New to me 1966 F100
 

Hey all, so I ended up buying a 1966 F100, although I admit to feeling a bit (ok alot) overwhelmed by it now that it is actually sitting in my driveway. She does start right up and run well but so many little things need to be fixed that I don't know where to begin. The gas sending unit is not working properly and the smell of gas in the cab is pretty strong so I am guessing it is both faulty and leaky. Will start there.

Not much to look at right now but frame is sold and there are only a few spots of bad rust to deal with.

Here we go...


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It's a keeper, wow, suggest keep her on the road while working on making sure she's mechanically sound; meantime, decide whether or not want to consider upgrades. Wow, electronic ign., and power assist brakes, what a find. Looking forward to your input. May want to take some extremely find sand paper, or mild paint remover and see if that's an anodized alum. grille.

Congratulations, take care of your fuel issue, new rubber at filler neck, new clamps. Pull out your fuel sending unit, make sure float isn't full of fuel, if so replace it.
Make sure your brakes are up to standard. Get your wiring fixed as needed. Then drive it and enjoy. Work on rust issue as time and money allows.
Work out a plan for doing what you want it to look like and act like. A well thought out plan and a realistic plan is best.
It looks like you have a good foundation for the project.
Don't be foolish and start a complete tear down unless you have the money and the time to dedicate to it.
As you drive it, you'll figure what needs to be addressed and how to resolve the problems, if any.
Enjoy your new toy.

You're wrong, it's a beautiful thing to behold. I grabbed one in November (although mine is a 64 and not as nice as yours) and I felt overwhelmed at first. People here helped me get over my fear. Just get a plan and execute it. Think of it as a journey of discovery. I didn't know ANYTHING about this stuff, and now I feel that I at least am not in over my head. Of course, I may be, but I probably don't know it. lol.

Good luck. Seriously, great looking truck.

Thanks for the positivity guys, I needed the boost. Definitely will NOT be tearing it down for a complete rebuild. It runs fine and I am just going to go bit by bit checking everything out. I just got overwhelmed with it sitting in the driveway and needed to take a step back and start a list and make some progress.

Guaranteed the filler inlet hose is rotten and leaking, which is why you're smelling gas. Cheap and easy fix, but only buy the correct hose...don't try to use 'regular' hose as it won't last. Dennis Carpenter makes the right one, and it's sold by most of the vendors (I like Flashback F100s and Carolina Classics).

C1TB-9047-A .. Neoprene Fuel Filler Hose / Reproduced

Available from Carpenter (Concord); Carolina Classics (Durham).

Flashback F100's is located in Reedsville, but AFAIK, only sells used parts.

The original fuel sending unit float is made from two pieces of copper soldered together. Solder breaks down, gas seeps in, float settles to the bottom of the tank.

Carpenter also sells a one piece brass fuel sending unit float that'll never leak for about 5 bucks.

Matt:
If your sender float isn't the problem, let me know as I have a couple original senders. Remove the sending unit and put it an ohmmeter from the mounting plat to the lead connector and make sure the ohmmeter reads "up and down" when you raise and lower the float arm. Of course, if the float is full of gas, or has a hole in it, there's an easy fix. I agree, replacing the rubber filler neck should solve your odor problem; at least your fuel odor problem.

Great looking truck, you have a nice solid foundation. Just take it one piece at a time and have fun with it. :)

You have the right approach....drive it while you fix it.

All of the previous advice has been spot on....don't think I can add much too it.

And for it's worth, the fuel gauge in my 66 didn't work when I bought it. I pulled the sender and sure enough, the float was rotten. I replaced it and the gauge works perfectly.

Thanks NumberDummy and resonateur for info on the sender, however I am pretty sure the PO put in an aftermarket unit to go with the Sunpro gauge. Reviews on the sending unit are not great. I am going to pull it and see if maybe it was not trimmed properly for the tank. If it is correct and still not working will have to replace.

