TLDR; questions are just above the first picture.
Hello FTE,

Jumping right in, this truck had a long career delivering propane tanks and was converted to propane upon delivery with it's 460, ZF S5-42, 2wd, and likely gifted a Ferrari GR 2300s at the same time. Before I became the owner it had belonged to a farmer when the Sterling 10.25" came apart and they pulled the truck with a tractor. It was put up for sale after a rattle can paint job and I picked it up for cheap. The differential carrier was in pieces so I opted for a Detroit Truetrac and Yukon gears. When the shop where I had the work done tried to drive the truck out of the shop the Impco evaporator started spewing raw propane, they called me and I had them push it outside where I rebuild the evaporator in the parking lot, driving home afterward. Soon after it was obvious that the motor needed to be rebuilt and the project stalled for two years. The motor was rebuilt, along with a flywheel resurface, by Parkland Performance in August of '21. Since then I have worked slowly to this point with increased urgency and I want to share as well as tap into some knowledge here.

I have been asked by non-car people who look at this and ask "is it worth it" and I say yes. I am not building a show truck, this is a work truck. I expect to collect firewood, haul cars, pickup stuff, perform as a welding truck. If I can do that all for under 20g and have a truck that is reliable I don't care what the cab looks like. Not to say I wont clean it up some.

I am very close to starting this truck, if I were to give it a cooling system, fuel, and vacuum lines I believe it will run.

A list of things done:
Stockish engine rebuild by Parkland Performance, .060" over with compression <10:1. Impco limits me to 350ish hp and the 5 speed limits me to 420 ft.lbs, all according to manufacturer's documentation.
FloMaster 70, 2 in 1 out, along with patching up the old exhaust.
Luk Clutch, Full Face 12.313" disk
VH44 booster on clutch with S/S hard lines, lines not installed.
Detriot Truetrac with Yukon 4.10
Core support rot repair, finished with Por-15 and a top coat.
Live oil gauge, copper line.
AutoMeter 2" 5k RPM installed with a 3D printed bracket utilizing coin slide, I did this to avoid modifying the dash.
Thicker welded radiator
Small diameter distributor, custom dual curve by Parkland Performance.
High vibration coil, custom mount.
Air pump and smog delete, forced me to purchase a carb spacer which I had to weld the porting and bore out, Transadapt 2119.
Clutch pedal heim joint mod
Energy Performance body mounts.
New light switch and dimmer.
New master, slave, brake booster and brake master.
Powermaster Starter 9605. I am using the fender relay to trigger the starter relay.
Powermaster Alternator 8-47141, I think this is broken, wired and tested to 2400 RPM there is no load and my battery, 12.6v, remains the same.
Painless 30812, Clean plugs are the best plugs
March 30200-08, Yes I butchered this piece to get the alternator where I wanted it.
Amazon idle control thingy

Since there is a four year gap between assembling and starting should I have any concerns with this engine? Manually primed, BR30 oil, and about 7 revs on the starter to check timing.
Where do these sheet metal pieces go? Yes I cleaned and painted one without knowing where it goes, the other one was hiding
*edit* the painted one goes below the battery tray, bolting to the core support and the dirty piece holds the wash/overflow tank to the driver's fender

What are these and where do they go?

What are these and where do they go?

 

I'm guessing the parts are interior door panels. But that's just a guess.

 

I went down a similar path with my truck, although not as thorough, because I didn't rebuild the engine or transmission.
It's totally worth it to me. I also get it, that people may need a more modern vehicle with more seating and one that's easier for other family members to drive, but my first car was a truck. My first job is where I learned to drive a three speed on the column.
What I won't do is pay 50 or 70 grand for a truck or car for that matter. But that's me, and my choices.
I actually don't want tire pressure sensors, back up cameras, lane sensors, traction control, etc. For me, that stuff just adds to things that can break and become more and more difficult to find replacements for over time.
It took me 8 years, because life happens, but I took my truck from this:


To this:

 

I see that we are of a similar mind, Soup. May your work give you many miles of smiles!

