So, I'm about a month in to my 1965 F100 project. First was the struggle with getting the front clip off. Just about every one of the U-Clip nut broke and spun. I had to torch a bunch off. No sheet metal was irreparably harmed! Next, motor and trans came out. Trans will be given away. I think it's a t89 4 speed. The shifter was not connected to anything inside. But I wanted a 5 peed anyway
Front suspension off and front framesection cleaned awaiting the DJM dropped beams. I already have an aftermarket front disk brake kit and power booster.
Cab has been emptied, and just about nothing from the dash and existed wiring will be re-used. I'm gonna build a custom gage bezel, and use a Painless or similar wiring kit. Much easier and cleaner than working with old, hard and corroded wiring.
I've got the steering column disassembled and cleaned. The stock steering wheel needs to have some cracks fixed. The column and wheel had three coats of paint over the original blue. Kinda nasty.
Motor is at the machine shop getting the block and head work done. Surprisingly the 300 had a 240 head on it. Once I get it back, I can make the transmission adapter plate for the T5 trans. I could buy one, but I have the machinery and skill as well as the material. Plus I can get the alignment dead on by dialing in the pilot hole to be concentric with the crank rotation. They aren't always! Of course not to mention the money saved by not buying a bellhousing, block plate, and flywheel
The bed....The pictures spell it out.
It had debris in it that was years old, and I found pretty much what I expected to find. The front edge is pretty much rusted out. The bed itself is bumpy too. Layers of paint, some over dirt. So, I'll bust out the plasma cutter, and cut out the floor and build new perimeter ledges, and build an oak plank bed.
This is all gonna take a minute or two to get done!



Holy bed rust!

 

Looking forward to your progress!

 

Today is one of those that brought a smile to my face. Some of the puzzle pieces are starting to fall into place. First, the title to the truck. Advertised as "Clean." However, it had some stains. I got the word from the DMV that the transfer has been successfully processed. No more hoops to jump through. That's a big relief.

It seems these days, a lot of stuff is on back order, or just takes a long time. The DJM dropped beams are not a stock item and I got the word mine will be shipped early next week.

I have my T5 transmission, but the bellhousing was at the machine shop getting hot tanked along with the rest of the motor. I picked that up this morning, so now I can plot out the bellhousing bolt pattern and start drillin' holes in a chunk of aluminum plate. However, I'll have to wait until I get the block back, so I can lay the crank and attach a dial indicator to the flywheel end to see how concentric the transmission pilot hole is. If it is out any appreciable amount, I can correct it on the adapter plate, so it's dead on. So, that'll keep me busy for a minute or two! I'll have photos on this soon.

In the meantime, still scrubbin' parts. The thing we all love to do so much!

 

Adapter Makin' Time!
I start with a nice 10 X 9" chunk of .75" thick 6061. I've had this laying around waiting for something to do with it for nearly ten years, leftover from another project.
First, the two top holes, spaced 8.5" apart on centers. Those are fairly easy to plot out. The lowers, also 8.5" on centers, are 6.25" down, but it's kinda hard to know if they are square with the top bolt holes. Probably. But on a chunk of metal that would cost a few bucks to replace, I follow one of the practices that have served me well for many years....."Assume Nothing!"
So, I bolted it up to the bellhousing, and fortunately the mounting holes for the original trans go all the way through. So, I bust out my transfer punches and use the size that fits the minor diameter of the bolt hole to mark the lowers. Then drill those, using a 29/64th drill to provide a 64th inch clearance for each hole. With a clearance hole that tight, precise placement is very important. The test would be to bolt the plate onto the bellhousing. It did, without a single bolt binding up or requiring extra clearance.
Next is to bore the pilot hole for the new T5 trans......this is a boring job. Both literally and figuratively!
I'll leave it a bit undersized until I get the block back from the machine shop. At that point, I'll lay the crank in, and bolt the bellhousing on to check the concentricity of the original pilot hole. I can then make any corrections on the adapter plate to make sure it is concentric. Once that is done, I can use a transfer punch to locate the holes for the T5, then drill and tap those.
Until next chapter....

