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The restoration build thread

2K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  anschutz1913 
#1 · (Edited)
I've recently gotten back into the drivers seat of a 6.0. 2003 F350 CCSB Lariat currently with 308K Miles. Being as I live in the salt belt of the nation, the body is currently full of cancer. The goal of the build is to restore the truck to excellent condition and modify/upgrade the creature comforts of the truck.

Here is some pics to illustrate where I'm starting from:









I have a full rust free monotone white 2004 F350 CCSB that has a cracked block, so that is going to be the donor truck.

Pics:











The current list of mods/upgrades on the running truck are:

-EGR Delete
-Coolant bypass filter
-New Ford OEM oil cooler
-Fuel Pressure Gauge
-Edge CTS
-SCT X3 currently running Innovative tunes
-ELC Coolant
-Spearco Intercooler
-Pro-Comp suspension with dual front MX6 adjustable shocks and MX6 rear adjustable shocks
-Warren stage 1 transmission
-The truck has been in the family for the last 10 years, so I know that the coolant, oils, etc are all good. All the regular maintenance was kept up with religiously.

Items listed in red are completed.

Current things wrong with truck:

-Bed is completely shot. The floor of the bed has holes the size of softballs.
-Front doors have rust on the bottom lip.
-Fuel gauge does not read correct, sometimes doesn't read anything.
-Overhead console display compass doesn't read the direction, only "CAL".
-Exhaust has more holes than the Marcellus shale.
-I think a driveshaft u-joint is going bad.
-Tires are bald.
-Wheels are looking bad.
-Front leaf springs are reverse bowed (read; worn out).
-Drivers side cab corner is starting to rust.


The current plans for the truck, not necessarily in this order:

-Take the rust free bed from the parts truck and put on the 03.
-While the bed is off, I'm going to take the sending unit out and replace with the one from the parts truck.
-Harpoon the tank while I'm in there.
-Take the 5" straight exhaust from the parts truck and re-purpose to use on the 03.
-Check driveshaft u-joints and replace whichever one/s are bad with grease-able u-joints.
-New 285/75/16 tires.
-Replace the leaf springs with new pro-comp front spring packs.
-Strip clear coat from wheels and polish them. Then reapply new layer of clear coat.
-Either replace the front doors or repair the rust on the door lips.
-repair cab corner.
-Repair circuit board of overhead display or completely replace.
-Build a custom center console for the cab. I will use Azzkikin's thread http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/6-0l-powerstroke-interior-discussion/1058762-custom-center-console.html as a guide and customize the layout/design to better meet my personal preference.
-At some point in the future I will stud it. I have the studs already, just haven't had an inclination to put them in. Plus at 308k miles and no HG issues.... I see no point to put them in until it does happen.

Already done:

-Put a 20" LED light bar in the fog light space to replace the non-working HID fog lights.

I will try to take pics along the way and document/update my progress in this thread on restoring this truck into an amazing looking daily driver! :thumb:
 
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#2 ·
Very cool! Look forward to seeing the process!
 
#4 ·
Update 1:

Got one item scratched off the list!

I scored a set of near brand new (<3k miles) Hankook Dynapro ATm's along with a brand new never on the road spare for $300. 285/75/16, 10 ply, load range E. I practically stole these things.

Pics:









Hopefully next week I can get the bed and associated stuff done. :thumb:
 
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#5 ·
Nothin Finer then a new set of tires :)
 
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#7 ·
I've been driving on them for a little over a day now and they are great. No road noise, great traction in dirt. Had it off road at my parents farm hauling some French drain pipe to their new house they're building and they performed great! I'm liking them so far. :thumb:
 
#8 ·
Update,

The truck needed some new front brakes pretty bad. Dug into it and changed them out. I had a very slight pulsation in the brake pedal so I bought 2 new rotors for the front because I figured WTH, going to need them at some point anyways. Got the job done in under an hour and for once the slider pins weren't froze up. :thumb:
The old rotors turned out to be pretty bad, and the front brakes were almost gone. :yikes:

On to the part that everyone looks for... Pics!

