My Truck

[WEBellSystemChristian]

After almost 2 years of waiting (plus a few nightmares of my driver's test in the last week), I finally have my license!!

I discovered in the past couple months that the truck had been repainted at some point. When I tried using a wire wheel to remove a spot of rust on the rear fender, I started grinding through some surprise Bondo, revealing about a 7-inch long section of rusted through steel on both rear fenders! The stainless fender rims must have trapped rain water against the body for long periods of time, causing it to rust. Nothing serious or structurally damaging, but it still annoys me! The good news is I checked the rocker panels, doors, and cab corners, and they are completely rust-free!
The truck is being repainted at some point anyway, so I removed as much rust as I could, primed the bare steel, and will let the body shop work their magic.

I was going to install the headlights/grille when they were done, but the original pins that held them in place were all brittle and breaking apart. I tried searching all over the Internet, but couldn't find that part. I will be going to the local Fastenal to see if they have a decent replacement.

I sandblasted the very corroded battery tray, and my Dad powdercoated it in textured Black. Now it looks like I bought a brand new one! The idea to leave the metal uncoated was not a moment of brilliance on Ford's part! I'll try to get a picture of how it looks later.

[jsowers]

Congratulations, Mr. Independent Wheels!

My dad had a '74 Ford F100 that had a rusty battery tray and underneath was a huge hole. When we sold it in the late 1990s, that battery was about to fall through the rust hole. The same thing happened to our '72 Ford station wagon. You could see daylight under the battery. We had to get creative with holding it down. Yes, that's one place they skimped at Ford way back when.

[19and41]

They usually had a plastic tray the battery sat in, when new, about the thickness of a paper sack.

[McHeath]

A really nice truck!  Old pickups can be fun and easy projects to piddle about on, fixing up this and that all the while you drive them and use them.  My first car when I was 15 was a pickup, a 1973 Chevy C10, and I've owned a truck of some sort ever since.  (35 years or so) 

You've got a good classic there, the single cab long is almost extinct.  Old school with the two-tone paint.  Good work on those headlight covers.

Here's my 1972 Ford, sold it a couple of years ago.  That's all original, the paint, trim, glass etc.

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Thanks everyone! It's not much of an accomplishment that I'm getting it only a little over a month before I turn 18, but I get to appreciate it more than a 16-year-old, right? It's interesting that everyone in my family got their licenses at 17, but I'm the only one that passed the test the first time.

It is kind of sad to see that body style going away, but with full-sized trucks getting bigger overall in the last few years, the standard cab looks a little ridiculous on a modern truck.

McHeath:
Very nice '72! You don't see old trucks with original paint in mint condition. When I searched for my truck, I couldn't find a single '87-'91 F150 like mine for sale with the original paint in great shape.

I couldn't get a picture of the battery tray, but here are some of the grille. I sanded down the original metalized coating that was starting to wear off, and repainted with a spray paint that matched the original finish, followed by clear coat. It looks great now, but I just hope that it lasts through car washes, salt, snow, cold, heat, bugs, etc.

[Duffy]

That grill looks amazing, great job. 

[19and41]

Nice work! those bugs and other debris hasn't got a chance against you keeping it ageless.

[Doug Rose]

Very nice Christian. My first car was a '62 Thunderbird with a 400 under the hood. It's amazing I am alive to tell about it. Way too fast for a young kid......and I was young.........Then....... Doug

[WEBellSystemChristian]

More progress!

I decided to try re-coloring the plastic pieces of the locking hubs on the front wheels. I know, I know, it's not exactly helping me get it on the road, but it's something that had to be done eventually!

It's hard to tell from the 'before' picture, but they were originally red. Someone else had success with Rit dye, and Rit has produced a new product this year called Dyemore, which is designed specifically for plastics and polyester. I tried it out, and the result looks great! Not only that, I tried scratching the surface after dyeing, and none of the color scratched off. The color seems very deep. The picture does lie a little, as it looks darker and not pink at all.

As for phones, I'm still working on them, and will be posting a thorough chemical polishing topic this weekend.

[19and41]

The applied trim on my truck was faded about that bad and I tried that Outlast from armor all.  It did a nice job on that and the plastic portions of my rearview mirrors.

[WEBellSystemChristian]

The applied trim on my truck was faded about that bad and I tried that Outlast from armor all.  It did a nice job on that and the plastic portions of my rearview mirrors.

If this had more of the original pigment left, something like Armorall may have worked. I assume Outlast for you gave the plastic a wet look, but after using Acetone to clean these parts, I realized the wet look for these was a pale pink at best. There was a thick layer of oxidation that took me an hour to scrape off with my fingernail, so the color was long gone.

I used Mother's Back to Black for some trim on the bumpers awhile ago, and while it's not permanent by any means, it sure looked great temporarily! It also cleaned the trim, so while it washed off already, the plastic still looks black after being thoroughly cleaned.

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I finally got my baby road-worthy today!

I tried starting it up yesterday, and again, after sitting for almost another year, it started up instantly! The problem: the only exterior lights that worked were headlights and parking lights. It took about an hour and a half for my Dad and I to realize that someone must have stolen several working fuses and replaced them with blown ones.

I drove it around the block after sunset, and everything worked great! For a 30 year old workhorse engine, it sure didn't mind letting the rear tires slip a little when I floored it!

I have a new job that starts tomorrow, so I wanted to get everything working before then. I still have a long way to go before everything's working perfectly, but at least it's on the road!

[compubit]

Sounds great! Good luck with the new job - hopefully it doesn't interfere with your "permanent" job - collecting and restoring phones!

Jim

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Sounds great! Good luck with the new job - hopefully it doesn't interfere with your "permanent" job - collecting and restoring phones!

Jim

Thanks!

It shouldn't interfere too much...except for allowing me to buy more!

[WesternElectricBen]

Christain, is that that a 5.0?

Ben