The Free F100

[slitherfast]

I got this truck two years ago for free from my brother. Before he gave it to me the two of us had taken the truck apart so it could go to the body shop and be painted. This was summer 2004. After a year in the body shop the truck was returned to my brother. For some reason he quickly lost interest in the truck and it sat in the garage until summer 2013.

Over the course of the years being just about forgotten my brother did try to sell the truck. No one was interested in purchasing a project in so many pieces. One day on the phone my brother tells me that if I want the truck just come get it. Being of sound mind and good judgement I thought that sounds like a great deal. Really all I have to do is put the truck together. Maybe a couple thousand bucks on parts and I've got a great looking old truck. Plus the body work is done so the really expensive part is done for me.

Armed with the knowledge that this is a great deal and a fantastic plan I set out to get the truck back to my home in Texas. I should add that this truck was in Wyoming. Only owning two half ton trucks one of which is over 40 years old I did not feel I could tow the truck home. It would also help to own a trailer for hauling something of this size and weight. Lucky for me a friend just happens to own a Power Stroke and flatbed trailer. Like me he thought this was awesome and the fact he had never been to Wyoming before agreed to help get the free truck home.

Enough writing for now. Time to get some pictures going because that is what you really want to see any way. Here is the condition of the truck when given.

drivesideinside.jpg

h.jpg

inside_ford.jpg

[slitherfast]

So I flew to Wyoming about five days ahead of my friend to get the truck ready for the long rid back to Texas. Put the engine/transmission into the truck along with inner fenders and hood. All went pretty well for the most part. As stated before issues were to be expected so I really did not think much about the first few problem I ran into while getting the truck ready.

First thing I learned is that the tail gate linkage is missing. No big deal I can order that. Next the truck had been sitting in the garage of my brothers ex wife. Her father not being very happy that they split decided it would be fun to take several of the labeled bolt bags and pour them into a bucket. Again I did not think this would be much of a problem. Going through the parts boxes it looked like 95% of everything was still labeled and in one of the parts boxes. The next fun thing to run across was installing the steering column so we could steer the truck onto the trailer. Being in a bit of a hurry and not to worried about getting everything perfect since finally assembly would happen Texas I was not concerned with the fact I could not find the bracket for holding the column in place. In the parts boxes there are pedals so lets just wing it until we get home.

The trip home with the truck was fairly uneventful. Only real problem encountered was a flat on the trailer.

A few more pictures of the truck when I first received it.

drive_side.jpg

pass_side1.jpg

cleaninside.jpg

[lennyp]

Good looking truck. I got my truck from my brother for free too. Only difference was it was sitting in my garage at home for over 20 years.

[slitherfast]

Good looking truck. I got my truck from my brother for free too. Only difference was it was sitting in my garage at home for over 20 years.

I'm guessing like me you have learned that a free truck is like a free dog. There really is no such thing. It will and does cost you money.

[lennyp]

I spent quite a bit of money on mine but it was worth it. The look on my brothers face when it was done was priceless. His exact words were "never in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would look this good". He lives in Maine but when he comes down we take it for a ride weather permitting.

[slitherfast]

With the truck home it was time to take stock of what parts I do have and what I don't.

Very quickly I discovered that the pedals in the box of parts belong to a 67 Chevy C10 and not my Ford. Well that really sucks but can't be be a big deal. I'm sure others have had this very same problem. I'm sure I can find them in a parts catalog. I am also willing to bet that at least one of you have had that very same brilliant idea only to find out that not a single parts vendor out there makes or offers replacement/universal pedals for this truck. I figured lets just move on from this problem and get rocking on other issues.

First came the installation of the side windows.


Time to tackle the interior.



While transporting the truck home a box was resting against the door and rubbed the pant off.



After some searching I found a brake and clutch pedal assembly in an old rusty Ford about an hour from my house. When walking up to the truck a skunk tore tail out of the truck. After opening the door the mice ran out. Then opened the hood to find a very large snake skin across the engine. Needless to say I was not feeling good about this endeavor. Having been sick from mouse dropping in the past I deiced the pedals could stay right where they were. Plus I really don't like the idea of being sprayed by a skunk or bitten by a snake. Those events would really ruin a good day. However I did manage to pull off all the brackets and pulleys for power steering. I did eventually find the brake and clutch pedal assembly in a wrecking yard located in Arizona.

[lennyp]

Don't lose faith, it will be worth it when its done. There were days that I felt like what have I gotten myself into, but now seeing and hearing peoples compliments makes it all worth while.

[lennyp]

Here is a picture of my truck in the Fourth of July Parade.

[slitherfast]

I spent quite a bit of money on mine but it was worth it. The look on my brothers face when it was done was priceless. His exact words were "never in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would look this good". He lives in Maine but when he comes down we take it for a ride weather permitting.

Mine has cost a good deal more than I originally thought it would.

While in Oklahoma City I stopped by and saw the good folks at Obsolete Auto Parts and picked up a chrome rear bumper for the truck and some brackets to put it on.


Also picked up power steering parts from my local auto parts store.


After a couple of good parts scores and work completed on the truck I thought lets try and make this thing run. So I got the carburetor out of my box of engine parts and started to clean it up. After cleaning some grim of the carburetor I discovered that it is a GM Rochester carburetor clearly marked on the side. Well once again I have been foiled by my parts. Now time for the part that in my mind makes this funny. Two years before getting this free truck I purchased a 72 GMC that had a carburetor that did not fit the intake. So I did what any self respecting old car guy would do. I solved the problem by buying a new intake and carburetor. I was going to anyway so why not. Now two years latter I have the correct carburetor for the intake I no longer use. It makes me chuckle.

