Bringing an F100 Back from the Dead

After getting the Ol' Furd up and running last weekend, the next step is getting it to the point I can drive it around the neighborhood a bit to shake out some of the bugs.
First was getting a driveline made. Driveline Service of Fresno had me fixed up in just a couple days turn-around, and at a very decent price. All I had that was usable was the new slip yoke I bought a while back.
I then realized I had not given much thought to the throttle linkage. The Non-Stock throttle lever on the unmentionable device that sits atop the intake manifold has a throttle lever that pulls up. The stock one pulled sideways via a cable that came over the center of the valve cover.
First, I cobbed up some bracketry that would use a bell crank so I could use a stock throttle cable. I coulda made it work, but I thought it was too clunky. Looking pictures of throttle cables on line, I found some on Amazon that were universal, but had the end pieces I needed. So with a fresh idear in my head, I decided to come around the front with a 36" long cable, make a bracket that anchors on the air horn with a roller like some motorcycle linkages have. I can use the stock throttle pedal with just a very minor tweak.
Checking my raw stock inventory, I took a chunk of 3/8" x 3" aluminum flat bar and made that piece. Over the years I have found that a carbide blade on my circular saw works great for cutting thicker stock like that!
This will have the cable anchor forward and above the throttle lever. Then a small vertical piece attaches to that that has the pulley pivot. The pulley itself is 2.25" OD aluminum from another piece of bar stock I had in inventory. It had a nice deep groove for the cable to ride in that is tapered out. I also made a bronze bushing for the pulley to ride on.
The cable should arrive in the next coupla days, and then I will be able to finalize that.
I had to make a bit of a tweak to the bell crank for my clutch linkage. The master cylinder has a max stroke of 1.1" and I was coming up just a bit short at .9". It was quick work to re-calculate the additional throw I needed, and I needed to extend the master's pushrod side another .25" to get there.
I had wifey help me with the final brake bleed this morning, so now that it runs, it can also stop!
So that brings this week's "Stuff to Finish" almost complete, and a test drive around the neighborhood is close at hand!

 

You and I are kindred people.

 

Thanks! I love making stuff like that.
If I can make it, most times I will. Especially if I have the material on hand. I mean, what's the point of havin' bitchin' tools if you're not gonna use 'em?
Usually, I can see the finished product in my head once i get an idear. So it's just a matter fo making what I "see." Most times, there are no drawings or plans. Sometimes I'll draw up a schematic if there is some geometry involved.
In this case, it was just a matter of connecting "point A to point B" with some low friction movement.
I also love to see the stuff others come up with to solve a problem.

 

Small point, but I hope that allen bolt is a shoulder bolt, and the bushing isn't riding on threads...

 

Hi Mike, sent you a pm.

 

Valid point. The bushing has a flange on the back side, and sit proud on the outside by about .015" Thus, the bushing gets tightened against the mount using a fender washer, leaving the pulley free to rotate on the bushing.
The air cleaner for this truck was in the bed when I bought it. It's an old style oil bath type. It looks like it had not been serviced in a long LONG time. It took a bit of effort to get it apart. I cn't see how any air was getting to the intake. The good part is, because of the oily sludge build-up, once cleaned, it is rust free.
Now I have to decide if I want to go with the vintage look of the factory air cleaner, or just stick a 10 round chrome top thing on there. I think it would be kinda cool to adapt this to use a modern paper filter though. I'd still need to buy a complete air cleaner assembly and do some adapting. The bottom has a nice radiused inlet in the center, maybe acting as a velocity stack. I could cut that out and weld it to a aftermarket air cleaner bottom easy enough.
But the original air cleaner top in gloss black with a repop "300 Cubic Inch" sticker on it would be pretty cool!

 

Mike, I had a 58 Ford air cleaner off a 332 that was oil bath. I thought seriously about what you are talking about but had nothing to put it on. I have limited space so it went to the scrap pile. With what you are doing, it would tend to hide the efi so I would think that would fit your build very nicely. I would think it would take more time finding a filter to fit than converting the housing. Not that you need my opinion at all but I would encourage you to do so.

 

The good thing is that "Wang Chung" 10" air cleaners for four barrels are dirt cheap. So it won't be much of a risk to give it a shot. The center out of the bottom of the stocker should be easily grafted.
The top will be a bit more involved to do it correctly. The ribs in the dome would leave air gaps if it were used as is. It needs a seating surface for the paper element to seal to. It would be an easy matter to simply plop the existing top on over the entire Wang Chung piece. But nah. It's worth doing right I think, making it a true one piece top. Looks like fun!

