I'm about to start the rehab on my '71 F100

[dolinick]

We are planning on putting the engine in this weekend.
I don't have any recent pictures of the truck yet. I want
some advice on cleaning up the engine compartment
before installing the engine.

It has to be relatively quick and inexpensive. I thought
some degreaser and/or a trip to the carwash and a little
spray paint for the inner fenders/firewall might do the trick.

The truck is actually at my cousin's house on the other
side of town. I'm planning on going over there after
work or Saturday morning to start cleaning it up.




Thanks to Fordification and list members I got the engine and
this grille. It should clean up really well. At least I hope so.





Dan

[fordman]

i think that is the best bet is to tow it to the car wash and degrease it and wash it real good. then you can repaint it black.

[mjhaltom]

A drill or a die grinder with a steel cup brush was a Godsend as far as that part of my project went. Then I hit it with some Rustoleum flat black.

[46stude]

a steel cup brush

I forgot to mention that when you picked up the grille- a cup brush was really good at removing surface rust on my Studebaker. You can get one for the grinder like I showed you, or they sell them for a drill, too.

Just remember- eye protection! Little flying wires are detrimental to your eyeballs.....

[mjhaltom]

[Whoaaanelly]

When I cleaned up my frame on my project, I used oven cleaner and let it soak for an hour. It took everything off with nothing more than a light scrubbing. Had always heard of this, but never tried it until now. Wear your gloves and eye protection though... You can see the finished product here:

http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... hp?t=24516

[dolinick]

When I cleaned up my frame on my project, I used oven cleaner and let it soak for an hour. It took everything off with nothing more than a light scrubbing. Had always heard of this, but never tried it until now. Wear your gloves and eye protection though... You can see the finished product here:

http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... hp?t=24516

Oh, wow! I remember seeing that picture of your frame. It looks
clean.

Thank yall for the tips. It kind of makes me want to take my time and
do it right. I think my truck could never be as fine as Darth Forder
however. That's spray can rustoleum satin black on the hood?

Dan

[72stepside]

I used ZEP Industrial Degreaser (Home Depot) and a pressure washer to clean mine up. I painted it with high temp engine paint cans from AutoZone. I used Low Gloss Black. Came out pretty nice for spray cans and hasn't peeled off yet.

[ezernut9mm]

I used ZEP Industrial Degreaser (Home Depot) and a pressure washer to clean mine up. I painted it with high temp engine paint cans from AutoZone. I used Low Gloss Black. Came out pretty nice for spray cans and hasn't peeled off yet.

looks good.

[Whoaaanelly]

It's Rustoleum Satin Black, but I'm spraying it with my HVLP gun. Working OK. I just finished spraying the entire thing today. The frame and inner fenders I sprayed with Hammerite Black, which is really tough stuff. My Falcon was sprayed with the Satin Black 3 years ago and it still looks PERFECT.

[dolinick]

We worked on installing the engine today. We'll
have her running by next saturday. Pictures to come...

Dan

[dolinick]

I finally uploaded some new pictures of my truck.
We got the engine in the truck and it is bolted to
the transmission but everything else needs to be
hooked up. I don't have any actual pictures of
the new engine in the truck because i killed my camera
just after we got the engine out of the van and on
the hoist. I left the camera on the fender next
to the hood hinges and some water sprayed on it
while we were washing the engine compartment.
It might have survived this but I placed it out in
the sun and as soon as we got the engine in the truck
it began to rain. We rushed to put the hood back on the
truck and move tools and things out of the rain and
I forgot my camera was sitting out in the rain.



Here are links to some more pictures.

rear http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1135/130 ... 953d21.jpg
old engine http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1365/130 ... 90becb.jpg
interior http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1276/130 ... 6f0db9.jpg
bed http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1424/130 ... 736e52.jpg
cleaning http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1235/130 ... d5503c.jpg
front http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1302/130 ... e6313e.jpg

If you want to see all 35 pictures I took on saturday you can
watch this slideshow.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dolinick/t ... 2007/show/

We still need to hook up the exhaust to the manifold. I am not
going to install the headers at this time. I found a good set of
exhaust manifold gaskets when cleaning out my toolbox and
the exhaust pipes would need some modification in order to
install the headers. I need to get a good battery for the truck.
We also need to install the radiator hoses. We haven't competely
sorted out the wiring yet. My original engine had a mechanical
fuel pump and this one came with an electric one. My battery tray
is very rusted and there is even a small hole in the inner fender.

We won't have time to hook everything up until next saturday
so in the meantime maybe i'll get the truck registered and insured.
I'd like to put classic YOM plates on it if possible. I believe I have
a good set of '73s (not sure for car or truck) but not '71s.
The inspection sticker on the truck says May 2005. It died on the
way to houston near sealy, tx in mid october 2004 and was towed
home to san antonio on christmas day 2004 if memory serves me
correctly.

Dan

[Mooosman]

We still need to hook up the exhaust to the manifold. I am not
going to install the headers at this time. I found a good set of
exhaust manifold gaskets when cleaning out my toolbox and
the exhaust pipes would need some modification in order to
install the headers.

Dan

You know, for a daily driver type ride, I am almost fed up with headers myself. I have never had any luck with them on the street. I'd rather have manifolds and just a nice dual exhaust setup, rather than messing with headers.

Plus, starters are easier to change with manifolds on there!


Truck looks really nice. Good job!

Nick

[layedout72]

they could have possibly rotted a little, I would roll it forward and check the spot where it has been touching the ground. That's going to be your main concern.

If anything, get a pair for up front from the junkyard.

[dolinick]

I got off from work early today so I decided to maybe
get some work done on my truck. Just when I left work
it began to rain. I went to wal-mart bought some
soap, small plastic brush, and some scotch brite pads
and proceeded to wash my truck. I scrubbed all the dirt
and mildew off the body and made the mud puddle
I call a driveway a little bigger. While I was at wal-mart
I looked at the wireless routers and 360 gb hard drives
but didn't buy them. Instead I bought a new battery for
the truck. It has a 3 year replacement and 9 year pro-rated
warranty. If I want my nine dollars(core fee) back I have to bring
my reciept with an old battery.

I needed to get some 2.5 inch exhaust manifold gaskets
to hook up the tailpipes so I went to Pep Boys. They didn't
have any for a '71, F100, 360 v8, 2 wheel drive but could
special order it for me he said. I decided to go to NAPA
but they had moved so I ended up at Autozone. He had
them but only one each of steel and asbestos so I bought
one of each.

I can't wait till this saturday when we may be ready to start
her up for first time since oct 2004.

Dan