Hello all. New to the forum and whatnot. Just picked up a 1970 Longbed Custom yesterday. 302 V-8, 2-barrel autolite carb, 3-on-the-tree, no power steering, no power brakes, no radio, no shoulder belts, and I love it. I'm considering putting a P/S pump in just to make parking easier, but that's for after I do the engine swap...

looking to put in a 351 Windsor remanned motor. I'm using mostly new parts, so that I can treat this truck as a reliable daily driver. I'm going to put on an aluminum intake, a 4-barrel Holley 750, a decent set of long-tube headers, and eventually a mild street cam. The exhaust as it is is a one-sided side-exit unit with a cherry bomb muffler and it sounds amazing. It runs as it sits, but the carb needs to be rebuilt, it needs the horn put back in the center of the steering wheel (the guy put the button on the dash for some reason), and everything needs to be balanced and aligned, because it crabs and the front left tire hops really bad above 45 mph... Might end up going through the steering box while I have the engine out too.

Sorry for the long post, but... lots to do! Any general advice for one who is new to these trucks?

-James

 

Welcome to FTE.

General advice? "Knowledge is power" so read and learn as much as you can about the Bumpsides including 73-79 Dentsides cuz lots of parts can be swapped back into your rig.... like PS and disc brakes.

Another good site is: FORDification.com - The 1967-1972 Ford Pickup Resource

Read through the Tech Thread sticky over on the Dent forum. Lots of info on what your fellow FTEers and others have done to restore, improve, and modify their 67-72s and 73-79s. Lots of ideas and resources. : https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post13139591

A 750 cfm carb is a bit of an overkill on a 351W unless it's gonna be spun over 5500 rpm on a regular basis. A 600-650 cfm carb with vacuum secondaries is sized about right.

Order up catalogs from these fine folks so YOU know what is available out there:
Jeff's Bronco Graveyard
National Parts Depot:Ford Truck Parts & Accessories | 1948-1979
LMC Truck - Ford Truck Parts and Truck Accessories
MAC's Antique Auto Parts
Blue Oval Truck Parts
Dennis Carpenter Ford Restoration Parts
Speedway Motors, Street Rod & High Performance Parts
The Early Ford Store-San Dimas,CA
Truck & Car Shop (Orange, CA): 48-86 Ford Trucks, 66-86 Ford Bronco
C&G Early Ford Parts: 32-79 Ford Trucks (Escondido,CA)
John's F-Fun Hundreds: 48-79 Ford Truck Parts
Sacramento Vintage Ford
Flashback F-100s: 48-2008 Ford Truck Parts
Vintage Pickup Truck Parts & Restoration Resources Directory
Green Sales Company - Vintage NOS & OEM Parts

 

I'm a member of the FORDification site on facebook, i can tell it's going to be useful. I have a 600 CFM Edelbrock carb i can put on, so i might sell the other carb (anyone interested?)

It's good to know that i can use parts from the next generation. The brakes seem fine for now, but it could definitely do with a steering gearbox rebuild and a power steering unit.

The original paint is still on and looks cool, even though it's almost gone on the hood, and there are a couple cancerous rust spots on the tailgate.

It's looking like her name will be Donna for now...

Thanks for the response!

 

Joey, You have to change the steering box for power steering.

 

I would do power steering swap when you have motor out. That way you can get everything cleaned up and looking nice. Have to get brackets and pulleys for motor you are using.

 

Okay, thanks. Looks like i'll be looking for lots of parts soon! Can't wait to get started with this.

 

IMHO I'd do the cam while you got the engine out right there in front of ya. Plus you'll already have the intake off. Now would be a good time for a new timing chain and gears. Maybe even water pump.
2X on the 750 being too big.

 

The remanned motor i'm putting in has a new chain, i'm ordering new parts for almost everything. Water pump, intake, alternator, belts, pulleys, etc. thinking about trying to rob the brackets from a junkyard... I'm hesitant to pull the cam from a freshly remanned motor, my thought is to get it running first, and maybe a few years down the road do the cam.

 

Depending on things like the compression ratio and such, whichever "stock" cam is in there now might not like even the 600 CFM carb.

 

I'm with Jeff about the cam. Why wait? You might look into using a bigger, more amps, alternator if you have to buy one anyway. I used a GM one wire alternator 30 years ago and did away with the troublesome stock regulator.

 

Yeah. Short funny story. Back when I was a kid I had a 1970 Plymouth full size car with a 383 2V. I put a factory Road Runner intake,4V carb, and air cleaner on it. No cam. It bogged so bad the farther I pushed the gas pedal the SLOWER it went!

 

I'll look into doing the cam. Any suggestions as far as mild street cams go for the 351W?

 

I'm about to do the P/S conversion on my 79 2wd, numberdummy can tell you if it's the same or not, I have the box and I fabbed up an adjustable bracket for a pump I had. And on this one, the column is shorter for the P/S box, but I had one burried in my shed. I'll let you know if I have any issues. I should be getting it done over the next couple of weeks.

PS; as for parking with manual steering, you learn to pick your spot, and you always back out the way you went in. :-)