That brings me to a question of what instrument panel is original in these triucks? I've seen the large circle speedo and the Custom Cab "bar" speedo but a lot of pics online also have the or or two big gauges in middle with two little ones flanking. Assume that's all aftermarket?

1965/66 F100/250 2WD Custom Cabs & Rangers used a plastic chrome "sweep" speedo instrument cluster bezel. See parts catalog pic.

All other 1961/66's used the round speedo. Custom Cab instrument cluster bezel is chrome steel, Standard Cabs used a painted steel instrument cluster.

The oil (9273) & amp (10850) gauges were optional for both the round and sweep speedo instrument clusters.

They also come in the large speedo w/ 2 smaller size outer gauges, oil pressure and alt.
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Thanks guys, those were the two clusters I was seeing in the pics. PO screwed some piece of black metal into the opening on top of whatever bezel is back there so will take some of those screws off and see what it looks like back there...

It was raining today so got a chance to check for leaks. There is water all the away around the bottom of the windshield on the inside and kinda pools on the drivers side and runs down to the floor by the door hinges. Pic below. Am I going to have to pull out the windshield and replace all of the seals to fix most likely?

Second and third pic are of misalignment in the driver door. It rubs on the hinge said and a decent gap on the handle side.


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pooling water


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Also snapped a pic of the misalignment for driver door

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Any ideas appreciated!

Suggest start at door post striker plate. Currently shopping for hood hinge that broke on my 65 so I copied the adjustment procedure out of the 65 Ford shop manual, which so happened to include the door adjustment. About as brief instructions on subject as one will find.

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Great project, I look forward to following your progress

Thanks - once I finish going over it and find everything that I can tell is wrong with it and take a deep breath I am going to list out of all of the issues. The list is increasing daily but just have to remember to take one step at a time...

That's the right attitude!!

Matt: When you adjust that door, take the receiver in the jamb completely off. It's really hard to adjust the door position and the striker at the same time. Loosen the six bolts that bolt the hinge to the door, just slightly and try to pry (wood/plastic) the door rearward. If you loosen the bolts too much the entire position will change and you'll be starting "from scratch". Don't loosen the bolts in the front jamb unless you need to move the door in or out. Once you're happy with the door being centered, then adjust the receiver/striker to the lock so it latches with little effort.

Well I tried to make some progress tonight and fix something. First thing to tackle was the faulty fuel sending unit and what I believe to be the cause of the gasoline smell in the cab.

Prior to today, I had checked the signal coming from the gauge by taking the red wire off the sending unit and grounding it to the unit itself. The gauge immediately went to full, which I think is a good sign. However, after I did that, the gauge didn't move at all any more. Previously, it moved but did not read correctly. Now it doesn't move at all.

Moving on, I went ahead and removed the unit and checked it out. It looks just like the Sunpro sending unit, which is what I assumed it was since the gauges are Sunpros. However, my guess it was a used unit as the gasket was horrid and looked reused as I don't think it would get that bad in two years. Also, the arms of the unit were not the right length for the F100 tan. The moving arm was more than 2 inches too short. I tried to lengthen but only had an inch to work with. Also noticed that the little sliver wires that the arm moves across as it goes up and down were broken in half in the middle range. Assume that can't be good.

Cut a new gasket and reinstalled. Hooked everything back up and turned to On. Nothing, nada. Stayed on E. Sigh. :-banghead

And further electrical gremlins surfaced in the process. Previously, the truck would not start in park, only neutral. After tonight's work, it started right up in park. AND, now the oil pressure gauge and temperature gauge are also staying with the needle dead. Now wondering if may be the voltage regulator? This was working fine on Saturday...:-huh

At least if I go out tomorrow morning and the cab doesn't smell like gas I will have accomplished something.

