my truck gets me depressed

[f100fordtruck]

I sit at my computer at night listening to music and what not, then my truck will come up on my mind then i just start getting depressed and down, right now writing this i feel bleh . gettin on here doesnt help much, looks at all yall's trucks that are runnin.
How much can i get a engine rebuild kit for a 360 and a wiring harness for?

[69rangerf100]

i feel your pain on that one. right now my truck is so far from being street worthy. im slowly doing a frame off resto right no i am working on the chassis since i have everything off of it. i can wait to the day i get to crank it up and drive it again. the first thing that i am going to do on the maden voyage is drive it to the GA National Cemetary and take it to show my dad since this was his truck and the first manual i learned to drive on.

[mlheppl]

I can relate as well. My highboy is sitting in the back yard naked. The body is off. I've got 1 donor truck for body panels. A donor dentside for the front axle and a few other upgrades. Bringing one of these gals back to their former glory is not a quick or inexpensive process. It will be worth it in the end, but sometimes I wish I could hop in my truck and go for a ride through the mountains. Instead I look at it and realize how much work I've got to do. Hang in there. You will get to where you want to be if you stay focused.

[CACWBY]

Not sure how old you are or what you do for a living, but a rebuild kit is available from a lot of sources, but may cost at least a $1000. just in parts to do. If you can do yourself my hats off to you. If money is tight look at ways to save even 20 bucks a week, in a year thats $1040, (maybe means giving up something you really enjoy, but ...).
I was at that point with mine at one point. More than once actually- and unfortunately it sometimes can still cause frustrations. In mid 90's it sit for Two Years, I thought engine was siezed - while cranking over it had made a horrid metal to metal noise and froze - and couldn't afford to take engine out and find out what the problem was. Was in a really bad funk about it, wouldn't have gotten but a few hundred dollars if I tried to sell it the way it was. I don't have the level of experise it takes to pull an engine and tear into it. So I was faced with needing money we didn't have to take to mechanic. My wife was very understanding & listened when I told her my ideas for the truck, the customizing & paint & re-doing I would love to do to it so I'd really have something to show off, and how I'd never really redone a vehicle completely & it had been a dream to do so. I had done some aftermarket things to a few, and had a beefy engine built in another but never did the body or interior the way I would have liked to. So she said no to selling, that somehow if we waited I'd find a way to make my dream a reality. So I started a Truck Jar and was putting $20. a week into it: Spare change and whatever it took extra to make $20.

And one day a couple months later, I had gotten jar to $200 & there was check from a law office in MO for $600. totally out of the blue, it seemed I had a great aunt who I'd maybe never met except as a baby who lived to be a 100 or so but never made a will - so her estate was divided up among a whole bunch of relatives. We had bills and could've used that money for a whole bunch of things but without any hesitating we both said lets fix the truck. Now some would say it was just a coincedence but I still feel if I hadn't made the first step it wouldn't have happened. So I got the engine out and found out it wasn't an internal problem at all (though it did get inspected) but the ear on the backside of starter had broken off (probably from ME replacing starter -truck had headers even then- and having a very hard time getting that bolt tight), and jammed in the flexplate. Now I didn't re-do it as it is now, for that $800. But it got us driving the Truck again in summer, and kept the dream alive until my income increased enough to when I did have engine problems in 2000 and had it out and redone again, I could also contemplate getting some body work, paint, & interior done. Of course like fixing up an old house one thing leads to another and it took on a life of it's own and with my wifes support I bit bullet and abused my credit card pretty heavily, with intent I'd also have to sacrifice a lot of my personal mad money for several years to pay it off.

Not sure how I got started with this ... oh yeah, depressed over truck; even though I have some trophies and truly enjoy cruising in my very kool 67 long bed I could bore you even further with issues caused by either lousy aftermarket parts, bad workmanship, etc. that can be aggravating, but I feel like I have options now & that if I have to wait for awhile to get the money to fix something I can.

[towtruckerfour]

I have the same problem with my 68 I am trying to get running. I wanted to rebuild the 390 that was in the truck but didn't have the money or know how. I chose to buy a motor off craigslist that runs so I can get the truck going for now. Down the road, I will rebuild it eventually. Your best bet for the harness is your local junkyards unless someone has what you need. It can be frustrating. I stiil have my wifes 70 F100 to get going also.