Out with the old:





And in with the new:



Truck stops on a dime now. :thumb:
Next up is the bed, sending unit, harpoon the tank and put the other exhaust in. Also found out which u-joint is bad on the rear driveshaft, so I will put a new one in while I'm in that area.

In retrospect I should've cleaned and painted the calipers and brackets but I was low on time.
 
#9 ·
Soooo... It's been a long time! I've been working almost non-stop at my new job, can't complain though, the money is good. :thumb:

So I FINALLY got the bed off and re did the exhaust, sending unit and bed. Took about 10 hours of work. I got the bed off the donor truck, took out the sending unit, and cut off the exhaust. Then on day 2 I got the rusty bed off the 03 truck, replaced the sending unit, Harpooned the tank, cleaned up the frame and took off the surface rust, then soaked it in transmission fluid. After that I put the 5" exhaust on so that I have a clean exhaust again. Then we sat the new bed on and bolted her down. All in all it turned out well! :thumb:

Unfortunately, the sending unit didn't work though. The fuel gauge will still drop to empty when at a full tank. I'm thinking maybe it's the gauge itself? Or is there a converter somewhere that scales the 0V-5V signal into a reading the gauge can understand? Maybe that would be the problem? Faulty signal... IDK.

Pics!!

Before...


During... (With a cameo appearance from dad's King Ranch :hehe:)


After!!




Now I'm sitting here enjoying a well earned Redd's Ale. :stump:
 
#10 ·
Good work. Good to hear from you again too. Tell your dad to stop by sometime.
 
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#11 ·
Thanks!! I will also pass the word along to him. He has been busy building a house so his free time has been taken up by that.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Howdy folks! Long time no type...

Update:

The in dash 6 disc CD player took a crap on me so I made a visit to Best Buy, walked out with a Kenwood head unit. I love the thing, has everything except Nav, which I didn't need because I can just use my phone. Ended up being around $400. Had to trim the inside of the cut out in the dash for the radio, just a hair to small.

Link for the radio:
Kenwood 6.95" - CD/DVD - Built-In Bluetooth - Apple iPod - In-Dash Receiver Black DDX773BH - Best Buy



Also saw the rust on the cab corner is getting worse... :eek:hnoes:



I'm going to take it to a friend of the family and have him fix that, I'm no body man... That's for sure.

So after putting in the stereo I found just how bad the stock speakers SUCK! So I got on amazon and added these to my wish list for next payday... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I0FQUJW/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3ON6JA6HIG8SP&coliid=IBXFUKD82APQ3

After adding those I realized I'm going to need an amp for them... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IF9BR1E/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3ON6JA6HIG8SP&coliid=I32AZYMRVBD0JL

The amp has an 75Wx4 RMS rating and a 225Wx4 Max rating and the speakers have a 85W RMS rating and a 360W Max rating. So I know the amp won't blow out the speakers.

Then after that one thing led to another and I started filling up my wish list... YIKES!

Recently I've been thinking about moving back into an 05-07 6.0 because I love the exterior and interior of them, so I've been holding off on going all out on this truck, but then I thought about it and realized that this truck is payment free whereas another wouldn't be.... That's when I decided I'm going all out on this thing!

Here is what I'm going to do...

I know of at least 3 U-Joints going bad in it... So I'm going to replace EVERY stinking joint in the thing.
Ford F250 SuperDuty Complete U-Joint Kit from Moog

I think one of the wheel bearings is starting to go bad... So that means replace both of them with Timken's... Because why not? :crazy:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BZ968Q/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=IKNP8MIU3153P

The alternator is showing signs of weakness. I wanted to put a DC Power 220 amp or 250 amp in it, but they are showing out of stock on all of them, so I found this listed for NAPA:
https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/NNE1N3169HO/NNE1N3169HO_0270617309

I am open to suggestions on a better alternator.

The batteries in the truck still seem to be strong, but they are well over 5 years old, not bad for NAPA Gold batteries. However I'm going to replace them now before they can cause any trouble. After reading several battery threads on different forums, I came to the conclusion that these seem to be the best:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00249GW9S/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=I3QIL6ZXCO260C

Naturally the FICM is going to be addressed as well before it can go bad:
FICM BulletProof Fuel Injection Control Module Update

As I mentioned in the OP, I have the studs for the truck... But I just don't have the inclination to tackle that right now. It'll get addressed at some point though.

