71 F250 Camper Special newbie

[tperegoy]

Greetings,

I am new to the group. I acquired a 71 F250 Camper Special. I was looking for a used truck for next to nothing. I just needed something to pull my boat - and it is 24' long. I needed sometihing with some power. A friend mentioned that he had a old truck that was being junked. It was already "taken to the woods" where it would rust away. Yeah, it really was in the woods with a group of junkers. It looked terrible because it had sat there a while and had black mold all over it.The tires were all flat or gone and the wheels did not match. They had pushed it in with a tractor. It was filthy inside and out. The owner said it ran last he knew, but was plagued with fuel and electrical problems. For some reason, I thought it had potential.

Over the next month or so, I would venture to his house after work now and then - only a few trips. It obviously had a bad starter relay and the air breather housing was missing. We used another tractor to drag it out of the woods. A few new parts and a new battery and within an hour, I had her turning over. The gas tank supposedly had trash in it (rust) and would clog the carb quickly. I rigged up a squeeze bottle and rubber hose for my under-hood fuel tank. Yeah, it would only last about ten minutes. I got it started. She sounded good and strong. Ran smooth, but was loud from the broken exhaust manifold gasket.

A few weeks later, I had a friend with a truck and a car hauler trailer help get it for me. We brought it to my house and I was able to drive it off the trailer and into my driveway. Now, it still had the electrical problem and would drain a battery in no time. Through trial and error, the electrical problem was the voltage regulator ($12.00). The alternator was shot due to the exhaust gasket leak being right behind it ($41.00). I fabricated a heat shield until I could get around to the gasket problem.

We removed the interior fuel tank and emptied it. I filled with water to get rid of the fuel vapors. Emptied that and threw in half a coffee can of pennies. My son and I shook it around for a while. The pennies knocked all the rust off. After a while, we emptied the pennies and a pile of grit out of the tank. I rinsed it with water again, then let it air dry. We re-installed it. Then I replace all the rubber hose from the tank to the carb. That was an easy job and I also blew out the metal lines looking for obstructions. I bought a carb rebuild kid ($12.00) and handled that. It was a basic carb so easy job. The essential item was the new fuel filter ($3.00). I reworked the fuel system from tank to carb.

My electrical problems are fixed as are the fuel problems. It was trial and error work since I'm not used to this vehicle, but not much money. ($68.00) It had some of the 16.5" rims on it. I found a full set of 16" 8-lug wheels with 5" center hole at the junk yard. With decent tires still on them, I actually got them for free. No hub caps mind you but maybe someday.

Now I need to fix the exhaust gasket and touch up some rust spots. After a bleach bath (gets rid of mold) and then a regular car wash, she's a whole new truck. The interior was dirty with mud, but cleaned up great. Bench seat and trim were all intact and undamaged. Everything else on the truck works great.

So, all in all, I got a deal. The owner only wanted a few hundred for the truck. Yesterday, we took our first big adventure - yep, she pulled the boat to the lake. The boat is heavy so I was cautious, plus, I was more concerned about not breaking down than I was in speed. Anyway, she ran great and never gave a bit of problem.

I attached three pics. The first shows the truck once we pulled it out of the woods. The second shows the cleaned up version but with battery being recharged. The last shows the side shot of the working truck with boat in the background.

I hope to gain a lot from these forums and will contribute advise when I am able.

[flyboy2610]

Welcome aboard!
I like your story! Good save on the truck! I'm glad and proud that you saved it from a slow and cruel death.

[CJ,s 67 F100]

Welcome from Texas, Thats a good story and a good deal on that truck it looks like to me.I had never heard of that penny trick for knocking all the loose stuff off in the fuel tank but it sounds like a good one. Start putting PB Blaster, liquid wrench or some good penetrating fluid on all those exhaust manifold bolts now. They break very easy and if you soak them 2-4 times a day for a month you just might get them to break loose and not break off. Your deck boat has an unusual hull design on it but I like it. Good luck

[mytmatt]

Hello and another Texas welcome to you! You are obviously a man with keen insight, to see that good-looking truck you have now in a moldy pile of junk in the woods. It's always nice to see another one brought back from the brink of destruction, to serve yet again. Good luck with your exhaust gasket job, I dove into that one a few months ago and I am STILL working on it (I have a 360 in a '72 Ranger XLT) though I have to say it is due more to my lack of experience/expertise than any fault of my trucks'.

Matt

[wildcard]

Howdyand from Northeast Texas. Looks like all that work paid off. Nice truck.

[71 LONG BED]

Awesome story to your truck! I can't believe someone would drag it to the woods to just rot away. Thankfully you were able to save it. You are among friends here at FORDification. And thanks for the pictures. We love pictures!

[binder56jd]

great save

[Big D's 69]

Welcome aboard.

[TheEskimo]

Welcome to the site. What a great save on the truck, looks like she cleaned up real nice.

[marz68]

Welcome that's a clean truck.

[heep70]

and to the site.

[67heavystepside]

i would rather use an old truck also. welcome aboard.

[tperegoy]

Thanks for all the feedback and welcome messages. Since someone asked, the boat has a cathedral hull (fiberglass). Looks like a pontoon boat on top, but with a speed boat hull, it can pull skier, and can bank a turn.

This past weekend, I had friends visiting so I got rather bold with the truck. I decided it was time to go to the lake! She had no problem pulling the boat, even pulling it up the ramp. The boat is rather heavy so you did know it when going up a hill. The lake is only about 7 miles away. Luckily, the exhaust manifold leak is small so it didn't make a lot of noise. I was relieved that she had no troubles and ran like a champ. The brakes are strong on the truck (the boat trailer has a surge brake) so all was well. I still need to un-sieze the emergency brake cable. That would make me feel better on the boat ramp. Any suggestions on that? I seemed to have fixed the electrical problems and carburetor problems.

I had already noticed that my interior lights were very dim. I decided to polish the connections by turned the light knob up and down a lot. After a few minor turns, something broke in the switch. Now I have no interior lights. Hey, something had to go wrong! I still have exterior lights, just no dash and no dome.

But, on a different note, a stroke of luck came my way. I bid and won a four volume set of 71 Ford Truck service manuals on ebay. At 1200 pages, I don't think it leaves anything unanswered. No one bid against me so I got it at the intro price. Yeah!

[71 LONG BED]

Holy moly!!!! Looks like a semi truck with that HUGE boat on there!! Awesome!

[rattlecan]

Good to have you with us! nice truck!