My 1991 F-Super Duty & H&H 20 foot trailer
 

I bought this beast back in Oct. 2009. It has a 7.3L IDI diesel engine in it with a ZF 5spd, Dana 80 rear end with disc brakes and 5.13 gears. It has around 126,000 miles on it.

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I've had it around a year and a half and I've only put about 30 miles on it. I bought this with very little knowledge about the truck diesels. My only real diesel experience before this was fixing my dad's VW diesel rabbits he use to own. And I rented a U-haul box truck to help my youngest brother move a few years back. It was completely gutless and would barely do 55mph empty! This kind of had me worried about buying an older Ford diesel truck when I found this one.

This truck was listed on an online auction ( not ebay ) . They had an inspection day to check out all the items they were selling. So I went and checked out the truck. I didn't really know what to look at with the diesel engine. But I started it up and ran it some. It seemed ok to me. I didn't know to check and make sure it wasn't started and warmed up. So I had no clue about any cold start issues.

I ended up winning the auction for the truck and I also bought another 20 foot car trailer in another auction at the same place.

Here's a pic of the trailer. It's a H&H Speed loader MX tilt bed trailer. It's rated for 12,500 pounds. Which is the reason I got it. I wanted a heavier trailer. I found out I hate the tilt bed!:-X04 So I'm building some tall sides for it and am going to use it for hauling scrap metal.:D

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So I went and picked up the truck and trailer. The truck started fine ( the owner had warmed it up earlier ) . I drove the truck home ( hauled the trailer home behind it ) . It ran great, great power, just a slight haze of black smoke when you really got on it. I got home and backed the trailer into my driveway, unhooked it and drove the truck down to the gas station to fill up the tanks. This is when I found the first problem. I pulled it up to the diesel pumps and went to fill the tanks. The front tank filler neck is hid under a little trap door in the flatbed floor. It sticks straight up. So when you go to stick the pump nozzle in you dump the diesel that was left in the nozzle all over the place.:-roll Once the front tank was full I moved to the rear tank. The filler neck for the rear tank was mounted to the bottom of the flatbed. I pulled the cap, put the nozzle in and started to pump. The diesel came right back out and dumped all over my boots! :-arrgh The idiots that built the flatbed mounted the rear filler neck below the level of the frame!:-X15 So that made the rear tank useless! I paid for the diesel and drove home. After I backed into the driveway I hopped out and notice something dripping from under the back of the truck. The front tank was leaking!:-arrgh :-X15 I grabbed a clean 5 gallon bucket and threw it under the tank.

The next day I came out to the truck and tried to start it. No go. I tired cycling the glow plugs a few times. Still no good. Finally I got mad and did it one more time and just kept cranking until I got it to fire up.

Since then I've been doing of searching, reading and have figured out some of the issues. But I haven't fixed any of them yet. :-X04 Instead of buying the parts for it I've been sinking the money into parts for my 54. Well the time has come I've decided I need to either sell/part out the Super Duty or fix it. I decided I'm going to fix it. So I've been saving my penny's and started picking up parts.

Here's a list of what I'm going to do:

Replace the starter ( yes I burnt it up cranking it too long :o )
Replace the glow plugs with some new Motorcraft ones
Replace the glow plug controller
Replace the original injectors with a set of new Delphi ones
I'm going to have a local diesel shop rebuild my Injector pump ( I'm going to remove and reinstall it )
Replace the injector return line kit
Convert it to an electric Facet Dura-lift Fuel lift pump
Add a couple Golden Rod fuel filters
Replace all the fuel lines except the injector hardlines
Dump the two stock fuel tanks and selector valve for a single small Semi tank ( 50-65 gallon )
Add a coolant filter
add dual exhaust with some free flowing mufflers (Hooker Aero chamber )
Change all the filters and fluids ( including flushing the cooling system )
I also need to get a different set of rear tires. And figure out out a place to mount a couple spares.

I'm going to also build some taller wood stake sides for the flatbed. I'm going to stack 4 - 2"x10"x 14' pieces of lumber to make the sides.

Sometime down the line I am going to also add a Spicer "Brownie box" aux. transmission to add a second overdrive. With the 5.13 gears and 16" tires you really rev the engine to go much faster then 60mph. I do make some longer hauls with my trucks so it would be nice to be able to run 70mph or so with the engine sounding like it's the end of the world.:D

Once I'm done with the mechanical parts I want to eventually change up the exterior a little. I want to add a functional Mustang Boss 429 hood scoop. Then paint the cab and front clip bright blue, black out all the trim, and add some modified 1970 Mustang Boss 302 style stripes. I also want to build a massive front bumper with a grill guard and winch mount. With my plans for the bumper I shouldn't have any problems with import cars getting in my way!:D:-X04

I did a crappy picture modification in a paint program. It gives you an idea about what I am shooting for. The flatbed and rims will also be painted black.

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This isn't a real cool project. But it is a pretty big project for me. I'm going to try to get it and my 54 done, someday. :-roll

Ok enough of my babbling.:-blah

Looks good Ted! The white behind the wipers? Is that paying homage to the snow gods? Just wonderin' :-X03

Thanks, though I don't know how good it's looking.:-X04

The pictures were taken right after I got the truck in Oct, 2009. It was right after a little snow fall.:D Just too lazy to take more current pics since nothing has changed on it except the snow melted away and I piled more crap on the back!:D




So far I've got the following parts for it:

Glow plug controller
New injectors
Coolant filter head

And I've ordered

Injector return line kit with spare Viton injector O-rings
New high torque starter
New Facet Dura-lift electric fuel lift pump
A couple brass hose barb fittings for the fuel pump.

