Greetings, I have just acquired this pickup, which is in amazing shape considering that it is a Northeast vehicle that's been sitting in the Jersey pine barrens for the past two years. It has no brakes, has Bondo lurking all over but has a very solid frame and pan. Needless to say I'll be dusting off my Harbor Freight Mig, getting a bottle of argon, and re-acquiring my sheetmetal welding skills

I'll be sorting the mechanical ones first. It runs & drives but it has a weird, hacked-together exhaust & header which will be binned in the near future. PO says that when it was parked, it had brakes. Probably a rusted-out line. Once it runs and stops reliably, I may need to pop the windshield out to check the pinchweld for rot.







What's keeping me up, though, are the screwed-up panels where the turn signals are located, Am I attempting to fabricate these, or get 'em from a western/West Coast salvage yard?

Good news is: it has a fairly solid tailgate.
Bad news is: I have to completely rebuild it.

Also: there's no extension on the back of the cab for it, so I'm assuming that this is the 170 engine. Digging the old coil, abandoned in place.

 

Thanks for posting the pics. It looks great. That does look like the original 170 engine. There is not much fresh sheet metal for these. Used parts show up on eBay.

 

In the past ten days, have buzzed off almost all of the blistered bondo...there is pounds & pounds of it, I'm not sure why -- it appears a PO trowelled it on to cover the rust holes on the rockers, which, frankly, are far smaller than imagined. On the nose, the center has it almost 1/4" thick - but no dents or serious damage so far...it appears that it was loaded on simply to cover the F O R D holes. Won't know for sure until I get after the body, but I have to get it running right first:

- I'm replacing the entire exhaust system; new manifold is here, just waiting on the pipe set.

- Alternator brackets are some weird home-made thing that just - doesn't work: the belt can't be tensioned. Awaiting something I hope I can make fit. Also, there's only one wire hooked up to the voltage regulator. Are any of the other wires used?

- The throttle linkage works, miraculously; it's all still there (long link rubs the heater hose), except the last six inches are some booger-welded monstrosity.

- Brake leak was found: it's the master. New one going in this weekend. Drums & shoes look great.

- Someone hacked the ignition wiring to an aftermarket switch. Working from a wiring diagram...but at the moment the main yellow wire is constant hot (as it should be), but I also have a red wire that is constant hot. That's gonna be fun to figure out. The yellow is factory; think that the red was added later. God only knows what it's wired from.

I also have a few mystery wires:
- I suspect the one factory lug, black/green stripe, is the main bus feed for the fuse panel and it's not connected to anything, which might explain why absolutely nothing on the dash works. BUT the headlights work...
I have one male & one female right-angled, insulated flag connectors (solid black wire) that appear factory, hanging round doing nothing.

Where should the wire run be located for the taillights, fuel sender & license plate lights? At the moment, there's a naked bundle sorta running along the inside of the left side of the bed, entirely unprotected. Age and UV has wiped it out.

That's plenty for now. Thanks for your input!

 

Regarding the alternator bracket. Mine was cobbled together with a one wire GM alternator and the original gen bracket on the engine. It couldn’t be made to line up right and ate belts. I used the bracket set from falcon parts and it doesn’t fit the GM alternator perfectly, but I was able to get it lined up close enough. With a belt it has been working fine for months. If I had it to do over, I would just order the proper kit with alternator and brackets.

With the modern alternator the voltage regulator doesn’t seem necessary. Mine didn’t appear to have power coming out of it. I removed it and nothing changed. I’ve driven it daily for months since removing it, including at night, in the rain, with the electric fan running.

 

THANK YOU!

Wheee!


OK there *is* a proper kit for alternator & brackets? If you could point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it. I am also waiting on the Falcon Parts set-up:
https://www.falconparts.com/ford-fal...GINES-p157.htm

AAAnnnd the driver's seat sliding mechanism appears to have detached from the tube frame on the outside skid. Hard to tell without peeling it, but it seems that there's a mounting bracket welded to the tube that holds a bolt from the track assembly. Since it is unlikely that I'll be able to locate a replacement driver's seat any time soon, I'll probably have to skin this one down and hope I can find enough surface to weld/re-weld the bracket onto the tube.

 

Here is a drawing of the original alternator setup for your 1965 170 cui engine.
http://econoline.org/drawings/P-8238.png

C5TZ 10145-H is the upper bracket that is used to make the adjustments
C5TZ 10A313-D is the lower, or side bracket that holds the alternator to the engine.

Search for those two numbers and see what you can find. You might find used parts on eBay.

Here is a reproduction kit with parts that look just like the originals.

In 1965 your Econoline could have come with a 38A, 42A, or 45A alternator.

