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Guys I really think I've got a sickness, and it's these old Ford Trucks. Bought a new to me 1977 F100 last week, and finally got in the time to go turn wrenches on it to bring it back to life. When I bought it, the engine was frozen. Since then I've managed to work it free and it now turns over pretty smoothly.
I spent today pulling wrenches on the girl. I installed a new cap, rotor, coil, wires, and plugs and gave her a fresh oil change. Worked the carburetor free and it should be functional at least now. (Probably will have to pull it and dip it, and kit it afterwards.)
Transmission fluid is still a nice red, and does not smell burned so I've got that as a plus. Tires still hold air, even though they are pretty much shot at this point. She's got typical rust in the typical areas. Concerned about the cab seams and the drip rails the most, but that should be fixable at this point.
Anyway, here's to the pics. Used my "tank" Excursion to free her from her grave, pulled her out like a champ!
I know the history of this one fairly well. It was more or less a family heirloom that was passed down in a close friends family. It has been babied it's entire life, and always well maintained until it got put out to pasture.
My knuckle head friend broke the shift rod that runs down the column, and the ignition switch failed is why it got parked. I'm hoping that it will come back fairly easily, as even after a twelve year nap it did not fight me one bit on breaking free, nor rolling out of her grave.
Just as a brief update, I'm going back this weekend (Sunday) with some fuel and a hot battery. Going to see if I can't coax it into firing up. Will try to get video if I have any success, or I might just do it anyway for S&G's. If it runs my next step is to yank the steering column out, order a rag joint, and replace the steering column with one we got for it years ago.
Once it is safe to steer, and if it runs I'll be driving it home. Failing that, I'll tow it back to the shop so i can break the engine down and see what needs replacing and just what sort of PITA I'm in for.
That's a cool project and a video would be cool too. Don't forget to check out the brake hoses before taking it out on the road. I had one pop out of the crimped end on my 95. Thank God I was just pulling out of my driveway.
Did manage to get in some wrench time today, but unfortunately no video. This guy I know (me) walked off and left the video equipment at home today like a big (add your own expletive here...). I still did not get the engine to fire, but it is very very close. I've got fire and fuel, compression is present but I think the engine is still turning too slow to actually fire up.
Carburetor leaks like a sieve from both the power valve and accel pump so I'm going to ****** it off next time I go up there. It was also electrically dead (temporarily) because whoever wrenched on it last didn't hook up the solenoid correctly.
So where I'm at now is replacing the steering column, rebuilding the carburetor, rag joint, and putting some belts on it. I've got it set up to run off of a fuel cell for right now til I can get the fuel tank drained. Here's hoping I'll have pics & video next go round and actually some progress to report.
Success! I finally got it to fire up today! It took about half a can of starting fluid to get it there but it does run. Engine clattered a good bit but that was to be expected after sitting this long. Now that I'm certain it will run, i've got to go back on my day off and get the carb off it as well as swap the steering column out for a spare I have. Still need to get the belts for it, and get a rag joint (steering coupler), but it is progress and I'm happy about that.
Also going to see if I can't refurb the battery that was in it. Probably won't work for me, but it's worth a shot as it is practically free.
Been buying up parts and pieces for it the past few days. Got myself belts, new battery cables, a can of carb dip and a rebuild kit. Going to get the rag joint and a few other odds & ends next payday. Hopefully some progress will be made soon, and I can drive her the fifteen minutes home. Barring anything else going wrong, that is.
Nice find. Once you get it home and have some time, could i bother you for a few pictures of some wiring for the air conditioner set up? I have an ac truck i am restoring that was all apart and am not sure about a few wires. Yours looks complete. I will PM you my email address. Thanks so much in advance
Nice find. Once you get it home and have some time, could i bother you for a few pictures of some wiring for the air conditioner set up? I have an ac truck i am restoring that was all apart and am not sure about a few wires. Yours looks complete. I will PM you my email address. Thanks so much in advance
Sure man, I don't mind. It'll probably be a day or two before I get around to it though. With work tomorrow, and bad weather at least on Tuesday I'm almost certain I'm going to get nothing done the next couple days. What do you need pictures of? Just let me know and I'll do what I can.
Been at least a month since I put wrench to this thing. I did manage to get the old 2150 carb off it, get a kit for it, and then manage to royally screw the carb up in the teardown phase. Seems that one of the carb mixture screws was quite happy in its frozen state and snapped clean off when I tried to remove it. Since I had a spare 2bbl laying around, I rebuilt that instead and set the old carb aside for now.
Also ordered and installed a brand new brass carb float, so I won't have any sinking issues (hopefully) compared to the old nitrophile float. I think I got everything dialed in as well as I could with the rebuilt carb Now I just have to go back and get it running.
Sorry it has been so long between updates, but I will do my best to update this as time and life allows!
