73+ Inner fenders and rad support in my 67

[marcveinotte]

Anyone ever swap in a set of inner fenders,rad support,cab supports( for inner fenders) from a 73-79 into their 67-72?
With rotten supports,rad support and inner fenders and some 73-79 stuff lying around mint..I figured I would give it a go as i've heard it done before.

So.. it all bolts up ok.. had to slot one of the holes ( the single one) on the cab braces to mount it up. Going to need a little playing to get the 67 fenders to line up but looks to be no problem.
However.. when I went to test bolt up the hood.. initial findings do not look good. Not sure if moving the cab braces "in" as in towards the engine will...fix it, but the hood will not bolt up ( the 67 hood looks as though its hinge holes are further in then then 73-79 hinges will allow for)...

Now this could be a matter of adjustment..and to compensate for the fact that the cab braces are a different width from 67 to 73.... either way preliminary findings appear to be that the 67 hood is closer together towards the insides of the inner fenders.
Is this true or am I on crack? I don't have a 73+ hood to measure at the moment.
Marc

[FORDification]

I did the measurements about a year ago and this is what I found:

The hinges attach to the hood with 'adjustable' J-nuts. The adjustable range on the '67-'72 hoods is app. 62-1/4" to 63" and the range on the '73-'79 hoods is app. 61-1/2" to 61-3/4".

After sliding the J-nuts as close to the '67-'72 hood centerline as possible, there is only 1/2" difference...or 1/4" each side. If you've ever wiggled your hood hinges with the hood removed, you'll know they can move back and forth as much as several inches, so the 1/2" difference is nothing to be concerned about. The hinge should easily be flexed the 1/4" to mount up and work with no difference in appearance or function.

Now keep in mind this was just measurements taken on parts laying on the ground...I haven't actually tried this. I know the inner fenderwell-to-cab bracket for the '73-'79 won't line up as you mentioned, and since I haven't tried it personally, I'm not sure which side would need to be ovaled out to bolt up the hood correctly and have the fenders line up. But according to the measurements I took, the very slight differences in the hood's bolt-holes on the '67-'72 vs. the '73-'79 hoods is so close that you shouldn't have any problems.

I don't know if you've see this page yet, but take a look here:

http://www.fordification.com/rad-support.htm

[marcveinotte]

Whoo hooo... Good news. Well when you bolt up the 73-79 mounts on the inside of the fenders by drilling straight through the rear most part of all three mounting holes... you end up with a hood that sits 3/8" too high and 1" too far forward. SO....that being said, tomorrow I will re drill all 6 holes in the new " correct" position...and viola!! I will have a hood that bolts up, and lines up. Now I can correct the cab/bed body line up issue and bolt on the fenders and grille so it looks like a 67 Mercury truck again.

I want to see if I can get that done this weekend.. and possibly start on the suspension mods( rear shackle flip to start on the rear... hopefully my now too long driveshaft will bolt in after that much lift)... kinda long after the 4spd to C6 swap.... .( 3 inches)

I will post some pics soon...
Marc

[FORDification]

Definitely post a good pic of that firewall bracket after you get it drilled so that everything lines up. Eventually I want to expand The Great Radiator Support Swap tutorial to include information on also using the '73-up inner fenderwells, and with your permission, I think it would be a good addition to the page that could really help others out who are also researching this task.

[marcveinotte]

Latest issues...

Well initial observations of having to re drill my hole are false. With the balance of the ront clip all back together and adjustments made... I see now it will almost work out. Other then the large gap between my pass side fender and the bulkhead that I will have to try and fix...

So for your info on the swap guys... More information on the inner fender issues. If you located the 73+ hood hinges in the stock hole locations but inside rather then out.. you should be ok if you just elongate the bolt holes in the hinge that bold on the hood. Do this about 3/4 inch more towards the rear ( in other words making it easy to move the hood back towards the windshield when closed) otherwise everything lined up when closed. Had to add 3/8 pipe pcs cut to fit the inside width of the inner fenders to prevent colapse when tightening the hood hinge bolts.

I would have all lined up..but when you push the inder fender combo back to make the hood line up..the fenders don't fit ( hit the door)... so that is no good.