 

I remember seeing kits with alternators and brackets when I was searching for brackets, now I’m not finding them. The bracket from Falcon Enterprises I bought had a larger hole diameter and bolt for the bottom of the alternator, and was built for an alternator with a longer bottom bolt attachment. I used a GM one-wire cause I already had it.

you bought the same kit I did, just check the hole diameter of the bottom alternator attachment, and lunch of the alternator attachment and you should be great.

 

It's been a few weeks, sorry.

In that time I have:

- cleaned the engine compartment
- Installed the proper ignition switch. Had to remove the headlamp switch, thus discovering the fuse tray was partially detached from it due to a broken part of the tray, cleaned, reassembled, re-fused, pigtailed for a radio, and used a ziptie to hold it tight together. Suddenly, I have lights & turn signals! No horn, need to check the hazards...
- removed the rear 3-panels on the doghouse, discovered the back panel was rusted through, cut & welded in a patch since none could be found in my 'local' yard

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...I located a yard in south Jersey with at least five 61-67 vans in it, scored a driver's seat and door panels (they were missing)
- yanked the rusted-out header rig and installed a proper manifold
- installed the alternator using the A/M bracket; needed some shimming, but it's good & solid. Discovered that the water pump pulley was also misaligned with the crank, so all three pulleys were operating on different planes. Not sure how that happened but this thing had to be eating belts. Shimmed out the water pump pulley 1/2" forward, everything's in & lined up now.

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- properly mounted the coil
- cleaned & bled the brakes after replacing the master.

- Picked up a fuel hardline to route & install a mechanical fuel pump when it comes in. I plan to leave the electric pump in-line as a backup, but the whole fuel line run from the tank to the carb is rubber, which makes me a bit nervous.

Someone routed the brake line feed to the rear axle through one of the holes in the bulkhead where one of the shifter pushrods go. WTF..
Once I get this thing running reliably, I'll be replacing the front springs (then the rears) due to a noticeable sag on the driver's side. The spring U-clamps are loose on the axle beam, too.

Anyone know where I can get new U-clamps for the springs (which are probably coming from Jamco)?

 

I bought springs from Jamco. All four corners, and an installation kit from Eastman.

Service from Jamco was outstanding. Nothing wrong with Eastman either.

I wanted to drop a little from stock, and knew the originals were sagging badly. I ordered a 2” drop from Jamco and it raised it about 1/2”!

 

What is Eastman? Couldn't get a hit. I really, really need new spring clamps, especially on the front - they are actually loose. I'll measure them to see if F100 clamps fit - unlike the springs themselves, I'm having difficulty finding them for the Econoline.

Finally read the engine block casting numbers, and thus learned today that the engine is a 250 from a 1978 Fairmont. Explains why I had trouble getting the right fuel pump for it, and why it has a Carter YF.






Got the exhaust manifold in, and later added the first header section for the new exhaust. On the driver's side, cleaned up the wiring, properly mounted the coil, and prepped for sending units for the oil pressure & temp when they come in.

 

Since the last post:
- installed exhaust system
- removed the electric fuel pump & rubber hose to the tank, modified a Falcon hard fuel line and installed that; testing the pump revealed some very nasty turpentine in the tank, so...
- removed, cleaned & reinstalled the fuel tank. Sending unit is working; not sure it's connected to the instrument cluster, which has been its own hell. Verified that the counterweight is still installed.
- Removed the cluster; removed, cleaned and rebuilt the speedometer. Got everything working except the backlights and the idiot lights for the alternator and oil pressure. Tested the temp & fuel gauges; they both worked. Whatever crud was used in the attempt to lubricate the speedometer ate away at the odometer drum, rendering the digits illegible. Replaced the drum with one from a salvage yard, boosting the showing mileage to 97,000 from 39,000.

Waiting on a new speedo cable.

Cleaned and patched the cabin floor and doghouse. Lots of screwed-in patch panels on the floor, but they're solid.

I am seeking information on the lighting. I have tested the bulbs, and all are working. I do not have:
- cluster illumination
- dome light does not light when the headlamp switch is rotated back to the left detent.

There is one cut wire, black with a blue stripe, on the harness below the cluster. Can't find another end. It may have had a female bullet connector.
I also have a black wire with a triple female bullet plug on it in the same area..

There is another female bullet plug with both a red and a blue wire molded into it; this one is constant hot.

I'm not sure if any or all of these were connected to anything, or if they were unused lines just hanging around. I intend to energize the oil pressure lead in the engine compartment, just to verify that it is intact to the bulb in the cluster.

I have no idea how to connect a wire for the alternator/idiot light; the alternator is set-up as a one-wire unit. The voltage regulator is long gone; I can't even tell where it was mounted. Perhaps one of the two spades on the side of the alternator case that would normally be plugged in? May one of those be used to run a voltmeter on the dash/connect to the idiot light?

