Converting 72 F-250 to a 72/71 f-100 swb

71-F-250SC-72-F-250C · Sat Sep 23, 2006 1:38 pm

Hey guys. I haven't been on lately, but I figured I would tell you what my current plans are for my 72. The other day I found a 71 swb sport custom with a decent bed for $300. The truck supposibly has a running 302 in it. The grill is dinged up, the cab mounts are gone and the drivers side fender is bent. Also someone tried to put a foreign tranny in it and hacked up the cab. I like everything about my 72 except that it is lwb. I really do not want to take it apart, but in the end I think I will like it even more. So I am about to go buy that 71 next week. I figure I will pull everything from the cab foward and scrap all the bad metal. I will also go ahead and pull the swb bed off and undercoat it. Once I have it that far, I know I will probably end up spending the 250 bux to powdercoat the frame. Then I will set the frame up for power disk brakes. That will all be done this winter. When it warms up it will finally be time to start on the 72. I will pull my perfect cab off the 72 frame, and change the master cylinder and proportioning valve. I will then set up the power steering. Next I will pull my 360 that only has 2,700 miles on it and my c6 that has about 3,800 miles on it. I will then transplant that to the 71 and all I will have left is the front clip. The brand new exhaust I have on the 72 will have to be shortened some. There are only two things I am worried about. 1 is the VIN. All of us know that the only possible way you could have a swb F-250 is if it was special ordered. The 71 has no title and I want to keep the truck titled as a 72 f-250. Do you guys think I will have any problems later on. I am thinking the only possible way I would have problem is if I try to sell it to a used car dealer. The second thing I am wondering about is the driveshaft. I am not sure if there will be a difference in a driveshaft that was made for a c4 going into my c6. I am not the type that likes to see unmolested trucks be dissassembled, but my 72 is not something I would say hasn't been rigged a bit by the po. I am not going to rig anything up when I do the conversion because I hate to see that done to trucks. I know doing all this will probably make the truck have a worse resale value but I will have so much more fun with my truck. Anyways these are the plans for my 72. If I succeed I will have a really cool truck repainted the original color of the 72 by the end of next summer. I will be looking to give a lwb bed and frame away to someone who needs it and will give it a good home.

customcrewcab · Post by **customcrewcab** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:03 pm

well i would get a grinder with a cut off wheel and cut the vins out of both frames leaving enough room to weld them back in and blend it down with a flapper disk. then just change the door tags. is there any other place there numbers. or i would would just weld over the number on the frame and blend them down.

Galaxie64 · Post by **Galaxie64** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:10 pm

I agree I assume it is illegal but the hell with it I 'd do exactly what is said above and keep quiet.

customcrewcab · Post by **customcrewcab** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:37 pm

either way its really not legal to swaps with on not use that title so you may aswell do it so at least it looks real.

Post by **FORDification** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:56 pm

Well, I'm not condoning changing VIN tags, I'm simply saying that it's possible. The factory rivets can even be reused if someone wanted to...um....remove the tag for painting purposes.

Remove the doorpanel so that you can access the rivets from the back side. They're rough enough that you can straighten them out with a pair of pliers and remove them intact.

Here's how I removed a set on one of my first parts trucks. Here's a 'before' shot of the VIN tag:

...and here's a shot of the back side of that door area (I stuck the camera inside the door to get this shot). You can see the factory rivets here, and they're pretty rough, so removing them is a breeze. All you have to do is reach inside the door and use a pair of pliers to carefully pinch the edges back together to allow them to be pushed out the holes:

...and here's a shot of the removed tag and rivets. To reinstall, simply insert the rivets back into their holes and then flatten out the backside of each from inside the door.

customcrewcab · Post by **customcrewcab** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 2:41 pm

read what i wrote again. if you change vins you just title it as an f250. no one at the dmv going to say hey thats a short bed so it can't be a f250. hell mine is a f 350 crew with a 5 foot bed. i took almost 4 feet off my truck and lowered it over a foot. most people have never seen a crew and ask me how i made the cab. you could shorten your long bed frame but if your not going to keep the truck then a would't bother.

1972_f100_hammond · Post by **1972_f100_hammond** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:06 pm

heck a f250 can be a swb i got a 70 model 3/4 ton .....knew the guy that had it before me....one owner.....i took the bed off and made a flatbed for it....heck of a truck ill tell you that

Post by **FORDification** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:28 pm

The factory never made a SWB F250, so someone swapped 3/4-ton running gear on a half-ton chassis. Easy to do, it's a straight bolt-up.