Pedaltheglobe's 2006 F350 King Ranch Build Thread

pedaltheglobe · Jan 9, 2015

Hello all. I have got the itch to freshen up my truck this year. I figured I should start a build thread to motivate myself, track my progress, and bounce ideas off of others.

This photo was taken when I purchased her in May 2014. At this point she had an EGR delete, ARP studs, SCT tuner, 9 inch lift, and 37x13.5r20 Nitto Mud Grapplers on 20x10 Gear Alloys.

This is her as of today. So far I removed the fake chrome door handles, dropped down to a 6 inch lift, changed wheel set to 35x12.5r20 Nitto Terra Grapplers on 20x10 -12 Vision PVD chrome wheels, and replaced a few pieces of King ranch leather.

I have a 2011 tailgate that will be going on as soon as it is painted. Also have a King Ranch redye kit from Leather Renew. I will be restoring the leather once it gets warmer. The main goal this year is to convert to an 08-10 front end. Any opinions, advice, and/or constructive criticism is welcome...

KingStroker · Jan 9, 2015

Can't wait to watch the progress on an 08 front clip conversion. What do you have in mind performance-wise at this point?

pedaltheglobe · Jan 9, 2015

KingStroker said:
Can't wait to watch the progress on an 08 front clip conversion. What do you have in mind performance-wise at this point?

I'm not sure. I wouldn't mind giving it a little more power, but nothing too crazy. I don't want to end up having to re-stud it. Main reason being I'm too cheap to pay someone to do a cab off so I will be out there for a week trying to do it myself in the yard. Lol. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Mods that will give me more power when I'm on the throttle, but better fuel economy than I have now when I'm taking it easy would be nice.

pedaltheglobe · Jan 9, 2015

I found some new 08-10 aftermarket ppg primered fenders on ebay for $90 each. Debating going that route. Does anyone know if the paint code "dark copper t5" was available in 2008-2010? It might just be easier to find a front end the same color so I don't have to have everything painted.

KingStroker · Jan 9, 2015

I understand what you mean on the performance side of things. I'm inclined to think good custom tuning with an intake, exhaust and maybe a turbo. Are you still running factory studs? I personally have little to no experience with the 6.0, but you could definitely find a reputable wealth of information on here for that!

swinky · Jan 9, 2015

Factory isn't studs it's tty bolts.

pedaltheglobe · Jan 9, 2015

I do have an Airaid intake that was installed by a previous owner, but I have never researched how good those are. There are aftermarket ARP head studs. The previous owner said in the listing it has an "Aurora" turbo. It looks the same as a stock turbo so I'm not really sure. As you can probably tell I still have a lot to learn about performance modifications on these before I do much to it in that regard.

pedaltheglobe · Jan 20, 2015

I started the restoration of my seats last night.

Before

After

swinky · Jan 20, 2015

What did you use?

pedaltheglobe · Jan 20, 2015

Classic Dye Products King Ranch Aniline Dye Kit. Link below. Their customer service and technical departments are awesome. That was 2 coats in the picture. I put a third coat on and now it looks a little too much like paint. Going to sand it down some and only use 2 coats on the rest of the interior.

http://www.classicdyeproducts.com/king_ranch_color_dye_kit_1_1

KingStroker · Jan 20, 2015

Looks good in the picture! How well does it hide the creases(cracks) in person? I'm definitely intrigued.

Where are you at on that 08 conversion?

pedaltheglobe · Jan 20, 2015

KingStroker said:
Looks good in the picture! How well does it hide the creases(cracks) in person? I'm definitely intrigued.

Where are you at on that 08 conversion?

It doesn't really hide them since it's a dye. I sanded down the smaller cracks. The bigger cracks I left because I was worried I would sand through the leather. They sell crack filler for the bigger cracks.

Also if you look at the before pics the far right bottom cover seat panel had been half a** repaired by the previous owner. I had that panel professionally replaced. If you notice on the after pic he had to seam it in the middle as he didn't have a piece of aniline leather that was long enough in stock.

I'm supposed to pick up the fenders and hood from a guy in a few weeks. Also found a set of headlights, but need to go pick them up as well.

KingStroker · Jan 21, 2015

pedaltheglobe said:
It doesn't really hide them since it's a dye. I sanded down the smaller cracks. The bigger cracks I left because I was worried I would sand through the leather. They sell crack filler for the bigger cracks.

Also if you look at the before pics the far right bottom cover seat panel had been half a** repaired by the previous owner. I had that panel professionally replaced. If you notice on the after pic he had to seam it in the middle as he didn't have a piece of aniline leather that was long enough in stock.

I'm supposed to pick up the fenders and hood from a guy in a few weeks. Also found a set of headlights, but need to go pick them up as well.

Oh, okay. I see what you're talking about. You wouldn't notice unless unless you're looking for it, though from what I can see.

Leaving the headlights stock, or painting to match? They would look sick with the surrounds of the light painted to match the body color! never seen any sone in that color.

pedaltheglobe · Jan 21, 2015

KingStroker said:
Oh, okay. I see what you're talking about. You wouldn't notice unless unless you're looking for it, though from what I can see.

Leaving the headlights stock, or painting to match? They would look sick with the surrounds of the light painted to match the body color! never seen any sone in that color.

That is the downside to dying them and part of the reason I think two coats is better. Three coats makes them look too new and with the cracks and imperfections it just doesn't look right. I think more of a rustic look is better. I used a foam brush the first time, but I'm going to try massaging it in with a rag on the driver's seat.

Painting the inside of the headlights isn't a bad idea. I did that on a Cadillac and it looked good. My body guy should have enough paint left over.

swinky · Jan 21, 2015

pedaltheglobe said:
That is the downside to dying them and part of the reason I think two coats is better. Three coats makes them look too new and with the cracks and imperfections it just doesn't look right. I think more of a rustic look is better. I used a foam brush the first time, but I'm going to try massaging it in with a rag on the driver's seat.

Painting the inside of the headlights isn't a bad idea. I did that on a Cadillac and it looked good. My body guy should have enough paint left over.

so would one coat kinda get rid of the black stains but still look natural with cracks?

pedaltheglobe · Jan 21, 2015

You get rid of a lot of the black stains first. I cleaned mine real good with soap and water. They give you a prep agent called Tri-clean. Smelled a lot like ammonia. They recommend sanding with 600 grit sandpaper. I would use 800 or 1000. I almost went through in one spot. Mine took two coats to hide most of the stains, but as you can see from the before pics my seats were terrible.

swinky · Jan 21, 2015

pedaltheglobe said:
You get rid of a lot of the black stains first. I cleaned mine real good with soap and water. They give you a prep agent called Tri-clean. Smelled a lot like ammonia. They recommend sanding with 600 grit sandpaper. I would use 800 or 1000. I almost went through in one spot. Mine took two coats to hide most of the stains, but as you can see from the before pics mine were terrible.

mine are worse. 2003 with 225k miles....

pedaltheglobe · Jan 21, 2015

swinky said:
mine are worse. 2003 with 225k miles....

What they advise is you keep cleaning and testing. It is a water-based dye. If a drop of water is absorbed that spot is ready for dye. If it beads up there is still a lot of oil in the leather that needs removed.

swinky · Jan 21, 2015

pedaltheglobe said:
What they advise is you keep cleaning and testing. It is a water-based dye. If a drop of water is absorbed that spot is ready for dye. If it beads up there is still a lot of oil in the leather that needs removed.

Yeah mine are cracked pretty bad, I guess if I went all out and did the filler they could look good but like you said I don't think dying over the cracks would look right.