Regarding my mystery metal, I have not touched the doors and I am positive they came from the engine bay. I will continue the ritual of holding them in different orientations around the bay.

 

After comparing to a '92 250 460 the dirty bracket is for the wash/overflow and in my case mounts flat to the driver's fender and the painted one goes below the battery tray, bolting to the core support.

 

On Friday I started my 460 to do the break in, as I was climbing to 2k RPM at 1.8k the distributor seized shearing the drive gear pins on the distributor causing the engine to immediately shut down. Thankfully I didn't do any extended cranking, only enough to determine that I had no spark as I was trouble shooting the problem. I went ahead and inspected the timing set for damage as well as the cam gear and I found nothing so I will reassemble everything and give it another shot!

 

OUCH!!!!. i hope that was the only damage!

 

Sorry to hear of the trouble.
Are you sure the dist. locked up and not the oil pump?
Before you drop the disst. in turn the oil pump a few times to make sure it turns freely.

BTW I did a 4 year cab off frame rebuild of my 81 F100, did not have to rebuild motor, trans (did have to swap it, or rear axle but everything else did need rebuilding!
I haul the weekly trash to the dump with it and why I bought it, and no computer so you can work on it when needed!




Been on the road 5 years now and over 28K miles, love driving it.
Good luck on the restart
Dave ----

 

tjc, I turned the engine a little bit by hand with a valve cover off and I don't think there is any other damage. I suppose a bearing may of taken a beating since there was no oil pump running while I was diagnosing the problem but I also kept cranking durations short as I was just checking for spark. I was operating under the assumption that my ICM or supporting wiring was the culprit.

Dave, I have yet to try and spin the oil pump and you are correct to suggest it, I will do that before installing the dist. I wanted to make sure I didn't get any Anit-freeze in the oil before I do that. I have the dist out and it is locked up tighter than a jewelry store in a riot while the gear can spin on the shaft. There appears to be no damage to the hex drive or the intermediate shaft.

I bought the truck with a R.U.D. Sterling 10.25 and a suck exh valve on #4, between that and the passage of time it was necessary to rebuild the engine and repair some sheet metal. I send an email to Scott from Parkland Performance about the situation, hopefully on Monday he sends me something back!

*edit* Scott emailed me back. I sent him some photos and linked him to this thread as well.

 

Ok just did not want you to drop another dist. in only to find the oil pump lock and the cause.
I think just for S&G I would still turn the pump so I knew it was good.

I dont think I have seen a dist. lock up before? Maybe it was washed in parts cleaner and the bushings got hurt?
Dave ----

 

The distributorless 3.0L Vulcans were good for that....they make a fair bit of noise before they die......and lose oil pressure/wipe out cam gear.

Dry bushings be my guess in the OP's case. I have a few old parts distributors in the shop that don't turn or have tight spots. I've freed up a few by filling the area under the breaker plate/pick up plate with oil and it eventually wicks down the shaft.

 

Scott said that these distributors rarely fail. I should have more information to post Wednesday when I visit his shop.

 

I was able to complete the cam break-in a couple days ago. Everything seems good except for a couple of leaks, one is minor (valve covers) and the other is from the transmission, ZF S5-42.

Inside the bellhousing is an aluminum domed, or welsh style, freeze plug which has become dislodged. I don't think there was any pressure in the trans because the inner shift boot is old and torn, I can't think of any event which might of caused it to move so I think it was installed poorly. Finding it's replacement is becoming a chore. It does not appear on any diagrams or parts list that I can find, nor do any of the available rebuild kit include it. The only place I have been able to find an aluminum replacement is with the Hubbard Spring Company but they only have the option to request a quote, I also sent a message to a trans shop that works on ZFs. Now I have been able to find steel units, 45mm or 1.770" so my questions are: Does anyone know of a better source for this or has anyone used a steel replacement?

*edit*
The previous distributor had steel bushings in it and not enough oil got there in time, sheared the drive gear pin. I left my PTO assembled and just flushed it out with some ATF, spins free and smooth.