Thanks, that's good advice! One of my first purchases was to get a downloadable shop manual. I also bought a hard copy Chilton truck repair manual that covers the 60s and 70s. Even though I'm a tech person, sometimes it's much better to be flipping through the pages. I used that book a lot when I did the carb rebuild.

 

Thanks! I actually read through your posts before posting mine. It was fun to watch your amazing journey and I'm looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

I find working on it therapeutic as well. Right now I spend about the same amount of time sitting in a chair staring at it as I do actually working on it. I'll start on a project and then just need some time to think. This may sound strange, but I find it very peaceful to slide under her for something (like check out the shift linkage or emergency brake) and then just lay there for a bit. I look at all the grime and all the bolts and think about all the people who are connected to this truck...from the people who first tightened those bolts in the factory to the person who inexplicably sank the front driver's side wheel in the mud up to the axle (and left it muddy)...there are so many interconnected stories that will never be fully known or told. But it's somehow relaxing and peaceful to think about.

My biggest need right now is that I'm doing all this alone. It'd be nice to have people I could call for advice or come over to give me a hand on a two-person job. But that's why I'm here in these forums. There's so much knowledge, and people are so generous in sharing it.

 

Couldn't write or say it better if I tried.

When I fist got my truck, I spent countless hours sitting in the barn searching the internet for bits of information (I hadn't fully discovered or joined FTE at that point) and I often would grab a creeper, slide beneath (no need for jacking her up for quick glimpse if I suck in my gut a little...or let gravity help), and find myself doing exactly what you wrote. Sometimes tracing a wire, or seeing something that I would make a mental note to address at some future point. I think most of all, I enjoy the simplicity of it all. In these trying times where nothing is simple any longer, it's nice to work on something that is what it is and is what you see.

As for the extra hands...I get that too. I was lucky, on the project I was working at in Virginia, the neighbour, was also the son of the original owner, he and his siblings had sold the farm to my customer. Anyway, Dickie was a retired navy master mechanic and after the military had done just about everything any one person could do. Some might mistakenly think he was a bit slow, NO, if anything, I found that he was one of the most intelligent people I had ever met. And a finer human being would be difficult to track down. Anyway, he was a bowtie man through and through, and yet, he still knew more about my truck than most professionals, and was invaluable in a pinch helping me get something fixed when outside my wheelhouse of skills, like brazing an exhaust manifold crack.

Hopefully, either from this site, or when you are able to get out and take Rosebud for a cruise, you will meet some other vintage car and truck enthusiasts and one will be close enough to offer a hand when you need it and you will be able to do the same. It was rare, when I was out and about in my '66 to not spark up some conversation with a complete stranger who had one, or whose daddy or great grandaddy had a slick they remembered. Or someone who just liked old rides. I met some fine folks that way.

 

David, how are things with Rosebud Grace? Thought I would drop you a quick post, and ask if you have anything you want share?

 

Things are going great, thanks for asking! I've still be working through things both randomly and methodically. I took apart the front brakes, cleaned them thoroughly, and put them back together. They actually weren't bad, so that's good. I re-packed the bearings and got everything back together successfully, so it was a pretty good experience. I didn't replace anything (but grease), but now I understand how they work much better. I just ordered a kit to replace the springs and other bits and pieces of the brake, so I plan to do that soon. The self-adjuster was the only thing that seems to need some love, which is why I ordered those parts. I'll go ahead and replace the springs when I replace the self adjustment hardware.

There's been an occasional small puddle of oil appearing under it on occasion. It's under the transmission, but it doesn't seem to be transmission oil. My theory is that it's leaking from the valve covers and making its way down to the transmission before dripping onto the ground. So I took the valve covers off, cleaned them up and painted them blue, then put them back on with a new gasket. I'll wait a week before declaring it a success, but I'm hopeful. If nothing else, it's got a bit more blue under the hood now. I don't know why that brings me so much joy, but it does so I'll keep doing it. That bolt near the firewall on the driver side is pretty hard to get to, so I went ahead and sat in the engine bay to get to it. That was unique, but it worked.

I'm driving her in the Centeniall Route 66 parade this coming Saturday, so I spent a bit of time this weekend finally doing some cleaning. I tried a bunch of different things, but eventually got some Meguir's polish. With a bit of elbow grease, that ended up looking very nice. It cut through the oxidation and brought out the original color nicely. I only had time to do that on one side of the bed...hopefully I'll have time to do the rest of the truck sometime this week and then put some patina protector on it so she's shiny for the record breaking parade.

I'll try and post pics from the parade next week.

Boosh

 

Looking better under the hood! It's quite the undertaking getting YEARS of oxidation and crud off the paint! I've found 3M Body Scrub and sometimes Baking Soda mixed into a slimy paste with water speeds up the process "a bit" not much, but it does help with heavier oxidation. I need to do this to Shrek my 66 F100 again then coat him with Poppys or something similar, I did the Mineral Spirits/Boild Linseed Oil once, since he lives outside the shop, it lasted maybe 6-8 mos.

Pics from shortly after I got him, scrubbed up with scotchbrite then waxed the non-rusted (aka Patina'd) areas. It takes time, I worked on doing a fender an evening so as not to get burnt out.

 

David, glad to read you are making progress, and yes, I can understand the small milestones, bringing a sense of accomplishment and joy.

Great photo, funny, I can remember working on our family '70 F250 crew cab back when I was in high school. I can remember it was raining slightly, the truck was parked down on the street, and I was changing rocker assemblies...I think....but what I remember most, is sitting on the inner fender, with my feet on the frame rail, working "under cover of the hood." Not sure how I ever fit, but that 35 years, and 80 some odd pounds ago.

Keep up the good work, and keep us posted.