6/14/2016
Here is my story. It's not much, but it's mine. Meet Arizona, she is a 1989 Ford F-350 Crew cab Long Bed, Four Wheel Drive towing machine, with a 460 and a C-6. I believe it has a Borg-warner 1356 transfer case. I believe she also has a Dana 60 upfront and a Sterling 10.25 or 10.5 rear. I picked her up in October of 2011 for around 2500 bucks. Check engine light was on, body was beat, interior was rough. The original plan was to use her to too tow a horse trailer, for the girlfriend at the time. Well that didn't last. (dodged a bullet there!)



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The guy who sold her to me was ex-military, down in Fayetteville. She has stickers on the window for an Army base out in Arizona, the story he gave me was that he picked her up from an old guy who ran a ranch in the Mountains there, to tow his travel trailer back to NC with all his belongings in the trailer, and his motorcycle in the bed. And she certainly looks like she's been used hard and mistreated.

Though I was a member here, I had completely forgotten about this site and all the help they could be. I picked up a code scanner for the OBD1 system and went to town. Started changing out parts, sensors, plugs, including the EGR position sensor and the idle air control as well as a distributor. I still have the old stuff in a box somewhere around here. She also got a couple of new tires so they all are matching size.

I must have put 10 sets of exhaust gaskets before I gave up and just let her live with the leaking Hedman Headers that she had.

At the time I lived in an Apartment complex with a very short 2 car garage. She didn't quite fit in it, so all work was done in the parking lot, with one larger job farmed out, the transmission rebuild.

Here she is getting ready for a run out to Clarksville Tennessee, a good friend and I were planning on doing a nice long riding weekend. May of 2012. Well she must have cut off on me at least 10 times on the 9 hour drive.



Ready for a weekend of riding

Again in May of 2012 Arizona made her first (and last) drive out to Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Coca Cola 600 NASCAR race.
Getting her lights ready for the race.



Race Camper

And at the race track.



At race

That was a 200.00$ slide in camper, with 300.00 worth of plexi-glass for windows. Note the ratchet strap on the nose of the camper. Water damage had made the top separate from the bottom and the bottom was bouncing off the cab of the truck. Also she wouldn't do more than 45 with that behemoth in the bed, but danged if the 4 wheel drive didn't pull like a beast when I drove into a wet field with that setup by accident. For that I was very happy. I ended up giving the camper away, it was too big and destroyed to be of any real use, except for parts.

Well at the end of 2012 I bought a house, Arizona started blowing coolant hoses, the heater core and finally the head gasket. But the good news is besides the two car garage that is attached to the house, it also came with a 2 car detached workshop. Now Arizona has a place to sit to work on her. So off came the heads. I've always done head gaskets without removing the engine, boy did I wish I had pulled the dang engine this time. Those suckers weighed a TON.

Well with the new house came a much longer commute to work. So Arizona sat, and I purchased a full size Nissan truck for a 'dependable' daily driver. Boy was that a big mistake! Oh well lesson learned. But when I wasn't working on the house or on the Nissan, I kept tinkering with Arizona. Picked up a new bed, a set of pretty wheels, she got a whole new power steering pump, gear box, tie rod, cross over bar and a few other things for a brand new steering system. The brakes got some new parts, I pulled the bed and gave it to another FTE member for a trailer build, found the fuel tanks were rusted out in Arizona.

This is where the story goes cold. The house work ramped up, the free time disappeared, I finally traded the stupid Nissan for a bright and shiny F-150 with the 3.5 EB, Lucille. Over the last couple of years I've contemplated selling her, scrapping her, giving her away, parting her out, building her for mud, sand, or just letting her sit. Lucille does a great job of pulling my Jeep to the off-road parks, driving on the sand and even moving the home brewed beer around my friends and I make for the race and other events. So why do I still hold on to Arizona? I like the looks of these old trucks, she's mine, I reach a happy place when I have a project in the garage, if I didn't keep her, I'd just end up with another Jeep or some other project (probably a jeep). I guess it depends on what day you ask me, but I'm just fond of her in the end, and it's not like I'll get a whole lot for her in the state she's in anyway.