Couple of picshttps://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...47d42a4aea.jpg

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Shot in the dark, with oil, temp, and fuel gauge not working you may want to check the Constant Voltage Regular unit on the back of the instrument panel for loose connection or faulty unit. Acts as an electrical shock absorber regulation voltage to gauges from 0-10v. The description of the fuel sending unit sounds like it's in more involved than the CVR unit???
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B9MZ-10804-C .. ICVR ~ Instrument Cluster Voltage Regulator (Motorcraft GR-508).

1961/66 F100/1100 / 1966/77 Bronco / Misc. 1959/65 FoMoCo Passenger Cars.

Got into the beasts brains tonight and it looked to me like a mess. Tons of wires and a lot of weathered electrical tape.

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Can't tell what goes to what.


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Red wires from the aftermarket gauges wrapped up with some white wires.


I found the voltage regulator and it indeed looks like B9MZ-10804-C (thanks Numbers Dummy). It looks pretty rusted and bad to me. One of the leads went to the Fuel Gauge, the others disappeared into a group of wires taped up and then popped out the other end near the temp gauge but was not attached to it.

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Not pretty. Was wrapped in old tape.


Should it be this bad? Suggestions on how to proceed? Didn't plan to look at this tonight was going to check the rear drums but couldn't find my 1/2" drive extension so will have to go get one.

Electrical flow for the Instrument Voltage Regulator (IVR) is as follows:
1. 12V DC from the system enters the IVR.
2. Regulated voltage, about 6V DC leaves the IVR.
3. The IVR MUST BE GROUNDED. It can be affixed by a screw or bolt to the truck body under the dash, or to the instrument panel, but then the instrument panel must have a grounding strap.
4. 6V DC flows from the IVR to the Fuel Gauge, Temp Gauge, and Oil Pressure gauge (factory design).
5. Current flows from the gauges to the sending units
6. Current flows through the sending units to ground. The sending units control the flow of current to ground. The greater the flow, the further the gauge moves.

The wires on the IVR going to the gauges should be Black with a green stripe.
Wire to Fuel sending unit should be orange.
I don't recall the others at this time.

Wire Mess: Mine was the same. I tried to fix it for days until I decided to just rewire the whole thing. Bought the harness but haven't started it yet. Probably dive in on Saturday. Good luck with your rat nest.

That was my gut reaction too...just rewire everything since I don't know what is going on anyway. What wiring harness did you buy? I've heard of the Painless ones but that seem pretty pricey. I probably will not tackle this one yet as the brakes are more important but trying to get my plan together.

I bought one from American Wiring, but bought it through Carolina Classic Trucks. For some reason it was $100 less from there for the same thing. Still pricey. The Carolina Classic guy said he hates the Painless harness, but of course he was selling me his. I have no idea if this thing is going to work. I'll let you know after I finish with it. If i kill myself then you'll know to go the other way. lol.

This one?

Carolina Classics, Obsolete Ford Truck Parts, truck part, ford truck part, truck body parts, classic truck part, pickup truck part, old truck part, classic ford truck part, antique truck part, old ford truck part, auto truck part, ford truck restorat

i bought this one
1961-66 Ford Truck Complete Classic Update Wiring Harness Kit American Autowire 510260

i'd call them and talk to the guy. he was pretty helpful on the phone.

Ah so I did not realize there are two Carolina Classics companies in NC. The link I sent is from a company 10min away. Thanks for sending this I will check them out too.

No guarantees that is the correct one. I'll find out soon, though! Good luck.

They do make reproduction wiring harnesses with same wire color codes and connectors, matter of unplugging the old and plug in the new. I was not able to find a company that reproduced the dash harness at the time and ended up with a 'do it myselfer' repair using plastic ties to keep each trunk separate while making the repairs. They do make harness wrap which is none adhesive, just wrap the wires and I use blk electrical tape to secure the ends. This kit thru Carolina Classics looks like the answer for a complete wiring replacement, to include upgraded features, too bad they were not available few years back. Bookmarked the referral, thanks for posting. The reproduction harness will run approx. $100 ea. for the head and tail light harness, and approx. $50 ea. for the alternator and engine harness I will have to check and see if the company that makes the individual harness replacements is the same company that makes the kit, is so, I was very pleased w/ the quality, and workmanship of the individual reproduction harness.

