1968 F100

[dbarker]

After years of saying I'm going to do it, I've finally started doing it.

I got my gallery up with some fresh pics of my truck taken today. (see sig line for link)

Here's a bit of a teaser:

[basketcase0302]

DBarker,
My cab seems to be in about the same shape as yours (surface rust).
And I've got the same Ford floor mats too.

[JMcTurnan]

Your cab is in pretty decent shape compared to mine. Nice

[dbarker]

DBarker,
My cab seems to be in about the same shape as yours (surface rust).
And I've got the same Ford floor mats too.

I've got the original factory floormats too..... I refuse to use them. These floor mats are MUCH better quality.

[dbarker]

Update for Friday:

Weather's been great the last couple of days. Upper 60's pushing 70 (72 today). Got the truck fired up yesterday. and AGAIN today!!! has a definite miss in the engine... still gotta put new plugs in the truck, we'll see if that helps some.

Today, took the floor jack out of the garage and got in position.... hmm, jacks all the way down and it doesnt fit under the rear diff.... no matter, i think i saw the factory bumper jack! little Wd-40 in the mech and sure enough it still works, but just barely. SO i jacked the truck up from the bumper with my floor jack to its highest point. Tires havnt lifted...... hmm... Toss the bumper jack in place and lift some more. not easy going, and takes for ever with lots of praying that the jack doesnt slip.

Got the floor jack under the diff and lifted the rear end. Got my jack stands in place. All this was done so I could get the rear tires off. I've been spraying Wd-40 on those lugs for 2 weeks... Took some effort but they broke free for the first time in 13 years. I'll take em down and get some tires on there so my truck can roll.

I'll get pics tomorrow of the underside. Looks pretty clean. I didnt spend much time under there. Bed Floor looks solid on both side. Didnt see any flakes in my quick look.

Brake drums looked pretty rusted up. got a feeling im in for a treat there But I had that feeling already when i pushed the pedal and got no pressure.

Also learned of a secret (or maybe not) treasure trove of old fords.... It's not far from here, might be that the guy is a member here, dunno. I'm not sure who it is or the name yet. But I heard through the grapevine about it and that its a magical place of many many old fords ripe for the picking

More updates to come. When i crawl under the old girl, I'll snap what I can picture wise of that saddle tank setup. Always good to document.

[dbarker]

Didnt get under it today, or get the tires.... BUT I did manage to get the drivers side spark plugs replaced with proper gaps and a little anti-seize on the threads.

Day 3 in a row for starting up.

[dbarker]

Today's update:

It was a busy day! First on the list, attempting to get brake power back. Cleaned out what was left of the old fluid, wiped out the master, filled up with fresh fluid and began pumping. I couldnt build any pressure... ugh. Oh well, see if anything comes out the bleeder valves.... nope. oh well.

So, I mounted the rear tires (got 2 for $50 and they have 75% tread left. woot!) lowered the truck down off the jack stands. Its on all four tires for the first time in YEARS!!! whoo!!!

Moving on, i had my friend up to help already so might as well get something done. Got the passenger side spark plugs swapped out with the new ones. Seems to run a little smoother, still got bad oil consumption... stuck rings... bad... but it runs, for now thats fine.

Continued my assult, and went to the fuel system. gas gauge has been on E the whole time, and no i havnt had a lot of gas in the tank, but i had over 5gal. Test the sending unit wires (again) and yep, light blinks. ground the wire out... HEY this time the gauge works!!! So, I pulled the sending unit (way easier than i imagined) and cleaned it up. hooked it up and moved the arm, gauge moves!!! woot! So, why isn't it working normally..... well lets look at the float. whats this black thing hanging off the float (check images on here, oh... thats whats left of some black rubber cap thing. lets get rid of that! (look like someone took a butane torch to it... its gone. While pulling the remains of the cap off, i notice a squirt fluid out of nowhere.... hmm odd, oh hey check it out, the float is full of gas! dang.

pulled the float off, went to napa... "well you aint gonna fine one o them theres, yall needz this universel one." SO I went to the next store Advance Auto parts, "we dont show anything in stock for the fuel system on a 68".... SO I went to Orilley's. "Well we can order the unit for 73-up... you say you just need the float? Well I think we've got one hang on... Here try this, its not the exact same but it should work the same."

Got the float in the sending unit, had to clamp it down a bit more, the new flats diameter isnt as large. But it's in and it's snug. Put everything back in the tank, sure enough, gas gauge reads dead on where it should be for the level of gas in the tank!!! $4 fix and kept the old sending unit!

