Grits is Back
Posted: July 29, 2016, 6:24 pm
Well, I’m back. After a several year absence, for the most part, from Slick 60’s I have returned. I’ve checked in a few times but didn’t have much to talk about. I feel I almost need to reintroduce myself as there are so many new names on the site. I think I had just gotten burned out on my slicks. I liked the challenge of finding unusual trucks or with unusual features and the accompanying parts and like the mechanical part less.
After a couple of fairly minor but inconvenient and restrictive health issues including a dislocated shoulder and after that pulled muscles in my back and the resulting physical therapy, I felt so good that I decided it was time to get my shop unpacked and in workable condition. As I got into it I again got excited about the potential of my trucks. BTW I turned 73 in May.
I had collected quite a herd of project trucks. Most were not necessarily collectable, but unusual, including: a 1963 F100 crew cab, a 1966 F100 Ranger and a Big Back Window Un I with a chrome grill. The truck that started this “slickness” was “Little Red” a 1964 F100 short bed with a 223 I-6. I had worked toward keeping her as stock as possible, with the exception of an alternator replacing the generator and a sway bar.
The Herd
I had gathered a lot of parts to build my non-BBW Long Uni as my first project, but after teardown the damage to the torque box was more than I wanted to tackle. Frame is off, the body is still on the rotisserie, the front clip is behind the shop.
So, as I was thinking while cleaning and discovering parts that I had forgotten I owned, I decided to change plans and work on Little Red (my first truck) and use much of the material I had collected and acquired on her. She just never gets driven, too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, and although I am enthusiastic about the “straight axle” trucks, the actuality of driving one, including the Armstrong steering, is another thing entirely, at least for me.
Little Red
So, after about another week of shop unpacking and sorting, should be pulling her into the shop for surgery. I have two basic 292 Y-Blocks to choose from and the choice of either three professionally rebuilt and matched Stromberg 97’s on a 573 and two quads (most probably Holley 4000 Teapots) on an Edelbrock 257 manifold. Ram’s horn exhaust, backed by a T-5 transmission.
Front suspension will be an '07 Crown Victoria aluminum cradle with power rack and pinion steering, large disc brakes in front and an 81 F-100 9” in the rear which will give me both a width and a bolt pattern to match the CV. I have a Classic Auto Air unit on the shelf which will go in, which will necessitate buying brackets and an A/C compressor as well as a power steering pump for the rack and pinion setup. I’ll either buy an Idit tilt column or revamp my column to work with the R&P and get it out of my lap. I also have a nice set of 17” Mustang Bullit wheels. I have several pairs of Mustang bucket seats with the brackets for the interior. Mustang gas tank between the rear rails to replace the in-cab tank.
So, although I have a lot of the parts, I’ll need some additional funds to purchase the extra parts I’ll need for the build. This will necessitate thinning the herd some and selling off some of the extra parts I have collected.
Extra manifolds, fenders, doors, tailgates, wheels, trim, etc, etc. I’ve been cataloging and pricing the things that I think someone might want or need.
I’ll be posting up ads in a week or so, on here first and then afterward on Facebook, Craigslist, and E-bay.
It’s good to be back.
And, no I won't be able to make Slick Stock, unless of course my Powerball ticket gets called.
After a couple of fairly minor but inconvenient and restrictive health issues including a dislocated shoulder and after that pulled muscles in my back and the resulting physical therapy, I felt so good that I decided it was time to get my shop unpacked and in workable condition. As I got into it I again got excited about the potential of my trucks. BTW I turned 73 in May.
I had collected quite a herd of project trucks. Most were not necessarily collectable, but unusual, including: a 1963 F100 crew cab, a 1966 F100 Ranger and a Big Back Window Un I with a chrome grill. The truck that started this “slickness” was “Little Red” a 1964 F100 short bed with a 223 I-6. I had worked toward keeping her as stock as possible, with the exception of an alternator replacing the generator and a sway bar.
The Herd
I had gathered a lot of parts to build my non-BBW Long Uni as my first project, but after teardown the damage to the torque box was more than I wanted to tackle. Frame is off, the body is still on the rotisserie, the front clip is behind the shop.
So, as I was thinking while cleaning and discovering parts that I had forgotten I owned, I decided to change plans and work on Little Red (my first truck) and use much of the material I had collected and acquired on her. She just never gets driven, too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, and although I am enthusiastic about the “straight axle” trucks, the actuality of driving one, including the Armstrong steering, is another thing entirely, at least for me.
Little Red
So, after about another week of shop unpacking and sorting, should be pulling her into the shop for surgery. I have two basic 292 Y-Blocks to choose from and the choice of either three professionally rebuilt and matched Stromberg 97’s on a 573 and two quads (most probably Holley 4000 Teapots) on an Edelbrock 257 manifold. Ram’s horn exhaust, backed by a T-5 transmission.
Front suspension will be an '07 Crown Victoria aluminum cradle with power rack and pinion steering, large disc brakes in front and an 81 F-100 9” in the rear which will give me both a width and a bolt pattern to match the CV. I have a Classic Auto Air unit on the shelf which will go in, which will necessitate buying brackets and an A/C compressor as well as a power steering pump for the rack and pinion setup. I’ll either buy an Idit tilt column or revamp my column to work with the R&P and get it out of my lap. I also have a nice set of 17” Mustang Bullit wheels. I have several pairs of Mustang bucket seats with the brackets for the interior. Mustang gas tank between the rear rails to replace the in-cab tank.
So, although I have a lot of the parts, I’ll need some additional funds to purchase the extra parts I’ll need for the build. This will necessitate thinning the herd some and selling off some of the extra parts I have collected.
Extra manifolds, fenders, doors, tailgates, wheels, trim, etc, etc. I’ve been cataloging and pricing the things that I think someone might want or need.
I’ll be posting up ads in a week or so, on here first and then afterward on Facebook, Craigslist, and E-bay.
It’s good to be back.
And, no I won't be able to make Slick Stock, unless of course my Powerball ticket gets called.
