Oil leak and MPG

The 352 v8 the truck came with has an oil leak... EPA style problem. I got about 9 mpg on the drive over from California. So I was thinking about an engine swap to get a bit better mileage. The 1969 F100 I drove in 1989 had an inline 6, I don't remember 240 or 300. So I have always had that in the back of my mind.

I was searching Craigslist for "f100 | f-100" my standard search.

I found a 300/C6 transmission combo for $200! The kid needed money and I got to him first. Well, sorta. My truck isn't trustable to the distance I would have to go.  Gilbert to Wittman, Az

I had to get my brother in law's truck, and that proved to be tough...Thanksgiving week, Christmas choir concerts, it seemed like I would lose it to another person who could make it over quicker. However the kid stuck to his promise to sell to me. I got the engine and headed out to Roberts house to drop it off. Robert will help me rebuild it as soon as he has garage space.

A local FTE member had a Offenhauser DP intake for sale... and I got that and a Holley 4180 4bbl carb. I ordered EFI exhaust manifolds and need to source some exhaust parts next.

New Tires

The Craigslist tires I got were weathered and cracking a bit more than I liked. They worked well for "rollers" to make sure that the lowering gear was going to work right. But.... they needed to be replaced.

My local tire shop made me a deal, and the tires were replaced.

I came out Saturday night to pull the truck into the back yard, and the front tire was flat. The valve stem sheared off. So I jacked it up and took the tire off. I'll take it back to Kevin on Monday.

I get this picture as a text from my son Sunday morning. Another sheared valve stem. Disappointment.... 

Monday morning I called Kevin, he sent a tow truck at no charge, and found that the box of valve stems was old and he tossed them all. Kevin replaced the stems and told me to come get my truck, no charge. I understand problems, I know things happen, it's all about how you deal with them. Kevin treated me well, and I will keep going back.

Bump steer, steering stabilizer and alignment

After the DJM kit, AC, radiator and 3g Alternator upgrades, my truck came home. All the way there it drove like a skittish cat. I ordered the Moog SSD20 steering stabilizer. $52 from Jegs, O'Rielly had it for $90+tax. That was just too much of a difference to buy locally. Kevin at the tire shop installed it for me, he has a lift... I don't. $40, so all in $90 and I got some steering stabilization.

Alignment is a tough one on these trucks. The people that used to have the tools sold them, or sent them to scrap after not being used for months on end. In Mesa, Az I found Bailey's Brakes still did Twin I beam alignment. $60 later, she drives straight and true.

3G Alternator

Alternator died during the installation of the AC unit. I didn't want to put in the correct underpowered one. I hit the Pick-a-Part on Extension and Main in Mesa, Az. I found a 3g alternator in a 1996 Taurus. Pulled it and paid $34. One the way home I took it to Autozone and they tested it for no charge. Alternator was good! Sourced a fuse and holder from Napa. Sourced a carne asada burrito from Filliberto's and went to change it out on the truck.

It was simple, the alternator bolts to the same bracket. The pulley was swapped from the serpentine back to the V belt.

I live in Arizona or Install the dang AC quick!

I live in Arizona, I have a job. I WILL afford AC in this moving oven I call a truck.
I bought a kit from Nostalgic Air that included the underdash style of AC for this model truck.
A bit spendy at $994 but it should look good when it's done.

The truck was at Roberts house for the DJM kit install so I dropped this off and asked him to install while I was traveling. He said ok!  The install went ok, the fittings arrived as shown, Robert ended up at a local shop to get the fittings crimped on once he got the right length on the tubing. The fit on the underdash wasn't a "perfect" fit like it should have been. but overall it looks ok.

This did tax the radiator, and the truck was overheating... so a new radiator was ordered from Jegs and it helped alot. 

Lowered

Hello, I am Robert aka The Keeme aka Dave Williamses'friend. I did a few things to the 67 Bumpside, here are a few pics and descriptions of what was done. Enjoy!

Lowered the front with dream beams from DJM and the rear with hangers and shackles. More details and stuff to follow.

Disc brakes in progress

I dropped the truck off at Robert's house to get some work done. I have been traveling a bunch and with a lower back issue, I needed some help with the heavy lifting. Robert and Geronimo agreed to do the disc brake swap and  lowering.

Out with the 40+ year old radius arms and drums!

New master cyl, power booster and Wilwood proportioning valve.

New calipers and rotors!