 

Throttle linkage is now in the finished column. Works nice and smooth.
So, with throttle connected, the time came when I could actually fire the O'l Furd up and do a drive around the block.
However, a bit of a set-back on the clutch. It seems I'm still not getting enough travel at the release bearing to release the clutch. She just won't go into gear. I've got as much stroke as the master will allow, so the only thing left is to do a good bleed. If that don't work, I'll have to replace the master with one with a larger bore.

 

Mike, I ended up using equal sizes on the master and the slave to have enough travel. This was replacing a cable pull setup such as fox body mustangs. To make the slave have enough travel, I had to remove the return spring from it.

 

It's a Tilton hydraulic throwout bearing.

It called for a 13/16" master with a 1.1 stroke. That's what it has.
So, I have some diagnostics to do. Fun!
I'll get it figured out. Rocket science it ain't!

 

I once had a problem with insufficient clutch lever stroke on an Econoline. The cause was firewall flex. The reason was the toe board was never spot welded on to the firewall, allowing flex at the firewall. It was just filled with sealer.

I doubt you have missing spot welds there.
BUT
A flexing firewall could be part of your problem. Mount a dial indicator on the firewall and see if it moves when you pump the clutch and/or brake pedal

 

I did have to add a gusset to the frame bracket early on. When I had my son press the pedal while I was underneath measuring for actual stroke at the master, I could see the bellcrank bracket flex up a bit. The section of frame is an open "C" right at the bellcrank mount, which is a gusseted "L" shaped bracket which is bolted to the top of the frame rail, but the frame is boxed both fore and aft of that. A small bridge piece was all it took to eliminate most of the flex.
I know that the master pushrod is getting full stroke. So it is something else. I will check firewall flex today. If that is flexing, it will affect brake pedal operation too.
Following the series of events that happen during clutch pedal operation, I will also add checking the actual master cylinder mount. Kinda doubt that is flexing much at all. 3/16" thick 4130 plate welded to the frame. Could be something there, but at the very least, rule it out.
After all, one of the steps needed to diagnose a problem include finding out what is NOT contributing to the problem!
I am still confident my engineering is sound, even though it is a bit "outside the box" of what most come up with for actuating hydraulic clutch linkages. It's actually simpler than some. I've seen some pretty cobbed up and "Rube Goldberg" stuff!

 

So, my younger son was here this morning, and I had him help me bleed the clutch thoroughly, and check for flex which was minimal all around. Then I fired 'er up and I was able to get it into gear. BUT... (big hairy but) The clutch engages right at the floor.
So it works, but it is apparent I need more volume. I'm maxed out on stroke, so the only thing to do is get a bigger bore master.
Oh well. Chalk it up to the cost of experimentation. But it runs and drives!

 

When you checked for throw out bearing clearance, how close did you set it? Is there a chance that after you depressed the clutch a few times that the clutch fingers are at a different height and causing extra gap?

 

No chance of that. I had to machine the pilot snout to get the recommended 1/8" gap.
Even so, a hydraulic release bearing will only retract as far as the pressure plate diaphragm finger push. It then just skims the surface.
This particular bearing has a max travel of .7". That should be plenty. I might need to figure out a way to see how far it travels in situ. Then I'll know. Assumptions and guess work here could lead to unpleasantness.
I also have an e-mail into Tilton tech department. I can't see anything in their tech documents that says how far it travels per CC of volume. I reckon that is the question that really needs to be answered.
Now the stock clutch hat has a really high cone. Higher than I have seen in other clutches. There's a possibility it may not work with this release bearing. Just a thought.
Thanks for your thoughts!

 

Moving on for the time being from the clutch problem for the time being, the next step is getting to the point that I can put the front and rear glass in. The window surrounds are in good shape, but there was some cracked filler on the cowl, at the bottom left corner of the windshield. Curiously, outside the surround itself. I wanted to get it patched before putting the glass in just so the glass could be put in to stay. It had a big depression with about a quarter inch thick filler over it, which was cracked, allowing moisture to seep in and sit. It wasn't rusted through though.
The goal is to put epoxy primer and the color on the cowl and widow surrounds and be done with it. The body work on this truck will be a work in progress for quite some time. It will not be a show truck. As such, paint work will be a panel at a time. By doing the paint on this panel now, I won't have to remove it later, or mask up to the edge of the seal to do the paint later. Yeah, it'll look like hell for a while. I don't care. It'll be one color 'ventually!
Easy repair. Grind back the paint and filler to get to clean metal, make a template, cut some sheet, roll it to match the curve, fit it, back paint it with weld-thru primer and weld it in. No access to the back, so I couldn't hammer flatten the welds as it was stitched, so there is just a bit of distortion at the forward most edge. But it is so little, I doubt I'll need much filler, if any at all. Maybe just a few passes with high build primer.
Compared to the rust replacement some of you guys do, this is REALLY small p'taters.