Also: can anyone tell me where the horn relay is located? The service manual for this Econoline assumes that you are working with a complete and intact vehicle...

It's getting there. While I'd rather have both, I can forget about the idiot lights and install an aftermarket gauge set. Would like to have instrument backlighting, though.

 

that was supposed to be Eaton. Eaton Detroit Springs.

 

The horn relay was mounted with the voltage regulator under the floor, just in front of the radiator, near the passenger side.

Here is a good view of the back side of the instrument panel. http://econoline.org/drawings/K1730-A.png

The alternator light was inline with the original alternator and might not be able to use with the one-wire alternator. Here is a diagram. http://econoline.org/drawings/K1732-A.png

Here is the whole wiring diagram for the 1966 Econoline. http://econoline.org/drawings/K1731-A.png

You might find some other drawings you need here: Econoline Drawings

 

THANK YOU!

That explains why I found the lead from the horn button to the horn relay cut and wrapped into the harness on the passenger side underneath, along with the lead from the alternator idiot light.

The (modern) alternator actually has a (2-spade male) plug in the side, away from the lead that travels to the starter relay. I have read some, that one of the two spade connectors there may be able to signal either the original light or be connected to an aftermarket voltmeter. At the moment, I have no way to read charge/discharge. I can only test it once I start it up, which will happen after I get this instrument cluster lighting & gauges sorted out - just throw the voltmeter on the spades & see what I get.

Your diagram indicates that I could install an ammeter in between the lead from the alternator to the battery, which I imagine would require fairly beefy wire - 12- or 10-GA to re-route the load into a gauge at the cluster then back to the relay. A voltmeter is fine; I just want to know if/when the battery is failing.

Do y'all think that I should put a voltage regulator back in? And opine as to why it was removed in the first place?

There's a tiny 1-A glass fuse in a holder that I suspect powers the instrument back-lights. Both contacts read -0- volts with the headlights on.

I can't get the cluster back-lights to light when I pull out the headlamp switch; I energized one of the bulb leads behind the cluster and they lit, so they're not getting current from source. Probing the rheostat on the switch (that is supposed to dim the instrument lights) gets -0- volts.

Also, when I rotate the rheostat/headlamp switch CCW into the detent to light the dome light, nothing happens (I energized the dome light lead under the dash - the bulb & the lead are fine). Also probed the wire for it (black with a blue stripe) right on the switch/fuse block at the spade but also got -0-V. As best as I can figure, both of these sets of lights source their power from the headlamp switch (per the wiring diagram I have: back-lights are blue/red stripe & the dome light is black / blue stripe)

I have ordered a new headlight switch as I suspect the rheostat contacts & switch are bad/not conducting. The headlight switch works fine for the headlights - but I also discovered that hitting the high-beam switch turns on the high-beam indicator but dips the headlights, so I suspect that the hi/lo beam switch is plugged in backwards. I hope.

Also ordered a period Ford horn relay. It & the voltage regulator are long gone. Unless a PO installed some kind of aftermarket horn, it hasn't had one in several years.

I'm sure I'll find that the horn switch is FUBAR. I also have to figure out where to put door plunger switches so that the dome light lights when the doors are opened. It looks like this thing never had them, but I can't rule out not knowing where to look.

Thank you for this.

I'm a ways away from replacing the spring packs, but have at least a 1" sag on the driver's side; once this thing is road-reliable I'll work on that (and at least a half-dozen other things, like new tires...)

Interesting to see a stabilizer bar on single I-beam. I'll check again, but I do not think that there are holes to mount one on this axle.

I'm wondering if my truck is a '64. Every part is marked '64 or earlier, and the heater is in a box on the floor, whereas the '65 was a more complicated item mounted on the nose. I don't have a horse-collar engine mount, either: the side main mounts come out of the frame rails, and the oil pan is hanging out in the breeze.

 

The ammeter was an optional gauge instead of the ALT lamp. As you said, a heavy-gauge wire was routed to the dash and looped through the back of the ammeter. Unless you install a stock ammeter, there are others that don't require the long length of thick cable.

If you have a one-wire alternator, adding a voltage regulator would do no good and might do harm. It has a regulator built in.
If you install a replacement to the original alternator, then that kind of alternator is designed to work with an external regulator.

The light switches do wear out. There is a lot of current running through there, and that creates lots of heat. When you get your new headlight switch, consider putting the headlights on a relay. Thus you have a low current signal running through the actual headlight switch that then triggers the relay to send the high current to the head lights. Less current running through the switch means it will last a lot longer.

These Econolines never had dome light switches on the doors. It would not be too hard to install one from a late model car.