Finally Building The 67 F100

Quick update here. The Effie is a runner and a driver. I got her all back together and fluids in just as my father in law showed up for the first start. Once I figured out the distributor was 180 out (I’m the king of that by the way) she fired right up. Warmed it up, set the timing and idle, threw the hood on and took it for a test drive. Mission success. So far no leaks, and outside of one very slightly loose rocker arm she runs great. I still need to put the vacuum modulator tube on and hook it up, hook up and adjust the lockdown lever, pull the gauge cluster and install the new Speedo cable and pull the valve cover and tighten that valve and check the rest. Basically an evening of work. I’m ready to start putting some miles on it though and am incredibly excited to have her up and running again. The new bed will go on shortly as well I think.
Here’s the only picture I thought to take. That new tube crossmember worked out super well! I had to dent the pipe in about 1/4” just to ensure it downs knock on it, but otherwise it works super well and looks 1,000,000 times better than the old trans crossmember.

 

Today after jeepers breakfast club get together and the boys soccer game this morning, I got home and decided to do a dump run in the Effie before dropping the boy off with his mom. Got the valve tightened up, got the vacuum modulator tube on and the hoses hooked up, loaded up and went to town. The truck is running great. I need to pull a plug and see where the tune is at. I’ll probably do that tomorrow. I don’t want a repeat of that excessive carbon buildup the engine had before.
When I peaked under her there was a small puddle of motor oil. After investigating I realized I must have finger tightened the oil Pan plug when I swapped pans the last time. I tightened that up and hopefully no more spotting. The trans had one drip on the case but nothing on the floor. I may need to replace the speedometer gear o ring, which I have.
Lastly this afternoon was putting away the mountain of tools and parts on the bench, and hook up the dash end of the new Speedo cable. The last one melted to the header and the cable broke and I was too lazy to replace it for the two years it was on the road with this engine combo. The new cable is routed much better though, so hopefully it lasts.

 

I’ve been trying to get test/break in miles on but the dink and dunk little trips to town make it slow going so the youngest and I drove to Astoria, then backroads all the way around back to rainier then home. The trip went excellent. No new noises, and the only issue was the crap Napa wiper blades that won’t stay installed, I’d I’m put on this morning in Clatskanie anticipating rain. Luckily the real rain only kicked up the final ten minutes or so. We were on the road for 4 hour's and got almost 200 easy carrying rpm miles. The backroads from Austria were really good because there are next to no people on highway 202 so I could run rpm’s between 2000-3000 which I like in break in. I may even run her down to Portland tomorrow for the boys soccer game. But she’s very close. 330 miles on her now. After tomorrow and a few trips to town I’ll change the oil and beat on her a bit and see how it feels.

 

The bed swap went great. The taillights are functional and she’s all bolted down save the far two that I need longer carriage bolts for. Then brought it up above to hit it with the purple power and a pressure washer.
I should mention the other night all of the aftermarket bed hook holes and trim holes got welded up.
I really love the look. But I’m still waffling on the finish. Primer it all gray or spot prime. The metal work is roughed in but it still needs all of the bodywork. Or wd40 the bare metal and enjoy it for awhile.

 

Looking good!

 

You don't still have the doors off the parts truck do you? Looks like the same color or close enough to my 69 highboy that could desperately use a pair of less rusty doors.

 

The doors were not in great shape. I sold them for super cheap to a buddy, but I’ll ask him tomorrow If he still has them. They’re not right for his 67 and not on his 69 so they may just be hanging around.

 

Quick update, I’ve been trying to daily drive the truck to shake down issues before the Olympic drag and drive event. Weather and scheduling haven’t been kind but it’s working super well the handful I’ve driven it. That intake and of course a tighter engine really made a difference in the power. If I punch it anywhere slower than 20-25mph, she spins where it used to hook and book.
Anyway, Anna’s Falcon c6 and converter are being rebuilt so I’ve got some time to further dial in the f100 this weekend. The first order of business is to see if the schlong bed will actually work. The driving force for that job was, to be honest, I’d bought a set of aluminum slot mags at the swap meet a few years ago to wear a set of used slicks I’d traded to a buddy for Anna’s old rear radial tires And knowing the step side wasn’t even close to wide enough to allow these wheels, I had to try with this bed off the parts truck. I’m all in with this bed, slicks and wheels for less than $100. Anyway I drilled out a hole and fitted a screw in valve stem harvested from another set of Macs I have, and aired it up. I’ll need to roll the inner lip. There’s about 1/4” clearance, but it fits and dang if I don’t love the look with those offset mags in the back.
The down side is I have a ton of work to get the other wheel into shape. There’s a ton of spray paint in it still and needs a bunch of polishing. But I’m motivated to do that now, and with tonight’s beer drinking night, I know what I’ll be doing

 

That looks badass!

Time to get out the baseball bat and roll those lips. It's amazing how well that works. We flared out the front fenders on a friend's '67 Mustang well over an inch doing with a baseball bat to clear 245 front tires.

Before:


After:


We also had to pie-cut and weld the front lip further forward so the tires didn't' rub when turned. The rears just needed the lip rolled and didn't need the extra flaring.

That car looked sweet with those fat tires under it.

 

That is a great looking mustang, with a killer stance.
I did the bat truck many years ago to roll the lip on my old mini truck, a bagged and body dropped frontier. I’m a little gun shy though, because it did warp the bed side around the wheel well. We were trying to clear the new set of custom built 20’s I’d ordered.

 

Well I got a few things done today. The new sport door mirror hardware was trash. And I had a bunch of other holes to weld up from previous mirrors so those all got welded including the holes I’d drilled for those dumb rubber things. While redrilled for the nutserts, the drill bit fell through a giant bondo hole. Got that welded up and, drilled for and set the nutserts and the mirror feels 1,000 times better. For the record I don’t know why it took me so long to try those nutserts. Super handy.
Then my driveline hoop came in but I realized with the exhaust and such there, the best way was to just mount the hoop to the bottom of the cab. I got that cut down and welded to some 1/4” flat bar and will be secured with 4 -7/16” bolts. But with the carpet kit, the seat and driver side door jam had to come out. I did slit the carpet so I can access those bolt heads with a wrench in case it needs to come out. Tomorrow I’ll go to town for some nuts, paint, and install the hoop. And probably do some carb tuning.

 

I’ve always loved stepside bump/dentsides, but I gotta say that I love the look of that bed combined with the stance and wheels of your truck. Gives it almost a pro-street look. Nice job.