I had been looking for a 73-79 crew for a long time, but was never able to find one in good enough shape. They were always rusty, butchered, missing lots of parts, or just general basket cases. I went up to look at a 78 crew which turned out to be no good, which was a bummer because it had the straight 6 which I would have really liked to have.
But in the same neck of the woods was this 69 crew for sale, and I decided to buy it pretty much as soon as I saw it. The floors are pristine, but the cab has rust in the back corners and the doors are rusted at the back bottom edge. Strange because I can't find rust anywhere else on it. I guess it must be pretty common because there are repops available for those sections of metal. I'll have my body guy weld them in and I think it'll be good to go so far as body work goes. I am trying to find a short bed for it, it has a HUGE home made bed on it right now.
I've been doing the basic stuff to get it going again. PO said it was his grandpa's and had sat for about 5 years before I bought it. So, I've replaced the fan belts, plugs and wires, tires, fuel lines and filters, and rebuilt the carb.
Still got a couple of things to go through, mostly cooling and brakes for now.
For the most part it's like working on the two 78's I've owned.
I do have a couple of questions I am hoping you guys can help me with, though.
First: How do I remove this steering wheel without breaking something in the process? The horn doesn't work and the turn signal switch just flops around.
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Second: I found a couple of small parts laying next to the carb. Where does that spring belong? Also there is some sort of linkage that I think should attach, maybe using the black clip I found laying there with the spring. It's circled in red in the bottom picture, along with the only place I think it might go. It's a Carter carb and it's got a C6 automatic.
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thanks,
-Steve

 

That linkage, I believe, is your the linkage that goes to the kickdown lever on trans.

I think pics of the outside of the truck would be a nice addition to this thread.

 

You are correct Mark

 

Could you post some more pictures? What motor does it have?

 

Yeah you can't post a thread titled "Got myself a 69 crew" without posting pictures!!!

 

Alright, guys alright- I'll grab a couple of pictures in the morning!

PO swapped in a Lincoln 460 at some point. Definitely more motor than I need, but it will get it down the road.
It originally had a 360.

How about that steering wheel - how does the horn button come off? I don't want to just go start pulling on it and break something!

I'm going to have to start figuring out just what it's got for brakes under there, too. It has discs in the front and the rear end has been swapped out for one out of a dually.

 

Push in and turn to the left....

 

Does the cruise work?

 

I don't know if the cruise control works, haven't tried it yet. I've only had it on the road for a short test drive then to get it titled and registered so far.
I'm going to get a new master cylinder and rubber lines, and replace the brake fluid before I take it out again.

 

Would you mind telling us what you paid?

 

horn button retainer will probably break no matter how careful you are , 40+ years old and it's just plastic . they sell repo retainers so don't worry about it if it does break

congrats on the Crew cab , now give us some pics!!

 

I think that will work to remove the horn button,IIRC. To remove the steering wheel: loosen the nut until it is flush with the column, brace your knees under the wheel and your left hand on top of the wheel. Pull with your hand and knees at the same time you smack the nut in the center. (Steering wheel nut, not yours. Although, the results may be the same. ) The wheel should come off. Leaving the nut on keeps the wheel from hitting you in the face when it does come off. Or you can use a steering wheel puller......

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q2B2pa6pit...Puller_Set.jpg

 

Here is a trick to run the wiring of the new turn signal switch. Once you get the wheel off and the t/s switch's screws off, cut the wires off the old switch. Attach the new switch's wires to the old wires. Now Pull the old wires out of the bottom of column. There-by using the old wires to pull the new ones through.

 

Thanks for the tips so far, guys.
It's in the shop right now and I don't know if it will be done before the weekend, but here's one of the pictures the seller had posted. I'll make sure to get some when I get it back here so I have some 'before' and 'after' to look at later on, and I can share some of them here.
<a href="http://imgur.com/NMxCChm"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/NMxCChm.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com" /></a>
Still got to go through the brakes and see just what's been frankensteined in there, order a master cylinder prop valve hoses and lines. Think I'll do the hard lines while I'm at it too, they looked pretty ratty. Gotta put a windshield in it. Also got to do the lines on the PS, it leaks when the wheels are turned all the way to the left.
On the turn signal switch I'm thinking maybe I can just replace the plastic switch return part. The turn signals come on, but the switch itself just flops around. Oreilly recommended a Dorman brand ford/chrysler part, do those work alright if any of you have used them?

For now I threw some 16.5 tires I had here that never made it onto my 78 that I'm selling now. Eventually I want to get some 16 or maybe 17 inch wheels for it but I've read it can be hard to find something to clear the big calipers on the front. Anyone got a recommendation for something nice but not too flashy? I want to get singles back on the rear and was told I can just bolt them right up to the dually rear end and it will be the same width as a single axle just with the lug bolts sticking out a little. Is that accurate?

thanks,
-Steve

 

That was a good buy on that one.