RunninD:

Per your request, it's 5.125 inches from the rear of the trans to the forward face of the cab's crossmember

 

Oh my God HIO, you out did yourself on the ceremony. People here at work wondering what I'm laughing so much about. You gotta let me use this one in the future! HA-HA-HA!

And . Congrats buddy.

 

I bought same trans from MDL and with a conversion the shifter can be moved to the middle plate. I had them do the swap but they sent the instructions looked simple. Your location looks good when I considered it I thought it would be at the back.

 

I had to indulge myself with that lil diddy. 'Glad you found it as funny as I did. There's all this talk about "married" T-cases so I decided to commemorate my own union.

Have at it!

Cool. I knew it had to be moved as far back as it could but Paul at MDL stated that the rear-front position, versus rear-rear, would land right in front of the bench which appears to be perfectamundo.

I chose MDL because they took the time to answer my email and were really responsive otherwise. I never heard from Ford Powertrain Applications, Hurst Driveline Conversions, nor Keisler. D1CKS! Plus, I met Bruce Couture at a Goodguys show a few years go and then he had a booth at another show about a month after I got the transmission. He gave me a really nice MDL ballcap for being a customer. To me a lil customer service goes a long way so if any one wants to go TKO, then I highly recommend MDL.

 

Yesterday was spent wire-wheeling and refinishing the inner fenders with POR-15 wholly on the underside and selected spots on top like the battery area.

Passenger side. The battery area is really pitted but generally solid.


Driver side - Decent to start with.... thank goodness.


Refinished.. shot it with rust converter and then more engine paint to match the firewall. The inner fender on the left is POR-15.


Installed.. loosely.


This morning I was wire-wheeling the core support and blew through the bottom corner of the passenger side. You guessed it - rust through on both sides. What a crummy "sandwich" design the support is... There's no friggin' seam sealer anywhere. This truck musta spent alot of time parked on a slope cuz the rust stains were at angle and the right side of the core didn't drain.

'Sectioned the bad area, welded in some patches, and also closed up the voltage regulator screw holes (It has a 3G swap already) and some unused holes. Masked off by connecting the bolt holes where it will be the wheel well and layed on the POR-15 ... I hoped to finish it up but for whatever reason the POR is drying really s-l-o-w.

'been wire-wheeling and painting hardware in the mean time.

 

'left work a lil early yesterday and promptly got to wire-wheeling. Sanded the heavy scratches with 220 dry, blew it off, wiped it down with wax/grease remover, shot it with etching primer then a primer surface. Sanded with 400 wet, blew it off, and let it dry overnight. Got home today and wiped it down with wax/grease remover, a tack rag, and then shot it with engine paint - two light coats and two medium wet.

Dang the daylight is short.. tick - tock - tick - tock...

Voila! Mounts and hardware are waiting for it to dry.


Tomorrow is another day.

 

Woo! Looking great

 

I've been keeping the PO updated on my project and he emailed his wife whose grandfather bought it off the lot for $2700 and provided some more background....

As a depression-era kid, grandpa lived off the land and made-do with what he had. A truck is what he needed up in Idaho (explains the Salt Lake City DSO) and that's' what he got. The wife had to plead with him to even opt for an AM radio and he relented. It's going back in.

In the late 80s, the manual steering got to be a pain so he had is son install a "junkyard" PS gear. There was a plan to install AC which explains the two holes to the right of the radiator opening but they never got around to installing it. That's it for mods when it was in the family and it shows.

The puncture on the front of the hood was when grandpa's brother (grand uncle?) backed a combine into it. The wife badgered grandpa for never having him pay to fix it.

 

That. That is frickn' cool, I love hearing about stuff like that. Authenticity, originality, substance. I couldn't ever imagine tearing my truck up.

 

Getting in here to follow along with the updates. Looks good so far. Like how you went to the TKO. I'd like to do the same, as well as similar EFI, probably go holley myself but that eddy looks pretty nice.

 

Welcome aboard.

Looks nice but doesn't accommodate power adders (NOS) whereas FAST's EX-EFI 2.0 does. It just might find its way over to the 73. Dunno... still got fields to plow until that happens.

This week got the core support and everything aligned using the 1/8-inch drill bit trick and buttoned down. Been refinishing hardware (tedious!) and finally bit the bullet and bought some "Evaporust" from HF. It seems to be doing the job - we'll see how good tomorrow.

Didn't get much done today due to getting both the DD and Supercrew smog-checked (both passed with flying colors), laundry, grocery shopping, and other domestic stuff.

Did manage this PM to refinish the hood hinges and springs. Kinda hard to paint with all the hinged points all about... trapped my fingers a couple of times. Ouch. The hood goes on next weekend in time for the fall rains... usually happens during the first two weeks in November. I remember because it is hit and miss whether the Goodguys' show/swap meet gets rained on. Here's the event page: Goodguys 24th Autumn Get-Together-Pleasanton, CA

Other stuff done lately include new heater hoses, clamps, a 3/8-inch tube with an IFM fitting for the power brake booster hose. I'll work on the front engine dress tomorrow too.

 

Came in to cook lunch and thought I'd post a pic.....Working alone makes ya come up with some interesting methods to move awkward and heavy parts... I think I understand how the ancients built the pyramids!!

'got the hood out of the bed, stood it on end, and used Bon-Ami to scrub away the dirt, grit, oil spray, and rust stains from its underside. It's clean enough so that there is actually some gloss to it. See the reflection of the shop rag? Using a 1/8-inch indexing bit on the hinges and hood, they are EXACTLY where they were when Ford assembled it 43 years ago.

Before n after...


More parts coming out of the storage room!

 

Looks good!

 

looks amazing, my POR15, marine clean, metal prep & chassis black arrived on Friday

 

Just tying up a ton of loose ends on the engine and front end-

Installed heater hoses & shut off valve, alternator, oil pressure switch, PS pump, new spark plugs. I thought I had ordered a new adjusting sleeve but didn't. Had to salvage the old one, de-rust it, primeed, and painted. Tie rods were painted and installed. Wow... it has steering! Made some new firewall-to-inner fender thingies... I don't know what they are called but they flex and are locate near the cab mount access plates. It's constructed like a tire tread.

Pulled the distributor, cleaned it, and put on a new seal. The spark plug wires had so much grunge on it that I discovered that they are Motorcraft wires. Nice. Also repaired a broken ear on the washer fluid reservoir with epoxy with a plastic backer.

Heading to the salvage yard tomorrow for a general looksie and to pick up a steering column plate clamp for the PS firewall plate picked up a few weeks ago. Dang thing uses a narrower clamp than a manual plate.

Tomorrow will also include changing the oil, priming the engine, stabbing the distributor, getting shorter bolts for the water pump pulley (I'm going Mark VIII electric), and a T-fitting for the stock water temp sensor plus the Edelbock temp sensor, installing new Dennis Carpenter fender seals, installing the battery tray, and yes, more cleaning... of the wiring harnesses and plugs.