Projects 1965 F100 father and sons project

I drove the truck back and forth to work for 3 weeks prior to ripping into it. Clutch grabbed up near the top of the peddle but, no chatter or strange noises. Shifted into 1st and reverse a bit grumpy but, expected that for a non syncro shift. Double clutched for those shifts combined with gentle non rushed touch got it done. No grinding or noises to suggest a bad throwout bearing. I didn't detect any slipping and no slow clutch return. No hints or sounds to help diagnose. I drove it into the carport, disconnected the battery and went for it. It's been down for over a year and not sure how long before we got it going. Clutch was fairly stiff and with essentially no bump stop it was really high off the floor. Like ab crunch high. I'm going to adjust the linkage (pencil crayon) and I'll knock the dust cover off the clutch arm and see if I can shine a flashlight inside to see what's up. If nothing I'll drop the driveshaft and unbolt the bellhousing from the engine and attempt to pull it out to look at the clutch and pressure plate. All this hesitation on my part is laziness and now that the truck is nice and low, I have an issue with getting the truck high enough to take some of the struggle away from dropping the trans. It will have to come out to fix or replace so if the linkage can't be tweaked the trans comes out regardless of the end goal. I think I can repair it to the point of roadworthy because these are only a few years removed from caveman. Intuition suggests something is either tweaked, corroded or ??? When I hooked up the return spring and stepped on the clutch I was surprised it didn't pop back. I reached down and grabbed the clutch arm pulling it up. I think there may have been a little bit of clutch grab right near the bottom the first couple of times I stepped on it but, it goes to the floor effortlessly now.

 

Sounds like something must have broken/rusted through or failed in some other way. Should be relatively easy to diagnose without yankin' the trans out.

From your description, it might be possible, if it is a diaphragm style pressure plate, that it may have "over-traveled" and perhaps the diaphragm went over center. Just thinkin' out loud here though....

Get to it Will. It ain't gonna fix itself! (although it seemingly broke itself).

 

To get more ground clearance, Jack up each wheel and put one or two 2x6 boards under each tire.

 

This is exactly why I like you! The number of times I've said exactly that. "It aint gonna fix itself.

 

I'll have to crib each corner to get it up there. I need 2 feet of clearance under there to make it doable. Sure looks good but, rolling under it on a creeper is getting really tight.

 

Isn't this a scream. 57 year old bushings and linkages. Couldn't adjust anything because every part was at the end of it's lifespan/adjustment - the pencil crayon has worked a deep divot into the clutch arm. Thinking farm boy here, pull apart, clean, flip bushings around, lube, reassemble with a shim here and there and go. It only has to get to December then I'll rebuild whatever I'm keeping and chuck the rest. Reminds me of McGyver'ing a friends 32' Grady White while out in a 2 foot swell open ocean salmon fishing. We noticed the CD player started running slow. After some mild panic I was trying to remember high school science class electricity. Anyway, I found a popped in-line fuse. Opened it up and saw it was corroded. Poked at the fuse to see it launch itself and it's spring overboard. Where are your spares Man? No spares. Spring from a bic pen along with an alternate fuse from something else we didn't need - Still no go. We got battery issues. Wired the batteries in series or parallel, can't remember, then bolted to the Marina with Led Zepplin playing or Alvin and the chipmunks, I can't remember which. We made it - So will this truck.

 

All back together. Able to clutch and shift but, peddle still doesn't return all the way unless I roll my foot off near the floor and allow it to snap back up to the top. Almost like the return spring on the clutch arm under the dash is soft. Definitely needs to be rebuilt but, got some function back. Spherical rod ends as suggested by @Mike Lawless is the route to go as it would allow me to get everything aligned. I have a better picture in my head for how it will function now that I've had it apart and back together again.

 

Awesome!

 

Oh what fun!
Those rods ends are pretty bad! Maybe even worse than mine were!
Those same issues are probably infecting the pedal pivots too. It's a pretty simple set-up once you get the pedal cluster out.
If you decide to do the ball bearing thing on the clutch pedal shaft, let me know. I still have a short section of steel tube that's the perfect size for the bearing retainers I will send to ya.

 

Thanks Mike, Very gracious of you. I'll be in touch when the time comes if I can't source easily. That mechanism went from bad to worse. The old girl had some hard miles. The truck has been done at least twice including us and that mechanism went untouched. I looked online at aftermarket pedals and rebuilding ours is the way. I like your hydraulic set up too. Given the condition of the Z bar tube where it connects to the block, the one end is wallowed out pretty good. Your total fix is super slick and I think I'll need to borrow it Fair and Square.

