Big Red 69

[TNIceWolf]

Well it looks like the weather is going to close my shop today. It's rainy and since my shop is the driveway I cant get started on my engine overhaul. So I figured i would take a stab at creating a project thread. I suppose I should begin by giving the details of the truck so far and throwing in a few pics to give the reader some idea of whats been going on so far.

I found this truck sitting on one of those no credit check... pay a week... car disposal lots as I refer to them back in late June of 2004. The asking price was of course outrageous by my standards but I liked the overall condition of the truck and since my birthday was coming up in a few days I decided to get it.

This pic was taken last year but will show you the basic idea of what was purchased as I had made no changes to the body at this point.

As you can see it's no head turner... just a plain jane ...simple ...farm truck worked hard over the years and in a slight collision at some point. I suppose I should also say that it is a 1969 year truck.
Here are a couple of other shots of the front before I began altering things.


I will leave this post at that and begin another to keep the posts short and to allow myself time to remember more details of the history as I go. Thanks for checking out my pride and joy!!!!

[Ranchero50]

Wolf, pics would be better larger, 480 x 640 is a good size for forums like this. looks good otherwise.

Jamie

[TNIceWolf]

There you go Ranchero 50! I figured out how to make them bigger. Am still learning this posting thing so thanks a ton for the advice!!!

[FLATBEDFORD]

I am always interested when we get to see another F350 here. Looks like you've got a nice truck there. I've put a lot of time and effort into the brakes on my F350.

[69FLATBED]

It looks just like my truck before I started on it.What is that steering wheel off of it looks like a mid 80's i've been reading posts on here if that wheel will fit or not some say yay and some say nay... That is what I want to put in mine. I'm ready to hear about your brakes that is my next project to get a little more stopping power.Good luck! Flatbeds Rule!

[TNIceWolf]

Thanks for the interest Flatbedford and 69Flatbed.

Both of you have trucks that I pay close attention to on here as I see in them certain things that I wish to incorporate into my own project.

As for the steering wheel I have no clue as to it's origin. I can tell you it has the buttons for a cruise control and that it came with the truck. I have since swapped it out for another and will be showing that bit of work as I progress. However I did keep the wheel just out of habit. I have no plans to use it and if you want it to try it out on yours I would be more than happy to ship it to you. In my view its better to give away usable parts than just let them sit around. And who knows.........someday the idea might be returned in the spirit intended.
I have some other parts lying around that I have already removed that I have no use for and if anyone spots something they want or need..........just let me know. I will be happy to help anyone I can within my limited means.

I will be getting to the brakes soon I hope........although it occured to me that there was a gap in the progress I would like to fill first.

So stay tuned!

[TNIceWolf]

In order to fill the aforementioned gap I am posting some pics here of a seriously low buck touch up I did one afternoon when I was unemployed and out of funds. At this point I had aquired a few brake parts and two new tires for the truck. All the tires were shot and I discovered that the wheels werent in the best of shape. Sooooo.... lacking funds but having scrounged in the shed for some half filled cans of spray paint.........some masking tape..........and a drop cloth........I got busy.................


Here's a shot from the side. All I was after at this point was something to sort of change the look and satisfy my need for any type of progress.


Then I moved on to the grille......bumper..........and filler panel.......and those half moon headlight covers just had to go. They are still in the shed if anyone wants them.



Late in the evening I decided those dummy spotlights were just plain ugly.......so off with their heads!!!!!!!!!!!
I used some clear silicone to temporarily fill the screw holes and keep out the water till they can be properly filled.
Those are also in the giveaway pile.



Well that pretty much covers it....zero dollars spent and a happy afternoon with my sweetheart. I dont see life gettin' much better than that!

Now on to the painful march of brakes and tires.

[FLATBEDFORD]

What do you have to do with the brakes?

[TNIceWolf]

A very nicely timed question Flatbedford.........that is what this post is going to begin to cover. I only have a few days here to get the project so far up to date so thanks for the gentle nudge.

It was apparent from the first test drive that the brakes were in sad shape on this thing. The brake pedal seemed to take an unusual amount of pressure on the pedal to achieve any type of slowing. Never mind the fact that any time you touched the brakes the truck tended to dive into the direction of oncoming traffic and tended to pull the other direction under non braking conditions. To my mind that and the seeming rough idle of the engine indicated a bad vacum booster. To that end.....the very first brake parts I purchased were a booster........a new master cylinder......and a new rubber vacum line.

Heres a pic of them installed.......



Well......that didnt fix the problem or create any signifigant change in the braking system......so it was time to dig deeper. At this point I also added some new rubber pads to both the brake and clutch pedal just to improve the feel of the pedals and to improve the looks of the cabin.
I had noticed while I was driving the truck that there was an ominous grinding noise coming from the left rear wheel when stopping. I took a look underneath and found that the left parking brake cable seemed to be frozen in a position that constanly applied the brakes.......so I turned there as my next most likely source of trouble and here is what I found........




As I suspected the frozen cable had caused some damage.It took a couple of days worth of lubricants and effort to free the cable from the housing. As you can see the wheel cylinder is shot and the brake shoes. The drum was also toast. So what I did was clean everything up at first. I freed the cable. I replaced the drum with a new one. Replaced the wheel cylinder. Replaced the shoes. Replaced the spring kit. Replaced the self adjusting kit. Cleaned and inspected the bearings. Replaced the inner wheel seal. Replaced the axle flange gasket seal.and used what paint I could scrounge to pretty it up a bit. I also replaced all the lug studs and nuts.







That appeared to have one wheel finished..but the pedal still wasnt normal so I moved on and did the exact same thing to the other rear wheel except that I was able to salvage the drum on that side at a cost savings of some 65.00.....a new drum ran me 80.00 and it only cost 15.00 to have one turned.

next I tackled the fronts........and got some education. More to come

[FLATBEDFORD]

Looks like you have it figured out. I suspect you'll find the fronts in similar shape. You may find that there is no listing for a front drum hardware kit. I've found that the front and rear kits have the same parts. The front is much easier to deal with too. Once you get all the drums nice and true, bleed the lines and adjust them, those brakes should be nice as new.

[69FLATBED]

I'm chewing my nails to see more, that motivates me to do mine this weekend. Keep up the good work.

[69FLATBED]

I see you have power steering too,i'm jealous.

[1971ford]

wow those brakes look nice! im motivated to do the 69's now. But im afraid ill be too scared to use them because they will get dirty

[1971ford]

wow those brakes look nice! im motivated to do the 69's now. But im afraid ill be too scared to use them because they will get dirty

[rjewkes]

lookin good. and that appears to be a late 70's 76-78 maybe 79 cruise control colum and wheel. anything els from the cruise system installed? like a speed sensor and a vacum/electrical controlled throttle setting device under the hood? and a brain control deal on the inside firewall?