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So I decide I can make it run. Not planning a restoration or anything, I just knew where I could get a 390 and figured I'd use it to push cars around on the property if I could fix it cheap.

Then grandpa starts talking about painting the engine bay. Then power steering Then disc brakes. Powder coating the wheels and snap rings. Calls me up one day and suggests Cherry Bombs and stacks for exhaust... We're going build a nice truck out of this 

So one day a week for the past three weeks we've worked on it. This post contains Days 1 (motor pull) 2 (clean/prime engine bay) and 3 (paint engine bay and sit around discussing plans for truck)

Grandpa climbed in the engine bay and did all the prep work.

5/28/2011-

Picked up some Rangoon red to do the firewall with, and some primer/Ford Blue/Clear coat for the engine. Also snagged a bunch of body work stuff, funny hammers, Bondo, dent puller, etc. We're going to fix the slight damage to the top of the cab. Hopefully, we'll find a door and a hood soon. 

We're ordering everything we can conceivably think of today (minus body parts) so I'll have it running in no time. I have a feeling once it's running, grandpa might just have it painted. We'll also recover the seat, and buy a flatbed for it. 

Next week I hope to have power steering, and the week after that disc brakes. Only after that will the motor go in...

This week we painted the firewall Rangoon Red and the following day clear coated it.



I picked up almost every part I can think of for this project (mechanically) except rotors (those arrive tomorow)

Also mock-installed the shifter boot I got, which I actually really like given that it only cost ~$9. 



I also started tearing down my '79 I-Beams for the disc swap. Can't wait to get them cleaned up and installed. 

No day off this week (lost a employee last week we're all working OT) so progress will be little. Grandpa plans to spend a hour or two a day doing whatever he can, he wants to tape off some of the engine bay and clean up the paint near the firewall, got a little red on the black.

I plan to get the ibeams apart, and clean and paint them (using rubber undercoating) before I replace the bushings and install them.

Grandpa also had me order a radiator for my '69 Mustang. Thats going to help get it running asap...

5/31/2011-

Progress has been stalled looking for two parts.

Need a motor mount pedestal for a FE w/ power steering and I need front hubs from a '75-79 DRW F350.

Probably some other small stuff, but I want to do disc brakes and power steering before I start installing the engine.

6/3/2011-

I got lucky, and snagged a disc front end from a '78 F350 DRW locally on craigslist. Tomorrow I'll tear it down and maybe have the kingpins replaced (already have new ones)

I'd like to spend the whole day working on it, but I also encountered a '86 F350 CC DRW while picking up the front end. I want to go pick it up, and then swap my '85s 460 into it.... yea....

I also found out that my 390 has a cracked block. So now I'm hunting for a block with a good STD bore...

More photos-

Exciting news from the machine shop-


Little glass beading looks nice-


Lots of parts-

6/14/2011-

Block is a Aluminum Head Welders in Auburn, WA to be repaired. We'll see how this turns out, but my machine shop recommends them...

Still need to get the heads apart to be hot tanked. The keepers just don't want to come out....

I ordered the motor mount pedestals online, I probably overpaid but I was in a hurry. Tomorrow I will order the long tube headers, probably a set of Hookers it looks like, and a set of 50" chrome exhaust stacks.

Minor progress- but it made me feel good...



And yeah, I clear coated the cap 

6/17/2011-

Parts we needed so badly to finish the disc brake swap

6/17/2011-

Today we started with the grill. We're hunting for rust to fix. Found some!



Then we pulled the old I Beams. Took about a hour, went real easy for us.









Leaving us with a final for the evening:




In this last shot, you can see the rust we found. at the bottom of the left side of the photo, there is a 6"x2" spot that rusted away. Odd, the rest of the truck is pretty rust free (but I found some hidden rust today!)

I plan to disassemble and inspect the I beams tomorow. 

The donor Ibeams have 1" kingpins, if my original Ibeams also have 1" kingpins, we'll clean them up, and reuse them with just the spindles from the disc brake truck. Just need to figure out how to get the kingpins out!

6/19/2011-

The truck will weight less now, thats for sure...

I do believe these are the biggest drums I've ever worked with. I think they use the same 12x3" shoe as my other trucks rear brakes!





I also stripped the spindles from the donor front end (One kingpin was easy, one... not so much) and have them in the back of my truck along with the '68s I Beams and radius arms. Getting dropped of on Monday at the machine shop to get the old spindles and kingpins replaced.

