Anyway, I bought this truck about three years ago from the second owner, who had started to kind of "rat rod" it. He bought it from the original owner, a gas station proprietor. It had been a service truck most of its life. The second owner replaced the original motor and trans with a 302 and an AOD out of an 85 Mustang, but everything else remained stock. Anyway, the day I purchased the truck, I was driving it home, cruising down I-95, when I hear a loud explosive noise, and I see a huge black cloud in my rear view mirror. Long story short, still not quite sure what happened, but speculation is the torque converter may have seized. I lost the driveshaft, the starter, all the teeth on the flex plate, and the aluminum body of the transmission literally cracked in half. So after 30 minutes of ownership, I had a mess on my hands.
With other projects to work on, including a 49 Mercury, and a 63 Falcon, I didn't touch the truck for almost three years. It sat in my back yard until my fiance talked me into getting it back on the road. Besides replacing the AOD, starter, flexplate, and driveshaft, I lowered the truck almost a foot (sorry guys, I am a hot rodder), replaced the Dana 60 with a Dana 44, found some 4" dropped I beams, and put in power disc brakes. Oh, and a carb replacement as well. I finally got it running several weeks ago, and considered selling it. I even listed it on this site. But after driving it around, I remembered why I wanted it in the first place, and my love affair has been renewed. I don't think my girlfriend would let me sell it now, even if I still wanted to! Although power steering is in our near future so she can drive it comfortably.
Scrolling over my post, maybe it wasn't exactly a quick hello, but that's my story, and I am here to learn.
from Louisiana.
