72' F250 CS "Rex" Sold! -update

[basketcase0302]

Here is how Rex stands now. Funny thing about the truck is that the more I drive it the better it seems to run.

I've always found the same thing, seems like our trucks hate to sit for any time at all!
Looking good for a budget minded build.

[mcheath]

Replaced the door panels tonight. The originals were the soft vinyl ones, in off white, with off white arm rests. Shabby. Beat up. Sad. Here they are:

before.jpg

Found a set of metal panels at Pick A Part a while back. They too were off white, but the paint was beat up. Also found some new arm rests that day, one was green and the other black. The door panels had the nice metal chrome trim rings. Painted the panels to match the bronze, "Sequoia Brown", of the lower part of the truck, and painted the arm rests black. Used some vinyl/fabric paint on the arm rests, we shall see if it holds up.

When I went to attach the trim rings there were no holes for them, so I had to drill them. Pretty simple. Then I snapped the attachment clips in place, as seen here, and the rings went on very nicely.

during.jpg

Here is the finished door. Did both sides, a nice dress up I think for not much money.

after.jpg

[mcheath]

Did a few more this and thats today. Installed the passenger side three point seat belt. Basically the same as the drivers side install.

seatbelt1.jpg

Changed the steering wheel. Found this one in Pick A Part on a 79' Econoline. Also bought a plain black horn pad off another Econoline, not sure which one I'll keep installed. Of course the cruise control buttons don't work. I don't really like this wheel, but it was cheap and is not cracked all to pieces like my original. I'll keep a lookout for an original in better shape.

wheel1.jpg

Also replaced the weatherstrip on the doors. Used the strip off a 94' F-150, again from my favorite wreaking yard. It's too thick and so I had to cut it down by removing part of the outer seal with an exacto knife. Seals nice and tight, it's a much better quality than the original.

door.jpg

[mcheath]

Close up of the door seal.

door2.jpg

[sargentrs]

Looks good! Nice work.

[flyboy2610]

That's coming along very nicely!

[mcheath]

Finally put some new rubber on the wheels. The back tires were ancient bias ply, probably from the early 80's I'd guess. The fronts were from a wreak at Pick-a-Part, they were radials but very stress cracked. They even had some sand in the cracks from where they must have sat flat for years.

So I never drove fast, never went above 45mph actually.

Our local Big 0 tire shop sells used tires for 35 dollars each. Any tire. Mounted and balanced, new valves, and even disposal of the old tires. Didn't even charge me tax, so it was 140 dollars out the door.

Bought four tires. My old fronts were 225/75/16 and backs were 9.5 x 16.5 still running on original rims.

I bought 265/70/16s. All with about half tread, no stress cracks, no uneven wear. Two are Michelin LTX-MS and the others are Dunlop ATMS. Driving home it was like a different truck! I took the freeway home, never had the truck up to freeway speeds before, and it surprised me at how well it handled. Around town it tracked much better, before the rear tires would pull it about.

So I'm pleased, another small step forward on my super cheap fixup.

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[mcheath]

Okay, so here was my list when I bought the truck of things that were bad about it and needed to be fixed, with comments on what has been done.

Massive rust out in floor of bed from PO leaving it full of grass for what must have been YEARS! Fixed
Power brake booster and master cylinder shotFixed
Wheel cylinders leakingFixed
Accelerator pump leaking gas onto intake manifoldFixed
Blown exhaust gasket by cold air intake pipe
Power steering pumps leaksFixed
Valve cover gaskets leak
Oil filter leaksFixed
Tires are ancient and hard bias plysFixed
Massive hesitation to the point of stallingFixed
Radio is dead
Fuel gauge is deadFixed
Second fuel tank filler hose shot and leaks
Dash cracked badlyFixed
Steering wheel cracked badlyFixed
Tailgate top bashed in a couple of spotsFixed
Lots of minor scrapes and scratchesMostly fixed with touch up paint
AC not workingFixed

Making progress. I think I've got about $800 into the truck at this point, along with the purchase price of $1200. Pretty sure that I couldn't get $2,000 for it if I tried to sell it, possibly more like 1700 at this point. Maybe. Big maybe. Not that I'm looking to sell, just counting the costs.

