A build 7 years in the making (1981 f150 stepside)

1996sleeper
Posts: 106
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 9:36 pm
Bronco Info: 1996 2wd f150 autofab beams, coilovers, all terrains on alcoas and 351

A build 7 years in the making (1981 f150 stepside)

Post by 1996sleeper »

Well, finally after 7 long years I finally get to mess with this truck. I know it’s been out up for sale a few times over the years but now it’s time to officially make it mine. My dad and I got this as my 1st car back in 2014 with no motor or trans for $900. I put a battery in it and spent hours listening to the radio.

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We eventually took it to a junk yard and had then put in an electric carb 302 which was the biggest pos ever haha. Leaked tons of oil, no power, maybe 5 mpg and would not pass smog. Fast forward 3 years And we then eventually got around to getting the truck LS swapped with a gen IV 5.3 vortec which was our next mistake as the drive by wire made the swap a pain and we took it to a shop who was not familiar with the swap and spent almost 6 months in the shop. As well as having an alarm system installed by a very unskilled electrician and having suspension done by mechanics with low attention to detail. Finally after getting the truck back it had continuous issue with fuel delivery, brakes not functioning and rode terrible. But it did get a fairly decent paint job. Mind you this is my first car and have no idea how to actually work on it or diagnose issues. It sense was stored away as I never had time to fix it or make it how it should be.

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Fast forward 7 years and 16 cars later I’m ready to attack it. I’ve had 4 long travel trucks since then, multiple crawlers and worked on countless friends cars that I felt competent enough to do a stage 1 rebuild on this truck. Plans are install drop hangers, extended shackles, build my own leaf pack, bump and strap the rear, redo all wiring for the truck int/ext, install some proper seat brackets and some mastercraft Baja rs seats, sound system, overhaul the front end and pull the motor out and essentially redo the whole swap but correctly. Also make sure brakes function well enough to lock up the wheels

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Already ordered most of the parts to get the rear put back together so should have the rear done in the next week or so. Running stock placement bilstein 5100s I should be pulling 13” of travel in the back. Drive shaft needs to be shortened about 3” and will have to go back to 33s as I believe the stock stepside bed is not wide enough to tuck 35s I’ll be checking that next.


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ChaseTruck754
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Bronco Info: Don't have one - just old Ford trucks
Location: Huntington Beach, CA

Re: A build 7 years in the making (1981 f150 stepside)

Post by ChaseTruck754 »

Cool truck. Nice to see it getting some love in the form of an overall redo!
Owner of only dead and forgotten projects
1996sleeper
Posts: 106
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 9:36 pm
Bronco Info: 1996 2wd f150 autofab beams, coilovers, all terrains on alcoas and 351

Re: A build 7 years in the making (1981 f150 stepside)

Post by 1996sleeper »

ChaseTruck754 wrote:Cool truck. Nice to see it getting some love in the form of an overall redo!
Thank you! Stage 2 would be bedcage, coilovers, cab cage and rebuild the 9” is 4.56 and spool


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1996sleeper
Posts: 106
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 9:36 pm
Bronco Info: 1996 2wd f150 autofab beams, coilovers, all terrains on alcoas and 351

Re: A build 7 years in the making (1981 f150 stepside)

Post by 1996sleeper »

Messed around with the truck a little bit today, didn’t accomplish much but just waiting on some parts to come in from ruffstuff and Amazon. I bought a bigger floor jack and was able to properly cycle the rear and looks like it’ll pull slightly more then 14” in the rear, also started tearing the interior apart and getting ready for sound system and trying to figure a custom dash/speedometer setup for the LS to read proper outputs.

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