Project Bill: And so it begins!

[Cipher43]

A little history on the pickup. The truck was originally bought by a teacher from my home town and my grandpa bought it from them in 73 with 35K on it. Since then it has been used for everything from hauling bean meal to having a rack on it and hauling cattle. In 2000 he decided to get a newer truck to do the main work on the farm so the 69 went into partial retirement and was just used for a fencing equipment hauler the next two years until it was parked for good. It was parked with 127k on the odometer and many signs that it was worked hard especially for being a 1/2 ton truck.

Ok guys so a few months ago I acquired my grandpa Bill's 1969 F-100 for free. The only payment I had to give was to clean out the truck so they could use some of the stuff out of it so we did that a few weeks ago(pictures below).

Since we went back to my parents house for thanksgiving my dad an I decided to see if we could make it live once again. We boiled out the carb and cleaned out the gas tank and even replaced the fuel pump (found out later we didn't need a new one but o well) and it ran decent and actually starts better than my bronco that has a freshly overhauled 400M.

This weekend we went down to see if we could get it moved out of the cow lot it was dragged to two years ago. After some persuasion of PB Blaster and dropping the clutch a few times the one stuck brake broke free so we could limp it down to my dads house(even though it had no brakes at all ). Once "Bill" made it to my parents house we started scavenging parts off of my parts truck(pictured below) which had all new brake lines, wheel cylinders,master cylinder, wheel bearings, new clutch and pressure plate, and new brake pads put on 5 years ago (right before it was parked due to issues with ability to get it titled). We took all the parts listed except for the clutch and we did a full brake replacement on the rig so now I have brakes . I also bought new spark plugs and plug wires for Bill and put them on this weekend because it didn't act like it was running on all cylinders the last time we started it...... after replacing all the plugs, which was needed, we found that the number 4 and number 5 plug wires had been switched around after they were bumped loose while cleaning the carb the previous week...... Man is it one smooth running machine now.

"Bill" before cleaning out the junk








Bill after








The parts truck. Gonna take the grill from this sometime when I am home and use it instead of what it has right now.






cowboy hat rack LOL



Second parts vehicle. My dads original body off of his 68 F250


I did learn this weekend that I need to hand the camera to my wife cause I forget to take pictures of what we are doing

[basketcase0302]

Bill is lucky you found him, and just in the nick of time!

[68 Ford Stepside]

If you give the Ford the same amount of attention you gave the International, it will be one sweet ride. Good fortune to you in all that you do. Have A Great Ford Day!

[Cipher43]

Thanks guys! This truck will definitely have MORE attention than my International ever had. The main reason is the sentimental value this truck provides. I have spent countless hours riding in this truck with my grandpa and dad while doing anything from hauling lumber to chasing cows(I say chasing but that some times led to ramming cows as you can see by the grille LOL). This will most likely be a long and slow frame off rebuild because money is a little tight right now.

Next time I am able to work on it I will be replacing the timing chain and gears and preparing to replace the front cab mounts and floor pan.

Future plans include complete disc brake swap, refresh the motor, repaint to undecided color/colors, and also replace rims and tires. For now though I want to make it a good driving machine and leave it as close to what it was before it was parked .

[68 Ford Stepside]

Greg: The only thing I see that really needs attention is the grill & the seat. I know you have what it takes to do the job right.You already have a plus going for you & that is youth. I assure you, I miss my youth in many ways. Have A Great Ford Day!

[Cipher43]

Greg: The only thing I see that really needs attention is the grill & the seat.

I have spare of both but unfortunately the grill is the painted type and I prefer the aluminum one. I have had thoughts of blasting the grill and bumpers and painting them silver but that probably wont happen till a few years down the road. I am not sure if it would look good having the grille and bumpers painted nice and the rest of the body in an original look. I may do just the grill to if that would make the truck look better.
I have two seats I am gonna choose from and I may try to decide next time I am home on which one is in better shape.

[mcheath]

Cool project, will be quite a truck to bring back from the edge.

What's up with the household electrical plug under the hood?

[Cipher43]

Cool project, will be quite a truck to bring back from the edge.

What's up with the household electrical plug under the hood?

HAHA I wondered when someone would ask about that. they had rigged that up to the alternator some how and made it so they could use power tools while fencing. When I do this project I plan on adding a system of my own so I can use it in a similar fashion but it will be safer. most likely one of those power inverters you can buy

[68 Ford Stepside]

[Cipher43]

Got a few goodies for Christmas so now as soon as it warms up enough to take the cab off I will be replacing the floor pans and front cab mounts.

[Cipher43]

Well I finally have some progress and some good news. My good news is the F100 will be headed to my home this Memorial Day weekend so I can actually work on it. I still haven't sold my bronco but since I may be setting on it for some time I just decided to get Bill up here before summer is over.

So first on the agenda was a seat replacement. I didn't get an after picture yet because I didn't have time to get it all bolted in.
before


during

note the easy access to the bolts HAHA

Before my wife vacuumed out 5 lbs of dirt from 1969.....


The original plan was to bring it home this weekend but after looking at the exhaust and rear springs closer I figured I shouldn't drive it 200 miles before they get fixed. Plus I pulled my boat home so I really didn't want to stress it that much. More to come next weekend

[Heirloom]

Bitchin! I like when projects start with forests growing up through them!! I'm along for the ride!

What was wrong with the rear springs??

[flyboy2610]

Looks like you're off to a good start!
If you're going to keep a running total of the cost of this build, make sure you are well stocked with anti-depressants. (And don't let the wife find out the cost! )

[Cipher43]

Thanks guys. Its gonna be a long journey but I've been here before with my IHC.....At least they make some parts for this vehicle HAHA.

As for the springs I will take a pic of them before they are removed but basically a lot of the springs on the right rear are broken and some look like they were removed because it leans to that side a lot(on a side note my grandpa didnt have anything ever done to the springs so they must just be broken off).

As for the running total I will be definitely be keeping one because I regret not keeping every receipt from my IHC build so I could prove it didn't take much to rebuild it.

Also due to little to no play money at the moment I will be doing some fun mod things and minimal repairs for awhile til I can afford to start having fun. I have a front clip I may steal off my parts truck(may not because its still titled so it may be a future project) and start on it for this project but we will see what happens. At the moment I am thinking a mostly stock ride would be fun with this and maybe heavly mod my parts truck some day(DOHC, CV, IRS) but I may change my mind later.

[jimmy828]

Looks like you're off to a good start!
If you're going to keep a running total of the cost of this build, make sure you are well stocked with anti-depressants. (And don't let the wife find out the cost! )