Back in early May I purchased a 1976 Ford F150 from a friend of the family. The truck was parked 3 yrs ago for brake issues and never was drove again. They had the engine running last year before Thanksgiving but hadn't started it or done anything with it since then. It has a 390ci engine and a C6 tranny with a Ford 9in rearend. Decently stout truck back in the day but had since gone the way side of age. Price tag was quoted $500. After fiddling with the motor, it started right up with a new battery though ran poorly. The 4 new tires were all dry rotted and only one held air. I grabbed an air tank, filled up the tires and backed her outa the field she sat in and called AAA to come tow home my new project.
Her first day home:
So I called in Doug (Dougiestyle) to help get started with getting this beast running and even though it rained most of the day, we accomplished this daunting feat:
So later that night, after two trips around the block CAREFULLY....she got parked in a real parking spot on asphault: (though the tires were flat the next day)
So now it was time to decide on what I wanted to do with it and get to work on making this truck at best, for now, a decent quality back up vehicle. Upon closer inspection i realizied the truck was actually in awsome shape but just needed some tender loving care. This I can do. The absolute first thing was to get the motor cleaned up and do some maintence on it to see if I could get it running smoothly and reliably. Plugs-n-wires, oil-n-filter, filter before the fuel pump and one after the fuel pump, replaced powersteering lines and vaccum lines, belts-n-hoses, a bit of carb tuneing etc etc.......over all, a little bit of clean up and some paint can do wonders for looks:
Before:
Cleanning:
So far:
Trucks running alot better but is still unhealthy. Rip off the chrome trim and tape up the windows...it's time for a color change. Toss a little satin black Rustoleum on the truck and it sure makes it look better. Guess it's time to get some tires under it. A quick trip to the local used tire shop and wholla.....instant truck tires for $100.
Wash down the tires and......Aahhh....now she looks like a truck:
Well......with other things needing to be done I finally got a call from my friends father who has his own shop and builds drag cars and chassis. Got the OK to pull the motor and bring it to him for a rebuild. So, this past weekend, called Doug again and had him come help me pull the front clip off of the truck to get it ready to pull the motor this up comming weekend.
Now you see it:
Now you don't:
As a little joke to myself:
You might be a redneck if.......... you have 4 good tires on your truck but it still sits on jacks and your front end is in your *** end.
The weekend finally came....
So with the front clip off...again, I call upon old pal Doug to give me hand. An hour or so later....whola the engine and tranny are out!!
Now that it's out...let's get it in the back of another F150 and take it to the shop.....
Cover up the Beast since I won't be fooling with it for another couple of weeks.....
Now....here's a few pics of the shop I'm taking it to: He's got a few projects going on now.....
Gotta get the tranny seperated and up on a stand for cleanning along with stripping what I can off the motor.
So for now, I leave the tranny and engine in the corner like ******* children.
