Hello everyone, new to this forum.

A few years ago (5 maybe?) my grandfather bought a resto-modded red '56 F100. He has a propensity for old things and red things, and specifically old AND red things so I believe he was a bit smitten with this truck and the idealist nature of the purchase. He is an incredibly smart man and was absolutely well-intentioned but he is not mechanically apt and bought a project he was not prepared for. Not long after acquiring the truck it stopped running and subsequent attempts at driving it have resulted in plenty of highway rescues, tows, and trips to various local mechanics. 3 years ago he relented, admitted his mistake, and offered me the truck if I could get it from his cabin.

I made an attempt to get it from the cabin but it would not run at the time - if I jumped the starter solenoid it would turn over but would not fire. Given its remote location and difficulty of getting to it (only a flatbed could get to the house to tow it) it sat for the past 3 years. Recently he had someone come up and get it running, got it down from the house where it promptly stopped on the highway again. This time it was taken to the barn of someone who works at one of the small repair shops in town where it awaits my arrival. I am told it will run but not reliably, so now it's up to me to once again head down some dirt roads in the mountains to meet a guy who has my truck.

I plan to head out and get this thing in the next couple months (hopefully) and have started researching it, which led me here.

What I know:
it's a '56 that has had the body restored and painted. It's not perfect but there is no rust that I know of, everything is largely straight, the paint is in good shape, and only a few things need to be sorted out here.
The engine is a carb'd 302. This is, in my mind, a positive thing for the longevity and reliability of the truck once the electrics get sorted
The transmission is an automatic but I don't know which one. It has a floor shifter and standard P-R-N-D
It is very red

The rest I will have to learn. Unlike my grandfather I am mechanically inclined and have spent far too many hours swearing at that bolt that I can almost reach. Electrical is not my favorite of vehicular systems but this should be straight forward - no computers to deal with and no black magic making things work. Since this truck is far from stock I will have not problem modifying it to my liking but I plan to use it to do truck things and will not keep it pristine.

I haven't had a good project in a few years and am very much looking forward to this new challenge. I'm here to learn and interact, hopefully my questions will find some answers.

 

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