 

One my last couple of projects, I have been hammer and dollieing the glass flanges flat. Especially the outside flange. I have less trouble with leaks since I started doing that.

 

Yeah, I've definitely noticed the flanges are pretty wavy and bumpy in the corners. I was thinkin' of using vice grips to pinch 'em flat. Even so, I have a tube of that 3M glazier sealant for rubber window seals.

 

That windshield repair looks great!

 

Not a whole bunch getting done over the last few days. Nothing picture worthty. Just wrapping up a bunch of small stuff.
I swapped out the 13/16" clutch master for a 7/8" and now it works perfectly. Pretty happy to have that done. Shifts nicely now!
Also painted the windshield surround with wimbledon white. All I have to do is find a helper to install the windshield.
Mostly over the past few days, I've been prepping one of my motorcycles to sell. The Bonneville will get cut from the herd.
I reckon the truck bed will be the next major undertaking. The metal floor at the front has some rot from debris that was left it sit. The plan is to cut the entire floor out and replace it with wood planks. Also looks like I will be following WhiteWallWill's procedure on the tailgate. I hadn't looked at it for quite a while. The bottom edge needs a bit of work

 

I started working on the bed in earnest over the weekend. It became apparent that my original plan to simply cut out the rusted floor and build up the bottoms of the vertical sections and stick in some "L" sections around the perimeter, then make a wood plank floor is gonna fall short of making this a usable bed. This sucker is rotten. It is FUBAR. The top of the bed rails are rusted through in spots as well. All of the cross-members are rotten.The seam between the fender upper and lower section is rotten. I could still make it work, but it would be a LOT of work.

Sooooo..... New plan. The exterior fender are fine below the seam (which is also rotten). The lower panels can be used in my "New Plan" which I think will be pretty cool.
I'm gonna build a flat bed. But not your typical "Farm Truck" flat bed. The fender panels will be incorporated. Rather than explain, I've done a quickey rendering in Adobe Illustrator. (It's what I did for a living)
Essentially a raised bed. Still wood plank floor. I think I could even incorporate storage below. Put some stake pockets in, some corner anchors for tie-downs....
Behold!

 

Nice.
Some stepped side rails would look good too.

 

Hey now!
That there is a great idear!

 

Out of the box thinking for sure. I think rails like FTF suggested would help with balancing the look. If you throw the golf bag in the back make sure the ball pocket is zipped up.

 

Yeah, I lose enough golf balls out on the course. I reckon I don't need to be dumpin' balls out on the road too!

 

A golf club door under the bed would be cool. Passenger side so the kids can grab the sticks easy at the bag drop.
Never seen a truck with a club door.

 

Here's a couple versions I whooped up earlier today. One with wood plank rails and one with metal rails. Also a door logo on one!
Think I like the wood plank idear

 

I'm kind of on the fence here...
I like the steel version, maybe add tubing side-to-side behind the cab? Run the top side tube all the way back?
How would it look with a thinner (top to bottom) side panel?
To satisfy Bandit Billy's curiosity, you could add the optional bed-side tool box doors that were offered in these years.
The steel tubing ties into the logo better (unless you change it to "Lawless and sons cabinet shop".
Overall it's interesting and I like it.

 

I've followed this thread as I really like guys that 'home build' stuff and enjoy 'out of the box' ideas also. I hate to say it, but you lost me with the cut-down bed.... The truck looks abbreviated and incomplete. I understand the motivation, that's some serious metal work.

With that said, if you're going through with it, I like the steel tube sideboards much more than the wood ones. I'll agree with Phonebooth, the top rail should extend all the way back. As an added touch, I'd make that rail at the same level as the cab side trim and attach the OEM bed trim to it as a 'finisher' so that the trim is a continuous line from the cab back. Paint the remainder of the rails body color. This will tie the mod together with the rest of the truck and give a finished look and look much less like an expediency. I think I'd also recess the bed floor at least a few inches just so nothing can slide out past the bed confines.

As an added bit of dash, paint the recess in the side trim the same red as your using elsewhere.