sgart80's 64 f100 rebuild

sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » August 5, 2009, 10:27 am

I bought my truck in August of 2007, I found it for sale in a local classified. The seller had owned it for quite a while, he said he had bought it from the original owner and "refurbished" it sometime in the 80's but it had been sitting for a couple of years. The brakes didn't work but the truck looked complete and the engine turned over so I bought it.

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I had decided from the start that I was going to do a frame-off restoration and ultimately I wanted to build a daily driver. A week later I found a donor truck for $100. it had a fuel injected 302 with a 4 speed automatic transmission. I was looking for a manual transmission, but decided I could find an old t-5 somewhere. The engine had a slight knock, but I was going to rebuild one anyways so I bought it.

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The truck was in great shape, I pulled what I could use and scraped the rest. The local wrecking yard picked up what was left and cut me a check for forty dollars. When I took the engine to the machine shop it was already bored 0.40 over. I was upset, but the machinist found me another two engines for $50 and he took the best looking parts from the lot. He even got roller rocker cams.

sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » August 5, 2009, 10:57 am

I did very little during the winter months after I pulled the engine from the donor. when it warmed up enough I pulled the hood off and stripped half the bolts in the process. most of the fender bolts broke or stripped out when I took them out. the radiator support had rusted through in several places but I finally got the front clip off and pulled the original motor. It had been almost a year since I had bought the truck. I was in no hurry, but very little progress had been made.

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Three months later I pulled the bed.

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a month or so after that I poured concrete in the carport and closed it off and made myself a garage to work out of.
I unbolted the cab and lifted it onto some saw horses just to see if I could get it off the frame by myself. I can, and it was heavy.
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later that night my brother came over and we set the cab on a dolly that I made out of 2x4's and casters.
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sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » August 5, 2009, 11:06 am

I got the rest of the frame stripped of parts and bought a sandblaster. it took me a couple weekends but I got it clean.

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I painted it with rustoleum, the paint scratches easy, but I guess I get what I pay for. here is a pic after I got the spring packs back on.

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sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » August 5, 2009, 11:15 am

Last month I got my first new parts in and I put my front end back together. It was a nice feeling to see something together again.
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sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » August 5, 2009, 11:21 am

last night I got my axle housing mounted to the frame.
I'm just need to get my bearings pressed on to the axle shafts, then I can mount the brake hardware and bolt on the rear wheels.

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dotcentral · Post by **dotcentral** » August 5, 2009, 11:45 am

Nice work so far. Keep us posted on your progress.

64Ranger · Post by **64Ranger** » August 5, 2009, 2:21 pm

Hello from So. Cal.

Nice job...that is a large carport/garage. Plenty of room to work.

Was the truck originally paint red on white?

Looks great...

sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » August 6, 2009, 6:38 am

I can't remember for sure, but I think when I decoded the vin, the origanal paint was the wimbletone white, and not the two tone.
Thanks for the compliments. I'll post more when I get the wheels back on the rear end.

Anthony · Post by **Anthony** » August 7, 2009, 8:04 pm

Looks nice. Welcome from West Virginia. Looks like your doing it the right way. It looks really good...... Anthony

sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » August 12, 2009, 8:10 am

I got the rear axle together and rolled the chassis outside.

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All I need to do is install a new axle vent tube, fill the axle full of 90w oil, and run the brake line and the rear axle should be done.

sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » August 12, 2009, 8:41 am

My engine should be done next week. The shop is supposed to put the rotating assembly together for me. I just need to buy a clutch and flywheel and I should be able to bolt the transmission on to the engine.

notes:
1986 ford f150 5.0 302
rear axle gear 3.89
1988 t-5 mustang transmission
1st 3.35:1
2nd 1.93:1
3rd 1.29:1
4th 1.00:1
5th 0.68:1
original tire size 215/75-15
tire diameter 28.87"
2,000 rpms at 65 MPH.

sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » August 31, 2009, 11:49 am

I went to the “frog follies” in Evansville, Indiana this past weekend. I found a 63 grille with signals and headlight trim at the swap meet for $15. My 64 grille (the silver one on top) was stretched, ripped and bent all to hell because somebody had backed into the truck at some point in its life. I had previously tried to bent it back somewhat, but I didn’t want to deal with the stretched/ripped metal. And I needed at least one new signal assembly, so now I have a spare. I think I did great for $15.

