photos '01 Superduty for '96 OBS?

[cpadolf3]

I have a 2001 F250 4x4 extended cab, 7.3l. 4 inch lift, 35 inch toyos, 4 inch turbo back straight pipe to a 9 inch stack. GTP38r turbo with stage 2 wicked wheel, TS chip, and some other basic mods, but nothing fancy. 230k on engine/trans/body without any rebuilds that I'm aware of. Under a higher horsepower tune, the transmission slips and shifts very hard, so I'm keeping it on 50 or 75 for economy and that's it. Besides that concern, the truck is from Nebraska, so it has a bit of rust. I'm considering trading this for a 1996 (original body style) extended cab F250. It's on one ton axles, 37s that will need replacing (and 22" rims, not going to be cheap). Approximately 8 inch lift. Supposedly the owner put in a new engine after cracking a piston on the old one. He says it comes with a manufacturer warranty and all pictures of the installation. He also says it has a stage 3 ATS transmission, but no paperwork to prove it. It comes with Swamps 160cc injectors that aren't installed, as well as a chip. He says he's never had the desire to install onto the new engine. I use my truck for towing evwry single day, and while I'm not competing or dogging on the truck, I would like to have something with at least SOME speed. If I were to change out the injectors and tune it, what other supporting mods would be necessary? A couple of down sides in my mind. First off, I lose the opening rear door, which SUCKS. The truck is also a lot older, but the OBS trucks seem to hold their value pretty well, right? I would value my truck currently at 10k at best due to the rust. Is this a worthwhile trade or should I continue looking? I've included some pictures of both below, any input is much appreciated. Thanks!

P.S., I really dislike the blue interior, and seat covers are $200+, so that does have some influence in my decision. Unless there's a common interior that's adaptable from another vehicle that I can just transfer over.

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[troutwest66]

Having had both trucks I think you would be going backwards unless you just really wanted the OBS. I would put the money into yours or go newer if it were me. I love my '04. My '94 was fine but the interior of the '04 blows my OBS out of the water in every way I can think of. Chassis, too. Just my opinion.

 

[cpadolf3]

I appreciate the response. I'm not stuck on the OBS by any means. But as of now, I'm not financially in the position to purchase a newer truck, so trading is my only option. I would consider a 6.0l if bulletproofed, but nobody is going to trade a modified 6.0 for a 7.3, and I don't have the cash laying around to bulletproof one myself. I'm going to go look at the OBS and think on it for a few days. Thanks!

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[john griffin]

Keep what you have. ATS will know if he bought a trans,they keep track of that for warranty.If he put in a "new " motor he already spent a bunch of $,if he put in "another" motor,different story.Should have recipts for that too. Why would he not put the injecters in while the motor was out? The driver seat is seriously broken down,a cover wont fix that.Tires and wheels will be a serious investment too.You are going to spend #3k+ and still not really know what you have for a powertrain.If the only thing wrong with your powertrain is some trans slip,spend $4k and get your own ATS trans.Knowing exactly what you have in the powertrain dept is more important than dealing with a little rust. Body parts are cheap for the SD,mostly because so many years fit.Depending on your location, take off body parts can be a real bargan,or consider a road trip with a trailer and get them that way.I'd like to see some pics of the rust and know where you are.

 

[cpadolf3]

Thank you so much for the input. I have decided at this point to walk from that deal. He began playing games and I felt like with all of your advice it was wisest for me to avoid it. I will take some pictures of the rust tomorrow. The rear suicide doors have been completely bondo-ed by the previous owner, and they did a LOUSY job. It's cracking and has no structure for me to reshape it. The cab corners are also cracking out in the rear. If I bump them they will come out. The bed mounting rails that go perpendicular to the frame are also heavily rusted and would need replacing.

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[john griffin]

3 of my bed mounting rails are pretty bad but the floor and sides are perfect. After looking at it closely this summer it looks like the sheet metal used to build the bed was galvanized but the cross mounts were not.I ran this theory past a friend of mine who is in the body shop bus and he said that late 99 was when they were switching to all galv sheet metal but that during this period they fabbed cabs and beds with whatever they had,it is possible.Strangely,2 of the cross rails that are so bad are where my 5 th wheel rails mount.Since these bolts go all the way thru the box an frame,the box really only acts as a spacer of sorts ,so it really means nothing.What I would like to do if I can get enough time this winter,is remove all the box thru bolts,raise it up a couple inches,use a panel cutter to remove the rusty cross rails,sand blast those areas and POR 15 them. Then fab new rails from white oak and install them in the spots.This will then be like many stake beds are built.I would put asphalt building paper between the oak and box floor for rust prevention.
All 4 of my doors are rusting from the outside-in, starting on the bottoms. There are 2 ways to deal with this.Buy inner-bottom repair panels and weld them in.The panels are only about 30$ ea.My door skins are fine,so this is a solution.Or,just replace the whole door with new take-off doors from indiana or texas.I could make a run to indiana with my horse trailer and bring 4 back in one day.They get around $175 ea for these,or buy china shells online for $125 ea.,not really a choice IMO.Of course the bottom line here is that if you dont have a mig,panel cutters,air comp,and cant paint,the cost goes up exponentially.I have done this kind of work for over 50 yrs and have all the equipment,so for me its a no brainer.What I DONT have is the time!

 

[cpadolf3]

I have a Millermatic 210 Mig welder. Just not a ton of experience welding in sheet metal. I guess it's worth looking into!

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[john griffin]

Thats what I have.I have one regular 210 and one with an aluminum spool gun so I dont have all the switching around when I want to do aluminum but am too lazy to get out the Tig! Just set that puppy down low and have at it!You dont weld sheet metal with a continuos bead. You run a series of spots(tacks) the fill in between them with more tacks untill you have only 3/4" or so between them.Move around a lot to keep it cool,dont be in a hurry.Heat is the enemy!.

 

[john griffin]

Oh yeah,and weld on the inside whenever possible so there is no grinding,that makes big heat too! I actually wouldnt weld panels with the 210,I have a Lincoln 120sp that is set up with 0.030 wire for headers and sheet metal.

 

[cpadolf3]

I'm also running 0.030 in the miller and can slow down the feed speed quite a bit. I'm considering just using Bondo and taking my time with it. Or fiberglassing it

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