Have been unable to get into the garage this week. Looked under the truck yesterday to notice the steering rack has decided to leak at every seal. Me turning the wheel back and forth 50X has it running through it's paces so after years of inactivity, it's marking it's territory. Fortunately but, unfortunately the old car steering feel is going away. I want the trans to hold together long enough to give my kids a taste of what an old transmission feels like. No speed shifting, no rushing - just a real honest, 'We'll get there when we get there', feel. The T-18 was not a great road experience from my short entre driving daily before our rust repairs but, it has a feel I really almost don't want to loose for in town - call me nostalgic. Highway is different.

 

Day off today. Got some spherical rod ends to make a clutch rod from the pedal to the Z bar. Thought I would pull plugs check gaps and check carbon. All looked the same, pretty clean and dry with a slight red deposit? Anyway, figured I'd do a compression test then start and see if I could roll into action with clutch adjusted - ish. Nothing. No click no nuttin'. Put the battery on the charger. Lights worked signals, hazards. All good. Checked Pertronix to see if it crapped out. Pulled the cap. Nothing burnt, Unit has been in it since before I got the truck. Reached down to pull the wires off the starter solenoid to figure out if I had a bad ignition switch or starter solenoid. Found a loose nut on the S terminal of the starter solenoid, tightened it up and away she went - after an hour plus of messing. Must be one of the easiest starting engines I've ever had. One twist of the key and it starts instantly. Sounds a bit anemic with a small exhaust leak so bumped the timing a couple degrees and it smoothed out. Drove out to the driveway under it's own power first time in a long time then backed it into the garage. Clutch seems fine but, pedal return is minimal. Will do a compression test tomorrow and stick a wire down a plug hole and try to figure out if we have a 240 or 300. What a journey. The steering linkage slipped at the old Jag universal. Will get a few welds on it then it's on the road.

 

Got my 16 year old in on the fun.
Compression is a bit low. Got to #4 then remembered I should have done it hot - did it cold, out of practice. Suspect it should come up a couple of lbs. per cylinder with some heat into the show.
#1 - 110 psi
#2 - 98 popped a little oil in the plug hole and came up to 100.
#3 - 98
#4 - 110
#5 - 102
#6 - 110
Did the wire in the plug hole and bumped the engine over until we got a series of high and low piston positions. Looks like we have dished piston tops so tried to get it in a high spot. Looks like 3-7/8" stroke which is a 300ci. Where are those icons - Head casting number is for a 240.

 

Drilled 4 holes to get the evasive action bar onto the frame. Lowered truck needing to have it's weight planted - this generated more swearing per hole than anything on this truck to date. Drill barely fit under the frame and everything in my whole body hurt to get enough English into it. One day I will have a lift in my garage. More Grade 5 'goldness' hardware to fit the theme.

 

"Drill barely fit under the frame and everything in my whole body hurt to get enough English into it."

Been there, done that Will and it sucks big time. Now, if I am in that predicament I use a 2x4 and a small piece of wood for a fulcrum and use leverage to push up on the drill. Might need a 2nd set of hands though but its MUCH easier and you break fewer bits that way.

 

Sometimes hard to rationalize why we pay to do this stuff. We've never come up with anything better than a wheel a fulcrum or a wedge. On a side note, had to show some carpenters some innovative toolage action today. In case it is not obvious, that is a grinder with a cutting disk taped onto a 3/4" ripped plywood stick stuck down behind a blind form concrete wall. Cutting the concrete snap ties. Reaching 4' down into a 5" space. What could go wrong? I'm going to sleep well tonight. In case anyone wonders what this has to do with cars, I use that grinder to cut stuff off my truck all the time.

 

Lol. Necessity is the mother of invention as they say. I say laziness is the mother of invention, at least in my case.

There's nothing better than a fulcrum with a LONG lever. That's how they build pyramids.

 

Have a 90 degree 3/8 drill for such occasions where the drill won't fit.

 

I have a Milwaukee 90 degree angle adjustable drill /face smasher - it knocked me off a ladder the day I bought it about 10-12 years ago so that's what I call it. I thought I had it on a construction site, did the task with my hand drill then while cleaning up I see the case in the basement. What's worse, having the drill and not using it or forgetting you have it and not using it.