Not sure if you're aware of this so I thought I'd better just mention it: Fuel quantity senders and gauges need to be operating in a compatible resistance (ohms) range in order for the gauge to read correctly. Not all gauges and senders are compatible with each other. So the Ford factory sender referenced by ND may or may not be compatible with your non-Ford factory Sun Pro gauge. You need to know the ohm range the gauge is operating in and the ohm range the sender is operating in. They need to be the same. Unfortunately, industry wide, there are a lot of differences. This is irrespective of any issues you may or may not have with the IVR (Instrument Voltage Regulator). The test you ran, grounding out the sender wire to see if the gauge has life and full travel gives you that answer only. It has no bearing on compatibility. Hope this helps.

Thanks supersabre, amazingly enough I did know that about the ohm ratings for the gauge and for the sending unit. :-) However, one question I would ask is did that grounding out of the sending unit wire just test the gauge or does that mean that the voltage regulator is also okay? I am guessing that it is just for the gauge.

If I replace the sending unit, right now my plan is that I will replace it with an auto meter unit and an auto meter gauge, as I don't really like these SunPro gauges anyway. But that's not something I planned to do in the near-term, instead trying to focus on the things that might make the truck more safe, like brakes. :-)

If I recall correctly (and with me you never know), once you're into aftermarket gauges, they have their own wiring that does not use the IVR. When using OE Ford gauges, wiring, senders, the IVR plays a role. Usually, if you had factory gauges, the fuel quantity, coolant temperature, and oil pressure gauges (NOT the amp gauge) would be routed through the IVR. And if the IVR went bad, usually you would get all three gauges malfunctioning, and in the same way, such as all three needles going off scale high, or something like that. One word of caution on AutoMeter gauges (I have 3 cars/trucks with them), they have a Ford set using Ford resistance values which isn't as accurate as I would have expected from AutoMeter. Apparently they also have a non-Ford set which can be used that is more accurate, but the gauge markings are not quite symmetrical. At least that's supposed to be true for classic Mustang applications. Don't know if it applies to trucks. So you might want to call the AutoMeter tech guys and inquire. If you get any good information, let us know. Good luck!

Thanks for the tips on t he gauges. I will make sure to call AM and ask when I get to that point.

Been working on cleaning up the rear end some but noticed today when I hopped in the cab that the gas smell was GONE. So the gasket I cut out and replaced for the fuel sending unit fixed the problem. Gauge doesn't work but at least now it is just glorious old truck smell :-jammin

Well six months and a week later, I finally post again in this build thread.

I did do a few things over the last 6 months that I posted in other threads specific to that topic, i.e. fixed the rear wheel bearings, rear axle seals, rear brake lines. That made the truck drivable and I was able to get my NC VIN (out-of-state antique requires a whole mess of bureaucracy). Anyway, I have been thinking and thinking about what I want to do and how I want to go about it, so I have a tentative plan and would like feedback from all of you experts. :)

(1) Basically, the only thing that is a safety/mechanical issue that I am aware of is the steering. I have taken it to two places and both agreed that kingpins, tie rod, etc etc are all fine and that the box is fine, rag joint newish and the problem is in the column itself. As the column in it is not original anyway (a 66/78ish hybrid) I am just going to replace it with an ididit collapsible. If I need to redo it, might as well get an added safety feature.

(2) While I am handy enough to fix something with appropriate instructions, I am less confident in my abilities to pick up on a problem and diagnose it, thus I found a retired mechanic that likes to work on classic cars and I am going to have him go through the engine, etc with me just in case I missed something. It does have a small coolant leak seeping from water pump to block but is very minor.

