Being a 1973 Ford F250 Highboy with a one ton dually rear added at the dealer can create a few challenges.

Big; Everything is on the larger, heavier side. Add a few decades of hard outdoor service. Stubborn removal of parts is the result. The F350 rear for example has five lugs removed, six lugs broken and five to go. I plan on using an oxy-acetalene torch on the last five. I have a torque multiplying lug wrench that met it’s match. My air impact is too small. 750 pounds are not near enough. I have replaced all the wheels with one piece standard wheels to avoid the extra expense of dealing with the split rings.

Parts; Standard mechanical parts are easily purchased from my local auto parts stores. Body and interior pieces on the other hand are hard to come by. I did score a nice grill at the Long Beach HiPo swap meet. I was also able to replace my badly damaged front fender from the LKQ pick a part in Rialto California. These will save countless hours of metal salvage. Notice I didn’t say repair. The two pieces are in very bad shape. Perhaps even unfixable. I do have metal body work experience but I am far from a professional (for now). But rest assured the truck has many other large difficult dents. Not specific to my truck I did buy Zero Rust at Long Beach as well. This is a super tough rusty metal paint. Can be top coated or left alone. Brush or spray.  Go to Blue Lightning Restoration Products @ WWW.blulightning.com for your own cans.

Wheels? A standard F250 and F350 have two different wheels. Same bolt pattern but the dually rear wheel have a one inch positive offset and larger lug studs. The front steel stockers were easy to find. The rear wheels were impossible to find used. New you ask? Thanks to a large number of RV’s on the road using the size (16 inch) Amazon to the rescue. It is good to add, I do have two different styles of rear wheels due to supply issues. The win is I have all six replaced. One does go backwards inside the other so I will have the same style showing. The front wheels have old crappy paint and the rear is shiny grey. I plan on painting them all to match. That is a subject for later. I will also mention I had many challenges conspiring to the lack of progress in August. One of which is a new computer and video camera. I will be diligently working with them to add pictures and video links to create a more interesting blog. New cars are boring. Fix something old.