[CACWBY]

I wanted to add something. After my long winded post I went to myf100fordtucks profile and see where you are only 16, and to put my post in perspective I am 63. So some of what I was saying or suggesting may sound pretty ridiculous. When I was sixteen I didn't have $20. a week to save, some weeks I din't have any income at all. My 1st car cost $20. a 51 chev 4 dr sedan with automatic trans, valves were so bad it barely ran & in fact expired at driveway of Auto Shop the morning I drove to school. But I had Auto Shop and with help from teacher did a valve job, and removed some shims from babbit rods and drove for almost a year before trading up for a 55 plymouth 2 dr sedan.

So if you not already taking auto shop (assuming offered at your school) take it - get a used engine, take yours apart, maybe it just needs a head gasket or bearings or rings, could be less than you realize.

But keep your dreams alive, I'm sure you can see from reading the magazines that a lot of show type trucks are owned by old geezers like me who waited and waited many years (my youngest daughter who was born when I was 34 graduated from High School the year I started doing body work on my truck - part of the $$ came from no longer paying child support).

Bottom Line - keep your focus on what you truly want to achieve and step by step you can make it. This Vehicle Hobby is just part of life, don't let it get you depressed.

[cdeal28078]

I can't say about the FE engine but a couple years ago I rebuilt about 5 5.0's out of late model 90's trucks.
I got with a good old machine shop that the buildings and all of his equipment was paid for. It was junky but he was a Ford guy.
He would do all of the machine work including the heads, bore the cylinders and rebuild the rods and then hang the pistons on the rods. I would bring it all home and put the rest together. I could get all of that done on a flat tappet can engine for $750 including the rebuild kit. This was a stock rebuild kit but I could change the cams specs. if I wanted to which I did not.
I am sure an FE would be more expensive. A roller 5.0 was only about $550 since I reused the cam. Maybe that will give you some ideas
clint

[rjewkes]

another trick is to find a trashed 67-79 that has a good engine and tranny combo and transplant it.

[TexasTruck72]

Don't get depressed about your truck. You are still very young and have many years ahead of you to get it running and enjoy it. I want to rebuild my 360 one day, but that is gonna have to wait until I have the money, which might be a while. Until then, I keep my 72 running and hope nothing fails. As I get older, I plan to buy other old trucks and always have at least one that is road worthy and running so I can take it out even if all the others are taken apart.

My Dad has been waiting 20+ years to get around to his restoration projects and I think he deserves to get to it before I get to any of my projects.

[MaxKlinger]

Sometimes I get down about my truck, but you can't let that happen. You just gotta take things one step at a time.

You're 16, you have plenty of time to work on things. Maybe you got a job after school or on weekends, but you still have time on your hands to work on things. I wish I had bought my Bump when I was in High School. I'm 26 now, I work two jobs, still take classes at night, I own an 80 year old house that I've been renovating...I don't have time for anything anymore, let alone my truck. I'm very thankful that I don't have a wife and kids yet!

I wish I had taken auto shop in High School or had gone to a Votech school to learn auto body. The bodywork is the most intimidating thing for me. At this point I've saved some money and am going to probably pay someone to paint the truck for me.

Good luck and keep us posted. Remember to take things one day at a time, and stay focused on your goals. You'll get there. At least that's what I tell myself everyday...

[TX69F100]

Not sure where you're located or what you're looking for, but my motor/trans are for sale in the classifieds.

[91Bear]

Hang in there. My grandfather had Alzheimer's and we had to take the keys away from him in 2001. He passed away in 2003. His truck sat out in his driveway for a couple of years after that. I got a new battery and got the engine running in 2005. Then, I went to grad. school, got married and got a job and the truck dropped down the priority list. I was dumb and didn't even put a tarp over it. I just let it sit in his driveway.

I got so depressed about it sitting there neglected that I could not even drive by and check on it. I was too afraid of what I would find.

All that to say that I finally scraped up enough money for a restoration in 2009 and got it road worthy again. I know at 16 I didn't have that kind of money, but just do a little at a time. If your truck isn't running, you have another car to drive, I assume, so that makes it easier.