# Current project



## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

So.....I'm about to tackle my most extensive automotive project ever tomorrow. 

I am going to junk this 97 rot-body F250 that lived in Traverse City Michigan for 24 years and swap this beautiful squeaky clean New Mexico body onto the 7.3 frame. 

I have my work for probably the next 2 weeks cut out for me....donor truck is a 2wd 460 so I have to completely gut both cabs and swap all the harnesses over, needle the rust off the frame, undercoat the whole frame and underside of the bed and cab, replace at least one exhaust manifold and possibly the passenger side head too, along with whatever else breaks in the process. Lol

Anyway here is what I'm working with. Wish me luck. 

Truck will be for sale when its done.

Drivetrain donor.















































Body donor













































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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

The mid 90s graphics got to go....leave it all white or 2 tone it?

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## Kingcarpenter1 (May 5, 2020)

Yea Andy that puppy has seen it’s share or road salt & I’m sure caked mud/dirt from job sites. That’s a lot of work good on you. I’m a solid white guy myself as practically every truck I’ve owned have bee white. Business wise white, starter for maybe a young guy maybe 2 tone. Good luck , don’t rush we don’t need any unnecessary doctors visits right now

Mike


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Fleet white.


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

Kingcarpenter1 said:


> Yea Andy that puppy has seen it’s share or road salt & I’m sure caked mud/dirt from job sites. That’s a lot of work good on you. I’m a solid white guy myself as practically every truck I’ve owned have bee white. Business wise white, starter for maybe a young guy maybe 2 tone. Good luck , don’t rush we don’t need any unnecessary doctors visits right now
> 
> Mike


It's a strong truck. I bought it off the original owner....he actually shed a couple tears when I left with it. 228k on the clock, he took relatively good care of it.


I'm looking forward to the project and kind of dreading it at the same time. 


I guess I'm gonna find out if I want to build trucks or not here real quick...lol

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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

I lucked out with the body donor. It was an old ladys horse hauler. 

She died and her daughter brought it up to Michigan full of things from the estate. I only had to drive 30 minutes to pick it up. 2wd trucks don't sell very fast here. 

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## Snobnd (Jul 1, 2008)

_i’ve done a few body swabs just make sure you take plenty of pictures so you can get it back together.... without extra parts!

Lol_


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

Snobnd said:


> _i’ve done a few body swabs just make sure you take plenty of pictures so you can get it back together.... without extra parts!
> 
> Lol_


Plan on taking a ton of pics and some videos....completely biting off more than I have business chewing but I am doing the job at a buddies body shop about an hour away....just gonna be plugging away.

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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

If you aren't good at getting rusty nuts and bolts apart, you will be. A torch and a hefty impact wrench are your friends.....


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

hdavis said:


> If you aren't good at getting rusty nuts and bolts apart, you will be. A torch and a hefty impact wrench are your friends.....


The makita impact wrench is packed. 

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## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

Very cool!
If you are even the slightest bit of a motorhead, once you start you will want to keep going non-stop. Just like was said, take lots of pictures and also get a bunch of colored tags so you can label everything especially wiring. Color like: blue AC/heat, red fuel, green emissions, you get the picture.


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## RichVT (Feb 28, 2009)

Toyota has been doing frame swaps on trucks for many years now due to rusted out frames. I know I have seen videos of the process so you might want to do a search to get some ideas on how to proceed. I'm pretty sure that they pull the bed off and use the lift to lift the cab off of the frame leaving the frame with the engine and drivetrain on the floor.


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

Well.....no turning back now.

Got the first truck out here yesterday and started the project today....

I've got my work cut out for me.












































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## mrcat (Jun 27, 2015)

That spring hanger looks fine, little jb weld and some paint it'll be all good 

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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

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## Randy Bush (Mar 7, 2011)

I am so glad we don't have to deal with rust like that here. I can't remember , but are the frames the same between the two trucks?


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

Randy Bush said:


> I am so glad we don't have to deal with rust like that here. I can't remember , but are the frames the same between the two trucks?


They are

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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

What do you know...there is still some steel left under all that crap






























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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

Well that was fun...


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Don't worry about spare bolts when you put it back together, they aren't needed... ..


