1970 f250 camper special

[lloyd70cs]

Hi everyone.

I might have just found a great 2nd truck to merge with my existing project. Just a heads up i have a 1970 F250 Camper Special 2wd 360 4 speed. I just found an add for a 1968 Mercury that is in progress of rebuilding but has
"a rebuilt 390, high flow oil pump, aluminum 427 intake, fireball ignition, headers and flowmaster 2.5inch,. Fresh rebuilt trans (automatic), no plastic, all metal componentry, second stage shift kit, 9" rear end with highway gears. brand new brakes, disc conversion up front, new shocks and springs. New fender mounts and cab supports. Mechanical Hastings Monitoring gauges."

Can anyone tell me if there are going to be likely issues merging these two? Thanks for the help. Got a call into the guy to make sure its still available.

Lloyd

[Lone Ranger]

The Ford and Mercury trucks are exactly the same truck with a few cosmetic differences. Mercurys are far more rare( I've never seen one). Sometimes Mercs demand more money, you might want to combine both trucks into the Merc. Up to you though both trucks are awesome
Check out MK's thread on Mercurys it is very informative.

[lloyd70cs]

Thanks for the reply. Hopefully it's still available

[lloyd70cs]

Its been a while since I've posted. I've been driving around enjoying the truck (F250 2wd Camper Special) without any updates besides a new rag joint and its first wash and wax since like 1972.

I'm getting ready however to take it off the road this summer for a bit and get some things done. Here is a list of things I want to address

1. I would like to do some paint, at least deal with the rust underneath. Frame and cab underside. I had the cab mounts and floor pans done last year.
2. The clutch pedal is slow to return after engaging it, may need some work.
3. I have done a bunch of reading on this site on brakes and if I'm not mistaken, the 1970 F250 2wd front spindles were the same for both drum and disc. So will be doing that swap. I have a full front end from a 1979 including proportioning valve, pre-bent lines, i-beams, etc so I can always do the full swap if the spindle is indeed different. Its already got a power booster and what I believe is a disc/drum MC (smaller bowl at rear of MC)
4. Also on the 1979 front end I have the power steering box, pump, bracket, lines, pitman arm and linkage. I am going to tackle that too. I can't remember which box fits without chopping the steering column/shaft but will address that too, lots of information on here to help, If it comes to chopping shaft and welding back together I will have a shop do that. It not something I trust myself with.
5. I have interior finishing stuff like new upholstery etc to clean up the cab with.


I was also thinking of these items:
Electronic Ignition
Convert the 360 to 390?
Sanderson Shorty Headers and dual exhaust
Removing the underside gas tank


Any advice on these I would greatly appreciate. The bigger questions are:
Am I right about the spindles for the F250?
The 1979 front disc setup is single piston but I can only find 1970 and 1979 parts diagrams with dual piston setup??

Happy Spring Everyone!

Lloyd

[Manny]

Welcome back Lloyd thats a healthy list. No issues though just start with one at the time all of a sudden it will be done and handled! I have another 390 crank here if you determine to covert 360 to 390 which i would recommend.

[lloyd70cs]

thanks Manny (Dan?) I will do more research and figure that out.

unfortunately I have to add another one to the list. the starter I bought three years ago is dying. it is getting temperamental about engaging.

oh and new coils and shocks

[lloyd70cs]

time for a new starter. minis are around 300 around here

[lloyd70cs]

I was looking at rotating assemblies for the 390 conversion and it would probably be around 1000 dollars just for the rods and pistons, 1700 with the crank. I will have to put that job on the backburner for now. Can't do everything at once based on the pocketbook. I will focus on the shortys, dual exhaust and electronic ignition for now. Will be getting it in the garage in the next month or so. At the moment my sons and I are working on a garden tractor restore to warm up with.

Tractor Restore 1.jpg

[lloyd70cs]

ok, i'm thinking again about the 390 conversion again. Can I get some suggestions/opinion? The plan for the truck is to just have a nice cool truck with some slightly mod stuff, not 500 hp or anything like that. The 360 engine runs pretty well, no smoke and starts every time, comfortable driving it at 55-60 on the highway. I use it almost daily for short distances but due to its fuel appetite probably won't ever venture very far with it. I have only ever replaced lifters and rods on it and new stock exhaust manifolds. Tuned the carb, new wires and plugs. Needs some more adjustment as I get a hesitation/stutter when accelerating at lower rpm.

the transmission probably needs work, the pedal is slow to return and there is slop in it.

If I do the 390 swap is it ok to use an economy set of pistons like these:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Ford-360-390-FE ... Swe7BWveCC

Obviously I don't want to have to do this twice but I also am not aiming for street racing either. In the end I want shortys and dual exhaust for better flow and sound. Maybe better to just stick with the 360 and put the money towards better components elsewhere?

thanks

[RichG]

What short tube headers are you looking at purchasing? The only ones I've found for my 72 camper special are long tube, and most state they won't work with the bed gas tank (which I will NOT remove!)

Thanks!

[Manny]

Biggest thing on the 390 conversion is do you have any parts for it crank rods etc. If not you may be better off to locate a core 390 and rebuild it then swing it in the truck. Just curious. Also like the garden tractors. I have a 67 wheel horse 1277 automatic to match the highboy one day.

[lloyd70cs]

well finally getting going on some more work on the truck. I've got the bed off and am sanding the frame down for paint. I've got some rust converter but might use the por 15 stuff instead.
I also have new shocks for the front and back and new coils for the front too. was thinking of taking the leaf springs off and doing them up as well.

will likely clean up the auxiliary tank as well. everything is pretty accessible when the bed is off.

and I bought the pinion seal to do as well. I'm not sure how to check if I need new u joints. I was looking on Amazon for heavy duty from dana but only saw the 1310 which rockauto calls light duty??...

[Manny]

Just take the u joints loose then measure the width of the joint and the diameter of the caps this will give you your u joint size. Normally most suppliers refer to a 1310 that's not drilled non greasable as a heavy duty.

[lloyd70cs]

thanks Manny, good to know about the u joint. everything I'm doing is a learning experience, it's all firsts for me. taking the bed off makes everything seem so much easier. I'll take a couple of progress pics.

[lloyd70cs]

So I got the bed off. I have a cherry picker hoist borrowed from a friend for a while which made it easy work.

Rear End.jpg

I had been busy with my kids on their 4H project, a 1966 Massey Garden Tractor. Finally finished it in time for the local fair this fall. It found its big brother there!

MF10 at Fair.jpg

And, since I can't seem to say no to this old stuff I ended up with my kids next 4H projects already: a 1957 Evinrude 18hp and a 1948 LeJay Electric Motor (1.5HP)

Old Motors.jpg

That's why I'm attacking the truck now, otherwise I won't have time for it. See how much gets done.