It's probably not necessary to install disc brakes and a dual master cylinder but, certainly replacing the brake system to include all the hard lines is absolutely mandatory. Everything has to be serviceable.

Maybe this has already been done in the last few years. Germany has (or had) a pretty rigorous inspection system.

 

Update: So far our Ford runs well. We have decided to get rid of the oil leakage and bring it to a near by antique mechanics (he himself owns a 1955 Chevy Apache Pickup) in order to replace "all seals" of the engine.

I'm not sure what he means with "all seals". What different seals are there in the whole engine?

Do you guys have any useful advice I might give the mechanic? What to consider when the seals of a 292 cid Y block must be replaced?

 

Rear main seal is the usual culprit. May be a rope (natural) type material. There are various techniques for installation. Also there may be a neoprene type replacement available as well. Search Internet forum archives for different ideas on this.

 

Update:
1) The steering box is fine. Our mechanic said, that it's normal for a worm drive steering box to feel like it's worn out. At least compared to a modern steering box.

2) The oil leakage is coming from the gearbox flange. Apparently someone did a poor welding job in the past. Looks like this is not the original gearbox. Our mechanic recommended that we should try to find a replacement instead of trying to fix it.

My question is:
- Should I even try to find a gearbox in the States? Our mechanic said that the shipping cost is probably more expensive than the whole gear box.

- What exact gearbox should I look for? Apparently there are several gearboxes out there which fit to our 1960 F100 V8 292 cubic inch.

 

This doesn't translate too well. Depends on how you define "normal". A serviceable steering box, and steering components - the truck should track down the highway absolutely straight with no wander or excessive "play" or any looseness in the wheel. None. The wheel should "return to center" when the wheel is released, going around a corner turn for example, as well.

 

I agree with Tedster. Steering wheel box should have minimal play.

As far as getting a transmission (gearbox). First of all find out what transmission you have. 3 speed column or 4 speed on the floor.

Do you know anyone shipping a car from the states? You could get parts piggy-backed into their trunk.

 

That's a good idea. Befriend a soldier, who can maybe include a gearbox in their household goods.

 

Thank you for the shipping tip.

It is a 3 gear manual. Can you recommend me a site where I can find overhauled transmissions in the States?

-> Probably I described it wrong. The truck tracks down the highway straight and the wheel returns to the center when released. It's just that if you slightly steer right it takes a few degrees of turning the wheel until the trucks turns right. Compared to a new car, where the car responds right aways when you turn the wheel it feels worn out. Our mechanic, who restored himself a 1955 Chevy Pickup from scratch, said its normal. However I will get back back to him again.

 

here are some

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/pts/5622329262.html

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/pts/5631159512.html

Look on ebay

 

Not normal. See post #14. If all components are tight, play can be adjusted to a minimum unless the box is worn out.

 

If you think it is not an original transmission a picture of what you have would be helpful in identifying it. Also any info you can find on the transmission, possibly a metal tag with numbers or even casting numbers on the case

 

I think this is getting lost in translation. Having lived and drove in Germany and seeing there inspection system for cars I would not worry a bit about the play in the steering. I am sure Chris grew up driving Mercedes and BMW, maybe a Volkswagen that was faster than just about every American made production car. You take that guy and put him in a 1960 F100 and he may think the steering is loose.

His mechanic who scratch built a 55 scrub...."IN GERMANY" says it ok. I would take his word for it. Germany doesn't let cars with rust holes drive down the road, I am sure they would catch loose steering. Its good to be cautious while giving advice but their vehicle inspection system doesn't let anything dangerous on the road.

 

Do NOT mess with that nut! It only sets the preload of the sector shaft. Over tighten it, the box could lock up tight.

When this occurs, backing the nut off may not solve anything.

The sector shaft bushing (there's only one on a 1960) is one reason why there's play in the steering wheel.

You could buy it (available NOS), also replace the sector shaft seal and the gasket (also available NOS), see how much better it steers.

Years ago, a pal of mine had a 1955 Chevy pickup with all sorts of steering wheel play (which was not normal, the box was worn out).

I was driving while we were heading north on I-5 near Castaic. A mattress fell out of a truck ahead of us, I cranked the wheel to the left, just barely avoiding it.

My pal was amazed, saying how did you do that? I said I've owned all sorts of 'old rolling piles of miseries' with worn out steering boxes, so I cranked the wheel as far to the left as possible, then cranked it back as far as possible to the right, then straightened it out.

 

Would like to give you an update. We still have our F100. Currently the truck sits at the paint shop (in Germany) and can't be finished because the paint shop can't find the original color. I really want to have the original color on it. The identification plate in the glove compartment says "JM" as the color code. What I found so far is that J must be "Monte Carlo Red" and M must be "Corinthian White".

First question:
The paint shop can't find anything about Monte Carlo Red in their system. Also in the paint shops Ford color book (a book with examples of North American Ford Color Schemes) nothing shows up for Monte Carlo Red. Can someone tell me what to do here? On the Internet I found a bunch of paint codes for Monte Carlo Red. However all these codes no color is showing up in the paint shops system.

Second question:
Can someone tell me how the truck was looking like if it had a two tone paint job? Where was the red, where was the white?

Below is a picture of the identification plate in the glove compartment.

 

for the vin I think its the following regarding this stuff, I know this is an old post by a few years that's been revived but maybe it helps on what some of the original stuff was.

F10C0R30074

F10 - F100 Model (no 2wd / 4wd designation)
C - 292 2v (Y-Block)
0 - year 0, so 1960
R - San Jose Plant Assembly
30074 - Prod # of unit

118" wheel base
JM -Color Code for
16B - February 16
A - 3 speed
01 - Dana 44
5000- GVW so a light duty f100
146 - hp @
3800

As for the color, I work with the paint and finish industry in my professional life and I can't seem to find a RAL code, which is like the big book of color matching for manufacturing/ industrial colors. You should be able to get a paint match with the codes below if you order per brand but it depends on how close you want it PPG, and Dupont are the big guns for auto finish paint. Sherwin has a very good match process and in my opinion are very comprable.





As for the two tone most resto types seem to be similar to what you have except perhaps the hood was changed and repainted at some point? What color is on the inside of the hood out of curoisity?




Hope that helps on some, good luck its surely a unique set of wheels for where you are!