Started after the oil pressure problem. decided to try a little hot wiring of the gauges. Temp gauge works perfectly... and the wire is right there... let me pull that off, and run a jumper down to the oil sender. same setup, just itll read on the temp gauge. Sure enough, the gauge comes up to the middle, and gives a little bump when i rev the engine! whew, good to know ive got good oil pressure! put the temp wire back on it's sender... now I just gotta figure out whats up with the oil sender wire. It doesnt get power at the end of the wire, gotta have a break in it somewhere.... oh goodie. I think temporarily I'll run a new wire until i can trace back the old one.

To finish the day I moved the truck around a little bit under its own power. instinctively tried to use the brakes to stop and felt a touch of pressure! so i pumped a couple of times and sure enough the pressure built up and held! Lots of pressure too, SWEET! now I just gotta jack it up and bleed the brake system. Another project for another day.

so cliff notes:

Finished changing spark plugs,
mounted rear tires to get things rolling
repaired and cleaned up the fuel sending unit and thus fixed the gas gauge
figured out i have good oil pressure, and a dead sending unit wire.
got brake pressure to build up

Oh, and i put new wiper blades on it for fun. My wiper switch is on its last leg (same with the headlight switch) but the knobs are in good shape. At anyrate, the switch works well enough to get by for now. I plan the great delay upgrade on the wipers so im not worried about the switch.

A good day of work.

[trukcrazy]

Sounds like a good day filled with some great accomplishments.

[dbarker]

We now return to your regular broadcast schedule.....

Ok sports fans, since the last update oh so long ago, nothing has changed. Brakes lost all ability to build up pressure, and no fluid makes it to the bleeder valves. Oh well...

I've got a certified mechanic coming out to inspect the truck and begin the process of A) ring job and assorted tune up and B) fixing those pesky brakes. I'm getting rid of some junk camaros as a trade on the labor... Kinda a win/win for me!

So today, I changed out a flat tire. The front drivers side gave out about a month ago. Poor old tire has been in service since 97, and it sat for 12 years... I was amazed it was still inflated to begin with, let alone held up for 4 months of light duty yard moving.

[dbarker]

Today was highly productive!

Got the junk i tossed in the cab cleaned back out. Also met with the mechanics whom I will be dealing with on the repair of my beast.

The deal I struck with them is that I get free labor in return for two junk camaros i have in my pasture. I pay for parts only. So I get rid of some junk, and get a working truck!

Theyre going to pull the engine, machine the heads, install a full Master Rebuild kit (pistons rings bearings etc for those who dunno) So I'll have a nice read to go engine.
Also going to tear down the whole brake system and rebuild that. I have the option to go to disc brakes at this point while everythings apart... it's very tempting, but i think ill pass at this point.

All in all I'd have to say it's win win for everyone. I'm getting my truck roadworthy, and getting rid of those old junkers. They're getting two camaros that they want for restoration and they'll get word of mouth advertising from me. They're mobile mechanics so You can bet ill hang on to their number.

Oh, btw that flat i changed in the last post. spare is going flat too... but very slowly. I had a plug put in it... still leaks. I hit it with fix a flat... still leaks... guess itll hold until i get a decent used tire on the other rim and remount that.
-----------------

So what parts do you guys like? any specific master rebuild kits you like? I'm going to install a new fuel pump (mine leaks like the gulf oil rig), new carb, new master cyl. New radiator (mines a little bit tore up, it works but i figure why the hell not!), etc etc etc...

[dbarker]

Well, today I fired up the worn out old girl and backed her into a position that will allow for easy access to pull the engine.

As of Saturday the engine will be divorced from her for the first time since she was born. The teardown will commence and it looks like on Monday I'll put in the order for a master rebuild kit. I'm waiting to get into the engine before I order, just to be sure i get the right kit. Dome's or flat tops is the big question, Std size over oversized is the next... I'm sure you're all gonna tell me whats in there, but even with he knowledge that gpa had the truck all those years, we don't have a full history on what work was done back then.

If anyone wants the old pistons, etc let me know. Engine has 73,6xx original miles. Should be std bore 360. but i wont be 100% positive on that til this weekend.

[dbarker]

Pulled the engine yesterday 11/7/10

It was pretty uneventful, and took about 2 hours from start to finish. no issues with backing out bolts after 42 years. we just cut the exhaust off as its getting headers and full exhaust upgrades. The only hard part was clearing the radiator cross member.

[dcbullet]

Looking forward to seeing your progress!

[Mancar1]

I will be following your progress. I have a 68 Ranger CS.

[71 side step crazy]

Love it its going great and I hope to see more of her.