The tire webbing was all I used, aside from leaving the hand-cranked winch snug. I started & stopped a few times on the road in front of the guys house and then resnugged then wheel webbing, the guy you saw must not have done that. That sounds fairly scary. I will say this, the previous owner (or possibly the builder) of this dolly welded straps to keep the thingy straight. It's supposed to be able to pivot when you turn. I didn't realize that until yesterday. I wish I knew why he did that, because I was thinking to cut them off to allow it to turn when I'm pulling something. Either way my nerves were shot after the trip and I haven't gone back yet - there is a parts truck I still need to go get.

 

I drove my F150 to work friday, then to my grandma's birthday dinner. At which point I thought I smelt gas, so I got it home and Saturday morning found that the Schrader/pressure release valve on the fuel rail was seeping. So I started trying to track one down but no one had one, ford dealer and o'Reilly were the only ones who could find it and it would of been mid week before I got it from either.

So I pulled off and got to look and it was full of dirt/grease build up. I'm assuming when the guys did the intake swap they used it to bleed pressure and some of that dirt fell into it. Anyways I cleaned it out and reinstalled it and been driving it around with no leaks.




Then I spent some time straightening up the garage, tomorrow I hope to put the head back together on Ol blue, and hopefully get the head bolted back on tomorrow.

 

got the engine mounted to the stand again.. this time with a new mounting bracket...





and the engines back in one piece. Sorta. I still have some left over parts that will be installed later closer to it running.

 

Sometimes things don't like to be disturbed. Depress those and you gotta fiddle with them to get them to seal. Seen it plenty on older tractor valve stems.

 

Once I cleaned it up and messed with it a bit it sealed up.

 

Managed to get out to Glenwood/creedmoor road intersection and popped a brake hose. Napa has one, now to get home after work.

 

Hope you get home safely, Dustin.

 

Vise grips and topping off the fluid got it home safe

 

bummer on the busted hose dustin...

Tore apart and painted the kickstart lever along with the sprocket and retainer for the drive chain that fits on the transmission output shaft. Just havent decided if i want to paint them to match the engine or match the frame. Going to need to do the brake pedal too. Tried to buff the lever out hoping to make it as shiny as the shift lever and handle levers but nature just got to it too much.. even with sanding it and trying to buff it out again it still looked pitted... so just decided to paint it...

 

Apparently my emergency brake cable rubbed a hole in the hose. Wesley, Josh, y'all may want to double check yours aren't rubbing on it.

 

I am playing catch up on this thread.
You know on the Flare Sides they used ply wood for the floor and metal strips to get thelook of planks.
The bed uses 2 ply wood sheets, 1 for the outer edges and the other for down the center.
If you do a search in the 80-86 truck area for wood bed measurements you should find how to cut the wood.
The biggest issues is the cross members and the front & rear sills rot but you can get them just so $$$$

Now the side bed walls are a different story. No one makes the sides and the lip that sits on the wood rot away so you will need to fix that.
You can get after market front wall and tail gates if you need them.
You can also get most of the cab sheet metal like I had to get from http://tabcoparts.com/ good thick metal and fit was pretty good too.

On the trany how far did you tow it? Take it is a C6 in the truck?
How is the frame? Rear cab mounts cross member, rear spring hanger areas?
I am a sucker for Flare Sides LOL
Dave ----

 

Dave, yes C6 tranny is what the previous owner said. I towed it probably 15 miles before it started acting up. I immediately dropped the driveshaft at that point but it was too late. I guess I'll have my buddy go through it for me. I didn't realize that they came with plywood, I would not have expected that in the 80's! I see the slats are in bad shape, most of them are rusted away near the front. Someone before me welded in some angle iron to support the floor near the cab but the sides look pretty bad (inner sides that is). I was thinking to repair it with diamond plate but now that I know it was originally plywood, I'm thinking about going back that way.

 

teeth not too badly worn

some noticeable wear on the fwd edge

about a dozen worn teeth.

starter no longer able to 'grab' and crank past this point. always hangs-up and grinds. no bueno.

 

Dang that is chewed up!

 

thats a "good" way to not start your engine... too bad we cant still hand crank engines to get them going..