 

Yep, not sure what's worse....wait what was the question!
I use the angle drill sparingly, with sharp bits, and careful posture/grip.

 

Todays tasks. Find pinion angle wedges and adapt a fitting to rig up a 'Jerry can". 'On the road again, I just can wait to get on the road again'.

 

Got my emergency fill stuff. B&W photo look traditional? 80 gal tank dry weighs 231 lbs. 80% full which is 66 gal at 4.11 lbs per gal. is 271 lbs. Holy Moses, if I went to a drag strip with this I'd be packing 502 lbs of fuel and tank. To get that down I'd have to cook up 758 burgers in the parking lot to get race weight down. Pinion wedges arrive Oct 12, taking our truck for a ride now with some expected driveline vibrations. Will report back later today. Low and slow.

 

So the report back on the first road test with our truck since all the work was done. @Mike Lawless relayed it best when his wife referred to his truck as the 'Booby Bouncer'. Keep in mind I have an OT front end in ours with KYB shocks and all new bushings and it still exhibits this rather harsh, 'heading through the summer fallow in 1st gear', ride quality. Keep in mind a 9 leaf spring pack with short wheel base. I better fill the tank as it needs the weight to smooth it out. The seat plays a significant role in all this in terms of springs/inch ratio. In spite of it's road manners, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face nor could the two separate groups of people I encountered on our test drive who gave me the thumbs up. Forgive the significant beige wall look. That's a new tire - what do I care at this point!! The old tires in the back - Money.

 

'What do I care at this point'? Big talker - I do!! Hit it with some acetone. I knew this new tire business was going to give me some 'Paint issues'. Figure the acetone took off the SEM vinyl dye top coat. The Plastidip underneath was pretty good. Will try the vinyl dye again later. Need some miles to expose those new shoes to the elements.

 

Good for you Will!

 

Dang! That tank + fuel weight is crazy! And it still bounces the boobies? I'm laughing as I type this!

Aside from that, the gold wheel/white wall combo is awesome. I sure like the bullet spider caps. Since you are kind of the trail blazer on the plasti-dip white wall approach, I think I'll sit on the sidelines for a minute and see how yours fare before pulling the pin on my own!

BTW, for a report on how my clutch set-up is doing with 500 miles under it, everything is working awesome. Nice and smooth, except for one nagging detail....
I wish I woulda bought new nylon spring seat inserts while I had it apart. "I'll just grease 'em," I sez to meself. Well, it creeks like an old screen door.
Not loud. But just loud enough to upset my delicate OCD-edness.

Well done of getting the truck up and driving around!

 

Thanks @NashRodMan, hugely gratifying. Lot's to come.

It's your tag line @Mike Lawless. When I was jostling down the road on the weekend I was laughing about your 'Booby Bouncer' post. Whoever thought trucks were sophisticated/elegant has never driven one. Actually, scratch that last remark - no one ever said that. I'll be doing the clutch pedal work so glad to hear yours is running good. This thing really is agricultural. I drove a 1965 Chev 5 ton for a summer hauling grain when I was 16, it was a converted Old Dutch Potato chip truck. It had a 2 speed axle that made driving it a challenging exercise. If you even so much as chewed gum when driving it you were about to be overwhelmed. Mind on the business. No 2 speed axle but, you have to kick the clutch pedal up o our old girl. I adapted quickly which must be a sign - of what, I'm not sure.

I put $100 in fuel in @ $1.00 liter and got 100 liters (1/2 tank). (4 liters per Gal roughly). Suddenly I'm a math major. 100 liters of gas right now is $239.00 CDN. I'm making money driving this thing.

 

Drove to work today along the ocean front!! I'll calm down eventually. Construction site so guys were asking me about it, Architect liked it, and none of them were car guys.

 

Not when referring to trucks built before maybe 1990. But my late model Ram I think fits that description. But, sold it a few weeks ago.
Ol' Furd, "The Booby Bouncer Special," is now my main driver!
Now that you're driving around, the shortcomings will present themselves and they can get attention.

 

With those kind of fuel savings, you'll be a millionaire before you know it.

 

What a cool picture of the truck in front of the construction site. Seems so natural, like it belongs there. lol

FYI, I finally drove my 41 Chevy (see avatar) yesterday after 2 years of tranny troubles. yay.
Sorry, no pics.