Project American Cruiser (Leah, the '68 F100)

[Thed]

Hey guys, started here a while ago. Don't know if you guys remember but here's my into thread.

I'll start off with a question. Right now my shiftier linkage for the three on the tree won't go through the gate. I can get into first and reverse bu that's it. The front driver's side body mount is rusted to hell and on the list to replace. I've read that bad body mounts will put pressure on the steering column and can destroy a column in short order. I'm thinking that it may be pinching the shifter tube and it won't let me go through the gate. I have the wheel off right now but that's as far as I've gotten with disassembling the assembly.

And second, I discovered something bittersweet about Leah.

Just a quick WIndsor history lesson. The Windsor line of Ford V8's were made to have a compact, light V8. The most popular V8's were the 289, the 302, and the 351. The 289 and 302 shared the same block. The 351 was very similar, but had a 1.3" taller deck, noticed by the amount of space between the water inlet and the deck. The 351 also used more webbing and was a considerably stronger block.

Well back on Monday I was under the hood of Leah when I saw something different. I raced to the 302 in the garage to confirm what I saw.





Yep, Leah doesn't have the 302 that I was told it had, she has a 351. I had a gut feeling that it didn't sound like a early 302 (they have different firing orders). Bitter because of my love for the 302, and because I have a garage full of spare damn parts. Sweet because there's no replacement for displacement.

Saddest part... Leah will probably be quicker than DeLone (my '96 Ranger, I4 5M).

[Thed]

Damn, a mod can delete the other post.

[sargentrs]

I had a similar revelation myself. Bought a '71 donor truck for the p/s setup and the right front fender. I was told it had a running 302 out of a 5.0 Mustang and thought that would be sweet to replace my old tired original 302. It had an Edelbrock intake and Edel 1406 4bbl carb already on it. Pulled the engine and took the intake and carb off and that's when I saw the 351W in the casting of the lifter valley. Sweet! Scrubbed the block and found the 1985 casting number. Needless to say, the block's in the machine shop bored .030 over and waiting on parts.

[Thed]

I knew I couldn't be the only one...

[Thed]

Right now my shiftier linkage for the three on the tree won't go through the gate. I can get into first and reverse bu that's it. The front driver's side body mount is rusted to hell and on the list to replace. I've read that bad body mounts will put pressure on the steering column and can destroy a column in short order. I'm thinking that it may be pinching the shifter tube and it won't let me go through the gate. I have the wheel off right now but that's as far as I've gotten with disassembling the assembly.

Bump

[sargentrs]

This is true. Bad cab mounts = shifter issues. My shifter behaved the same wsy. Even though my cab mounts were fine. If I tried to go from 1st to second, it would lock up between gears and I'd have to pop the hood and manually move the levers to neutral to get unstuck. To keep that from happening I had to very deliberately go from 1st to neutral, push the shifter through the gate and hold pressure on it, then shift to 2nd, hold it there while accelerating and then it practically fell into third. I rebuilt the column, lower bearing was shot, put in a new spring and spacers, and it worked fine after that. My steering shaft was worn down from the bad column bearing so I had to replace that, too. Rebuilding the.column is fairly cheap and simple but won't last if.your cab mount's in that bad of condition. Your lower column bearing is probably shot, too.

[Thed]

Thanks bud... Prolly going to go to Carolina Classics to go see if they have some parts for it.

[Thed]

Thanks bud... Prolly going to go to Carolina Classics to go see if they have some parts for it.

[sargentrs]

That's where I got all my rebuild parts.

[Thed]

I live twenty minutes away from the store! Funny, I was looking at the place on Google Maps and the place right next door was where I bought my 302 that I'm putting in the Ranger. Ain't the best part of town but damn it seems like the place to be.

[Thed]

So I've been thinking of what I want to do to the F-100 after all of the necessary repairs are complete. Right now I have a pair of GT40 (non-P) heads sitting in the garage right now from the Explorer 5.0 that I'm building for the Ranger, and I was thinking about throwing those on the 351 in the F-100. To complement that I was thinking if getting a 465 CFM Holley 4BBL carb with a Edelbrock Performer intake and a set of long-tubes. I was thinking about getting some 1.7 roller rockers as well so I can get a little but more lift and reduce some valvetrain friction.

What say you guys?

[Thed]

Also, I re-installed the gas tank as well as picked up a tachometer, an air cleaner assembly, and an oil breather cap.

Anyone know where to get a stud and wingnut for the air cleaner? The one I got was way off.

[Thed]

Well everything just came to a screeching halt. The engine just blew on my mom's Mazda because they never care to check the damn dipstick between oil changes. And since I just happened to be driving it, I'll have to pay part of it.

I'm pissed, and this puts the project truck in jeopardy. I'm praying that there'll be a way to cover the cost of all of this and keep the truck. PRAYING.

[Thed]

As if I needed another problem.

Leah has an extremely bad case of cancer on the driver's side floor pan. I thought that it was just the driver's side cab mount, but I was under her a little bit more today while I was working on the brakes. Yet again a problem that I really don't have the resources to fix.

Oh and I hate drum brakes so much if isn't even funny.

[Thed]

My parents and I worked out a deal that works out great for me, so I get to keep Leah in all her rusty glory!!!