When I was waiting for my truck to get here I thought about the things I wanted to do particularly.
1.Roadworthy and registered
2. Seat belts, air con, upholstery redone, good radio, engine top end clatter fixed and drive it and enjoy until I decided what else I wanted to do.

Unfortunately, things just kept coming along that I hadn't expected, front end parts to replace, charging system not working, steering wander fairly bad, whenever I hit a bump, it sounded and felt like some rather large parts were going to tear off and drop on the road.

So a lengthy and expensive stay at my mechanics, expensive visit to the suspension shop and after a while a visit to the transmission shop for, fortunately,straightforward maintenance/adjustment.

Then I decided to replace the original rear end with a Ford 8.8 rear for better cruising. I still have a bunch of things I want to do, easily spend $10,000 more on it if I had it.

So my fairly basic plan of tidy it up, fit some nice additions to make it more comfortable, get it on the road and enjoy it without a big investment straight up didn't work out.

On reflection I realised I had lost sight of my plan, simple basic work for registration, make it safe and nice to drive and enjoy it for a while before I did much to it.

I got caught up in the seemingly steady flow of things needing fixing, and didn't step back and reassess, keeping in mind my basic plan. Particularly the suspension, I got carried away. I should have just put on cheap shocks initially until I worked out how I really wanted it to be. Now it rides too hard, cost a bundle and I will have to spend more to change it somewhat.

Not that I spent a million dollars on it, but I let myself get sidetracked, and for a while I can't afford to do the things I originally wanted to do.

So, how did you get on with yours, did you have similar problems or did you do better at sticking to your original plan.

 

Mine was a bit different in that it was mostly apart when I got it and hadn't been run in an unknown number of years.

I went backwards from what should be done and started on the body work first. The reason I did is that I had never done body work before and it was such a big project. I could start it and have a minimal investment (mostly my labor) if I decided I wasn't going to stick with it.

A year and a half later I am to the last 10%, which takes most of the time.

I have the same problem in that I will plan to start one part, see something else that needs doing, and then getting sidetracked. For example, I have been meaning to start string wiring for the last 3 weeks worth of days off and haven't started yet. I have resolved that I will begin today (again).

While it is easy to lose track of the well laid-out plan, I feel that as long as I am doing something each time I work on the truck that needs doing, I am still moving forward. I figure that is better than alot of people that have a hulk residing in their garage for 10 years with grand plans that never seem to take the first step.

Good luck and keep pushing forward.

Here is where I started and where I am now. Hopefully shows that a completely unskilled goob can even accomplish something.

 

I purchased my find in 2001 (before 9/11) as a running, driving, stopping vehicle. Though the PO had cut every electrical system one by one except ignition. (Still original cloth covered wiring.)

Put it in the garage for the first couple months then put plates on it with the plan I would just take a few days off from work and bite the electrical as a full rewire in one big chunk as a single project (i.e. long weekend plus a monday or such).

Life happened, money dissappeared, she sat garaged for 8 years...
Spent a full summer "doing the electrical" which meant new interior, bumpers, adding a radio, speakers, etc - etc... lot more than the original plan.
Plates (again) and started driving it, 9 years from the time I got it.... Then discovered this site and opened my eyes.

Fortunately since then everything I have done I have actually tackled in small bites (yes I call 2 weekends and 4 days off work to do a full trans swap a small bite) - not letting it sit in the garage for months on end anymore.

 

When I bought mine in 2001 it was my only mode of transportation. It was in original fair condition and had to buy things as they broke until 2004 when I developed The Plan. So from experience, even having years to formulate a plan doesn't mean it won't change.

 

Good to hear from you Dmack and Brain. Dmack, congratulations on your progress, you have come a long and no doubt, very satisfying way with your truck. I personally think you have done wonders in a year and a half. It is really inspiring to see people such as you who have taken something that many would consign to the wreckers, and bring it back so that they, and others can enjoy them again.

I am the sort of person who would see an old car in a paddock and want to take it home to protect it and do something with it, however I know I don't have the ability. So it is a real pleasure to see stories like yours where some poor old worn out and neglected old vehicle is brought back to productive life.

What you have accomplished in your time with your truck shows that, while you may have wandered off the path you set for yourself, you were indeed using your time productively. You are also correct, I believe about the last part of the job being the hardest. That is when many fall away I reckon in the last stretch. Good luck with your build, hope you are cruising soon.

Brain, yes life has a real trick of getting in the way of having fun, doesn't it. I envy those who are so single minded that they overcome all sort of obstructions to keep on chasing and ultimately achieve their goal, whether sports, business life, family success or building great cars/trucks/motorbikes or whatever it may be.

Biting off small achievable chunks is a great way of getting there. I think it is easy to get overwhelmed by the size of a task, the chinese saying along the lines of for a great journey, taking the first step and then one at a time after that will get you there, is simple but true. Good luck with your finishing off.

 

I pulled my truck out of a guy's back yard where it had sat for nearly 5 years. No motor or transmission, but it did already have a 9 inch rear installed. Got it home, removed the body (all of it) and started at the bottom.

I'm really picky about suspension and brakes, so that's where I started almost a year ago. I started with boxing the front frame and building motor and transmission mounts.

So far I've had the front axle stretched for a 3 inch drop, new kingpins, power disc brake upgrade, new tie rod ends & tie rod bar, new reversed-eye main leaf, new spring pins and bushings, and just installed the front shocks a couple of weeks ago. I've also flipped the rear end on top of the springs, notched the rear frame, rebuilt the rear brakes, installed new seals and axle bearings, added lower shock mounts, and built an upper shock mount.

Also installed a gas tank from a late 60's Mustang in the rear of the frame.

I do body work while saving money for other parts, so hopefully everything will come together about the same time.

