I'm bored at work, wishing I was at home working on my truck. So why not write about it instead! Besides, all my co-workers have already heard me talk about it enough.

So this is my 68 F100, I bought it from a buddy a little over a year ago and it has just sat on my property while I have made no concrete plans for it. Mainly due to needing to focus money elsewhere like kids and grandkids.

When the truck was parked out at my property I knew it was in need of work to be a driver, I figured I would at least go and start it once a month and managed to do that most of the time, but it was always a chore to start, eventually getting so bad I would have to stick a breaker bar through the header and tap the starter like I was taking a pool shot while bridging the solenoid.

Recently, I have decided to get it at least running and driving, and let the kid take it to school and work in town, then I'm hoping that can motivate me to do some more with it.

 

Now why would this truck be called "Twig"?

Well my buddy I bought it from named it Sheila, but I have one particular family member that shares the name I'm not particularly fond of. And I'll be damned if she ever thought we named a truck after her, so that wasn't going to fly.

So instead I named it after a cat!

Now to be fair, this cat actually spends more time with me when I work on the truck than anyone else, animal or human. It's just like he knows when I'm outside and comes to find me... I shower daily I promise.

So yes, the truck is named after the cat that hangs out with me while I work on it, and the name fits the truck about as well as it fits this fat cat... meaning that it doesn't.

I should probably also mention that this is my neighbor's cat, and that I used to call him Fat Twig until my neighbor's daughter heard me say it and got all 2022 offended, so now I check my surroundings first.

 

Now I realize that picture may have some spoilers in it, since it was from a couple nights ago, and there is much story to tell between now and then... Just try to ignore the engine compartment in that one. I'm on a work computer and that severely hampers any type of photo editing I can do atm.

Anyhow, Twig has had it's original unknown motor swapped for a 351 Windsor, mounted to a C6. With an Edelbrock Performer 1406 carburetor with Mallory Ignition and Unilight Distributor. Internals are unknown as far as bottom end or cam. Heads are also unknown although at some point I will get the casting numbers off the block and heads as well as the rear end to get a more complete picture of what I'm working with.

Feel free to point out any points of concern you see, although I am aware of a few off-hand:

• Bailing Wire connecting the accelerator to the carb... Not the first time I've seen something like that, probably won't be the last or the worst
• Fire Extinguisher... mounted in the last thing you probably want to open to grab a fire extinguisher when your truck is on fire. Turns out the trigger was broken anyways so that was donated to my local trash bin.
• Ratchet Strap on the battery... I mean, it could NOT have a ratchet strap on the battery so it's probably better this way for now.

 

First step was giving this dirty girl a bath.

I guess I should thank Derek/Vice Grip Garage for giving me the motivation to go at it this hard. I am about as much of a fan of the current paint job as I am in calling the truck Sheila. But after seeing the things he did with a few vehicles, even if they were destined to be re-painted later on gave me the motivation to start getting Twig cleaned up and looking better, even if I would love to see some different color on it if I ever do get involved into it enough to paint it.

So I busted out the pressure washer, went through and blasted all the stuff out of the paint I could, went through the whole truck with a buffing compound, then finished it off with a good ol Hard Shell Turtle Wax that I completely bunged up in letting it dry too long before buffing. Probably hard to tell the before from after but I'll show em to you anyways, with a easier to see half power-washed hood shot.

 

Looks like you have a good start there.

 

I decided my first thing to tackle was the charging system, a quick voltage reading confirmed to me that the battery was not charging while the engine was running. I bought a voltage regulator and a starter solenoid when I ran by the parts store so I had those on-hand and figured it would be good to replace them to prevent a future headache if nothing else.

I go to replace the voltage regulator, just to find out it didn't have one in the normal location by the battery. So I take the alternator off to get a look at it and sure enough, it had been converted to a GM-style one-wire alternator. Albeit they managed to hook three wires up to it.

So I take it off and haul it down to AutoZone to let them test it. When I get in the store the associate asks what vehicle it was off of. I explained to him that it was a 68 F100 that has a motor in it that was not available that year, and an alternator that didn't belong to that maker. He was not amused and curtly explained that he needed to know the vehicle the alternator came from so he could look up hookup instructions for the test bench.

And that, my friends, is the story of why I try to avoid AutoZone.

I jest, I actually had guessed that would happen and did enough research beforehand to tell him to look up the instructions for a 1980 Chevy C10 with a 5.7 V8. So he proceeded to test the alternator and it was fine. To be honest, I actually wish it had been the problem since I was hoping to avoid the rabbit hole of digging into 50+-year-old electrical that has been "modified" countless times since leaving the dealership. But I'm not that lucky.

 

My first thought was what a great paintjob! Classic! and appropriate for that era truck.
(better than fake patina, right?)

At risk of being charged with hijacking a thread, may I show a picture of another great paintjob of that genre;


check it out.

 

That's a nice looking truck! Even has the matching wheels and whitewalls to boot.

The color on mine is ok, not something I hate, not something I love. My biggest complaint is just that they painted everything, front bumper and grille, dash bezel, it's all painted.

 

Deleted, sorry wrong forum.