Hey guys. Name's Dan, originally from Ga but transplanted my self here in Ohio. Been on a hiatus for almost a year due to moving and not having a working Ford truck anymore since my 81 F100 decided it didn't want to leave the South and the motor took a dump on me a week after I moved up here.
I kept the old truck with the high hopes of getting her fixed and running again as a summer only truck because the body was too good with almost no rot for the snow. Time progressed on and I wanted the needed repairs for the 81 and a guy from work told me about a local mechanic here in town who'd do it and was very reputable in the shop.
I walked to the mechs' house one day after work and I saw this old black 57 sitting there off to the side of his yard and we talked about his shop truck as he called it and the repairs needed done for mine. He made mention during our conversation that it was for sale but only to someone he knows will take care of it and "keep'er classy" in his words.
Few weeks went by and I got the itch and had a few grand saved up. Got the courage to ask him about selling the truck, and offered my old 81 up into it so he'd still have a shop truck. Well, $2300 and an 81 F100 later I was the proud owner of a 57 F100 and fully endulged in a childhood dream of mine.
Got the truck home and the wife wasn't happy too much because I kept talking about fixing the 81 up all the time but after a few rides in it she's in love with the gas guzzler.

Well, enough back story. Here's some pics for you guys to gander at, hope y'all enjoy

*Edits: accidently posted too soon*

 

you had me at picture happy...welcome to the orphanage!

congratulations on the truck, if you are going to keep the wheels I can get you the correct closed front two centers for next to nothing if needed-looking forward to the progress

 

Thanks Maltman, I will be keeping those wheels because I think they look good on it. I'll let you know when I'm ready for those centers.

A little about the truck as told to me by the previous owner:
The motor came out of a 73 Torino he pulled and the transmission he believed is an FMX. Doesn't have the kick down linkage. Radiator is out of a 96 Mustang, wheels off a Bronco, seats out a a mid 90's ranger, floor shifter came out of a late model Camaro and the steering wheel out of he junk yard. He put a mild cam and lifters into it and that was all the internal work he's done. Quiet, very quiet actually exhaustively speaking.

 

Looks like a great protect.... Lots of fun!

I was going to say those seats look exactly like mine, but I got mine from a Nissan Quest. I grabbed them because they had a flat floor mount, so no brackets were needed.

 

Its a blast to drive. The only thing I'm wanting to do to it at this moment is replace the Instrument voltage regulator behind the dash to get my fuel gauge working properly so I know how much fuel I have. Anybody have an idea how to replace it and where exactly it is located?

 

In the pics, it looks like there is an aftermarket gauge. Are you trying to get that one working, or the OEM gauge? The aftermarket gauge will not use the regulator.

If you want the OEM, its mounted to the back of the speedo with a single screw. You can pull out the cluster very easily.

I went a different way:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...e-cluster.html

 

Looks great, might have to borrow that idea someday.

Went outside and made a video to show what my current fuel gauge is doing. I would like to get it working/reading properly before anything else is done. Previous owner told me the tank, float, sending unit and guage is all new and bounced liked that since he's owned it and said the instrument voltage regulator would fix the issue but he never had the time to install it due to having other vehicles at his shop that came first priority.

Here's the video
FTE 57 Fuel Gauge Bounce:

 

What you see is the regulator pulsing just like it should do. THe OEM gauges were buffered (slow moving) so they did not show that. The new gauge should not be hooked to the regulator at all. It should have a full 12v constant supply. However, then it might not work with the OEM sender.

You see in my thread the gauge came with its own calibrated sender.

 

Would the regulator cause the pulsing without the engine running? If the engine is off, what is it regulating??

 

Good question. In the video, I have the truck off and the needle goes towards full (which I know there is not a full tank in there) for a couple seconds and then bounces. I fire up the truck and it still bounces.

 

It doesnt reallty "regulate" as you would think by todays standards. Its just pulses on-and-off so that it averages (I believe) 4.5 volts over a certain time frame. Its just a heated strip that when turned on, gets hot, which turns it off. That's why the gauge goes high when first activated.... it has to heat up. This way the gauges have a constant (average) voltage so they always read the same. If not, the gauge would read higher when the charging system raises the battery voltage.

For those that have a working gauge, notice that if you have a full tank, when you turn the key off, it takes about 30 seconds for the gauge to get to empty. Its REALLY slow! That why you don't notice the pulsing of the regulator.