The Dentside

[ATC King]

For the 70's Ford truck enthusiasts, this is your place. I know you're out there and on here. Post up whatever you go going on with those iconic trucks.

They're more popular than ever right now and if you're lucky enough to own one, show us what keeps the wheels turning.

[kiser]

We need a thread like this, great idea!

[ironchop]

As soon as I get this Fatboy back together, I've got a Dentside getting a new drivetrain so I'll post it in here when I can start shooting pics


Sent from my motorola one 5G ace using Tapatalk

[kiser]

We must be the only 3 people here with dent sides lol! Come on, let's see some pictures!

[Arky-X]

I would have to find Polaroids and scan them for the 76 F-150 I drove in high school. Too embarrassed to take a pic of it now rusting away.

[ebaccm26]

Couple I've had in the last few years, picking up a bumpside in a couple weeks. 78 and 74.

[Shep1970]

My older brother has '79 and a '53 ford pickup-the '53 is all stock. The '79 is going through a motor swap at the moment 302 to a 351 i believe. My bro and my dad used to bring them to the car shows all the time- probably like 20-25yrs ago. I actually took the '79 to the prom back in high school- beautiful truck it liked spinning them tires very easy
I'll get over there to take some pics/ next couple wks.
Fords arent my vehicle of choice but that '79 i can make the exception.

shep

[Arky-X]

Hoping I can find more pics of my childhood dreams

A pic of a photo from yesteryear

[kiser]

Hey there we go! Good looking old trucks! Keep em' coming!

[ATC King]

Guessing the farm truck's name is Shrek?

[ironchop]

Guessing the farm truck's name is Shrek?

I love the wheels on this one

Sent from my motorola one 5G ace using Tapatalk

[ironchop]

Duplicate post

[ATC King]

Just testing if I can upload photos again. Yup!

That's part numbers for the Ford toppers/camper shells that were available for these trucks.



My truck was starting to have overheating issues because the radiator internals were getting pretty blocked. Happens to all of them over time, but there's virtually no small town radiator shops anymore, and even less that will rod out the old brass ones. All good excuses to upgrade.


That is the Chevy engine conversion style. For whatever reason, I couldn't find one with the stamped tanks for the 300 I6 correct upper hose. Not a big deal because the lower hose is in the correct location and I made and upper hose for temporary use until I can wander around the part's store shelves and find a preformed hose with the correct size and bends.


I'm also using a later model engine with a different T-stat housing, so there's that to work around. I already had put dual electric fans in the truck, so this setup was nearly plug-n-play. The previous fans were from a '85 CRX, so if those managed to keep it cool these past several years, the new, larger ones shouldn't have an issue either (unless they're total crap). The new fan setup also has a shroud, although the previous ones did have rubber skirts I installed that touched the core so the fans had more of an impact.

I'm still adding to this post. Either I have to compress or resize my pictures or they aren't uploading. Meh...


A comparison of old and new.




This fan assembly will go in AFTER radiator installation which is very nice. The coolant tank is my doing. I had to move it due to the new radiator being wider and it fit on the new fan shroud. A coolant overflow tank helps prevent/slow system corrosion by keeping the radiator full of fluid instead of air being at the top. It's a definite improvement over the older systems.


This is an original I6 truck, and as such, it had a smaller radiator. The new one is wider, but Ford built in provisions for more HD components. The wider radiator physically bolts into place without any additional drilling as all mounting holes are already there, but the radiator core support isn't cut out for the I6 engine radiator as it would've been for the larger V8s. It's not an issue as the core support is two layers, but I done this in a parking lot and don't have the tools to cut it out. If it's an issue, I'll do it when I get back home. I don't think it'll be an issue at road speeds or in traffic; I'll see. Pink lines denote area that can be remove from in front of core.


Some images of the upper hose situation.


An issue with inline sixes is their length. The combination I have does allow clearance for these electric fans and shroud, but if they were much thicker, it wouldn't work. Notice the later model water pump with thread-on fan boss.



An odd issue for my truck is the clearance to the front hitch. The tanks on this radiator are a little taller than the previous one and there's less clearance between the hitch. I can lower the hitch a little if that's an issue. It's as simple as thinner spacers. I'll keep an eye on it.




The whole thing installed and tested.

That's a Ford van dipstick for the attentive lookers. The current engine came from a van and I kept the dipstick so I don't have to lean into the engine bay just to check the oil.




One last thing to cover is coolant/metal compatibility. There's no need to freak out over having an aluminum radiator on these trucks, considering modern coolant is formulated to such different metals/materials. To a large extent, only the very old vehicles with lead soldered cooling components (radiators) will have an issue with modern OAT/HOAT (organic acid technology/ hybrid organic acid technology) coolant. The old stuff is IAT (inorganic acid technology). I installed a new water pump and T-stat housing years ago and have been using modern* coolant and the metal inside looks like day one. Literally, the bare cast iron in the water pump is still grey and hasn't any rust. The problem I had with the old radiator is probably from the previous owner who didn't thoroughly flush the system, potentially used tap water, or was simply derp when breaking open a cooling system to replace a radiator.

Here's what I put it in this time (with distilled water).



Edit: Crap, got to keep adding things. The coolant drained from the old radiator was just over two gallons. The new one needed just over four gallons. Yes, it's nearly double in size. That accounts for why I can now run this truck for a very long time without even needing the fans, whereas the previous radiator needed the fans kicked on at a standstill once the T-stat opened. If this current setup overheats, the Earth is on fire and it doesn't matter anyway.


Update 07/18/21: I took it out in triple digit temps today and it stayed cool as a cucumber. Done some low speed driving, some sitting in traffic, and sustained interstate speeds. I let it heat up a little at low speed to test the fans and they cooled it off quick enough. This particular seller offers a package with higher flow fans, but they are thicker and I wasn't certain they'd fit (and the one in front of the water pump wouldn't've). If pulling trailers in summer heat ever becomes an issue, I can always add one higher CFM fan, or an extra pusher in front like I was previously running. For this I-6 at any real world power level, I don't think that'd ever be needed. For you big block guys pulling heavy trailers at low speeds; maybe. Then again, there's plenty of room for more powerful fans when using a shorter V8. I'll most certainly have to make a grill blanket for winter driving, because even with the previous radiator, the engine would run so cold in winter on long descents, that the heater would stop blowing hot or even warm. Not a joke or exaggeration, I'd have to wear a coat and gloves to drive through mountains in the winter.

[kiser]

Very nice project! I wonder how long the radiator in my Ford will last when I get it in the road, I may do the same or very similar setup in it.

[86waterpumper]

I have been working on my grandpa's old 77 f100! I will get a pic up soon as I can... although it's a rusty beater Does anybody have a good grill they want to part with?