bigjohn
Active Member
Well last fall I took this truck in on part trade for another rig I was selling. I really, really didn’t need another project but I have a weak spot for F100 4wd’s. The thing Was fairly solid, except the cab. The roof was extremely rotten. And it hadn’t run in North of a decade. And the distributor and wires were long gone. And there was an engine fire at some point. But it is another side project I can dink and dunk together over time.
It’s a 72 f100, 360 I imagine, 4 speed, with a 205 transfer case instead of the Dana 21 single speed the slightly older f100 4x’s got. The 9” and 44 seem to have the standard 3.50 gears. And it came with those terrible 90’s wheels and super old 33 Wildcat ext’s. Those got replaced with some orange steel wheels and decent 35’s I’m from my parts hoard.
So the first step, after a Good pressure wash, was to pull the hood and install a temporary fuel system and ignition setup. I went moderate in the ignition department with a Jegs brand ready to run distributor and coil. The fuel system was a clicker pump powered by a Milwaukee m12 battery and a boat tank on the passenger bench seat. After lubing and beating on the edelbrock 4bbl it actually fired up and ran ok! But that was short lived. The edelbrock slowly got worse and worse. I eventually swapped on a good Holley 650 double pumper I had on the shelf. I also plumbed a new Carter mechanical fuel pump back in, and moved the boat tank to the bed. There are 3 home built tanks under the bed, and zero I trust. It ran for a bit with the large rear center tank but it lacked fuel flow to do anything but property driving. So back to the boat tank.
A while later I ordered some brake parts and replaced the wheel cylinders, master cylinder, rubber brake hoses and the shoes. This got the brakes functional. While I was in there I cleaned and lightly lubed the hubs to get them functional again. It still needs a new booster but I’ll get there.
The truck came with a really solid but completely stripped cab. Well once the rain came I realized just how little water that original cab kept out. I hadn’t planned on driving in this soon but i had some down time between a few other projects so i snuck it in. The front clip came off and the cab was off over Christmas weekend. Then pressure washed the engine and frame, sanded and por-15’ed the frame from the bed forward.
While the cab was off, I’d scored some free and almost crack free fe exhaust manifolds. The problem was 6 of 8 upper manifold bolts broke. No amount of heat, penetrant, wax, ect would prevent this. I ended up having to torch the bolts out of the upper head holes, clean the holes with a right angle drill I ordered just for this occasion, and run the tap through the holes. With some new remflex gaskets and new donuts, the new manifolds went back on.
At this point it was the monotonous task of stripping everything out of the old can and reinstalling in the new. I went through and cleaned some butt connectors, scotch locks, and extra crap from the cab harness before relooming it and installing it. Every cab plug, wiper assembly, heater box, even the dome light wire had to be swapped. I also por-15 painted under the dash, under the seat and behind where the in cab tank will be reinstalled.
Over the last week the new windshield came in so father in law Jeff came by and we got both the front and rear glass installed. After he left i installed new door seals and reinstalled the doors. They still need lots of adjusting but I’ll get it.
This Friday I went down to Tony’s Ford truck parts and picked up a passenger inner fender and core sport to replace my rotten stuff. That night and Saturday I spent a ton of time degreasing, cleaning and painting them. And today I finally got to start the assembly process. It was time consuming. Fitting, chasing threads, wiggling, moving. But the inner structure is together and the passenger fender is hung.
I’d gone to a swap meet today and scored a 100 amp power master alternator and a new starter relay, all for $45. So I got those installed while I was in there. And was rewarded after getting it all mounted, with a functional ignition switch again! And no audible exhaust leak from the driver seat, although I know the number 1 exhaust port has a small crack
So this is where we’re at today. I need to flip the alternator brackets for a better alternator fit. Adjust the doors. Reinstall the driver fender. Then I can reinstall the grill and radiator. Install the new door sill plates and dome light. Replace the heater hoses. And eventually replace the radiator hoses. And also eventually the steering linkage needs redone.
I should note, the freeze plugs are still shiny and all indications from the cylinder wall cross hatch pattern and super clean rocker areas in the heads, say this engine doesn’t have many miles on a rebuild.
Ok here’s some pictures.