First hole

Pilot hole

Boring

 

Nice rust-free cab!
I just swapped in a TKX 5-speed and part of the warranty requirements was to measure and if necessary, correct the pilot to crankshaft concentricity. I was overjoyed that my original bell lined up perfectly, and almost as surprised as when my spellcheck didn't light up concentricity when I typed it in! Have fun with your build, can't wait to see it completed.

 

Yeah, the cab is in good shape. It needs a patch on the drivers side floor. But probably only a six inch square piece of sheet will do it. The windshield channel is really good, but on the cowl at the lower driver side corner, it had a bad fill job at one time, and the filler popped off allowing the area to rust. So I'll see about making a patch panel for that. Thankfully, it won't need to get into the windshield channel.

I have not measured the bellhousing concentricity yet. I should have before I disassembled the motor and sent the block off. So now I gotta wait.

And like you, I was shocked and amazed my spelling of concentricity didn't get flagged either!

 

Right here is a prime example of why you assume nothing. My guess is that the block is not original. It had a rebuilders tag on it, so it was probably exchanged sometime in it's past.

So I got the block and the rest of the stuff back from the machine shop. A couple of bearing shells were snapped in and the crank laid in. Attach a dial indicator to the end of the crank, bolt on the bellhousing and check to see if the indicator moves as the crank is rotated.

All I can say is "Holy Cow!" I'm glad I didn't take it for granted that the trans pilot hole was in the middle. .022" out of concentric. This would have chewed up the input shaft bearing on my new transmission, as well as the pilot bearing and the engine mains.

So now, I will bolt my adapter plate on the bellhousing permanently, put it up in the mill and finish boring the pilot hole for the T5 correcting the concentricity.

Zero at 12 o'clock

.022" at six o'clock

.010 to .011" at 3 and 9 o'clock

 

Whew, what a relief when Titling is cleared !!!
I just paid $500 in back penalties to transfer title on a '62 shortie 2wd Stepside pickup (Ford).
The woman at the Calif. dmv office said something about an earlier expiration of Non-Op requiring $$$.
I was so happy to get a clear title I complained once, and handed the money over. What a relief big time.

The crossmember on your chassis which cradles the tt-beams looks identical to my '77 F-350 2wd chassis which i torched out and installed front leaf springs and 4x4.

Nice work on your adapter plate you are fabbing up. Always gratifying to make something work per an idea in our brains. Two years ago, i modified an early ****** bell housing to accept a Ford T18 borg warner trans from a pickup. (was a high-on-the Bucket List item which allowed me to learn cast iron welding).

Have fun with your Re-Furb !

 

Dang Greaser. That musta been a bit of a shock! I reckon it's the chance we take when we buy stuff that doesn't have current tags.

Cast iron welding....Pretty much almost a lost art. I had to learn it years ago in a former life as a job shop machinist. A good bit of trial and error on junk material before tackling a customers job!

I think the trans that came out my truck is a T18. Not sure. The shifter spins around as if it's not connected to anything inside. I'm gonna give it away. Might be useful to someone for spare parts.

 

That T-18 just needs a pin to locate that shifter. Found that out the hard way when I got my first truck, a 62 shortbed unibody with a 4bbl 292 and 4-speed.
Picked up a couple of girls I knew to go for a ride. Driving too fast, like a 17-year-old will, I came upon a surprise red light where I learned about the limitations of the braking system. Tried to downshift but with that pin missing I couldn't find third. Went for the tight freeway onramp and learned the steering and tires limits. All it cost me was 1 wheel, 1 tire, and a bit of embarrassment in front of the girls. Pretty cheap for all those lessons I'd say.

Anyways, what I came here to say is that the place I got my trans sells offset alignment dowels for the bell. I know you don't need them but someone without your skills is bound to read this and need some. Supplier was Silver Sport Transmissions.

 

Project Update:

Sorry. No pictures this time. Block and head back from the machine shop. The block barely made .060 over. This will be its final mission. But I have no doubt it will last as long as I do! Next step on that is to clean everything squeaky clean and begin assembly. Once the pistons are in, I can measure the deck height, measure the volume of the combustion chambers in the head, and see where I’m at on compression ratio.

T5 adapter is nearly done. All that is left is to drill and tap the holes for the trans to bolt to and face it to final thickness. I got the pilot hole really close. Well within the .005" general tolerance. However, my mild to moderate OCD tendencies may have me buying offset dowels to get it perfect anyway. Maybe.