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## rrk (Apr 22, 2012)

RichVT said:


> Toyota has been doing frame swaps on trucks for many years now due to rusted out frames. I know I have seen videos of the process so you might want to do a search to get some ideas on how to proceed. I'm pretty sure that they pull the bed off and use the lift to lift the cab off of the frame leaving the frame with the engine and drivetrain on the floor.


40 hrs job per truck


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

Kinda reminds me of Blacktop...


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## Randy Bush (Mar 7, 2011)

Another soffit and fascia job on a Habitat for Humanity house. Think have done about 30 of them now over the years.
















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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

Making some progress on this damn frame. Finally got the needle scaler dialed in and figured out how to use it. 

I am so glad I didn't drop this all off with my mechanic......he'd have charged me a fortune to do this





































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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

Man, that looks like a lot of work.


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

tgeb said:


> Man, that looks like a lot of work.


Bro.....A LOT MORE that I really expected. 

That is not to say that I mind it terribly. 

Amazing learning/ bonding expirence with my son. Gives me some time to do a little soul searching.

And my buddy who is loaning me the space to do the project says I am making good time all things considered. I'm happy with the progress.

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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

Needle it, 
wire wheel it, 
do it again and get what you missed, 
Undercoat it,
Still have to drop the tanks and do it to the inside

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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

Replace all those dang brake lines while you've got the tanks down. 

Looking good so far though, how long do you think...?


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## tjbnwi (Feb 24, 2009)

Consider these for the brake lines;





__





F150, F250, F350 & Excursion - Circle Track Supply, Inc.






www.circletracksupply.com





Tom


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Are they that much better for street use? I just get the rolls of nickel-copper tubing, and do the bends and flares. No more corrosion.


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## Railman (Jan 19, 2008)

This is what I used a few years back on an E350 van. It is super easy to work with, & bends like soft copper tubing. It's a lifetime warranty copper/nickle product .








Summit Racing SUM-220216-25 Summit Racing™ Copper/Nickel Alloy Tubing | Summit Racing


Free Shipping - Summit Racing™ Copper/Nickel Alloy Tubing with qualifying orders of $99. Shop Tubing at Summit Racing.




www.summitracing.com


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## Railman (Jan 19, 2008)

Like minds...


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

I don't actually know how to bend the stuff, I just use my old technique for bending tubing. Fill full of sand, and plug the ends. Than sweat that you got it all clean again.


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

tgeb said:


> Replace all those dang brake lines while you've got the tanks down.
> 
> Looking good so far though, how long do you think...?


I might just swap the other truck brakes over. I seriously doubt I'm gonna get the bleeder screws to work on the rust wagon.


I climbed under the other one today and it looks like I could take it apart with an open end wrench set... lol....that thing is super clean. 

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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

hdavis said:


> I don't actually know how to bend the stuff, I just use my old technique for bending tubing. Fill full of sand, and plug the ends. Than sweat that you got it all clean again.


I can bend the tubing....I suck at the flaring part though....bad

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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

I probably have 2 more weeks.

The limited space seriously hampers speed

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## Randy Bush (Mar 7, 2011)

A&E Exteriors said:


> I can bend the tubing....I suck at the flaring part though....bad
> 
> Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk


You have the double flare set up right? Never really have had and problems myself, but I grow up doing mechanic work too.


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## rrk (Apr 22, 2012)

those needle scalers are super noisy but work very well


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

Randy Bush said:


> You have the double flare set up right? Never really have had and problems myself, but I grow up doing mechanic work too.


I've tried it a couple times and couldn't grasp how to use the tool. Lol

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## tjbnwi (Feb 24, 2009)

A&E Exteriors said:


> I've tried it a couple times and couldn't grasp how to use the tool. Lol
> 
> Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk


Place the tubing in the vice, set the height of the tube with the proper die for the diameter tubing your working with, with the pin pointing up place the die next to the tube, slide the tube up until the top is even with the top of die shoulder/step, tighten vice, insert die into tube pin slides into the tube, lock press onto vice, tighten press until die bottoms out on vic, loosen press, remove die, set press over tube, tighten press, you now have a double flare.

Don‘t forget to place the flare nut on the tube prior to flaring. 

Above is for softer tubings. If you decide you’re going to use seamless annealed stainless tubing your hand tools will not work. 

Tom


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