My wife was looking for a project. We recently found this ad:
Quote
Nice '60 F100, been setting alot of years when I got it. I got the original 223 6 banger running good, rebuilt the carb, new fuel pump and radiator. Brakes have been gone thru with rebuilt cylinders and new shoes. Has a stepside bed on it, no floor in the bed . It was a long wheel base truck at one point, the frame has been sectioned to make it a swb and the rear was flipped to lower it. Very little rust, hell the horn still blows and gauges work! Clean title. Would make an excellent old school truck to kick around in.[/Quote]


We went and looked at it. My wife and I both liked it. It is a project truck that will need some work, but running is a good place to start. The rust is minimal and fixable. I'll need to figure out what I want and what I can afford to do.

So here is where my project is beginning.



It is running, but not drivable at the moment. My plan is to get it on the road, then restore it as a running project. This is going to be a daily runner and not necessarily a show truck, but I hope in the end it looks nice overall. So I'm hoping to do as much as possible without taking it off of the road.

 

Heck, the best part of this deal is you have a wife that looks for truck projects and can see potential in this truck. My wife would never do this, in fact if it's not on a new car dealer's lot she won't look at it. Trucks come and go but finding a wife that enables your truck addition is very rare.

The truck looks like a solid vehicle. It looks like it won't take much at all to get it back on the road and when you run the wheels off of it and enjoy.

 

yup, I'm a lucky man.

My wife likes working on projects along side of me. She gets frustrated sometimes, but she'll come back and keep working.

We were on a bike trip with some friends. She was the only gal on the trip. The spark plugs fouled out on my Yamaha XS1100, so, the group pulled into a parts store and I picked up four fresh ones. I pulled a ratchet and socket out of my tool kit. I took out two plugs and handed the ratchet to my wife. She took out the two on her side and put in the fresh plugs and handed the ratchet back so I could install my side. No questions. No comments. Just get the work done. My buddies were Really impressed.

I think my wife would have liked a little fatter fender on this project, but she does like that 60 head light/front so she's sold on it.

Last night we were discussing how to fix the bed and wheel options.

Your right Bob, that is the best part of this project---sharing it with my wife.

 

Did I read that right? "my wife was looking for a project"???

To heck with the truck, post some pics of this extraordinary woman! She's worth her weight in gold. LOL

My wife tolerates my truck habit, and will on occasion pretend to show some interest but, she is by no means an active participant.

Welcome to the board!
Bobby

 

Big IV,
Looks like you have a good one there. Good luck with your "new" truck.
brian...

 

Welcome and good luck! (my wife would rather disown me if I brought another home....it's come to that)

 

Big IV, as we say here in Kentucky---she's a keeper----her and the truck.

 

The weather is threatening to turn threatening the next few days, so I knocked off work a few minutes early and rushed home. Dad and I hooked up the tow dolley and grabbed the supplies and off we went to pick up the truck. It is fun having the right toys.

One of the guys at the shop where I bought it explained that they didn't have a front bumper that would fit so they cut a '66 Chevy bumper to fit tight. It looks good. Needs to be painted to hide the bare metal.

The guys at the shop where I bought it pushed a race car out of the way, moved some other projects around, and position the tow dolley. The truck cranks, but was parked empty of gas so we used a come-a-long to load it on the dolley. I convinced them to let me hold onto their welding vice grips because that is that is currently holding the bed to the frame. It towed well.

When we got it home we rolled it off the dolley. I put a gallon of gas in it and the truck turned over on the first try. We splashed a little gas in the carb, I reminded Dad about the choke, and she cranked up.

The muffler ends under the cab so it is smoking exhaust between the frame rails, but that is fixable. Sounds good.

Dad showed me the shift pattern on the column. I had to fight the choke, cold air, and unknown clutch but I did manage to move it across the yard before the killing to many times for the generator to catch up. I need to drag the battery charger over there.

So far she sounds good. My wife got to hear her run today. She likes the throaty rumble. She's excited.

Now the work and pondering can begin. I'm going to need under bed rails soon so I can attach the bed to the frame. It's a 60 long wheel base that has been sectioned and shortened to a short wheel base length. The rear end has been flipped and the frame has been adjusted for proper suspension over the rear axel. The under bed rails are next with the scrubbing.