Dropped beams should be here in a few days. Once the front end is back under the truck, I can move it and get the bed off.

The rear axle and leaf springs are pretty crusty, and I’m certain the axle and pinion seals are toast. So I’ll get those out, get the rear end disassembled and send the housing, backing plates and leaf springs out to be sand blasted. Old gear oil has such a lovely aroma, I am SO looking forward to that!

 

And Another Update
It's been a productive week. I've been expecting the DJM dropped beams to arrive any time, and they finally did on Friday. Had yard work and "Honey Do's" on Saturday, bt I got the put 'em in today on Sunday. Only a couple of issues to over come, but everything went together about as smooth as front suspension can. I put the CPP spindles and brake rotors on, so I can move it from the hole it's tucked into while I worked on the front end. Now I can get the bed off and start cleaning up the rear.
One of the issues is the left side beam contacts the bottom of the crossmember in the middle. I'll have to make a bit more clearance one way or the other.
The other issue is that there is no travel limiter, such as the hooks that the original beams had to keep the beams from dropping too far when the vehicle is unloaded. I reckon the shocks provide some. Maybe that's enough. I'm not gonna do any "Duke of Hazzard" style jumps with it after all.
I haven't been slacking off while waiting for the beams. I got the interior stripped out to bare nuthin' and started stripping paint. The truck was originally two tone bleu and white inside. At some point is its past, someone painted the truck Yellowish tan. It really is a horrible color. But I have to say, they were thorough when it was done. All up inside, inside the glove box, behind the ashtray....everything. It was probably acrylic or synthetic enamel. It stripped easily with Home Depot paint stripper. I have a ways to go on that yet, but the main part of the dash is nearly done. Although the "heavy lifting" is nearly done, more sanding yet to do.
So, there we are after about seven weeks since I bought it.
Maybe I should slow down a little

 

Many of you on this board have done complete, or nearly complete disassemblies of older vehicles, and can no doubt relate...
I'm a couple months into my '65 F100 project. Getting the front clip apart was a chore, with all the rusted fasteners and broken -u-nuts. But at least it was above ground.
So now I'm moving on to removing the bed. Most of the bolts are underneath. Wasn't looking forward to it on account I'm older and not quite as flexible as I was when I was 50. Of course, all the bolts are rusted, so out comes the impact wrench.
Y'know what happens when one is under an old vehicle and starts hammering on rusty bolts with an impact?
Dirt rain! It was literally raining dirt while I was hammerin' away with the impact. I was covered in dirt! I musta swept up ten pounds of dirt when I was done for the night.
A couple more left to do, and that unpleasantness will be done!
Interestingly, it seems I won't have the same scenario with the cab. Sometime in the recent past, a previous owner had put new body mount rubbers in.....and did NOT screw the nuts back on. So it's just sitting there, held on by its own weight.
So I'd like to say thanks to that previous owner for savin' me some work!

 

Ha, at least it wasn't raining grinding dust.
Yep, i was under my Ford E250 grinding with a diamond wheel to remove hodge-podge mounts for ladder racks in rear and inside the frame rails. Between my Victor junior torch and the diamond wheel, and lots of "dexterity" (and cussing), i got all of those nasty pieces removed, and with only One piece of metal grindings in my eye. So, off to the eye doc to get it plucked out pronto.
As we all know, there are times when a Safety Shield doesn't work for the task at hand. I had to remove the rear fuel tank to wiggle in close with torch and grinder.
Be sure to let us know what method worked best for rusty bed-strip bolt removal.

 

The six bed bolts that have heads on top of the bed floor, I didn't even mess with. I just ground the tops off and punched 'em through. They most likely would have spun out the square hole in the bed floor anyway if I would have tried to unscrew 'em from the bottom. The bumper bolts were a pain, and the two bed bolts at the rear.....well those present a bit more of a challenge. Can't get an impact in there, and even the torch would be unwieldy. Since I'm cutting the steel floor out of the bed anyway (rusted out at the front where debris had gathered and left to sit), I think I'll use a hole saw to punch through the bed to gain access to the two rear bolts.
I am going to cut the rusty section of the vertical bed walls out and build a patch panel with perimeter support and a couple steel tube cross-members to put in an oak plank bed floor. Just like a styleside or early "Shiverlay" had.