Resurrecting dad's old 68 F-100 4x4

[JoshT]

Well I guess it's my truck now since dad is basically giving it to me, but to me it'll probably always be dad's old truck. If you don't care about history and just want pictures, jump down the page.

Don't know full history of this truck, but I do know it's been in the family for over 30 years. It belonged to my dad's step-dad for who knows how long and my dad bought it from him just before or shortly after I was born. Unfortunately no sentimentality from the granddad angle, I know who he was, but was too young to really remember him when grandma decided it wasn't going to work. I do however remember spending a lot of time riding in that truck with dad growing up. Trips to the hunting club or camping, or throwing canoe/kayak on top and heading for the river. Remember nearly knocking my front teeth out on the dash when the front end dropped off in a hole. Vaguely remember driving it around the yard and hunting club a little, but dad wouldn't let me take it on the road because he never trusted the brakes. I'm sure other details and memories will come back to me as I'm working on the truck, that's just what I remember while typing this.

Sometime in the early 2000s dad bought a tractor and a small 5th wheel camper. Used this truck with trailer brakes to pull them for several years, but eventually he decided he needed something bigger (or at least that stopped better) and started truck shopping. In 2006 he found a hell of a deal on a 2000 F-250 4wd with the 7.3L. When he got home he parked the F-100 and that's where it's sat until today.

Enough of the stories, time for pictures:

TL;DR

The only picture of know of from before the truck was parked 12 years ago, it's definitely the only one in digital format. Dad was trying to dig/pull over what was left of old oak tree that was killed by a lightening strike. At that time the tree was winning, but it was probably growing there when Henry Ford built his first vehicle.

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This is where and how it sat for the last 12 years. Took these pictures last year when I was checking out to see how the body fared sitting all these years. Seemingly not that much worse aside from sun damage to the paint and windshield.

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underhood

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Interior: Yikes that's exactly how it was left 12 years ago, except maybe a little more sundamage on the dash.

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Now for the bad...

The bed is a lot worse than is obvious from those pics. Lots of bondo and rust holes all over the bed floor, the front edge of the bed was nearly gone when parked. These pics are what's visible now, who knows how much is hidden under those tires now.

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The hood is in pretty bad shape too, I don't think it's worth trying to fix this one. I'll be on the lookout for a replacement.

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And a few rust holes in the cab

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That's what I had as of Last June. Those pics were taken almost exactly 1 year ago. Truck wasn't touched again until this past month, but more on that in the next post.

[JoshT]

June of this year I started making a plan and ordering parts to get it on the road. First things I need to do is get it running and get it stopping.

I've known since I first decided I wanted this truck that I was going to find a way to put disc brakes on it. Since underwhelming brake performance was one of the big reasons dad parked the truck, it seems to be a logical place to start. Ideally I'd swap in a later model D44 with factory disc brakes, unfortunately the only axle I found would end up around $1000 by the time I refreshed the brakes and got it installed. Other option is the Hybrid Chevy/Ford conversion like used on the Early Bronco. For those not fimilar with the swap it uses spindles calipers and mounts from a mid 70s chevy D44 with rotors and hubs from the later Ford D44. They sell kits for the conversion, but they are high dollar too. Got lucky and scored most of the components individually on RockAuto warehouse closeouts. I'll post more on that and pictures once I actually start installing them, but first I'm going to get the truck running so I can move it into some shade.

Another big decision was made long ago is it's getting an EFI conversion. I suck at carburetors, so rather than spending time on it I'm going straight into the EFI swap. Decided to use the Holley Sniper EFI, easy install, reliable, lots of good reviews. I eventually want to set it up for timing control as well, but will leave the Duraspark system intact for now. So with that decision made, next step is figuring out what I need for a fuel system. I'll eventually install an under bed tank, but I wanted to try to leave that for when the bed is replaced. With that in mind I was hoping that the stock tank would be in good shape and I could order the Sniper with fuel system kit and have fuel system covered.