The truck has a Spearco IC in it, however it still has stock piping. So I'm going to put the Banks high ram kit in it. The King Ranch has it and it makes a tremendous improvement in the EGT's. The boots that come with the kit seem pretty good, so I'll not worry about Riff Raff boots for now.

The only additional power adder I'll add is going to be a PHP FICM tuner.
FICM Programmer - Power Hungry Performance

The MX-6 shocks are getting worn out, so I'll get 6 Bilstein 5100's to replace them with.

The front springs are wore out, so replace them with these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CNBQ12/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=I37OHPZIQUUAB7

Now, on to the cosmetics!

Obviously I'm going to have the cab corner fixed. The bed I put on has some small dents and a couple of decent scratches, so those will be fixed as well. Both front doors will be replaced because they have some decent rust on the bottom lips.

I'm going to put on 08+ mirrors:
https://www.1aauto.com/ford-mirror-pair-trail-ridge-trmrp00018/i/trmrp00018?f=1093547&y=2003
However I am considering the power folding option, I'll have to think about that.

I'm going to upgrade the lights on the back:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00473XS3M/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=I12P5H8R8TK0JY&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019JBNQMO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=I2F4TGI142QPOP&psc=1

Speaking of lights on the back.. I like to see where I'm going...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G620ZVU/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=I3LQV80NQR0W4O&psc=1

Then this is going on:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0100L20F...UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=IBKL8YKQJGP6U

With these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0100FMATS/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=I22MP58IHB3CSA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IYUTU86/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=IFY1Q3BM9YAOG
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OBZWYUO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=IX52FEDHG5C23

Might mount one of these on top of the headache rack facing rearward:
https://www.amazon.com/STANSEN-Heavy-Driving-Bumper-Lightbar/dp/B01B7EPQPQ/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1485256604&sr=8-6&keywords=30%22+light+bar

Then this beauty is getting mounted... :evillol:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009FQZK28/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=IKC0LANY9I6UC

I'll mount some LED fogs in the factory positions with the current 20" light bar sitting on top.

To fix the overhead console I'll replace the whole unit:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042HDM6G/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=I3BD6DXWQUN5LC

Still not sure about the fuel gauge, I replaced the whole cluster and the sending unit, still messing up. guess I'm going to have to trace wires and try to find a short or open circuit somewhere. Suggestions are welcome!

After the center console is built and mounted in place, I'll put one of these into the console:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RO3RBE/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=I2KARGA0MVODOK&psc=1

I had one before and I loved it.

The factory running boards are going as well, the drivers side one is wanting to fall off anyways. Going to go with N-Fab:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001L4KIQK/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OUAK8W70GMVX&coliid=I4ADPWZQH2IE3

I don't know whether I want black powder coated or stainless yet though. Decisions decisions!

After the center console is built, this will be mounted inside of it, I will build the console as an enclosure.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T87H860/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3ON6JA6HIG8SP&coliid=I2ID44LRFOLGKO&psc=1

This will also be mounted inside the console:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B8B0Q9A/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3ON6JA6HIG8SP&coliid=I2ETBKXU6RUSDQ&psc=1

Between this and the door speakers and 4 channel amp, I figure it should sound pretty good. I'm not going for busting out the windows bass, just a nice sounding system.

I also am going to put wheels on it, but I'm completely stuck on what to get. I'm having a hard time finding a wheel I truly like, and IDK whether I want 18's or 20's. I'm actually kind of partial to the factory 20's from 2005-2007, but that could be hard to source.

As you can see, my goal isn't 600 RWHP or anything like that, I want a awesome looking truck that is a pleasure to drive. But most of all, I want RELIABILITY! I want something that I know will last another 100k+ miles. I'm sure there will be more drivetrain and powertrain components that I will have to replace, but I figure this outta be a good start.

Suggestions? Thoughts? Concerns? Have at it!
 
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