Oh, before the cab swap, I’d parked in front of the barn and set the brake. Well, the return spring was missing from the release lever. I came back out and the truck was gone. It had exited the barn parking apron, hooked around and went in the gully. This could have been far worse. It knocked the bed into the cab but was otherwise none the worse for wear. And of course the cab got swapped anyway.
It’s a 72 f100, 360 I imagine, 4 speed, with a 205 transfer case instead of the Dana 21 single speed the slightly older f100 4x’s got. The 9” and 44 seem to have the standard 3.50 gears. And it came with those terrible 90’s wheels and super old 33 Wildcat ext’s. Those got replaced with some orange steel wheels and decent 35’s I’m from my parts hoard.
So the first step, after a Good pressure wash, was to pull the hood and install a temporary fuel system and ignition setup. I went moderate in the ignition department with a Jegs brand ready to run distributor and coil. The fuel system was a clicker pump powered by a Milwaukee m12 battery and a boat tank on the passenger bench seat. After lubing and beating on the edelbrock 4bbl it actually fired up and ran ok! But that was short lived. The edelbrock slowly got worse and worse. I eventually swapped on a good Holley 650 double pumper I had on the shelf. I also plumbed a new Carter mechanical fuel pump back in, and moved the boat tank to the bed. There are 3 home built tanks under the bed, and zero I trust. It ran for a bit with the large rear center tank but it lacked fuel flow to do anything but property driving. So back to the boat tank.
A while later I ordered some brake parts and replaced the wheel cylinders, master cylinder, rubber brake hoses and the shoes. This got the brakes functional. While I was in there I cleaned and lightly lubed the hubs to get them functional again. It still needs a new booster but I’ll get there.
The truck came with a really solid but completely stripped cab. Well once the rain came I realized just how little water that original cab kept out. I hadn’t planned on driving in this soon but i had some down time between a few other projects so i snuck it in. The front clip came off and the cab was off over Christmas weekend. Then pressure washed the engine and frame, sanded and por-15’ed the frame from the bed forward.
While the cab was off, I’d scored some free and almost crack free fe exhaust manifolds. The problem was 6 of 8 upper manifold bolts broke. No amount of heat, penetrant, wax, ect would prevent this. I ended up having to torch the bolts out of the upper head holes, clean the holes with a right angle drill I ordered just for this occasion, and run the tap through the holes. With some new remflex gaskets and new donuts, the new manifolds went back on.
At this point it was the monotonous task of stripping everything out of the old can and reinstalling in the new. I went through and cleaned some butt connectors, scotch locks, and extra crap from the cab harness before relooming it and installing it. Every cab plug, wiper assembly, heater box, even the dome light wire had to be swapped. I also por-15 painted under the dash, under the seat and behind where the in cab tank will be reinstalled.
Over the last week the new windshield came in so father in law Jeff came by and we got both the front and rear glass installed. After he left i installed new door seals and reinstalled the doors. They still need lots of adjusting but I’ll get it.
This Friday I went down to Tony’s Ford truck parts and picked up a passenger inner fender and core sport to replace my rotten stuff. That night and Saturday I spent a ton of time degreasing, cleaning and painting them. And today I finally got to start the assembly process. It was time consuming. Fitting, chasing threads, wiggling, moving. But the inner structure is together and the passenger fender is hung.
I’d gone to a swap meet today and scored a 100 amp power master alternator and a new starter relay, all for $45. So I got those installed while I was in there. And was rewarded after getting it all mounted, with a functional ignition switch again! And no audible exhaust leak from the driver seat, although I know the number 1 exhaust port has a small crack
So this is where we’re at today. I need to flip the alternator brackets for a better alternator fit. Adjust the doors. Reinstall the driver fender. Then I can reinstall the grill and radiator. Install the new door sill plates and dome light. Replace the heater hoses. And eventually replace the radiator hoses. And also eventually the steering linkage needs redone.
I should note, the freeze plugs are still shiny and all indications from the cylinder wall cross hatch pattern and super clean rocker areas in the heads, say this engine doesn’t have many miles on a rebuild.
Ok here’s some pictures.
Oh, before the cab swap, I’d parked in front of the barn and set the brake. Well, the return spring was missing from the release lever. I came back out and the truck was gone. It had exited the barn parking apron, hooked around and went in the gully. This could have been far worse. It knocked the bed into the cab but was otherwise none the worse for wear. And of course the cab got swapped anyway.