Was busy with family and an Eagle Scout project for the last couple of weekends, but finally got to pull the tank last weekend.

Tank Removed (not sure what I did with the light here, was using my cellphone that day)

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Forgot to get any pics of the tank, but it was in pretty good shape. Surface rust and old gas inside the tank. Dumped the old gas out, rinsed it out, and poured in 3 gallons of white vinegar to clean the inside. Ive been letting it soak and rotating it every few day. We'll see how it looks when I get ready to reinstall.

Found a nasty surprise of more rust when I got the tank out. Got a better picture of it yesterday, but forgot the camera at parent's house. I'll be back over working on it on the 4th, so I'll post it up then.

Got done with the tank, had plenty of daylight left, and nothing else to do until parts arrive. Figured it was as good a time as any to to clean out 20+ years worth of dirt, trash and rat poop. Forgot to take a before pic, but you can see the driver side in one of the pics above, passenger side was a lot worse. You can also see why I need a new windshield in that first pic.

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Was surprised by how intact the vinyl floor was, I remembered it being a lot more damaged. It's worn and rough, but looks like it would clean up pretty well with a little soap and water. Might need to see if I can get some new jute padding to put under it, that is assuming it ever had jute in the first place. The dash on the other hand is worse than I remember. Definitely needs replacement, but not dropping $400 on one right now. Guess I'll run with a metal dash until I find a replacement or loosen up my wallet.

I think I need a new headliner board too, this one has seen better days. It's not really visible in the pic, but it's very warped.

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Found that I need at least a driver side window regulator. I plan to do a power window conversion eventually, so don't want to spend a bunch on new manual regulators. Unfortunately got more important things to spend the money on, so power conversion isn't happening right now either. Got lucky on ebay over the weekend and got a pair of used regulators for about $25. Taking a risk with used, but they looked decent in the pics and I hope they'll look just as good in person. Figure worst case scenario I mix and match parts to make one good pair.


With good news about the tank I ordered the Sniper EFI with Master Kit. Was hoping to have like last friday like FedEx said, but it didn't happen. Should be arriving on Monday. Well I guess that's later today.

[DuckRyder]

Good story, looking forward to seeing your sniper install.

We can’t see your pictures - or at least I can’t which is a shame.

[JoshT]

Well that's no good , but thanks for letting me know. They show up fine for me, must be Google. Was trying to use a direct links to Google Drive. Guess I'll find another image host. Would upload them to a gallery here, but might want to post them elsewhere as well.

[Manny]

Well that's no good , but thanks for letting me know. They show up fine for me, must be Google. Was trying to use a direct links to Google Drive. Guess I'll find another image host. Would upload them to a gallery here, but might want to post them elsewhere as well.

www.supermotors.org has always faired me well. I would like to see what you got going.

[JoshT]

Thanks for the recommendation Manny, might do that later. Got pictures uploaded to forum gallery and the first two posts put back up.

Sniper EFI arrived Monday, seems easy enough to install. Looks cool, hope it works half as well as it looks. Got to figure out where to connect the Tach Output and Switched Ignition wires and I'll be ready to roll.

Had July 4th off. I don't party or care about sitting around alone watching fireworks, so seemed like a good day to put in time on the truck. First order of business was getting the rust underneath the tank cleaned up.

Seat pulled for better access. Yay! More dirt and junk from the last few decades. Should have done this before pulling the tank, but had hoped it would be a quick remove, clean and reinstall.

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The rust hole hiding under the tank.

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Don't know if you can see it, but there are water trails running all down the back wall. Can't tell if it is a leaking seal or condensation, but I think this is the cause of the rust.

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Rust treatment applied

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Painted

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While waiting on paint to dry I decided to start tackling stuff under the hood.

