With my dad's passing I've inherited his 1960 F100. It's been sitting unused in his garage for the last 8 years, and wasn't used much for many years before that. It has a 223 in it.

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The truck is in Nashville, I'm in Tulsa. And it needs a lot of work before it sees the road.

Body is decent - small bit of rust low/rear of driver's side, solid otherwise. Frame is very solid, bed is good.

I can get it to run, with starter fluid. So the focus has been on the fuel system. I've put a new tank in it, new rubber lines, new pump. I've brought the carb back to Tulsa from the last trip, I'll rebuild it (it's a Holley 1904). The plan is to get rebuild kit from Mike's Carb Kits, fix it up, bolt it on, and I should have a running engine.

Then the next trick will be to get the truck to stop. The first test of the brakes showed fluid at the right/front wheel, so the brake plan is to replace the master, wheel cyl's, and flex lines. The hard lines look good from the outside, at least, so I'll give them a try. Any tricks to doing any of this?

Finally, the steering. There's about 50 degrees of so of slop in the steering wheel, so I assume it needs a rebuilt steering box. LMC Truck lists one for $430 or so - is that the best way to go? What's involved in replacing the box?

Finally, the tires are ancient, so those will have to be taken care of as well.

Am I missing any essentials? Any feedback/suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Sorry to hear about your Dad.

Solid truck have there should respond well. Maybe it would make more sense to trailer it home than attempting to make it roadworthy under a deadline. These old trucks are like peeling back an onion. Still, roadtrips are fun.

Welcome to FTE btw.

 

That is one heck of a trailer hitch!

Nice truck to start with.

Please accept my condolences for your Dad's passing. I sure miss my Dad and he passed almost 15 years ago!

 

A very nice starter! It sounds like you're on the right track for the brakes. I see no problem leaving the hard lines, but while you're replacing the wheel cylinders, it's no big deal to replace the shoes. They're still available at most parts houses for more reasonable prices than the specialty places. That and turned drums make for very adequate brakes.

When I inherited my '58, I had roughly the same amount of play in the steering. Mine was everything but the box. I did adjust some slack out of it (there is a procedure), but new king pins, tie rod ends, and a drag link took out 90% of mine.

 

It seems you have a good plan to get the truck back on the road. I am in the middle of doing what you about to do with your truck. I did the brakes first. You have to be able to stop it regardless of what you do to everything else. Don't trust any of the old rubber parts. Replacement is about the only solution there as you are discovering.

I would drain all of the gas from the tank and then remove the sending unit so you can have a look inside. If there are rust issues in the tank, you will have to resolve that situation before you can have any hope of being able to drive the truck for any distance. Rust in the fuel system can contaminate a new pump and the carburetor very quickly.

These trucks are relatively simple to work on so you should not have much of a problem making the necessary repairs. Condolences regarding your father. I lost mine over 20 years ago. If I was in your situation, I would never get rid of that cool '60 pickup. It would be priceless to me.