Well, here's the deali-o. I have a 84 F-150 that has a 76 390 FE motoring it along. I had to fab up some mounts and a hydro clutch bracket to get it in, but it worked. Anyway, after years of abusing the old Ford, I noticed the cab and bed were misaligned from a tweaked frame, and that the crossmembers and rear frame rails were rusting out. So I picked up a 77 1/2 ton frame to pull the straight axle out of and throw under the front of my 84.

What I want to do now is swap the 84 body onto the 77 frame, but I need to know how the mounting holes line up. So far I know I need to space out and re-weld the 84 front clip mounts onto the older frame, but what about the cab and bed bolt holes? I have seen a few of these swaps done, but the owners bought the trucks like that and I never get to take a good look.

So any thoughts would be a great help. Thanks!!

 

ProRider you must be a glutton for punishment! That is going to be a wild swap.

Can't help you any on the cab and box mount questions but before I started that swap I would look real close at the bottom of the cab just above the mounts. Usually with that amount of rust on the frame the front cab mounts will be about to come out of the cab. Have had a few of the older Fords that just sort of disolved in this area. Seems to me that years ago I got involved in putting a mid '80s tranny into one of the older Fords. I remember there were some issues with drivline length and carrier bearing or driveline alignment. Something to do with rear mount height as I recall.

Be sure to hang onto that FE block, they are getting a little hard to find anymore. Have one in a '56 F350 that is still used on a regular basis.

 

I swapped my old 40" Ground Hawgs with my Uncle and he welded in a new floor board and corner for me, along with some gussets on the axles. I was driving down the road once and I happened to catch a black thing bouncing down the road behind me in the mirror. Turned out the mount and body lift spacer fell right down through the cross member. So the frame is where most of the rust had become a problem, but the body itself was in pretty good shape.

Right now the body is all primered and ready for a new coat of metallic brown with a white roof (original colors) and the 77 frame has been sandblasted and "Herculined". I also have Skyjacker 6 inch coils for the front and Pro Comp 6-inch leaves in the back. I'm still trying to find the company that makes the long-travel radius arm kits for the older fords, instead of just lowering the originals with a bracket. I also have replaced the rear axles with Superior shafts, and run a detroit locker and 4.11s. The front dana 44 has stronger Moser inner and outer shafts, but with a TrueTrac and 4.11s. I just need to swap to the Warn "fusible link" hups and get some new tires (probably 37's) that'll be good for the street and in the woods.

The Off-Road mags don't seem to like the FE (they say its heavy and underpowered), but I like mine. I was running it with just a ring job, Edelbrock performer intake, 750 carb, headers, and a RV cam from Napa, and I was impressed with the power. It sure could wear the lugs off of the Hawgs!! So far I bored it .030 over and am going to get a different cam along with a Holley Truck Avenger carb. I also picked up a set of 390 GT heads at a swap meet in Mass, so it'll have some more oomph than before. I also have a 6-pack intake I picked up, but the carb kits are around a grand, so I'm gonna keep my Edelbrock.

Lucky for me, I just found out my neighbors old truck he has out back is a 85 body on a 79 frame, so I'm gonna scope it all out once the snow melts.....Latah...

 

www.fordtrucks.com go to the forums there. You will find ANYTHING you ever wanted to know.

 

Thanks bigwannabe!!

 

I think that 79 is closer to the 84/85 than the 77 they made a major change for the 78 models. Is your tansfere case attached to the tranny or seperate on the 77? I know their seperate on a 77 3/4 ton and attached in 78 not sure about 1/2 though.

 

I'll be using the 84 4-speed and NP 203.......Just the 77 axles is all!!