With the same basic thought in place I went in search of a new intake an carburetor for my 352 FE engine. Coming from a mostly GM background I'm use to looking for said part and finding it with ease. Everywhere I turned had the same basic response. 352? I've never heard of that. It was now time to get on the internet and learn more about this Ford engine and what I can do with. Thankfully Ford guys are on the internet have done a great job of documenting Ford FE engine information. Armed with new knowledge to ask for 360/390 parts I was able to find a new intake and carburetor for this truck.

I will say the price difference between buying Chevy parts and Ford parts is shocking.

Time for some engine shots.





With some engine shots out of the way lets continue the journey of this trucks assembly. By now you would think I would know that what should be a simple job on this truck never turns out that way for me. Due to the truck sitting for so long I felt it best to replace the rubber brake lines. Got new lines from my local auto parts store and after work deiced it was time to perform this very simple and quick task. Especially since there was no fluid in the lines since the master cylinder was not on the truck. Crewel under truck only to find out just how wrong I really was. Someone before me had done a fantastic job of rounding off every single nut on the lines. Okay not the end of the world I can buy some line from the auto parts store and bend the line with my new bending tool and flare tool. I can make basic bend with no problems but the more complex bends just aren't in my skill set. Not wanting the truck to look like it has been half assed together I bought pre-bent stainless lines.

By now I really should know better than to think that anything will go quickly or smoothly for me on this truck. With new stainless lines in hand time to put them on the truck. Well I discovered that the line run behind the steering gear box and you can't fish another one through there with it attached. You probably could if you are willing to put forth the effort, but it is so much easier to just unbolt the gearbox.

[slitherfast]

Here is a picture of my truck in the Fourth of July Parade.

Very nice looking truck. I'm getting close to that point. I hope to drive mine by the end of the month.

With brake lines, engine painting and interior out of the way time to put some body panels on this thing and see just what it looks like.





Standing back to admire all the hard work the truck sure does look great and feels good to have accomplished so much. Lets get this thing running and work on the engine. Another thing I discovered while working on this truck is just how heavy the intake is. On my GMC I was able to just pull it off. The 90lb weight of the intake required me to use the engine lift. I also did not expect the front of the truck to pop up like it did.





Now the following problem I had is totally and completely my fault. Just moving forward and not fully thinking about what I was doing.
While putting the engine back together after installing the intake I looked in my Ford service manual for the torque specs for the rocker arm assembly and read the wrong line. Not realizing the mistake at the time I set the torque wrench for 80ft lbs. I give the first bolt one turn. While ratcheting back for a second pass it dawns on me that setting seems high I should take another look at the book. Instead of stopping right then and there I gave the bolt one more turn. As I'm sure you know that did not go very well at all.

Feeling annoyed with myself for making such a dumb mistake I decide that it is not the end of the world. Heck I've been meaning to buy some bolt extractors so what better time than now. After a quick trip to the parts store I now have bolt extractors. One broken bit later I'm ready to use the extractor. One broken extractor latter I'm pissed and had enough of working on this dam truck. Time for a break from this thing. It should be noted this break lasted almost a year.

During the break from working on the truck I came home from work to find this.


The tree almost took the truck out. Less than a foot from the truck. The tree did manage to scratch the side of the truck. My brother-in-law said that this was a message from on high that it was time to build a shop to work on my truck. I agreed. Just four months before this happened another tree in the driveway tried to kill my 99 pickup by dropping a branch on the truck. After two month in the body shop there where two less trees in the driveway.

The truck was put on hold to build a shop. Not a big deal since I was still not happy about the bolt.



With the truck now safe inside the freshly built shop and this being a new year I thought maybe I should try do something about that Ford. Browsing through parts catalogs and classic truck magazines I got some interest in putting a crate engine in the truck. Like the intake and carburetor I found out that Ford crate engines are far from inexpensive. Lucky for me Summit Racing suggested that I rebuild my engine as it would be a lot cheaper than buying a crate engine. Then they showed me parts. I quickly got on board with this idea. So the truck started to be taken apart again.





I had to take more things apart than originally thought and this is probably overkill for solving a broken bolt issue but in the end I think it will be worth it. I took the truck to my local machine shop and had this 352 bored out to become a 390. New crank, flat top pistons, RV cam the stock cylinder head were reworked and engine assembled.






The truck even gave the machine shop a little trouble. The first crank was not truly straight. When hand turning the crank it would not go all the way around.

Engine back home and painted

[slitherfast]

With the engine back in and hopefully the last time I pull it out time to put this back together. Again hopefully for the last time.


How it looks today


Also got the lights working.

Brake Lights


Luckily the wiring of this thing has been going pretty smooth. Only light not working is the dash lights but I feel pretty confident that is a ground issue. Turn signal lights up on the dash along with all the gauges working.

Even got the truck running two weeks ago. Not drivable yet but running
You Tube Video

[lennyp]

Sounds awesome.

[slitherfast]

Well if you thought it sounded good before you should hear this one. Got the engine timing correct and it sounds a ton better.

Still have a tone of things left to do.
Another Video

[slitherfast]

Thought it time for a small update. I've been having trouble getting the body panels to line up correctly. The passenger side has been giving me tons of trouble. So I threw in the towel and tapped a friend of mine that owns a restoration shop in town. Dropped the truck off and here are the results of his work so far.



Turns out that the original body shop did not bother to fix the cab. At some point the truck was hit on the passenger side and it shoved everything back almost half an inch. Also the original door hing had almost an inch worth of play. No wonder I could not get that side to line up right. He got that lined up pretty good now.

[slitherfast]

How about a few more pictures. Added power steering and put the side markers back on the hood.