1969 F100 with a 300 straight six and C4 tranny. Manual brakes, manual steering, no AC or radio. Barebones, just the way I like it. Probably has 70,000 miles on it now. I sent my dad down to Washington with a bunch of phone numbers from Craigslist ads while I stayed home and worked and he came home to BC a couple days later saying he'd bought one. Sweet. Only one problem. It wasn't shifting into third. Perfect. He'd spent my money on a crap truck. Take note that I'd never seen it before. It was a sight unseen purchase from me.

Then I went down to see it. Instantly loved it.

We drove it from Seattle to Vancouver in second gear, revving high at probably 3,500rpm at 45mph. Good ol' Italian valve job right there. Fun times. Brought it across the line and got to work!

But first, a photoshoot. Here she is sporting the 1969 plate.



No third gear? Obviously the transmission! Right? Right. Rebuild time.

As you can see, something sprung a small oil leak. It took hours to clean! Not even a hot tank could bring it to perfection. Oh well.



Here it is soaking in degreasers of all sorts.



Anyway, I rebuilt that transmission. The reverse band was broken (to my surprise as reverse worked just fine), so that was dealt with and it was given race bands and clutches. Should last a long time now.

Ready for install...



Note the cleanliness difference from the engine. The pan bolts turned out to be super loose.



Fired 'er up aaaaand...! Still no third gear.

Took it to a tranny guy and in literally 15 seconds he found my problem. It was actually a vacuum leak the whole time. I felt like an idiot, that's for sure. Thankfully, that reverse band helps me justify doing all that.

Anyway, she's running fine now and I've been daily driving her for a while now with only minor quirks that I'm sorting out. It's hard for engine to go from sitting for 16 years to daily driving.

I've got both bump and dent love.



I actually got a court order on my very first day driving this thing (was pulled over for running a yellow light) to install seat belts and use an appropriate front license plate, so I did that. I don't mind my real plate, to be honest...



^ Frost morning, there.

Bought this 302 more or less complete from a buddy for $50. Going to build it up and throw 'er in the truck for a while.



Night time Camaro hunting with my buddy's 302-swapped '89 BMW.



He actually got T-boned a week later after this picture. Sucks. That car was FUN. I'm getting like-new rollerized GT40 heads that I'm salvaging from that car though.

 

A court order? Really? I've never heard of that.I don't think here we are required to take them out of stock condition(seat belts).But yours should have had them when built.Anyway,very nice truck! How is it lowered?

 

P.S. the gas station pic is awesome!

 

That stance is awesome, I love the ways tires slightly tuck up in there!! I like the gas station pic too, only thing that would have better was if the truck was in the front.

 

The truck didn't come with seat belts, but in 1963 it was law in BC for every vehicle to be sold with seat belts and law in 1977 to actually wear them. I had seven days through the "mandatory repair order" to install seat belts. If caught with no seat belts after this period, I would've been faced with an impound and suspension. Same thing with the front plate. Stupid.

Thank you.

I discovered the hard way that the rear wheels can only be removed or installed if the frame is on jacks, thus allowing the axle to drop.

 

Very nice truck

 

Very nice looking! How is it lowered? and how much?

 

great looking truck, I'm glad you drive it

 

Pretty nice DD. Congrats.

 

Sorry, guys. I guess I missed my notifications.

Thanks!

Thank you. Drop beams and flipped axle. At some point in time it'll receive the Crown Vic treatment up front.

Thanks. I don't believe in not owning something you're going to drive. The worst thing you can do for a vehicle is let it sit. They were meant to be driven, so drive them!

Thank you, sir.

 

I just wanted to chime in on this one too. I like the color. Do you have any interior shots? Looking forward to following your motor build.

 

I'll take some pictures for you tomorrow if it's fair weather. I've been needing an excuse to vacuum out the interior anyway.

Basically, it's a factory interior with a black bench seat. The truck is not a Ranger or anything so it's super basic. No radio and no AC. Unfortunately, the previous owner painted the dashboard black instead of body colour, so that's on the low priority to-do list. If I ever have the seat out I'll pull out the carpet. I prefer the simple look of the painted floors.

And don't worry, there's no Grant steering wheel.

Speaking of the engine, I just bought AFR 185 heads for it but put a Craigs ad up for the bottom end I bought. I'm just going to buy a roller shortblock 347 and then build the top end. I crunched the numbers and it's actually cheaper for me to do it this way.

 

As promised, without the vacuuming though.