Kiel]

Have to admit they would look good. And judging from the fender pic, it deserves it

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

So not much work on the 68, it seems like every time I think I’m going to get on it another project is in the way, today I made new mounts for the rear bumper and tire carrier I bought and got it mounted on the Tj. I did order more paint, and primer for the 68 and if my knees stop hurting I may burn a week of vacation and just work on the 68.

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

I forgot to post when I finished the steering arms, had to adapt some Chevy parts because no one makes the push pull arm anymore, and the new axle needed a 90 degree turn anyways. Reamed out the joint to accept the 1 ton ball joints. Good to go.

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

The heart of the old girl, one of the first mods I made to this truck was to yank the old 360 out and I found a fresh 390 to put in it. Yea I hate the chrome valve cover now also, but as a young guy I didn’t know any better 😬

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

Tomorrow is day one of six of all day working on the 68. May the bodywork and paint gods be with me.

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

Yea I will have a highboy with a under bed toolbox. They never made the option I grafted this one in from a 72 2wd camper special.

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

Layed down a couple coats of epoxy primer, it has set for 2 days and is still not hard enough to sand. This new low voc stuff is nowhere as good as the old stuff. So I decided to work on the tailgate, inner door panels and the steering column. Layed down some epoxy primer on them and then shot the door panels and the steering column Wimbledon white. I’m not worried about the steering wheel as the current one is cracked and I will be replacing it. Also sanded what we could and my wife who is great at missing and taping Sheetrock offered to lay down some Rage topfill body filler. After the primer has hardened we will knock down the body filler then let the block sanding begin. Hoping to get that done before the weekend so I can shoot a coat of 4k primer.

 

[spaggyroe]

I love bumpside Fords. Someday, I want to find / build a 71 half ton, 4x4 short bed.

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

More sanding and finding low spots on the bump out of the bed, the primer continues to get harder but it is still clogging the sandpaper. I guess I may not get any color on this by the end of the week. I started to put the inside back together, I found more paint work to be done on the guage cluster ( out of a 76 f550) and small parts. As I did a body swap my wife has been bugged that it’s not really the same truck anymore so I’ve been trying to incorporate every part from my old 68 as possible. All the push pull knobs, and the Wonky headliner that I purchased from jcwhitney are going back into the truck. And I just realized that the inner door panels that I am putting in are strange as they don’t have holes for the door trim ring.

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

well, I ran out of time waiting for the epoxy primer to cure, I moved the truck back into the garage and closed it down for the time being, And wouldn't you know it both the Jeep and the Powerstore decided to have problems with the cold weather. The power strokes glow plugs are not working, and the jeep's heater blower fan stopped working. I tore into the jeep fan and found the brushes were worn to less than 1/4 inch, I couldn't find any replacement brushes so I ordered the fan for the jeep and it will not be here until Tuesday. I then tore into the glow plug problem; the solenoid and all 8 glow plugs were replaced less than two years ago. the relay tested good, so I opened up the valve cover and took out the four on the driver's side only to find that three of the four had holes blown out of them. after buying new plugs at the auto parts store I believe that these I purchased off eBay were counterfeit plugs. apparently, there is a giant problem with people selling counterfeit motorcraft parts on eBay.