So that's where she sits today. She hasn't moved in over 2 years or so, no bed, rear fuel tank is out, interior is pulled apart, two sets of wheels and a whole lot of mouse signs, cobwebs and neglect showing on her.



How she sits now

The other nice bonus about the workshop is it came with cans and cans of body filler and primer, there is also a couple of cans of POR-15 laying around.

My current goals at this time:
Get her back together, get the new fuel tank installed, the fuel lines replaced the interior back together.
Get her started and running
Get all the electrics back to working: horn, radio and lights.
State Inspection
Cruise into town and maybe to one of our FTE dinners that we do every month.

Opinions, thoughts and motivation welcome!

 

First question:

When I originally pulled the fuel tank, I found the fuel lines brittle. I'd like to replace them all. I found this kit from Bronco Graveyard but it's for a regular cab long bed single tank. Does anyone know if someone has the same thing for Crew long bed trucks with dual tanks?

Fuel Line Kit-Broncograveyard.com

Also, if not, would any of these lines work for me, or would they be too long\short for my application?

Thanks!

 

Next question:

I've found the cab bushings for an extended cab and standard cab. My rear cab bushings are completely shot. Does any one know of a kit for the crewcabs, or can I use one for the extended cab trucks? If so which length do I use for the rear mounts?

 

Some more pics. Last Week FordTruckFan89 (Dusty) came over and gave a hand pulling the front clip off. Then last night I tried my hand with a spray gun for the first time spraying Rustoleum primer on the fuel tank. I much prefer the spray gun over regular spray paint I think.

 

There is no doubt even a cheap gun is far superior to rattle cans!

Unfortunately a lot more work to clean up for a small job!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Looking good so far. Keep up the good work and post pics of the end result.

 

Thank you. I've got a few more practice things to do. Rear tank, maybe the old hood. I've also got a couple of cans (Black and Blue) of the Dupli-Color Paintshop single stage semi gloss top coat. I don't think I'll use it for the exterior of the truck, but perhaps it wouldn't be noticable if I used it for under the bed and inside of the fenders?

Mostly I just want surfaces to practice on.

 

I'm back to the body bushing questions. The new fuel pump for the front tank came in as well as the seals for the tank vents and new hose for the vent lines.

I've got a set of the poly bushings for an extended cab. I'm having trouble finding a set of bushings for the crew cab. Can we still get these from FORD? If not anyone know where we can get them, or at least the rear two?

After what I've read, Id prefer to go with OEM bushings, but will use poly if that's what's available.

THANK YOU!

 

Got the fuel pumps put together and in the tanks. Found the new vent seals were just a little off, so I'll be having to remove some rubber to make it all fit. Not a lot though. I'm hoping to get it to turn over and maybe even run on some ether this month, and then pull off the front radiator support. One of the bushings is completely missing. I have a poly set from an extended cab to start those with, at least. I'd like to spray the front nose with some primer and paint, even if it's just the gloss black Rustoleum that I have for the el cheapo spray gun.

 

Moving slow lately.

 

Just got caught up, let me know if you ever need a hand.

 

I might trade you som motivation for some CLK430 advice

You in Raleigh?

 

Did the extended cab mounts work on a crew

 

Looks like good progress so far!!

 

Thanks Matt. I may try to put a little get together in December. I'd like to get the bed ready for primer. I'm thinking 3 or 4 people block sanding and prepping and it should be done in an afternoon, repayment in cooking something on the grill. Is there a day that works well for you?

I am in Raleigh, well Fuquay-Varina. Depending on the year, that CLK probably has a 113 motor with a 722.6 transmission. With a lift I can have that transmission out and on the ground in 45 minutes. (tested and challenged) What seems to be the issues with the car?

After getting the fenders pulled I got side tracked. Before I get anything else torn apart I want to roll the truck out and un-bury the bed to start prepping that. Someone suggested I prep it outside to save on dust and such in the shop for when it's time to spray. Think I'm going to follow that suggestion.

Thanks Galaxie! It's slow going as I continuously get hit by unforseen circumstances financially (Heat pump, sick cat, and well pump this year) and time constraints (silly thing called a job, and the girl likes to give me 'honey do's') but it's moving along one small step at a time.