Won't be needing this anymore

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Good bye

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While knocking around under the hood I noticed that the battery cables looked like **** with bare & broken wires in places. Hit up Advance for a new battery, new starter solenoid, and new battery cables. Made the mistake of letting the guy at the counter match up my battery cables, should have waited and had them made at another store in the morning. Somehow I got out of the store with only 2 out of the 3 cables. Made it back to the store before it closed to get the third cable. Go to install them and two out of three cables are too short and I stupidly dropped the old cables in the trash as I left Advance.

With that as far as I could take it for the day I turned back to getting things ready for installing the Sniper. Would have gotten the Sniper mounted, but I didn't realize that the PCV hose was connected to a phenol spacer under the carb. Hit it the wrong way and knocked the plate loose which tore the gasket. Wouldn't have been a problem, but part store closed early for July 4th.

Since this engine has been sitting for years, I want to squirt a little oil in the cylinders and turn the engine over by hand a bit before trying to start it. Obviously to do that I need to pull spark plugs, so that's next step I decided to tackle. Yeah it kinda won that fight. Them things was stuck. Managed to get 5 out of 8 plugs pulled with the help of a breaker bar and squirted some Marvel Mystery Oil in those cylinders. Sprayed the remaining three down with PB Blaster and will try at them again in a day or two with a bigger breaker bar and a cheater pipe. I don't think they were installed that tight, it's just been sitting for 12 years. Once I get those out we'll see how it spins over.

That's it for today. Maybe I'll get to spend a little more time on it tomorrow and Friday before work.

[North56]

Your doing great, will be following.

[popeyes71]

Great truck and progress! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress!

[JoshT]

Didn't get much time to work on it today, but did do a little. Stopped by on the way to the truck and exchanged too short battery cables as well as getting a carburetor gasket. So continued on to see what I could do for the day.

First task of the day, taking pictures of the last task from yesterday. Even if it's all that happened it was worth the trip. So as I left it yesterday I was at a dead end for needing more parts. Earlier in the day I had a wiped a spot small spot of the exterior with the preps-all that I was using for painting. Well, I had a few hours of daylight left and didn't like that little spot, so decided to do something about it.

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Still in a lot better condition than I expected. Paint is still shot and it's not as clean as it looks, but it's amazing what a soft bristle scrub brush and a bit of elbow grease will do. Once I've got the major stuff (running and brakes) done I'll have to give it a proper bath.

With the most important task of the day done, tackled a few more little items.

Got the new battery cables installed, fortunately they were long enough this time. Don't really like the way they fit, but they should work. In the future, probably when I start cleaning up wiring in the truck, I might make custom cables with better routing and mounting.

Made another attempt at getting out the three stuck spark plugs. Now there's just two stuck plugs. Got a little movement out of cylinder 6, but barely turning. Still nothing on cylinder 4. Applied more PB blaster and will try again tomorrow. Tight as these are I think it's time to pull out the impact sockets and a really long breaker bar or cheater pipe.

Finally got two of the 4 carb studs pulled. The existing studs were pretty short with the "stock" carburetor and having that nice new Sniper unit I wanted clean new mounting hardware. Of course they were in there good. Got two of the four replaced before time to stop for lunch and head to work.

[popeyes71]

She's cleaning up well. Eventually those spark plugs will free up for you.

[1guydude]

Nice to see an old ford getting fixed up. Keep at it!
-d

[JoshT]

She's cleaning up well. Eventually those spark plugs will free up for you.

They'll free up, just takes the right tools. Right tools like a 1/2 driver breaker bar, a bunch of extensions, a 6 point impact socket, and a 4 foot cheater pipe (aka floor jack handle).

Didn't get to do much today, but got those two plugs out. The plugs looked in decent shape and could probably be put back in, but considering what it took to get them out, it's getting new ones. Local stores didn't have Autolite 45 coppers like came out of it, but had they AP45 platinum plugs in stock so I picked up some on the way home. I know some engines run best on plain copper plugs, but hopefully the platinum plugs will work fine.