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Anthony · Post by **Anthony** » August 31, 2009, 8:17 pm

you did good grass hopper. The grill looks great....... Anthony

sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » September 9, 2009, 9:06 am

I worked on the cab over labor day weekend. I finally got the old patches cut out that the previous owner had pop-riveted and then tack welded in. This is the first time I've been able to get a good feel for all the rust issues and really survey the condition of the metal. the cab corners are pretty much non-existent and the floors aren't any better. I guess in the back of my mind I knew the cab was going to need a fair amount of work but it's just going to be more work than what initially thought. I still have some old patches to cut out, but I started to rebuild one of the cab corners. I’ve never done any or this before and I’ve never welded. I’ve been having a hard time getting the grinder in just where I need it to be able to cut in a straight line. most of the time I end up with a jagged cut that is going to have to be finessed later to fit the patch. how do you guys cut your patches so that they butt up straight with each other. I bought a 4’x10’ sheet of galvanized to make my patches out of, Most of the initial patches I’ve cut out haven’t fit quite right. I attribute most of that to not taking my time and also my inexperience. Also, I haven’t figured out how to fine tune my welder so I get consistent results. I have been having fun hammering the sheet metal and when I get a weld to penetrate and hold I'm a happy camper. It did put a smile on my face to get my first patch tacked in on the cab support. it may not be pretty, but it's functional.

Here is the passenger cab corner after I cut off the old “cover-up” patches.
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Here is my first attempt at welding: these patches will work for me, but I have a few others that I previously cut out that I think I’m going to scrap and rework so they fit tighter.
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This needs to be reworked, the panel fits snug, but there are gaps that need to be filled. I think I can make better panels if I don’t rush it. Maybe I could bondo the hole, there is only about a quarter inch gap.
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dotcentral · Post by **dotcentral** » September 9, 2009, 11:07 am

Welding galvanized metal is dangerous unless you have the proper equipment. google "welding galvanized metal" or read this link. http://www.finishing.com/355/27.shtml

You should probably get some non-galvanized sheet metal, or probably easiest would be to buy pre-made patch panels.

sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » September 9, 2009, 12:08 pm

I have a friend that used to weld for a living, he told me the same thing. Then he told me that as little welding as I'm doing it probably wouldn't hurt me, but he did warn that welding galvanized is poisonous and to drink milk if I’m going to be welding on it for hours. And, yes, in hind site, I should have bought cold rolled steel instead, it wasn't that much more than the galvanized and then I wouldn’t have to worry about it at all (I'm kicking myself now for being cheap) If I get sick, I have no excuses, and I have been warned. It's the same thing I went through when I was sand blasting using silica sand, if you blast with silica sand and breath in the dust it could cause Silicosis... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicosis (but only after long term exposure)
dotcentral, I do truly appreciate the warning and I am thankful that there are people out there letting others know the risks. This is a great site with wonderful members, and I'm glad I'm a part of the community.

dotcentral · Post by **dotcentral** » September 9, 2009, 1:31 pm

No problem, just wanted to let you know. Probably doing small amounts in adequate ventilation won't be too hard on you.

Do you need to do anything special to get primer and filler to stick to the galvanized?

sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » September 10, 2009, 6:43 am

I have a buddy that has done multiple car restorations and he told me If I'm using galvanized I need to rough it up with a "whapper wheel" so the primer will stick.
I was going to use something like this:
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In hind site, it's much easier to rough it up before I cut it up and when it's flat then try to do it after I've bent it and welded it to the truck.

oh well, I'll rough up that next piece.

kstones63 · Post by **kstones63** » September 10, 2009, 4:16 pm

What gauge metal is the galvanized? It looks like it is fairly thin. I would think that the pieces should be at least 18ga.

Kevin

sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » September 11, 2009, 6:35 am

It's 18 gauge, it's stamped on it, I got it from a local metal fabrication shop.