I've still got a lot of parts to get. Once I get all the parts I'll yank the injector pump and take it to the local diesel repair shop and have him work his magic on it.:D

The tires are going to have to wait a while. It's going to cost around $675 for the rear tires I want( BFG A/T's 235/85/16's Load range E ) . :( And then ad another $50-$75 for mounting and balancing. So I'll just have to roll on with the retreads that are on the back and hope they hold together.

Well I've got most of the parts I need ordered.:-jammin And I've got a line on a new take off Peterbilt 50 gallon fuel tank.:D

If things work out I'm hoping to have this back on the road sometime in June. The tires are going to take a while until I can afford to replace them. I've got my fingers crossed, hopefully the retreads stay together a while.:-X04

Oh and with a little hammering on the starter solenoid I got it to turn over.:-X04 After a bunch of cranking I got it running again for the first time since last summer.:D That engine is louder under the hood then out the tail pipe!:D It'll rattle your screws loose!:D

Well my new starter, one of the two Goldenrod filters and a couple brass fittings showed up today.:-jammin It's just like Christmas only I have to pay for my own gifts!:D:-X04

Well's here's my little side project while I'm waiting for the diesel's parts to all show up. I'm building an enclosure for it. I'm building some sides by stacking 2"x10"s . The bottom board will be the full 20 foot long. Then I'm going 4 more 16 foot 2"x10"s on top of that. The front wall is going to be 2x10's. The rear gates are going to be 3/4" treated plywood framed out with some 1"x4"s. I'm also making a top that will be split down the center length wise and will be hinged on the sides. It's going to be 1/2" treated plywood framed with some 1"x6"s length wise and 1"x4" crossmembers. I've got all the lumber and most of the hardware. Once I get it all built I'm going to prime all the wood and paint it with some black Rustoleum paint.


Here's how far I got on it today.:D

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Look's like you're keeping busy. Maybe you should have clamped some 2x4's on your '54 to keep you neighbors at bay. With all your projects goin' on, how could they see it ? Just askin' :-X04

Then throw a tarp over the 2x4's and it could be it's own carport ! }>

It would be kind of hard to work on the 54 if I built a wall on it!:D:-X04 And if the wall was on the ground then I'd need a building permit and have it ok'd by the city council, etc.:-blah:-blah:-blah:-blah:-blah:-blah:-X04:D And they already turned down a request to add on to my garage were I work on the 54 now.:-X18

My dad was checking out the work on the trailer and he said if I built it a little taller and the trailer was a little wider I'd have a mobile garage.:-X04:D


I got a little more done on the trailer today while dodging rain showers. I'm getting really sick of the rain!!!! :-arrgh :-X09 I don't really like standing in the rain while using an electric 1/2" drill. :eek:

I was able to get the one side up. For now I'm just using some stainless steel deck screws to hold it together. Once I get it all up I plan to drill some holes and bolt the stuff together too.

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And today I got my injector return line kit and spare O-rings I ordered and I also got The Goodyear 3/8" Fuel hose I ordered.

Well I got a couple of the boards up on the other side yesterday before I was rained out again.:-arrgh


The Fed ex guy dropped off a couple gate anchor pins I ordered for the trailer.

And the UPS guy dropped off a big old box of Motorcraft goodness for the diesel!:D I got the glow plugs, oil filter, air filter, Fuel filter and coolant SCA additive.

And I got my electric fuel pump & water block Goldenrod fuel filter in the mail.:D

Well I ran back to menards and got the rest of the lumber I needed to finish it.

I bought a couple 16' long 2"x6" and big surprise they aren't 16'! But I lucked out this time they are 1" or so too long. Better then too short I guess. :D So now I'll have to trim them.

But I got both sides finished today. Either tomorrow or Tuesday I need to dig some angle iron out of the garage and some steel plate. Then I'll be able to get the front wall built and start on the rear gates.

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Well I took a small road trip today. I needed a new fuel tank for the F-Super duty. And instead of replacing the front tank and then have to deal with modifying the flatbed/filler necks and all the other BS. I decided to just pick up a small semi tank and dump the stock dual tanks all together.

I was doing some searching on Craigs list and came across an add for new take off Peterbilt 50 gallon fuel tanks. They are 2009's and only had one tank of diesel ran thru them. Well today I drove up and checked out the tanks. This was a pretty cool place. They build firetrucks. Walking thru their shipping department was fun. There were a lot of cool parts! I ended up buying the tank and they threw in the mounting brackets and straps too!:D The tank/brackets & straps were $150.00. Which is about what a new stock replacement front tank would have cost me.:D

This is a heavy tank!

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Oh and I picked up this new take off front bumper too!:D I think with a little modifying this will work out for the 54! It's a full foot tall and a 1/4" thick!:D They wanted $50.00 for it. I couldn't pass that up. It would have cost me more then just for the steel to make a bumper for the 54.:D It's not the exact design I wanted to run but I think I can make it look pretty good on there.:D

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I had a few delays but started a little more work on the trailer. I got a good start on the front wall. I had to quit for the day due to a storm that came thru.

The 2"x4" in front of the wall is just a temporary deal to hold the boards in place. Once I finish bolting in the angle iron pieces on the other side wall I'll yank that 2"x4" off and install the angle iron there.

Here's what I got done today.

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I finished up the front wall today. I also drilled a bunch of holes in the stakes and added bolts. I'm slowly getting it done.

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Tree huggers are going to luv you. What you planning to haul with those 2 big bad boy things.

I might be on the tree huggers hit list.:-X04

I'll mostly be hauling scrap metal, car parts, etc.. Basically whatever I need to haul.:D