Got this truck when I was a teenager about 25 years ago. My brother and I learned how to work on cars and constantly tinkered with it. Had it running, and in hindsight could have easily had it on the road. But in my young teenager mind it needed to be painted and looking pretty before driving it to the high school parking lot. Little did I know that I would have been so much cooler driving an original slightly dinged up 53 Ford F-250 than the 1978 Mercury Bobcat/aka/Pinto.

When I got home from my first year of college I came home to find that my younger brother and his friends ambitiously took it all apart. Bed removed, fuel tank removed, floor boards cut out where there was a little bit of rust. It was a bit disheartening and I just let it sit there since 1997. A tree was growing up through the bed of the truck and I'm bummed I didn't get a picture.

So the other day I got a wild hair and thought to myself what a waste it is to let that truck sit there and rot so I decided to pull the truck out of the weeds and drag it up to my father in law's house so he could tinker with it. Slowly but surely we'll poke along with this thing and make it a driver. Not tomorrow, not next week, probably not next year....but with some vision...like 20/20 vision, maybe we'll be able to run to the store in it by the end of the following year.

We now own and operate an Autoshop GOLDWrenchauto | Home - we're a small mom and pop where my brother, my father and I have fun working on cars.....mostly fun. So have a lot more tools and resources than we did as teenagers in the 1900's which should make this project a bit more manageable.

Wish us luck and I'll be looking for info on parts etc from the experts here!

Jarrett

 

Sounds more like a redemption story to me, as this story ain't over yet! Congratulations, & thank you for saving a piece of old iron!

 

Glad you're giving it a second look, so many forgotten projects get scrapped.

 

Welcome to the forum, Crash! With a title of sad story, and the name crashomatic, I was expecting the worse. This sounds more like the beginning of a happy tale. Good luck with your project. We're here to offer whatever help we can. If you add your location into your user profile so it shows in the upper right corner of your posts, you may find someone local to you that would be willing to share more personal assistance, or at least moral support.

 

Welcome! A sad story ends with an unfulfilled dream. Yours would seem to be alive. Keep us posted on your progress.

 

I appreciate the kind words - I almost forgot about posting this. I need to edit notifications to remind me of updates etc.

So far here's what we've accomplished: ('We' is a term I'll throw around loosely. If my Father in Law ever read this he'd LOL because he's been doing most of the work. I just get him parts and supplies.)

1. Towed to Father in Law's house
2. Cleaned shrubs from the bed
3. Cleaned out bell housing mouse nests/cab
4. Put on a newsed tire on front
5. New Battery
6. Rebuilt Starter
7. Added a small amount of tranny fluid in cylinders and let soak for about a week.
8. Got Valves Unstuck w/ 2+2
9. New Plugs/Wires/Cap/Rotor

I haven't gotten any updates for a few days. I'll work on pics etc. It'll be fun to document here.

Ride on!

 

Thanks for the update, Crash. Keep up the good work! We need pics too.

 

Well, you are still a young man, a big plus. The old truck, she looks like she's got good bones, another big plus.
I always thought that old Henry did not do a good job centering the front wheels in the well. Maybe you fix, no?

 

Welcome to FTE. The salvation is more what I'd call it, I acquired my truck in a similar manner. Keep on posting pix please.

 

I was going to ask what the 'She-Wee' device in the spark plug hole was for! Now I know...

 

So great to see that there will be a happy ending!
The 56 has been sold, I need to do something with others.