1978 F350 dump truck

So I never made a build thread.  This was/ is only a work truck so never bothered.  But figured why not. So here it is.  Went to look at it and the ad said it was a 351 and ran. Got there and realized it's an FE and didn't run.  Poured gas down the carb and was able to hear it run for a few seconds. And said screw it and bought it. 

Here is when we got it. Honestly kinda wish I had just left the patina. But too late for that now.  

So first order of business was to see if it ran.  Rebuilt the carb and put an fe fuel pump (instead of the 351 one on it) and she ran.  

So we started sanding it down.  Drivers fender was bombed with Massey Ferguson tractor paint, to make sure we liked the color. 

More sanding and some filler.  This truck didn't and doesn't have a single panel without a dent.  Remember at the end of the day it's still a work truck.  

And like usual, I was racing the sun setting while I painted it. Had to clean up in the dark.  Good enough for a work truck.  

Then removed the interior to clean it. 

Osphoed the floors after a quick wire wheeling. 

Then bed lined the inside. 

Grill and bumper back on.  

Radiator sprung a leak. So I used one I had laying around in its place.  

Dizzy was worn and giving me inconsistent spark and timing. Upgraded to the high quality Chinese hei

Painted the bed. 

Made a boo boo. I cut off the weird chunks on the head rack and then proceeded to leave all the metals shavings on the roof and they kinda ate in and rusted. Oops

Then thought I cracked the block because I forgot it only had water in it and not coolant. Oops. I was out there were a space heater under the hood warming it up. Popped out a couple freeze plugs but it doesn't seem to be cracked. Been using it around the yard since and seems fine. 

Started to build a tail gate out of some old free oil field pipe. Not real happy with it,  so never finished it. May redo or may just skin it. Not sure. 

Then the pto pump for the bed died. So put on an electric setup instead. Only the highest quality.  

I had a 78 F350 for about 10 years. It was a great versatile work truck. A little rough here and there, but always got the job done. Mine had the 390 and I also had to rebuild the carb and replace the fuel pump. Sold it about two years ago and still miss it.

And here is the pump in action. I still have to bolt it on but the bolts I have are either to long or too short.  I'll pick some up at work tomorrow. Right now it's just ratchet strapped on. 

https://youtu.be/Lt1ijtnSeOY

Took a bit to get going. The instructions are useless. Colors don't match,  wire locations were opposite of the pictures. But it worked once I figured out the wiring. Takes about 50sec empty to go all the way up. So not bad, the pto was faster but it also would have cost 3x as much to put a new one on. Still need to  finish the wiring properly but I wanted to make sure it worked first. 

That about gets it caught up to real time.  I need to fix the brakes and wire up tail lights and then it will be street legal and I can go get it tagged. 

And just a random picture I like.  

Cool truck!

Nice job! 

I want to paint a logo on the doors, but I'm not an artist,  so trying figure out how to pull it off and not look like poo

Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOqEqXc738Y

This is a real exciting update. Fuel pump died. Ordered up a new electric one this time. 

Got the hydraulic pump wired up. 

Still need to tie down the conduit. But didn't want the power wire just setting on the frame. 

Controller has magnets. So right now I just sat it on the dash. 

Oh and my cluster fell apart in my hands the other day. 

Going have to order a new backing plate and probably circuit board from lmc. Gauges worked fine before the back fell apart in my hands. Apparently 40 years of TX heat killed it. 

I had your trucks twin in green in 1998, it needed tires but no one would change them because of the widow makers so I swapped the rear end out of a 96 f350 that got totaled. That truck was a beast! What is the intended purpose? I just used mine for roofing and construction jobs.

"patina" is just codeword for "I'm too cheap or too lazy to take care of this rusty POS"  or "I want people to think I'm too cool to care."

In the end, the color you painted it looks 1 billion times better than a rusty old truck.  I like it. 

chandler said:

I had your trucks twin in green in 1998, it needed tires but no one would change them because of the widow makers so I swapped the rear end out of a 96 f350 that got totaled. That truck was a beast! What is the intended purpose? I just used mine for roofing and construction jobs.

Just a work truck around the house and out at my buddies ranch.

Finally found a good deal on used cluster. Not going lie, this dude underpriced this cluster, got it for $75 shipped. 

Got to do the brakes and figure out why the horn and turn signals aren't working. Brake lights are and I think the hazards are. 

Did these have two flashers like the newer fords do? If it does I couldn't find it anywhere