I don't understand why it took months, but the new cab and radiator core mount are being delivered to a local body shop Tuesday. Didn't find a new right fender, but body guy assures me he can pound out the one I have. Here's my truck being hauled off to the body shop to meet its new cab. Bed full of parts. Since the cab needs to be painted and the pounded out fender will need to be painted, the whole truck is going to get a new spray. Same color scheme.

Since I pulled the chrome off to help the painter, I am wondering if anything can be done to fix up the "Twin I Beam" decorations pictured below. Any tips?

 

Yes it can be done. I have done several on cars and trucks in the past but it was a long time ago. So I'll wait a bit for some others to chime in and maybe tell how it is done today without just replacing them with aftermarket.

One thing I do remember is someone on here used a vinyl/graphics like shop to remake the inserts. I hand painted the ones I did than sealed them.

I feel it is much more rewarding to restore little things like that my self than just replace them. Than if you want you can make them custom or to say anything you want.

 

Just got done talking to the body shop guy. He says it would be best to buy a right fender instead of pounding it out.

Any suggestions on where to get one? (Riff didn't have one.) What years are the same as the 1966?

 

61 through 66

 

Except the Uni I believe.

 

I was in so cal rod shop in az. a year ago and i think they have new fenders for 66. Im sure others do to. maybe goodmark?

 

Well, it's a really good day! The truck is back from the body shop! It's beautiful. The fenders, cab, hood and bed all got separated and blocked and painted correctly. The steering wheel got all of the cracks filled and it's painted. I had to get a new instrument cluster insert - the old one simply would not have looked good enough. A couple of pics below. I'll get some more when I can get it running and out of the barn.

If you had seen this thread in the past, you might wonder why it's been six months since the truck went to the body shop. Way too long of a story ... But the body work was worth the wait.

When I first posted, it was estimated that I would spend $12-13,000. Thankfully, it was way less. I bought a complete cab, radiator core mount, bright grill and tail gate (the old one was not rusted, but very beat up) from Nevada for $650. Paid $800 to get those shipped to Clearwater. A new right fender for $200. (I forget what I paid for shipping the fender ...) I spent $2400 on labor and paint to have it disassembled, painted and reassembled. Added $150 for spray in bed liner. Another several hundred for rubber. So less than $5,000 to take an old truck with rotted core supports and get it looking great. I couldn't be happier.

Of course because I'm a newbie to F100's, I have some new questions.

I got the thing started for a few minutes. It took some starter fluid spray. No problem getting to fire with spray. Then I turned it off and now it somehow seems to have no spark.

I pulled a spark plug wire and held the contact near the tip of the plug. I held the the coil wire (from the top of the coil) near where it connects. I took a volt meter and checked the wire that feeds the coil. No voltage. Can anyone tell me where that wire feeds from? I must have knocked something loose somewhere.

There is a picture below of the coil and the wire that goes to it. The red wire is the one that I tried with the volt meter. There is a second red wire that is not attached to anything. Anyone know that wire is for?

 

It has two sources of power to fire the coil. One is hot in the key switch run position, the other is hot is the start position. It been a long time since I had looked at this, so I'll defer to others on the specifics.

Nice truck, it looks good and I am sure you are proud of it. It is amazing to me to see what people will go through to fix rusted trucks. I understand, but mine is original paint, or what's left of it, and completely rust free, sans the surface rust on the hood and other areas where the paint is burned off by the sun.
My advice, go south, find a decent example, and restore if that's your thing.

 

Thanks for the update! Glad to see this truck got a new lease on life.I am sure you got a good education on rustbelt trucks. At least now you know its solid. Now for the details. Here is a shot of how your hubcaps looked when new, before the red trim paint got covered up.

 

Thanks for replying, Prostock.

Well, you're not the first to imply that I'm not so smart to buy a truck with rust. This truck had some visible rust in the cab at the bottom of the door posts. The doors, bed, fenders, top had no rust. I paid a local mechanic to inspect it for me before buying. He reported that there was no more rust than I could see. Unfortunately, the previous owner let it sit under a pine tree and the needles made their way through the cab and rain and pine needles rotted parts of it from the inside. The cab mounts were shot.

I looked for an inexpensive turquoise truck for more than two years. I hoped to get a cheap truck (I paid $1500) that ran well enough and I was OK with some rust. I did my homework as best as I could.

There are no rust free trucks in Florida for $1500. There are no rust free trucks anywhere near here for less than $5000. "Go south" indeed! I can't go much farther south!

If anyone knows where I can get rust free trucks that run well for $1500, I'll buy every one of them, ship them and sell them for a nice profit here in Florida!

 

Thanks, tripleframe. I hope to get some of those hubcaps some day, now that the rest of the truck is in such good shape.

Wiring makes my simple head spin! Can anyone tell me in simple terms where I might look for a loose wire so I could get voltage to the coil? Also, anyone know what that extra wire next to coil is for?

 

Also, does anyone know what this is? The white wire is hot, even with the key off. I assume it was designed to mount to the cab wall ...

 

I love these colors, would like to do mine like that...glad the story turned out better in the end.

 

What else is it connected to? I dont recall anything like that on my truck.(1965) By the fuse holder, it looks like its not factory?

 

You're right, CGB. I ran the wires back to step bumper. It has four different outlets directly wired. They are useless anyway. I cut the mystery thing out!

Still can't figure out why I'm getting no spark. I should be able to put a volt meter on the wire going to the coil and touch the other end of the volt meter to the engine block - after turning on key - right? It reads 0 when I do that. The volt meter reads 12.9 volts when I put it on the battery.