North Idaho Driver

[hdman90]

I cannot believe how much work you get done on your truck in a week! I'll have to start a thread for my 2wd truck, that way you can see the plug wires installed!

[Idaho Chris]

Nice job cleaning your 4.9 inline six. You’re like me, did it all by hand.
(unfortunately mine still has leaks at the rear seal).
Holly 1940 1 bbl carbureter is a better carb for the Ford Big Six too. It’s an aftermarket replacement.

I too have a small leak at the rear seal. It is on the list. Oh, and my carburetor has already been changed out to a Holley 1940!

I cannot believe how much work you get done on your truck in a week! I'll have to start a thread for my 2wd truck, that way you can see the plug wires installed!

Well it helps to be retired, no J.O.B. getting in the way. I am looking forward to seeing a pic with your wires installed. I still think yellow wires make any vehicle go faster.


Today I put the front timing cover with the new seal back on the truck. I finished up the engine paint, put everything back together, and torqued to specification. I installed new fuel tubing from the fuel pump to the carb. I also ran a new vacuum advance line from the distributor to the carb. The new fuel line now runs in front of the valve cover instead of over it. Likewise the vacuum advance line runs behind the valve cover instead of over it. It really cleans things up to have these lines tucked away. Here are a couple of pics:





I still need to clean up the wiring a bit, but for the most part the engine is looking better. It is a shame it won't stay looking like this after the first drive in the rain.

[Idaho Chris]

After seeing some photos of High Boys with Ford dog dish hubcaps, I decided I wanted that look for my rig. I sourced the original caps on eBay. When I tried to install one on my wheel it would not fit. The mounting tabs on the wheels I bought from Les Schwab were spaced too far apart by maybe 1/2 inch.

Evidently, while the Schwab wheels fit the Ford hubs, the hub cap tabs are spaced for Chevy and Dodge caps, not Ford. I spoke to Les Schwab and they offered me a full refund for the wheels even though I have been rolling on them for almost two months. Wow, I did not expect that. So, after finding some refurbished OEM Ford 16x7 wheels from a late model E350 van I swapped my rubber over to the new wheels. That was the easy part.

In order to fit the dog dish hub caps over the front axles a hole needs to be cut out in the center. The caps are made of stainless steel which is quite hard and a normal metal hole saw will struggle with this task. I used a carbide tipped bit and mounted things up on my drill press:



The hole size is 3 3/4".



You can probably get by with a smaller hole of 3 5/8", but I wanted to leave a little room for rubber trim. I used a piece of C channel rubber to trim out the hole. Here's a close up of the modified cap installed:



Finished product:



OK, maybe one more with my best buddy posing in front of the truck.

[DuckRyder]

This thing just gets cooler and cooler...

Wouldn’t hurt my feelings if we accidentally got a glimpse of that Mach either....

[popeyes71]

Right on! Love the wheel combo on the truck! I really like the direction you have gone with your truck. I did a very similar build/cleanup/freshen up when I did my Highboy. Keep up the great work!

[jzjames]

The Big Six looks great. Saved a picture of it.
Do you know what year they started with that type of air cleaner?

[Idaho Chris]

Right on! Love the wheel combo on the truck! I really like the direction you have gone with your truck. I did a very similar build/cleanup/freshen up when I did my Highboy. Keep up the great work!

Thanks Popeye! Do you have a link with photos or project thread of your '250 4x4?

The Big Six looks great. Saved a picture of it.
Do you know what year they started with that type of air cleaner?

Sorry, I don't know when Ford started using that style dry air cleaner. I figured one of the members with a whole lot more knowledge than me will chime in and answer the question for both or us!

...Wouldn’t hurt my feelings if we accidentally got a glimpse of that Mach either....

Hmmm, well since I'd never want to hurt the feelings of a moderator, I guess it must be OK to go off topic just this one time

Here are a couple of the '73 Mach. I am the second owner and have owned her since 1975. My dad helped me with the purchase back then (my first car). 8000 miles when acquired and only 57,000 miles now. Second paint job, but original color. 1972 stripes since I prefer them to the '73 stripe. 4V heads and factory ram air.

[DuckRyder]

Oh man that thing is sweet!

You have an eye for good iron!

[68rookie]

Was reupholstering your seat hard to do? Where did you get yours at? Also, where did you get your seat belts? Truck is looking good!!!

[Idaho Chris]

Oh man that thing is sweet!

You have an eye for good iron!

Thanks! She was a chick magnet back in the day.

Was reupholstering your seat hard to do? Where did you get yours at? Also, where did you get your seat belts? Truck is looking good!!!

The seat was not particularly hard to do. You can search YouTube for some video help. Me and a buddy did it. It does help to have a second person so that you can compress the seat springs while you install the hog rings. I bought the seat cover from LMC. Here's a link: http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fb/full.aspx?Page=77

LMC does not make the seat cover, they are one of many vendors that sell the same cover. You will need to get some batting, burlap, foam, and some adhesive in addition to the cover. I got all of that stuff from Amazon.

Burlap: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009K ... UTF8&psc=1
Batting: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MU ... UTF8&psc=1
Foam: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MY ... UTF8&psc=1
Spray adhesive: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J6 ... UTF8&psc=1


My seat belts came from Seatbeltsplus: https://www.seatbeltsplus.com/product/W ... Green.html

They come in a bunch of colors. Make sure you spend the extra $5 or so for the hardware kit, it certainly helps.

[68rookie]

Thanks!!!

[Idaho Chris]

Thanks!!!

You are very welcome. I am glad I could help a guy out. I have learned so much from others (and the links that they have provided) that I am more than happy to finally have a chance to reciprocate. Please do let us know how your seat re-work goes!

[Idaho Chris]

Today I finally removed and replaced the ugly black tubular bumper. I also untangled the poorly done trailer wiring and put the wiring back to stock.

Here's a photo of the bumper that came with the truck when I bought it:



I have struggled with which bumper style to install. I really like the regular Styleside bumper, but I thought with the taller Highboy stance the heavier step bumper would be better suited. Additionally if I ever pull anything, the step bumper doesn't require a separate hitch. So, chrome step bumper it is:



My current bent (bowed) tailgate barely clears the top of the bumper when open. When I finally get my other tailgate painted and installed, I should be able to raise this new bumper 1/2 to 3/4 inch to close the gap under the tailgate. Thankfully only light surface rust was behind the old tubular bumper.

[Idaho Chris]

A couple more pics of the new bumper. It is growing on me. It is definitely better than the 70's vintage Nerf tube bumper. If I didn't need to mount a ball to tow with I'd have gone with the "lighter" Styleside bumper I think. It will also look better with the gap closed a bit between the bumper and the tailgate.





When I pull the Dana 60 covers to change the fluid I will ditch the corroded chrome covers the PO installed and take them back to OEM black.

[hfdco4]

Just a nice looking truck!