Rad support from the 73+ worked mint ( with the exception of 4 holes you need to drill, but those become obvious when mounting the grille)...a hole for the old style hood latch ( not a problem)...However I will recommend that if you don't have a 73+ rad support that still has the 3 nuts still welded into the top of the support that hold the support/grille/outer fender all together..go find one. Putting nuts inside there with a wrench...is a bitch.
It works..but still not my cup of tea. ( you will know the ones I mean when you go look at one)...anyways its done so whatever.

Inner fenders will need to be drilled for all new bolt locations for the outer fenders (all the ones that run on the top of the fender bolting to the innner. They all end up under the outer fenders now...so the bolt hole will not line up at all. Not a big deal that some bolts and nuts cant solve. They will also need to be pulled up ( as in towards the outder fender) as they are tucked down too low ( less then a inch) but will flex up into place nicely when bolted so no big deal. Took some pics this weekend I will try and develop when I get back from BC. Taking two weeks of as of Friday, Visiting Victoria, Skiing in Whistler and sledding in Revelstoke..should be fun. Then it will be back to her in early Feb. Would like to take her out 4 wheeling in the spring melt.

Hope this helps someone else. More to come soon

Marc

[Joshpow]

As for the fittment of the inner fenders and raditaor supports, I am currnetly putting a set of 78 inner fenders and radiator support on my 71 SWB. i have the radiator support bolted up and the inner fenders in place. According to what i see the single hole on the inner fender mounts will line up with the hole on the cab, but the other two will not. this throws the inner fenders in best alignment with the truck cab. the fenders will bolt up with no modification to any holes. I have not tried to mount the hood yet, so i dont know how hard this will be. But, as far as the mounting of the other stuff, i think making a new inner fender mount for the firewall is the only problem. I see no need to drill any extra holes except for the ones Keith mentioned in the radiator support.

Hope this helps.
Josh

[Joshpow]

I just put my hood on. I used the 73+ hood hinges in factory location with notched holes to the rear 3/4". It all lines up ok, but the hinge springs rub a little when the hood closes. I believe that it would work great moving the hingesinside the inner fenders as was discussed earlier in this discussion.

[FORDification]

Post some pics when you can....I've love to see the details. Good job!

[Kraig]

Did anyone finish doing this and if so did it finally work out ok? How about some pics? There's plenty of '73 on trucks in the junkyard here but all the early trucks ('67-72) inner fenders are shot like mine. Thanks.

[Joshpow]

I have got them mounted up on my truck, but the bracket at the firewall isnt finished yet. The hood hinges also need moved inside the inner fenders to keep them from hitting the inside of the hood when its closed. See my photo gallery for pictures of how much difference there is between the mounts. The pics are in the current section of the gallery.

The link to my galleries is:

http://www.fordification.com/galleries/ ... ?cat=10154

[widegauge]

This the the same thing that I am trying to do....but I am having some real problems getting everything to line up. I am going to try to move my inner finders inwards toward the engine. to se if that will give some extra space, allowing me to keep the hinges one the out side of the inner finder brace. I will try to take some pix to show what I have got so far.

[trustyrusty67]

I have been reading this post and have been wondering if a person could drill out the spot welds on the 67-72 inner fender brackets and remove them. Then drill out the spot welds on the 73-79 inner fenders and remove its bracket. Then weld the 67-72 inner fender supports onto the 73-79 inner fenders and bolt everything up.

[FORDification]

I don't understand what spot welds you're talking about. Both styles of inner fenders are one-piece, with a bolt-on bracket that mounts it to the firewall. Those brackets are different widths, so they aren't interchangeble.

[trustyrusty67]

I looked under my 67 F250 and the inner fender is two pieces. The hood hinge support and cab mount are one piece spot welded to the underside of the inner fender. This is where the dirt is trapped and this is why they rust out there. The piece on the bottom side is alot thicker and stronger, it serves as a support for the hood hinges. I have not looked at a 73-79 truck yet but I would bet you they are pretty close to the same design.

[gonzalo medina]

If your able to use the inerfenders and radiator support, are you also able to use the hood of 73-79???? The reason I am asking is they made cowl hoods for these years of truck and not ours.