I was lucky enough to get a parts truck, as well as a 302 and C4 transmission as part of the deal, so I had a pretty decent start, but still have countless hours invested!!!

I try to set a goal of completing one small task a week. Sometimes it's repairing a fender, sometimes it's installing shock mounts, sometimes it nothing more than stripping old paint. Like the other guys have said, turn it into a bunch of small projects instead of one large project. It's much easier to feel like you've gotten something done, and if you post pictures here and share what you've done you will get LOTS of feedback and encouragement.

I also take a week off every couple of months, just to give myself a break, especially if something is starting to frustrate me. I find that by the end of that week I'm really anxious to get back to work on the truck.

 

54Texas,yes I guess a plan has to have a certain degree of flexibility to cope with unforeseen things. I am just disappointed that I didn't control it, virtually left it to others to decide. Sticking to your plan or not, your truck looks great, and if you can reliably drive it whenever and wherever you wish, you are doing pretty well in anybodies book.

Tiredood, you have done like Dmack I guess, determined to always achieve something even if it is not strictly according to the plan perhaps. You are in control, good luck with it all.

 

I bought mine 2 summer's ago, during a mid life crisis. My plan's were to slap a drive train in it, wire it, prime it, and drive it. Well, that didn't happen. My wife was not happy when I bought it. Since then she has warmed up to it, and wants it done properly. When I bought it, all the body work had been done except the finish work. She said it would be a shame not to paint it. Then she wanted an EFI drive train, and all the comfy bell's and whistles. I'm retaining the original strait axle all rebuilt with lowering springs up front and the Toyota PS. This is a father and son's project (kid's are 15 & 8yrs old). I really hope to be driving it in 2 to 3 years. Good luck with your project.

 

I saw P. A. D. D. in someone's signature recently and I think that sums up my issues with keeping things on track. Project Attention Deficit Disorder.

 

If your truck rides hard after changing the shocks, cheap or expensive, they are the wrong ones! The price of shocks does correlate to quality, but harsh ride means they are valved too stiff for the springs. Shocks are meant to dampen the oscillations of the springs, not to become the springs.

 

Yes...I had a plan. I was going to simply get my F2 running, go through the brakes & change all of the fluids and tune it up....upholster the mouse nest seat and drive it around in its beat-up state.

That didn't happen. I converted it to an F1, changed the engine to a 351w with a C6 trans, and a 9" rear end...and IFS. She also got a new bed and fenders. I did upholster the seat, so that went to plan, but none of the rest was on the original plan.

Dan

 

Hello Ax, the springs were reset to raise the truck by about an inch or so all round for 2 reasons.
1. the rear axle is on top of the spring without modifying the frame and frame was on the bump stops. About an inch and a half made a reasonable difference, however I just put in a 8.8 rear axle with thicker axle tubes I think and have probably lost some of that.
2. Steering wandered a lot, adjusted steering box, helped, has bias ply tyres, I wanted to replace with radials, for several reasons am still waiting. Suspension shop said the suspension had to go up an inch to straighten out the steering arms for better steering/less bump steer.

In our discussion we talked about "old man comfortable ride". However I also said that I didn't want it swaying around on corners, so they put in a pretty tough set of front coil overs in the Nova front end. Because I was still fiddling with it, I didn't drive it a lot and what driving I did seemed pretty good. It wasn't till some time later that I started to get further afield that I drove on some crook roads and realised that it was banging around and not driving like my Corolla or Tarago for example. It had been a while by then and for various reasons I never got back to the suspension shop.

I think now that to stop any roll on cornering, should be more the job of a good roll bar than front springs and probably too hard shocks. As I say I didn't spend a million bucks on it but I spent a lot more than I had intended, didn't ultimately get the result I wanted and spent money that I had intended to do other things on it (www radials for one). I got caught up in a problem that arose and did not step back to consider how things were going and how it affected my initial plan or even if I was gettng my old man comfortable ride for example.

 

This is probably not the type of answer you are looking for, but here is my plan. It's the same I used on the Bronco and is designed to (go with the flow or lack there of).

1. Get it licensed and get it home. Completed !
2. Make it safe, Tires, Brakes, can steer between the ditches, doors stay closed. Working on !
3. Get it running. Motor starts, doesn't over heat, Trans shifts, doesn't leak.
4. Make it reliable. ( My wife could drive it to the store and I wouldn't be worried)
5. Start using it as a daily driver and see what I would like to add / change / remove.
6. Start modifying as required mechanically, interior, exterior in that order.
7. Make it look nice.

 

Reminds me of an old saying:
Life is what happens while you are making plans.

This is the way a number of my projects go as well...the pile of parts in the back of the garage testify to modifications to the "plan" that I have made.

 

I got mine in 2010 and planned on just getting it running without doing too much. The PO I bought it from got it as a gift from his wife and daughter, but he worked way too much and let it sit for 5 years before deciding to sell. The previous PO had installed a SBC, TH350 and really hacked it up to do it. No motor mounts, the trans cross was just a piece of 1/4" flat stock with one bolt in the trans and not connected at all to the frame. It just sat on the frame rail. The wiring was a mess and it needed all new suspension parts. Every bushing on the springs were wasted, etc. I started taking it apart slowly hoping to just fix a few things but it had so much of it butchered that I ended up taking it completely apart and slowly rebuilding it. I did not plan on doing it, it just happened like so much of life does. Now it has an 8.8 31 spline with 3.73 gears, new rear springs, the SBC completely rebuilt with a few mods, a 700R4, MII IFS, 4 w disc brakes, gauges, working on the interior, paint, and many hours. I still have a ways to go as I haven't finished the interior or the bed yet. So, the plan evolves as life goes on...