(3) Now the real plan - this is backwards from what I have seen normally done so tell me if I am totally crazy, but I plan to fix the interior first. This is the one area I know what I want for sure and I do not foresee doing anything to the rest of the truck that would change how I would do the interior. And as I need a new column and I need to fix the gauges, perhaps even rewiring the truck if I cannot figure it out, I will have those parts out anyway. I want bucket seats, perhaps with integrated belts so those are coming out and carpet is nasty around the doors as both seals are leaking on the doors. So, I plan to tear down the inside, fix the leaks (one around the windshield too) and re do it. Nothing crazy and custom but get it the way I want it. After that, I will work on the exterior. The one caveat to all of this is if the mechanic tells me my engine is at death's door, but I do not foresee that.

I was thinking of moving the gas tank but my wife convinced me I had no reason to do that - this after I spent dozen plus hours reading about mustang tank swaps, bronco II, etc. Bah, but she is right. For the time and money I can do something that actually NEEDS to be done. I did order a new grommet and filler neck rubber thing as there is a gas smell after it sits for a week. Also a new vented cap.

Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts guys!

Heres my story: For years I wanted a 61-66 F100. I like classics in mint condition that look like they just rolled off the dealers lot.


I bought a 66 F100 352, 3 speed, long bed, custom cab. I loved it, it ran great, steered great, I added power brakes and cleaned up the interior. I was owner number 4, owner number 2 had the truck over 40 years. No a/c or ps made it a tough ride in the summer. A couple times we headed to a show or swap meet and arrived soaking wet, tired, and cranky. The truck needed 10k in paint and bodywork, 5k in interior work, and another 5k in misc odds and ends to make it the way I wanted it.


I sold it and bought a 64 F100 for 13k that is in mint condition. 292/AT.


Its to nice to use as a truck and to nice to use as a DD. So Im going to sell it and buy a not-as-nice truck so I can use it as a truck.

What plans do you have for the exterior, and how soon? The reason I ask is because if you plan a total repaint, that usually involves removal of the windshield, back window, door window felts and seals, etc. No one says you HAVE to, painters can work around it, but it usually doesn't come out as well. You were going to replace the windshield gasket anyway. I'd try to plan out what you want to do to it and when, then try to put things into some kind of order that minimizes the number of times you have to remove the same piece of trim or whatever. Can't remember if you have a Custom Cab, and if you are using a stock headliner, but it seems to me I remember it tucking into the top of the rear window gasket, and it was a pain in the butt. No point in having that gasket and window out more than once if you can avoid it. Same for the windshield gasket. Plan, plan, plan and then execute the plan. Good luck.

Thanks SS - you are right about the seals on the windshield and back glass. The windshield is leaking on the driver side. I had wondered about just putting a bead of silicon to try and stop the leak since the rest of it appears OK.

The headliner does indeed tuck behind the back glass gasket. Can you reuse these gaskets once you pull them off? The back is fine but if I need to remove for paint and/or headliner, will I have to buy a new one?

I started removing some of the easy parts on the interior yesterday, but I agree it makes sense to think about taking out that glass and doing it all at once. I had planned on doing the exterior too but in stages as I still have not found any steps and the bottom of both rear fenders need repairing.

I have another question about the firewall pad and heater. On the heater, how much heat are thse things supposed to put out? I got it up to operating temp yesterday and turned on the heater and there is some warm air coming out but it's not anything exceptional. I've seen a few threads on here with people refurbishing them with a kit for a Bronco and replacing the core...how do you know if you need to do that or if it is as good as you an expect?

On the firewall pad...my truck does not have one, or not much of one. PO or whoever did the carper ripped out the firewall pad everywhere except for behind the heater - assumedly because he did not want to take it out. I had not noticed any problem with heat while driving it...is it good enough to put down some type of insulation/sound dampener and then the carpet or is a firewall pad truly needed? $235 for the pad seems expensive versus doing a couple layers of insulation up there. Planning to use EZ Cool.