I thought I would post up and introduce myself after reading on here what seems to be non stop for the last couple of weeks. You guys have put together a great forum with tons of great information which has come in handy.
My name is Jim and I finally brought home the truck I learned how to drive when I was a kid. My great grandparents bought the ford in 74 and is a 4 wheel drive F-100 for there 50 anniversary(that why its yellow) and it has always sat at the farm in the shop for the last 40 years. I would guess that in the last 12 or so it probably hasn't been driven off the farm and and the last eight it was only started when me or my father went to cut wood. I grandma said that it was time for me to bring it home. Well after cleaning 40 years of dirt and finally washing and polishing the old yellow paint it is still in real good shape. The only rust it has is in the rear bottom of box and and one rear fender it rusty, the front grill is broke The inside looks almost like it rolled out of dealer and I just turned it over to 33,000. I have been replacing the common things to get it road ready but have ran into a carb issue that is going to take a mechanic to figure out but other than that she is good to go.
Plans for the truck are going to be a driver and maybe over winter paint the outside the same yellow. She is going to get a 4" lift and some alum wheels and tires at the end of the week. The current tires are what ever we have found when one gets a leak
I will try and gets some pics up later just wanted to say hi and share a pretty cool story about a old farm truck
Jim

 

Welcome to FTE. That is what I would call a darn nice barn find. Nice base to start with. Keep us posted with your progress and plenty of pics.

 

X2 on getting such a nice truck. And definitely thanks for posting and sharing.

 

That's a nice truck for sure.

 

Blast those white rims with brown (to match the interior) and toss on some new chrome lug nuts and call is done. Nice rig you have there and way cool story to go with it.

 

Indeed awesome truck. I would clean the rust keep the original paint job.

 

Thanks guys. I thought about the paint but there are some pretty deep scratches. The paint is not near as nice as the photos make it to be. Either way it will be down the road a bit so things may change.

 

Well still great find and story.

 

Great looking and original truck. It sounds like a good plan, get her driveable and reliable first. Then take your time with the restoration and do it right.

My dent is a driver from a family member also. I call it a rolling restoration. Drive it, work it, then do an improvement project or two.

I also had some rust on the wheel arch and lower rear bed. It is really easy to pull the bed and put it on horses to work on... whether you do it yourself or have it done. I pulled mine, cut out the bad, welded in new patch panels, smoothed it out and matched the original color on the cab which was in better shape. It was a manageable project.

Maybe this year (winter) I will pull apart and re-do/re-paint the cab bodywork.

 

nice looking truck. welcome to fte!

 

not a bad little 100.

 

Well hello, and welcome to FTE. Love the truck man and great story along with it! Looks awesome!

 

Well I got the carb all fixed up an driving like a champ. Today they installed the 4" lift and some 35's. It really looks good and I am enjoying getting it up an driving around. I will post some pics tomorrow. What are you guys doing about the bump steer It is awful? The truck drives straight down the road but the steering wheel is all over the place. I have not done any research yet just got home but I figured this is a common problem I hope. If any body has a link to a fix or a website would be great. I almost don't wanna drive it due to the fact. I will be doing this at home and I am decent fab guy just need to direction. Thanks guys. pics soon to follow

 

So after having some time to do some reading I think I have an idea of what I need for the steering upgrade. Please feel free to correct me cause still a little confused. I called the pick and pull a couple hours away and they have a couple 77-79 ford f-150's in the yard. I hope one has the 360 in it. I will grab the PS pump and bracket, and all the steering rods and the steering column shaft. I will then need to ream the knuckles out to fit the tie rod ends. Does this sound about right? I have read tons of post but still not real sure. I really wanna drive the truck and plan to go this week.

 

Well I have the lift on and it rides good and looks way better in my opinion. I just need to get the steering fixed and should be ready to go. Here are a few pics of the truck and I did some parts pulling today. I fund a local guy with a 78 bronco he said that I could take the steering parts so I did. The bronco had some newer shocks and front coils it looked like.

is that a drop pitman arm, it measures about 3" in drop?


was wondering if I should use this pump since it matches the gear but th epulleys are just a little off about 3/8

Gear had this on the side but still think I might get the redhead box. Do they make it so the the arm is in the rear if you ask or not