Farm Truck rescue. 1968 F-100

k5-1402

k5-1402

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2005
Location
Burlington
So my step-dad has had a 1968 Ford F-100 for about twenty years. While he is not the first owner of the truck, we knew the people that bought it new and it lived on a farm in Alamance County until he bought it. My Step-dad used the truck to haul brush and trash. Then in 2013 he parked the truck under a tree half-way on and off his driveway to change the fuel pump and filter, took it apart and never got back to it. Fast forward to now, I went to visit and saw it rusting away, and partly covered with a brush pile and asked to take it home to try and get it running. He agreed. When I got it loaded on the trailer, he said he knew he was never going to do anything with it again and handed me the title and said "Merry Christmas"!

While I am very glad to get this truck, I don't quite know what I am going to do with it yet other than clean it up and get it running. After that I will decide how far or not I will restore it.

The truck is a bone stock 1968 Ford F-100 with a 360 FE, 2wd that came with a three on the tree that has had the shifter moved to the floor. Other than that, it is the way it came from the factory. I will post any changes or progress to come.
 
Here is the truck on the day I asked to take it home and work on it.
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The day I went to get it, we moved the brush pile enough to pull the truck out with a tractor and pump up the tires enough to load it on the trailer. Three of them will hold air for about a week and the right rear will leak out through the cracks in the tread in about thirty minutes. Some pics from going to get it and take it home. I had to wear the covid-19 mask to get in and steer it due to all the mold and mildew inside.
 

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That was my first vehicle when I go my license way back in the day. Mine had a 240ci 6cyl and three on the tree with a tool box compartment on passenger side bed behind the door. Looks like a fairly solid truck. congrats
 
Yesterday I had a little time so I decided to washed it so I wouldn't need a penicillin shot to get inside it, ( I'm up to date on tetanus). I did a basic wash then scrubbed the front with a Brillo pad for a couple hours before I ran out of time. It's still not pretty, but there is hope for it I think! Here is a before and after.
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Growing up, my friend's dad had a truck like that. I used to earn extra money helping him cut firewood. He ran a loader for a local concrete company and they let him take whatever trees he wanted before they started clearing land. We'd go out there on a Saturday and Sunday, he'd drop and limb the trees, we'd swing an axe at the small branches and mark off the lengths so he could just cut. Then we'd load the truck while he sat back and drank a few cold Budweisers. Ah, good times!
 
It also looks as if the truck has been a couple different colors in its lifetime. Some of the paint is that light blue, some is white, and at some point my parents sprayed it with Rustoleum primer trying to slow the rust. When cleaning the inside of the bed, there was even some red paint, but only on the inside of the bed. Though it has a lot of surface rust, I actually haven't found anywhere that it is rusted through.
 
Because of where and how you got the truck, it's not something you will ever sell, so, with that said, take your time, make a list, prioritize the list, and bring it back to it's glory days splender! I am amazed that the bumper is tweeked, and the grill is straight!
Hope you keep us up on it's progress!
 
Sweet ride man!

new seat, tires, brakes, plugs, points, fluids and roll!

after you have several hundred miles on it knock down the surface rust as no apparent as possible. A few swirl marks are ok. Then on a calm day, clear coat it and seal all that history up.

Then drive it for ever.
 
I finally had some time to work on this again. I went out there today expecting to flush out a fuel system and change some filters and try to make the engine run. I took out the shop vac to get rid of the mouse turds and bird nests and cleaned the top of the engine again. With everything a little cleaner I noticed some loose carburetor linkage and when I tried to put it back the whole carb moved! That was when I realized the entire carb was just sitting there with no nuts or linkage attached.

I'm not sure if someone tried to work on it or if they were trying to take the carb. Since it was unbolted I went ahead and took it all the way off. I'm glad I did because the gasket was torn and there was an acorn in the intake.

I didn't get many pics but the carb was full of dirt. I vacuumed out the intake and taped it closed.

I will update after I either get a new carb or rebuild this one.
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You might want to consider a new import. There's a Vevor 2100 on E bay, for $84.92. I been seeing adds on another brand, probably the same carbs, but can't recall the name or find it now. 90% of reviews have been positive. Carb kit runs around $35 - $40, & That one will need a Lot of soaking & cleaning.
 
rodney eppes said:
You might want to consider a new import. There's a Vevor 2100 on E bay, for $84.92. I been seeing adds on another brand, probably the same carbs, but can't recall the name or find it now. 90% of reviews have been positive. Carb kit runs around $35 - $40, & That one will need a Lot of soaking & cleaning.
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Wheeled with a guy from Maryland last week and his take on the Chiwan "2100" were not favorable... may have been a one-off issue?

Besides, a good carb kit will take care of any issue (except for worn throttle shaft/bores)... cleanings easy
 
Yeah man that's a sweet truck. The paint on it looks badass just spray some clear on it get it running and sell it for 12k all day long! People eat that shit up! :beer:
 
So I finally got around to working on this again. I got the carb rebuild kit but decided to go ahead and pull the intake, just in case there were remnant of squirrel nest inside it. I have been learning a lot about these engines, such as the intake is actually part of the head so you have to pull the valve covers and rocker arm shafts to get the intake out. I finally got the intake pulled and I am glad I did.

It turns out the truck had three bent push rods and one broken one! After doing some research, I learned this is a common problem with these engines if they sat too long and got dry up top, and then someone tried to started it without lubing the top end again. When taking it apart, I did notice it was the driest engine I had ever seen on the inside.

I will be cleaning it up and now I'm waiting on a new set of pushrods from JEGS. Here are a few photos.
 
I'm not seeing it, but if you have a lot of carbonated oil [dried up sludge], when you crank it up, all that crap will wash down to the oil pump pick up screen, & plug everything. When I picked up my 360, it really looked like it had sat a long time. When I pulled the valve covers, O Man! At one time, My motor had a Lot of sludge in it. It was dried up & just a crusty carbon. Off to the Reman shop it went!
 
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