With the plugs out it was time to see if the engine would spin over. Didn't have the right socket ratchet combo in my tool box to get on the crank bolt. I know dad had what I needed, but I think it's locked up in the other shed, they're out of town until tomorrow and don't know where the key is. Waiting until tomorrow isn't going to work, so what else can I use to spin this motor over? There's a fan there and it's got pulleys connecting it to the crank, might as well give it a shot. Attempted to turn fan in direction of rotation and it didn't move, tried the other way it moved a little, tried standard rotation again and got a full turn. Kept turning and now I can grab the fan and spin the engine over no problem (with plugs removed of course). Now that I know it spins over good, I'll reconnect the battery tomorrow and try it with the starter and blow out the rest of the MMO. Hope starter works, if not time to install a mini starter. More expensive than standard starter, but "buy once, cry once" and I'll eventually be installing headers.

Got the other two carburetor studs out and new studs installed. Glad I decided to change them, I don't think the stock studs would have been long enough. Mounted the sniper throttle body, but didn't go any further with that today. If weather clears up I'll probably finish sniper install tomorrow, but still need to tackle the fuel system too.

[JoshT]

Interesting...

Dad told me in the past that the truck was originally a 360 (correct), but it had been swapped for a 390 at some point before he acquired it. Don't know if it was his step dad or a previous owner that did the swap, but as you know all FEs (except the bigger stuff) become a 390 when sold. As part of my work on the truck later today I'll check stroke and see if I can confirm that it is at least a 390.

IIRC, he also told me that it had "factory performance heads and intake" from a "Thunderbird". That doesn't tell me much, so while I had the carb off and was messing around the spark plugs, I decided to jot down the casting numbers. Been looking into these numbers and things are getting more interesting, just not sure if that's a good interesting or a bad interesting.

Intake: C8OE-9425-C
So apparently I've got a 68-70 428 Cobra Jet intake manifold, I think that matches the "factory performance" and "Thunderbird" claims. Also seems like this is one of the better factory intake manifolds for the FE. Making me rethink my plans to pick up a Edelbrock Performer, got some more studying to do on this one.

Heads: C(8/3)AE-6090-(C/G)
The head castings were a little more difficult to read. At first it looked like an 8 and a C, then it looked more like a 3 and a G. With an 8 it doesn't match casting numbers I can find online and the closest match has a different "style" to the casting. With a 3 I find a match and the "style" of the casting numbers is almost identical.

C3AE-6090-C = late 63 390 or late 63 406. They have same casting but different chambers and valves according to the source I found.

C3AE-6090-G = late 63 427 Low riser.

Once I get spark plugs back in I think I need to take a closer look at that casting number. I'm definitely thinking that I need to get a set of headers on this things so it'll breathe better than the manifolds on it now. No Idea what the manifolds are from, but they look restrictive.

[DuckRyder]

Nice feels good to get some stuff done, even if it is little stuff!

Or not so little stuff...

[JoshT]

Well the heads are definitely C3AE-6090-G so 63 472 low riser heads. Matches up with the 63 Thunderbird dad said the heads came from. Apparently some time after he got the truck the radiator blew out and killed the heads that were on it. He already had these heads and intake freshly machined from his 63 Thunderbird so they got installed on the truck instead.

Dug through parents bucket of old keys and found keys to the truck. Hooked up the battery and starter still works.

Had a few minutes to kill before lunch so decided to find the casting number on the passenger side of the block. I know that these aren't real clear for the FE series, but figured it might help narrow things down a little. Block casting number is C7ME-A. From what I can find it seems like the most likely suspects for this casting number are a 330 FT (unlikely), 390 FE, or...

...a 428 FE.

360, 390, or 428 I think I'll be happy regardless.

After lunch went out to start working on the fuel system and get the sniper wired up. Then realized that I forgot the box with the harness and fuel system at my house. About too hot to be out there working anyway, maybe by the time I get back with parts it will have cooled off a bit. I think I need to pick up a piece of dowel rod before I head back over. Can't measure bore without pulling the heads, which isn't going to happen right now, but stroke might narrow it down even more.