Some of you have read the thread on this truck here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...0-project.html

66 pages worth of how WillyJoe.62 worked on this '81 F100 and made it a pretty good old Ford truck. I'm the one that bought it and I just got it home today. I flew out to Denver this past Sunday the March 27th. Joe and the lovely Mrs Joe met me the next morning in my hotel parking lot. We talked a bit, changed the plate over to my Florida one, and I was on the road by about 10am.



Joe was kind enough to include some Colorado snow, but it didn't make it past Texas:





I wasn't pushing it too hard, esp in the beginning when we were getting used to each other. 65-70 for the most part. Here's a stop just below Colorado Springs:



I made it to Amarillo, TX the first day via I-25 and US87. The next day, I did backroads down to I-20 @ Abilene, TX via towns like Turkey, TX:



And Matador, TX:



The next day finally left Texas via Louisiana:



A miles long traffic jam @ Baton Rouge, LA:



The last night was spent in the cab at the Florida welcome center @ Pensacola. I woke up this morning ~0430, went in and got cleaned up a little bit, then hit the road for home and got here @ 3 in the after noon.



Ole Festus did pretty good. I've already got a list of things I both want and need to do to it to suit me, but I have to say, that big six in it didn't burn any oil, and it never overheated in all kinda of conditions. I had brought a tool kit with me on the plane (checked baggage), but the only time I broke it out was to put my plate on it. I had no issues of any kind as far as reliability.

I'll get down to the beach here sometime and take a pic more worthy of Joe's depiction in the other thread. New Smyrna is close to me, so will shoot up there. I'll start going over what I want and need to do for all the Festus fans out there and see how it transforms here in the Sunny South.

 

Congrat's!!!! I'm glad Festus has such a good home. Well done!

 

Great journey, congrats!

 

I enjoyed the journey, fljab! I used to live in Baton Rouge and the traffic at times can be bad.

 

This was leading up to the bridge over the Mississippi River. It was made worse by two trucks that took it upon themselves to block and otherwise decide who gets by and who doesn't. When I finally got by them I was able to go up the 110 lane, then cut over to the 10 lane before it merged onto the 10/12 junction.

I thought there was going to be some road rage shooting and one woman was honking her horn and even got out and walked up to the trucks and did some A-class **** chewing! Thankfully it all worked out.

Hey, the old truck idled just fine and the temp stayed well in the safe zone, that was the important part.

 

I have been stopped in traffic while on the "Old Mississippi River Bridge" which is high over the river and it is unnerving how much the bridge can be felt to move!!

 

I'm delighted you both made the journey without incident. What was it, close to 2,000 miles? And when Jim said he was going to keep the original paint, well, I knew Festus had gone to the right man.

Here's Festus up at our place two days before Jim arrived in Denver. When I was outside shoveling snow, I heard him say, "Y'know, I've really had enough of this s#!t..."

 

So, Festus must be happy with the move. What's more, maybe he'll like the beach and all of the "scenery".

 

There you go, Gary! And you commented about my "behind" the scenes statement.

 

Great pics and update on Festus - glad to see he has gone to a good home!

 

Thanks for the "ride a long" with pictures no less!


Question(s) with out going thru Joe's post what is the power/drive train in the truck and what did you get for fuel mileage?


Thanks and good luck with the truck waiting to see what you are going to do to it to make it yours.
Dave ----

 

This has a stock 300 six, SROD 4 sp/OD trans, and an open 9" code "7" rear end which I believe is a 2.46 ratio.

I have a number of changes coming, or that I want to do. One is to change this rear end ratio. 4th is all but useless unless on the interstate and no hills. Can't use it until about 70 or so, and even then don't plan on any quick moves. If you lose momentum for any reason (like a traffic slowdown) then downshift to 3rd and get it back to speed. I basically drove this as a 3 sp all the time until I made it back to Florida, aka "Flatlandistan". The only hills down my way are usually overpasses.

From what research I've done, this should be a 31 spline, big bearing rear end, so am planning first to find a 3rd member 3.25 or 3.50 with limited slip (while I'm right there). I may end up having mine rebuilt, or maybe I'll do it, not sure. Need to do some more reading.

I had a co worker back in the 90s - actually 2 of them - that had this setup. Theirs were the 8.8 rear ends which started in '83. The first guy made the change to a 3.55 ratio and said both drive ability and mileage went up after the change. He was well known as a no BS crack mechanic on many things, so I've always believed his word, although I never verified it.

On gas mileage, I got 16.5 avg on the trip. I rarely went over 70, and stayed @ 65 for the most part.

There is also some rough running and surging which I attribute to how it was jetted to pass the Colorado emissions @ 7000 ft altitude. I have a box of carbs, so will dig through them and pull one apart to get the jet and start from there. Again, some research is in order.

 

Yup! Right on all counts.

 

OK, a list of changes, big and small as requested.

First, and it's a big one, is AC. This is Florida, and today, April 1, it is 90 degrees out. This is just a sample of what the summer will be like.

I have on order, a privacy tinted sliding rear window. Even w/no AC, these are a must IMO as they allow much better circulation in the cab. I also have an appointment next Tuesday with my tint guy (Reid's auto tinting, Titusville, FL):

| Reid's Auto Tinting & DetailingReid's Auto Tinting & Detailing | Auto Tinting & Detailing

They are doing the windshield + side windows for me. We're doing it early (when they open) as I can't lower them for 24 hrs or so and it'll be a broiler in there w/no AC!.

My old '85 has factory AC that has been dead since I've owned it, so I may go ahead and take the brackets off truck, and then use new componants from someone else. As Festus was not factory AC equipped, I am going to hang an aftermarket one under the dash. I may need to actually find a dealer here somewhere and see what fits the best considering the shifter clearance.

Nostalgic air is not that far from me (Ocala), so may take a drive up there. Go to bottom of the page for air-only under dash units:

Nostalgic AC - Evaporator Units

Also, these guys are in the Tampa area, and their ebay prices are great:

A/C KIT UNIVERSAL UNDER DASH EVAPORATOR COMPRESSOR KIT AIR CONDITIONER 12V

When I was scrounging in junk yards before the Denver trip, I did find a '82 F150 with a York compressor. I'd rather have the rotary brackets altho I know you can convert them, but wanted to say I think I'll go back and at least get the full fan shroud, fan pulley, and? not sure. Oh, it did have it's Duraspark II stuff also that I ought to grab just to put on the shelf.

 

These are in no particular order, so here's a small one.

Joe had sourced a period correct am/fm/cassette radio and installed it with a nice dash piece. At this time, I have no plans to change it. However, the speakers in back of the seat that were there when he bought it, well, they suck the big one.

I have a variety of good speakers, many still new in the box, from past projects. I will go through those and put a couple behind the seat hopefully in the cab corner enclosures (not sure what you call them).

In the doors there is a grill for factory speakers:



From looking through the Crutchfield website, I believe these to be 6-1/2". Hopefully I have a set up on my shelving somewhere, but if not, I'll pick out a pair and get them ordered. Between the 2 sets, and with maybe a bit of insulation behind them, that ought to do the trick.

Remember, it was deduced Festus was not equipped with a radio from the factory, so will have to just "make it so".