72' F250 CS "Rex" Sold! -update

[mcheath]

Got this in the mail today. This month's fix it project is to get the aux fuel tank working again and remove the in-cab tank.

Also bought a new gasket for the cargo light while I was at it, the old one is leaky.

All the parts were stamped "Made in Thailand". Shocker, you mean they weren't made in China???? What's the world coming to??

Going to do the tank this coming weekend.

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[KRob]

mcheath,

Very interesting thread. I read it start to finish over the last couple of days. You have made a lot of progress on a very small budget, very impressive.

I liked how your paint job on the dash turned out. I think i am going to steal your paint job idea for my own dahs project. Also, i am going to re post the pictures of your dash on another thread about dashes / custom dashes....let me know if your not cool with that.

How is your floor mat rhino liner turning out?

Thanks.....very cool
Rob

[mcheath]

Thanks for the comments. It's been a lot more fun than I ever thought it would be, fixing up this old pickup.

My budget is hardly anything for this build, roughly a hundred bucks a month can go into it. So a lot of trips to the scrap yard, and everything takes a lot of time.

The floor mat is holding up great! Here's a pic from today. The truck is being used daily now, so the mat is seeing good use and the paint is holding well. (fingers crossed)

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[mcheath]

Okay, this months project was the hoses for the aux tank under the bed.

New ones were 40 from LMB, plus 10 for shipping. Spent a few more bucks at O'Reilly for 3/8 hose, clamps, and some new blue gloves.

Getting the tank down was not all that hard, as long as you have a floor jack and air gun.

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Lots of crud, leaves and dirt mainly. The PO kept it parked under his pine trees for eternity.

Ah, this looks like yer problem...

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Here's the whole tank. Flushed it with new gas by adding some, maybe a half gallon at a time, and swishing it back and forth a lot. The tank still had some "gas" left in it, pure varnishy stuff. After three rinses with new gas the tank drained clear and I installed the new hoses.

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[mcheath]

Back in it goes, the floor jack is a must. You can see how you have to snake the hoses over the frame, I put rags in the openings to keep out dirt. You can also see the camper wiring plug-in that Ford added as part of the camper special package.

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I installed new feed hoses and bypassed the 3-way valve and ran directly from the aux tank to the fuel pump. I'm going to remove the in cab tank.

Also drained the in cab tank, very handy with the valve.

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Put the skid plate back on, started it up, works great.

And as an added score the gas gauge in the aux tank also works.

Next up for another day, pulling the tank out of the cab. How to get rid of it is the question, it's practically impossible here in the People's Republik to dispose of a fuel tank.

[sargentrs]

Good job, McHeath! And thanks for the photos. I'll be putting the same tank in my truck and didn't have a shot of how the hoses route over the frame.

[mcheath]

Pulled the in-cab tank today. Seems to me that this was a Bad Idea™ from the start, putting the gasoline tank in the passenger compartment.

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[sargentrs]

Hang on to those mounting brackets for the bottom of the tank. Nobody makes 'em and I've seen people on here looking for some. I hear ya on the "bad idea" thought. Nothing like having 19 gals of gas at your back to make you think about driving carefully.

[mcheath]

Didn't know that about those mounts. I see a good number of the tanks in my local scrap yard, intact with the mounts.

Went to the yard today and found some good hood springs. Mine have been weak since I got the pickup, they did not hold the hood up enough to keep me from several really good smacks in the head on the latch. So today I found a 71' F-350 with some oddly large coil springs and yanked them off. They work well, just as they should. Hopefully no more head banging. My old spring is below the "new" one, it's a flat coil not round.

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[mcheath]

Soooo, I finally checked the gas mileage after a bit over a year of ownership. Couldn't do this before because the in-cab tank filler hose was bad. Filled it up, drove for a week to work and back and here and there, filled it again today, and the results are.....


7.24 miles per gallon.



At least it runs well, so there is some payoff. Perhaps that's the low compression of an old tired engine combined with the carb that really needs to be rebuilt. Gearing, 3.73, and a tired C-6 trans does not help either I'm sure.

Oh well, at least it's paid for.

[KRob]

Ouch...your right at least its paid for.

A good tuning and carb rebuild can do a lot though.

Any idea on those hood springs you found? Mine are real week as well.

[mcheath]

Any idea on those hood springs you found? Mine are real week as well.

These springs are great, they hold the hood up well and no more bonked head.

I don't know anything really about them except that they were on a 71' F-350 dually. Don't even know if they are original as I've never seen the hood springs on a F-350. Were the springs all larger like this on the earlier bumps?

[mcheath]

Nothing major this month, just replaced the valve cover gaskets. Bought some Fel-Pros neoprene at O'Reillys for something like 12 bucks.

Did learn that once I pulled the covers there is a lot of crud in there. Methinks this engine has not been rebuilt, or if it was it was a loooonngg time ago.

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[mcheath]

Cleaned the covers with degreaser and installed the gaskets with a little blue silicon. The old cork gaskets were cracked all the way through in spots, this easy fix should get rid of the clouds of oil smoke on the manifolds at stop lights.

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And here they are back on. Drove around a good amount, not a drop leaked on the manifolds. Mission accomplished.

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Also fixed a bad bearing on the AC idler pulley. Darn thing started howling this week and made me think it was the water pump.

Rex has become my daily driver this fall as the wife sold her Civic. That was an unexpected role for the pickup but it's doing fine. Latest gas mileage check was 6.7 so we aren't winning awards there. The choke probably needs some adjustment, it stays on too long.

[Heirloom]

My budget is hardly anything for this build, roughly a hundred bucks a month can go into it. So a lot of trips to the scrap yard, and everything takes a lot of time.

$100 a month!!?? If that covers fuel go into it too it's a wonder anything gets done!! J/K