DJM wrench in the works...

For the DJM tie rod locators you need a special wrench.
The guy I bought from didn't have the wrench, he ground down one he already had.

I emailed DJM and they sent out a wrench for me, no questions, no problem.

DJM, THANK YOU!!!!

Chevy wheels and tires

Craigslist is great! I found tires that would work for the stance I wanted.


Set of 4 rims with tires. Rims are dual bolt pattern 5 on 5 and 5 on 4 1/2. Tires are 2 @ 275/60/15 and 2@ 255/60/15. Tires have tread left but are kinda old. Wheels are in great shape no gouges or scrapes. 

I didn't want the rims, but for $120 I got 4 tires and rims. So the rims are back on Craigslist and the tires are mounted on the smoothies!
The fronts may be a little big, we will see once the brakes and lowering is done. If they are... back on Craigslist.

Wheels

I wanted the old school look of the smoothie wheel.
After a bunch of searching, I found that some of the vendors sold their wheels and center caps seperatly. I ended up picking a Cragar 15x8 5x5.5 all the way around. I will run a larger tire in the back to give it the look I am hoping for.

I ended up at about $345 delivered for the 4 wheels from Summit Racing.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/crr-3135853/overview/

While I was surfing the Ford Truck Enthisiasts forums I found a user named Trozi (Jackson) who had a 69 F100 that was beautiful. It became the inspiration vehicle.

DJM limbo... How low can you go...

I was deciding what way to lower the F100, Crown Vic front end, cut coils, DJM or AIM lowering beams. For the rear, remove spring, hanger flip or shackles and hangers.

I came across someone on FTE that was selling a slightly used kit. He had bought the DJM beams, shackles, hangers and shocks. All in the kit was over $900 and he wanted $600 shipped. I bought it and he shipped out to me quickly!

So, DJM it is!
DJM 3/4 drop kit

Disc brake swap

1967 F100 came with all wheel drum brakes. It works, but not the way I would like it to. So the answer is to find a donor 73-79 F100-F150 and take the disc brakes from it and transplant. I found a Craigslist ad for just what I needed. The cost was $300, and then the new parts I need to make it safe.
So for $300 I got the radius arms, beams, spindles, and calipers. There was no proportioning valve, master cylinder, or brake booster. I ended up sourcing those items from O'Rielly's around the corner from me.

Airflow

The weatherstripping on this truck is old, cracked and hard as a rock. I ordered a kit that included door and window replacement rubber. Also ordered a front and rear window seal. I can't wait to get this installed.

Rust... dang it.

The truck has a couple of small rust spots. It looks like a floor pan will need to be fixed, and the drivers door has some rust on the inside and outside of the front corner.
I found someone selling the floor pans on Criagslist, he took $70 for 2 floor pans. My buddy Dean lives near him in Northern Arizona and picked them up for me. When he brought the box over, it had floor pans, cab corners and cab mounts as well. SCORE!


I picked up the door skins from Summit Racing

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GMK-3144-455-67

I got the inner sheet metal from Jegs.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Sherman+Parts/455/573-20L/10002/-1

Plans

Plans for the truck

DJM Dream Beams / shackle and hanger kit for a 3/4 drop
Air conditioning
Chrome Smoothie wheels
Spray in bed liner with wood overlay
Disc brakes
headlight relay

Purchased!

I had a 1969 F100 in high school. Primer grey, AC (not hooked up), straight 6, and long bed.

I got nostalgic and bought a 1972 F250 long bed. That lasted about 2 months and I realized I wanted a short bed if I was going to keep it for a while. So I sold the 72 and found a 67 in California.

My friend Rusty went to look at the truck for me, and said it was in pretty good condition.
I wired him some money and he picked it up for me.

A couple of weeks later, I took a flight to Irvine and drove the truck home.
It made it all the way to Goodyear, and the steering started to get a little rough. I powered through it and got home. I didn't want to risk getting stuck somewhere.
Once home I looked under the hood and found the power steering belt had come off and broken. Not too bad for a 7 hour drive in a 40+ year old truck I didn't know much about.

So here is how it looked when I bought it.

1972 F250

This year, I bought 2 Ford trucks, the first one didn't last too long. It wasn't the right truck. I should have waited a bit longer. On the positive side, I sold it to a friend at work, and he loves it!

I wanted the 67-69 grill and a short bed. So Old Blue went to live with Ralph.