[occupant]

List of stuff left to do:

Blown exhaust gasket by cold air intake pipe
Valve cover gaskets leak
Radio is dead
Second fuel tank filler hose shot and leaks
Dash cracked badly

Pretty sure that I couldn't get $2,000 for it if I tried to sell it...

A truck that looks like yours and drives like yours is worth $2000 to me for sure. If it had a 360 and a 4-speed and manual steering/brakes it'd be what I'm looking for.

I see trucks in half as good condition for twice as much money. A $2000 truck around here either runs pretty decent but looks like it just got pulled out of a field last week, or else it looks half decent but doesn't run or doesn't drive. That's aggregate for 67-79 Fords within a couple hundred miles of me. California might as well be on a different planet than Texas. It's amazing the differences in 30-50 year old vehicles between here and there.

[jp2005]

Very nice! What is next after your list is done?

[mcheath]

I see trucks in half as good condition for twice as much money. A $2000 truck around here either runs pretty decent but looks like it just got pulled out of a field last week, or else it looks half decent but doesn't run or doesn't drive. That's aggregate for 67-79 Fords within a couple hundred miles of me. California might as well be on a different planet than Texas. It's amazing the differences in 30-50 year old vehicles between here and there.

I've heard similar from others I know back East. Vehicles on the Calif coast are prone to rust, sometimes ruined by it. But here in the dry central valley it's rare. You do have to search a bit here to find a truck like mine, many older trucks ended up as farm/construction hacks or got used up as hot rod projects. I stumbled across a super clean 73' Chevy LWB the other day, crisp two-tone blue/white paint, all the chrome, nice tires and wheels, rebuilt 350, clean interior and no rust for 2k. The guy was willing to talk, so I'd bet someone could have got it for 1700 or so. And Chevys usually go for more than Fords here, guess the culture likes them better or something.

There's a pretty nice 71' F-350 here in town for sale for 1800. It even has the cool factory bucket seats.

Very nice! What is next after your list is done?

First up is to get the AC working. The PO said the expansion valve was bad, maybe it is, but it's obvious that the hoses leaked at most of the connections. Got an AC shop here in town that's worked with me before on patching systems up.

Going to do some general cleanup and painting on the inside and out. I visit Pick-A-Part every month or so and see what's turned up that I need.

And keep fixing stuff as it breaks. The heater core seems to have given a shout out this weekend, left a few drips on the floorboard. I don't know have, and don't foresee having any time soon, the funds to do major overhaul and restoration. So Rex will stay a low budget daily driver. Been driving it to work several days a week, and here and there on the weekends. (it's only 2.4 miles roundtrip to work) Surprising how many are still around town, I see at least one a day and sometimes a few.

[mcheath]

The wife driving Rex this evening. She'd never drove a vehicle like this before, meaning a V-8 powered, rear wheel drive, auto trans American pickup.

driving.jpg

[Craigerf100]

shes purdy mcheath. how the hell did u land that

[occupant]

The only time I ever got my wife to drive Strong Bad III was when I was using a flatbed Kenworth tow truck to pull it out of some mud with the winch and she was kind enough to steer it for me. I then fired it up and asked if she wanted to DRIVE drive it and she stalled it once (in granny gear no less) and didn't wanna try any more.

You are a lucky guy, McHeath!

[mcheath]

Yeah, she's a looker for sure. And yeah, the usual question is "How did you land her?" Especially since I look more like Jo-Jo the Horse Faced Boy than Brad Pitt. Pure dumb luck I figure.

Off to Pick-a-Part tomorrow to see what treasures can be found.