So I've had this 1976 F100 for about a month, and just driving it as-is. I've got a load of want-to-do things like carb, exhaust, suspension bushings, etc.. Spent all day working on my truck. My intention had been to complete the following:

check clutch adjustment
check parking brake adjustment
evaluate cab/floorpan rust
evaluate exhaust
just generally look over the truck

Started off just laying on a creeper, scooting around under the truck with a big screwdriver and flashlight. Surprisingly solid, for a 30 year old truck that spent a few years in Washington state. Mostly paint just starting to flake off of light surface rust. The driver's floorboard is gone, and the corner of the cab next to the dimmer switch is rusted on the outside and will have to be repaired. That whole lower side of the cab is rusty and needs to be wire-brushed and repainted.

Parking brake doesn't work. I need to pull the rear wheels and redo the brakes.

There's alot of play in the differential.

The rear driveshaft may be the wrong length. There's alot of exposed splines and alot of side-side play in the slip joint. Like the driveshaft should be about 2 inches longer.

Plugs look OK. Wire connectors were a little corroded, and the truck seems to run a little better after playing with the wire from the coil. Autolites. My 88 had Autolites back out and fail continuously. These plugs seem OK. Maybe I'll change to something else and it'll be night and day. Champions worked best in my 88, and someone told me AC Delco plugs worked great, in everything he had, from a 3.5HP Briggs & Stratton to a racing motorcycle.

Went to the local Advance Auto to get a thermostat, gasket and antifreeze. Got a Stant Superstat "heavy duty", for $7. Regular was $6, and cheapo was $4. Why cheap out on $3? But that's the next paragraph. While I was there, I saw, lo-and-behold, Ford door hinge rebuild kits. One pin, two brass bushings. You drill out the inner hinge bracket for the new bushings. The door had alot of sag in it, and the bottom rubbed against the fender. So I bought two, went back and unbolted the door. The top hinge was tight, but the bottom just rattled. Wouldn't you know it, the hinge pins are too short, by like 3/8". So WTF. My friend and I get in his car and go back and get the "universal" kits, which are a half inch longer. So, I go to pull the hinge pins out. I start with a sharp cold chisel and take the center-punched "head" clean off the top pin and try to drive the pin through. Fugeddaboudit. So my friend hands me a Sawzall, and I cut the pin in half and then drove a cold chisel into the cut. Well that worked great. Then I had to drill out the original bushings. Or did these trucks have bushings? I chucked up a drill bit in a big-ol Milwaukee and went at it. As soon as the drill bit, the bushing spun. Oh? Someone had already used one of these rebuild kits on this truck! The top most one just pulled out still stuck to the bit. So I just used a chisel and drift pin to destroy the other bushings and send them skittering across the garage. The bushings in the "Ford" kit fit tightly into the hinges. The "universal" bushings were loose and never would have worked. After some framing-hammer violence, the new bushings were in, and the hinges back together. The new pins just pound in themselves. Door swings like new.

So after the door and dinner, I decided to do the thermostat. Drained the coolant; it was dirty green, but green, with no oil slick or anything bad. Bolts out and a tap with a hammer popped it free. Cleaned the surfaces up with a chisel, popped the new 'stat in, and torqued it down. Poured in some 50/50 ,and IT STARTED LEAKING! Argh! The housing had cracked while torquing it down. I pulled it back apart, and sure enough, big crack. I called the local Advance and got an incompetent night-shift guy who said they didn't carry the part. WTF? I just bought a gasket for this part... So we actually went over. My friend suggested using a high-performance chrome part. They had SB Ford thermostat housings, and the 'stat hole and heater hole lined up. Just the bolt holes were an eight inch too close together. So I had the manager look up the part, and yes, they do carry the part, but they were out of stock. But one store 15 miles away had one, so we ran up there and got it. Bolted it all together, and...IT STILL LEAKED. Pulled it all apart, and found that the 'stat had slipped out of place. Some RTV, and presto, it was perfect. I looked at the crack on the old housing. Yes, I didn't tighten the bolts symmetrically. But the fracture itself was dirty. A fresh break would have been shiny. It had been cracked forever, just not leaking too bad. So no, I didn't break a part. I just found a defective one. I should write a letter to Ford...

The truck needs a new battery. I didn't realize it, but the bottles of steering fluid and brake fluid tucked next to the battery...are in the excess space on the battery tray. I thought the battery looked sissy, but didn't look close enough. Get this on the rating: 450CCA. No wonder the truck starts slow in the morning!

The rear bumper is aftermarket. It's really built. The whole thing is thick steel, with bracing and cross-bracing. Forget the U-Haul add-a-hitch. This is an extension of the frame, on steriods. There's big helper springs, too. Though it's got manual brakes, this seems like a very stout F100.

It's got no-name tires, but with lots of tread left. I've had good luck with Uniroyal AS6000's in rain and snow on other heavy RWD vehicles, so that's what I'm going to use. There's some random wires in the cab from a previous stereo. Someone ghetto-rigged radio power by jamming a wire into the fuse block. There's two connectors that are disconnected under the hood and one along the left framerail. License-plate lights are disconnected. A multi-wire cable running from a round 6-pin connector under the bumper to a trailering connector at the rear; I think this truck was pulled behind a Winnebago or something, and they used the trailering connector to run the taillights.

There's a wire that runs under the drivers floormat to under the seat. Anyone know what this is? Seatbelt warning? It was broken where the floorboard was rusted away.

So that's it for now. Door hinges, thermostat, and a lot of poking and prodding. I can cross a number off my spreadsheet of things to do. I'll post pictures in the future. I've got a set of Gas-Magnum shocks on order at Advance.

Thanks for reading! I'll keep you all apprised of the progress of this great old truck.

 

Ahhh.....
Dont you just love fixing all the mistakes of your trucks PO (Previous Owner).
Def get some pics up as you go.

 

Nice looking truck. The wire should be for the seat belts. You will have fun going to the bone yard, and you can also find alot of stuff on ebay and from the sponsers on here. I have a 78 f250 4x4 that I use as a daily driver. Forgot more than I knew about fixing it. But haveing a good time getting it back in shape. Have fun with yours. Erv

 

"evaluate exhaust"

I lost the picture... ? /~alvinj/file12/Ypipe.jpg

Finally get to talk about my exhaust. ;)

The original Y pipe from the factory was a joke played on me and everybody else that bought one. :/

The hole on one side of the "straight" pipe was a ragged torch-cut football shaped hole the size of a golf ball, at the most. I cut the Y and made a V;) and using a hand grinder with a "plug" style grinding wheel turned my Y pipe into something that looked like a top-quality header collector inside.

The results felt like the left side of the engine (360FE) gained two cylinders.

That's pretty cool until I think out the 25 years I drove it the old way. :/

I like my old Ford pickup but I'm not in-love with Ford. Is that ok? :)

Alvin in AZ

 

As far as the driveshaft...I had the same situation. DS looked too short. Come to find out, my truck should have had a CV joint by the transfer case. Somebody had removed it and used a shaft that was "close enough". Anyways, I went to the JY and found another one. Problem solved.