Money squandered - hopefully lessons learned
 

As I was laying on my back removing the $350 exhaust that I had installed on my truck a little over a year ago, I started wondering how much money have I "wasted" from poor planning.
Then as I was removing the less than year old manual steering gear (about $239) in preparation of replacing it with a power steering box, that thought hit me again.
Of course, I was thinking that starter laying by the front right tire was less than year old in this truck and it will not work with the C4 I am planning to install.
Then I thought of the 1969 steering column I paid about $100 for the auto trans/power steering upgrade project and ended up going back to get the proper length one for my year. Inside the old column I pulled out of the truck is a nearly new wiring harness that was not cheap.
And then I realized I had a couple of extra headlight doors for the 68 grille I am planning to install in the 71 that were about $70 each.
At this point, I realized poor planning is expensive. I guess this is normal on the first project truck.

Yes. Yes it is.

I like to think of those "extra" parts as opportunities for future projects. ;)

They can be spare parts for the 69 as well - except the manual steering gear is different. Nothing like carrying around a spare exhaust system in the bed for that "emergency."

I will say this project, compared the 1981 Harley-Davidson FLT I "rebuilt" has not been as "wasteful."

That's why I only repair mine when it absolutely needs it . . . or it starts to cost me money.

Finally fixed the oil leaks I've had since I've owned it. Engine no longer has a continuous supply of fresh oil.

At the moment my tranny pours fluid out at the rate of about a qt a week driven or not. That's gonna get fixed up here real quick.

My tail pipe finally fell apart and is dangling by the hanger. Been hauling gravel, blocks, and pavers the past 3 weekends driving it that way. I think the gravel is what finally did it. Even the tailpipe is Ford tough.

The glass packs have sounded like straight pipes since I've owned it and now that the tailpipe finally broke I'm gonna fix that too. These damn things cost money even if you're a cheap bstrd (CB) like me.

Qman, sounds like your truck is more of a necessity and less of a hobby/project vehicle. I am always looking to improve my two trucks terms of functionality and appearance, so I still have not developed my COB mentality, yet.
My old shovelhead harley was a lot like your vehicle in terms of the automatic fluid replenishment feature. Let it sit a week or two and it would puke nearly a half quarter of oil through its breather (learned to always keep an oil drain pan under it). Primary fluid was not so bad after I did away with the system that ran the engine oil through the primary.

Definitely not a hobby but always a project. Mine is actually pretty cool looking unless you get up close. Putting on original Ford hub caps made it into a head turner. I get compliments all the time from folks who have no clue what a POS it is. Still runs and hauls stuff though so I can't complain.

Well, I did a quickie rebuild of the original 300, it sounded terrible so I built another properly, swapped it in and found out the noise was the torque converter. Drove it that way for a couple years, then rebuilt it using mostly the parts truck with a 360 and four speed. That "ran but burned oil", and after new valve seals still burned tons of oil, so now it's time to build a whole new 360. That one "ran but burned oil", despite it's burned valves. Bores were good so a cleanup, rering, new exhaust valves, and a decent cam later and it ran pretty damn good. I had about $1200 into it, but it burned too much gas to drive. Yanked it out after only about 8,000 miles, and dropped in the diesel. Power steering and disks from a 75, rear end with more favorable gearing, and a B&W Turnover ball.
Now, it's full rebuild time. Whole new chassis, starting with an 85 chassis, a rebuild on the current 7.3 and ZF, rebuild a different axle, new front brakes, and on and on-

What diesel did you put in?

Ever heard of buying a complete donor that has the engine and transmission that you currently run or want to upgrade to???

John :-X06

Jowilker, after getting into the project I learned more about that approach. However, living in an urban environment without the luxury of some extra space to allocate for a parts vehicle, that was not a viable option for me. But still, it goes back to poor or no planning. Had no idea what I wanted to do with the truck when I purchased it and then one thing lead to another. Next thing you know, you are redoing this or changing out that.

I read about no planning here all the time. You can make a plan, find space to rent for a couple-three months to work in. Get some buds and some beer and make it happen.

I have bought several donor trucks to swap from, sold parts that I didn't need along with the carcass and my upgrades were -0- in cost.

I know it can be done, but one must get I can't out of the way.


John :-X06

Kinda like "Necessity is the Mother of Invention"?;)

I've only ever bought one donor vehicle to get all the needed parts from --a totaled out '90 EFI 5.0L Mustang GT.

All the parts I installed in recent times on my truck came from various wrecking yard donors and from various wrecking yards.

If I have an idea or vision of something I'm wanting to do on my truck, I FIRST try and search for all the information I can find on that item/subject. --if someone else or, a lot of other people have done it, you can learn a lot from their experience and information and any potential troubles they had. No sense in going into it blindly if you don't have to.

The more informed and better prepared you are, BEFORE you start buying stuff, instead of just jumping in and ripping and tearing stuff apart and buying this part and that part, the less mistakes you'll make or waste money on things you didn't really need or that weren't quite the correct part you needed to start with.

1. Decide on the item/area of the truck you want to change.

2. Search for all information on the subject you can find.

3. Read and study the information, to be informed.

4. Make separate notes if you have to, highlighting part numbers or year models the part would come from and all associated, needed parts to make it work.

5. Unless you're a great multi-tasker, stick with one item/area and complete it BEFORE moving onto something else.

Too many tasks at once can quickly become overwhelming and frustrating to the point where you start to hate working on the vehicle. --next thing you know, there's a Craigslist add listing a "Project Truck for Sale."

Don't be this person.

I think to a certain degree, this can be the case with any project. Things change, your plans change, you money situation can change. I've been lucky so far, that I haven't spent money on things that may not work out. Then again, I'm not done with mine yet!!LOL