My truck is back and running well! To bring you all up to date, my 54 F-100 stopped running in Sept. 2012 after running progressively worse that summer. That in part is why I bought my 70 F350. After using all my knowledge and expertise with a lot of help here I gave up. I thought it was a fuel problem. After rebuilding the carb, replacing the fuel pump, checking the condition of the inside of my tank, putting on new rubber gas line, replacing fuel filter, putting in an over sized butterfly shaft cause the hole was worn larger, I gave up.

Tis May, my brother-in-law, Dave, came with his truck and trailer to pickup my truck. I told him "No hurry", since it had been a year and a half at that time. Well, long story short, he got it running and also ready for State Inspection. and I picked it up yesterday.

Dave and my sister live in Wellsboro, about 55 miles from me. Wellsboro is the home of the PA Grand Canyon also known as the Pine Creek Gorge. The drive there and back was on a two lane road that goes through the mountains. The ride back in my truck was awesome! See the Thru the Windshield thread for pics of the drive.

Some of you have asked what was wrong with my truck. Here is a list of things he did. Took out the electronic ignition I put in since the wires were worn through due to rubbing in the dist. Put in new points, rotor, and condenser, New Distributor cap, new coil, new plugs, new plug wires, put in new timing chain, cam gear and crank gear, checked the valve lash. When after all this the truck was running but still not right, he looked at the distributor more closely. He noticed the breaker plate was wobbling and the shaft had some play. Dennis Leeking (Pinto plumber) had a 54 Dist he was not using since he put in a 57 and up dist in his truck. This did the trick and the truck ran a lot better.

Then he had to get the truck ready for inspection. New wheel cylinders all around, replaced rubber brake hoses, replace front wheel seals, etc.... and replaced the rear parking brake cable which was rusted, frayed and pulled out of the one brake drum.

I got it back from the garage today. It was inspected at the same tire shop where I bought a pair of bias ply tires so I now have 16 inch 6 ply all around. It needed nothing to pass inspection.

Here are some pics:

Parked along the road on the way home next to some colored Buckhorn Sumac:
<a href="http://s1146.photobucket.com/user/abestauffer/media/DSCF5296_zpseb5da16c.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o536/abestauffer/DSCF5296_zpseb5da16c.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSCF5296_zpseb5da16c.jpg"/></a>

A shot of the speedo. My wife, in the car behind me, said the fastest I did was 60. I knew my speedo was off and it still is. I will have to check it again now that I took the radials off the rear.


This is a pic of the truck at the tire shop.


I will add a pic of Old Betsy at home after I get her washed and cleaned up.

 

Congrats on getting it back, and props to BIL Dave for his hard work and diligence.

That truck just looks right on a two lane road, doesn't it?

 

Lookin' good, Abe. Now, just drive and enjoy it. Plan to take in an FTE event.

 

Glad to hear that you are back on the road, Abe. Get some miles in before the snow flies.

 

That's great Abe. It ought to run like a brand new truck after all of that. I guess that poor old dizzy was just worn out. I'll be danged.


The speedo thing isn't so bad, it ought to keep you out of trouble since you'll be thinking you are really flying down the road.


Like I said in the other thread, what a gorgeous drive you had. Those pictures are fantastic.


I'm glad you are able to enjoy your truck once again
Bobby

 

Atta boy Abe. Looks good. Dennis

 

Your dizzy did the trick!

thanks again.

 

Congrats! I'm glad to see your truck out on the road again. Be sure to drive it extra for me.

 

Congrats Abe! Nice to see your truck back on the road. What a great thing to get the help you needed. Have fun and hope to see you at a Truckfest or Truckstock one of these days!

 

That is one very fine looking truck Abe. Glad to see you got the bugs worked out. I guess I like points and condensor too. At least we old guys know what makes them tick. Sort of. +

 

Hey Abe,
I love your truck! It looks great! You have a fantastic brother-in-law.
I always enjoy your posts - now go drive that thing all over Pennsylvania before it starts snowing.


Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

I love to hear good news! I bet you AND the truck are happy!

 

Since I am retired I am doing some substitute teaching. I am driving her this morning! ANd it is much easier on gas than my 70 F350 guzzler!

 

congrats on getting back on the road. you have a great brother in law there. i have a great brother in law as well. my truck was stored for 22 years with a crippled engine (turned out to be one blown piston, 2 burned valves and one stuck valve). i asked my BIL to work on it for me in 2006. i worked with him but he is the mechanic. by 2008 we had it back on the road with a rescued junkyard flathead, by 2011, body all redone, 2013 complete engine rebuild. in the middle of that my BIL and sister got divorced. my sister said "i'm glad you and kenny are still friends." my response "thanks for not making me chose between the two of you." my way of paying back is to help kenny with any/all projects he's working on. right now we are doing final hookups on his new modular cape cod.

 

Thanks for all the good wishes!

As you can see I got some bad rust where the rear fender meets the running board. I am not sure if I want to get that patched soon or wait until I get a new bed. The bed I have is from a 71 flair side and the fenders are too high. I am leaning more to patching the fender soon. It could be awhile until I get a new bed.