77 F2fitty to 79 F3fitty body swap?

[Broncodawg]

Have a really clean 77 2x (34,000 orig. Miles ). Trust me, not gonna wheel it hard, but want to 4x it with either a Dana 44 or 60 front axle or swap the body onto my 79 F3fitty 4x that has a trashed body. The body mounts between the 77 and 79 look similar, but can the swap be done pretty easily? I know ford truck assembly was retooled between 77 and 78 and will that make a body swap difficult?

Would it be better to just swap the drive train from the 79 into the 77, or are there going to be serious frame difference (crossmember) problems? Also the 79 was a plow truck it's whole life, (yeah it snows in CA!) so is pretty used up and frame could be tweaked.
Tried to research this idea, but not much out there, so thanks in advance for any advice. Pretty wordy second post, but might as well jump in with both feet and get busy!

[Thunderfoot]

Probably a better place to ask would be in the 4X4 section.
But check out this thread over there http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... highlight= It pertains to your question... Dustin has worked on a lot of these and knows the in and outs... But basically I think you would be better off doing the body swap as there are major differences in the 2x and 4x frames...

[H-DFord]

I would suggest measuring points 77 is attached to frame and measuring same points on 79. This should tell you if any major difference. I would think the most you would have to do is maybe redrill some holes in your cab floor. Just my . John