The heads are the last engine part to go to the machine shop. Dropped them off yesterday, he's just going to tear them down, hot tank the castings, and I'll re-assemble them myself. The block was welded by Aluminum Head Welders in Auburn, WA. Looks real good, we'll see if it holds water.

This Thursday, I'll get the disc brakes installed I believe, and I'll get the motor mount towers from USPS. 

Today I met a guy from Craigslist (who has to be a member here!) who has his own stockpile of 67-79 truck parts. He had a bunch of cabs, he had hoods/fenders/core supports/etc all sorted by year, doors, I mean, everything.

I'm getting two fenders, two inner fenders, a stone guard, a core support, and a hood from him. Plus, he's going to look for the power steering parts I need. This'll probably be a one-stop shopping thing. I think I'll be busy for weeks to come if I get all this stuff.

6/24/2011-

Yesterday I picked up some goodies

Stone Guard
Hood
Fenders
Left inner fender
Steering/Alternator brackets and core pumps
Core Support
Dipstick tube

I got my motor mount perches in the mail, as well as my polyurethane radius arm bushings and i beam pivot bushings.

I also ordered my Hooker 6903HKR headers and ARP oil pump drive ordered from Summit, due for delivery on Tuesday (Summit shipping is awesome!)

7/7/2011-

Initially, I put the spindles on right, but then I saw the position of the old ones, so I flipped them over. Now I need to go flip them again....









These are in the kingpin box. What are they for? There is only two, I assume they go under a kingpin cap

7/8/2011-

Also found this:



No pictures from today, but we pulled the manual steering box, the manual steering motor mount tower, and did a little cleanup. 

We're going to buy new pistons, hopefully put us a little under 10-1 CR. Hopefully, we'll do a camshaft also, and need to pick a carb....

7/14/2011 (yesterday was my birthday!)

Progress today! It feels good to actually have photos! I've been working on this every Thursday and Friday plus a little extra here and there, and I feel like we've still not done much in weeks. It takes alot of work to clean and paint every little detail like we've been doing. Springs are a *&(*&&( to paint too!

Some parts are going on!



Almost!



TOUCHDOWN!!!!



Both sides now have wheels, but I didn't score a picture...

These are my work conditions, for a auto tech used to working in a Eurpoean car shop, this geels like torture!


No air-


Everything has to be put away at night, although this makes a excellent work bench....


And yeah, I need a windshield...

Grandpa cleaning some frame...

7/27/2011-

That really is a big gearbox.... Wow... You can see the shiny new brake lines I made. I was surprised how close to original I got them. We're moving the proportioning valve back about 1-2' because the new one is so much bigger than the old one, it doesn't fit in the same spot!



Grandpa doing some of the hard work 



Look how close I got that hose to factory. And those shiny yellow shocks.... Progress is so nice!



And finally.... It steers!



I still have to shorten the column, but we'll do that this week, as well as replace the rag joint. 

Funny story, grandpa drove the truck for years with a "shot" steering box (both him and my dad said it was terrible, you had to spin it a 1/4 turn before it took effect)

Well, turns out his ragjoint was shot. Barely there. The box itself feels pretty tight!

Also had to use the torch to open the old 360.... Just had to see what was in there 

Ended up setting it on fire... Oops....







View My Video

Also tried a little painting...





And I had helpers to open tonights package!

My youngest just stole my Hastings rings while posing for a photo...



And the main event-



Drop them off for balancing tomorrow. I'm not even going to tell my grandfather, I'll just pay for it rather than try to convince him it's worth it. I'll get him to spring for new lifters. I want this truck to run in 20 years after all.

Exciting week. Spend Thursday/Friday working on the '68 with Grandpa (his days off) then spend Sat/Sunday working on my dads '66 Mustang his just started, yesterday I tore my '85 F250 apart (removing the damaged front end) and I plan to get around to firing up my own '69 Mustang for the first time in 30 years this week.... Exciting week for a classic Ford lover!

I love this shot of the trucks. None of them are alone ever. They live with there own family.....

7/29/2011-

Well, truck won't be done as soon as I expected....

Just got the decision from Grandpa.... the restoration is going full frame-off!

Yeah! Plenty of room to work for brake lines, I'm going to go over every inch of wiring in the truck and this will make it easier, tranny is going to be gone through....

Nerve-wracking shortening the column...




Glad I didn't try and save the 360....

8/6/2011-