Project f1shy

[Neil2704]

Welcome to project f1Poopy. I sold my lifted xj Cherokee to my bro in law and I miss it then I just helped my best friend build a trail grand cherokee. And i was actively searching for a Cherokee or GC to fill the void but my wife said if I get a new vehicle I have to get rid of my truck I've had for a decade almost to make room for it. I couldn't deal with that. So I decided to make the old rusty and trusty ford into a project truck. It's been way to cold to rc lately so I had lots of time to work on my truck. I have always loved this truck. It's basic, boring, tough, and reliable as hell with horrible near single digit mpg. 12 mpg is good if I baby it.

So anyway, step one was put in a touchscreen kenwood deck and alpine type s speakers to drone out the inevitable tire noise to come. Also Bluetooth and a usb plug for my phone to charge would prove handy on those 4 hour drives to the trail.

Step 2 was to remove the stock running boards and assess the rust situation in the rockers. It went something like bolt snap, damn, bolt snap damn, bolt snap damn, okay torch it out. The rockers are almost nonexistent in my truck whoops. Oh well. 6000 worth of parts are on order by now. No turning back now.

Step 3 was hose the entire truck down in penetrating oil. Before I got the truck is was a British Columbia search and rescue vehicle until I bought it in high school. So it seen some real crap before I got it. (I babied it I swear)

Step 4 I fixed some mechanical problems such as worn out rear pinion bearing and I had a broken mirror so I replaced the pair with nicer chrome ones via rock auto. (I love that site) while I had the diff open I also changed out the 3.73 gear sets for 4.56 gear sets to offset the 35 inch tires and gutless 4.6 engine. I couldn't afford lockers at this point so I'll be back in there soon.

Step 5 i installed the 6 inch zone lift. That was a 12 hour 2 man job because of the rust. Yuck.

Step 6 is install the rims and tires tomorrow. I have the tires at my shop but the rims are expected to show up tomorrow. Here's some pre and post lift pics. I apologize for not taking more photos and documenting things better but I will take more pics in the future. Future mods to come will be a winch, custom rock sliders and a custom rear bumper, lockers front and rear, and to outfit the truck with on board air, impacts, and general use tools I might use in most basic repairs.
Ps when he body rots off I'll body swap it. I hate body work lol




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[Shinchu]

like i said in my PM's, looking nice so far!
its really cool to take something you like and breathe new life into it. sorta wish i knew where my pop's old F-150 was so i could do the same. anyway, cant wait to see those new wheels on!

nice shop too! my 3 car garage got nothing on this!
*btw i read this thread title as "project fishy" lol

[Neil2704]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

like i said in my PM's, looking nice so far!
its really cool to take something you like and breathe new life into it. sorta wish i knew where my pop's old F-150 was so i could do the same. anyway, cant wait to see those new wheels on!

nice shop too! my 3 car garage got nothing on this!
*btw i read this thread title as "project fishy" lol

Here it sits. Next step is put it in a mud hole tomorrow lol. Then I think i want to build some sliders out of steel tube and plate


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[Shinchu]

BEAST MODE!
looks great! any rubbing issues yet? and i didn't notice until now that decent amount of rust slowly eating the bottom of the driver side cab. yikes!

[Neil2704]

No I have no rubbing issues. It clears fully even at articulation. And yeah the rockers are toast on it I have some ordered. I'll weld them in sometime this spring. I have 4.10 gears and Spartan lockers on order then sometime very soon I am going to fab up a custom rear bumper. Progress is slow. But I'll post more pics soon

[Zukiiholic]

Truck looks a lot better with the lift and tires.

[Neil2704]

Thanks. It has a lot more changes coming. I am trying to plan out a front bumper set up but after searching Google and forums they all look terrible and don't add much benefit off-road other than a winch plate. So I'm thinking of keeping the front bumper and welding a plate from frame horn to frame horn to set the winch on and run it out of the hole in the front bumper. The other idea I have is running a light bar behind the honeycomb of the grill. My back bumper is pretty well planned out. It's just a matter of getting to the steel store and picking up some square tubing