I Learned Something About Old Ford Pickups

[freedhardwoods]

I was looking for an old work truck and found this - a 64' 3/4 ton with a dump bed. I've been wanting a dump truck for a long time. Manual windows, brakes, and steering and no fancy gadgets or computer to fiddle with. The odometer says 75,000, and from the looks of the truck, that might be original miles. I paid $1400 for it.

It needs some attention on the brakes (it pulls to the left), steel bed (needs rebuilt), lights fixed, cooling system (?) and gas line/fuel pump(?) (see below).

The previous owner said it was full of gas, but the gauge said empty. I stopped at the first gas station. The nozzle kicked off three times and I could hear the gas in the filler neck before I got a gallon in it. (That should have raised a red flag if I had been thinking)

As I was driving it home late Saturday, I noticed it was running a little hotter than it should. I stopped to look under the hood, and that's when I noticed someone put the wrong fan on. It was blowing forward, and as you can see in the pic, the exhaust is pretty close to the fan. That probably didn't help cool it very well. Sitting on the side idling brought the temp down a little.

A couple miles later, it just died. It would run if you poured gas down the carb. I thought it might have vapor locked, but I've never had a vehicle do that before, so I was in new territory if that was the problem. I let it set 45 minutes, but it still wouldn't run on its own.

I didn't have any tools, parts stores were closed, and I had to get up early (3 am) on Sunday, so I called a tow truck and let them take it home.

I checked the entire fuel system and decided the problem was in the tank. When I tried to siphon the gas out so I could get the tank out -

IT WAS EMPTY!!!!!!

I pulled it up to my gas tank with a straight nozzle and hand pump, and put in close to 20 gallons. I pulled it up to the shop again and walked around to the passenger side.
Gas was dripping out of the cab (The tank is in the cab behind the seat).

Next I siphoned the gas out like I started to do in the first place.
That was enough "fun" on the truck for Saturday. I went and bought a tiller.

I have talked to several people that say old ford tanks were notorious for kicking off automatic nozzles making you think they were full.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Pictures man! Gotta have lots of pictures! I love old trucks.
Most of the behind-the-seat tanks have baffles in the filler neck to reduce the possibility of splashing fuel into the cab when full. A major fire hazard. If you decide to modify it be extremely careful with your changes.

 

[freedhardwoods]

If the filler neck had baffles, it doesn't now.

I changed all the rubber lines on the gas and water systems, put the right fan on, and flushed the radiator and block. I'm pretty sure the cooling problem was the fan.

Here's all the pics I have now. The last pic is my temporary "gas tank" while I was working on it. The outside of the cab was the same blue as the inside until someone used black spray paint cans on it.

 

[Nyboy]

Also love old trucks, they are the hottest thing in cars right now.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Oh wow! I forgot all about those crossover pipes in front. Sometimes they will glow red hot when hauling a heavy load. I've seen them at night.

It's a little bit hard to see but the body seems to be in good shape. How's the frame and drivetrain?

 

[journey11]

Yikes, so how much did all the repairs cost you on top of the price you paid for it? The gas leaking into the cab...that's a bit scary.

DH has a '93 Ford F-150 that has dual gas tanks, bought used for $2000. One tank started leaking recently and on the other that does work the gauge constantly reads empty. I think Fords are pretty notorious for rusting out from underneath. It has been a great truck otherwise though. Nowadays the dealer just tries to sell you an add-on to have the undercarriage sprayed with something to protect against rust. Ought to come standard, duh! The bed on DH's truck is rusting out from below too and he wants to replace it. I wonder what it would take to outfit it with a dump bed? He's always wanted one too. It would make unloading 25 truckloads of firewood per year (plus all that manure and mulch I beg him to get me) so much easier.

 

[thistlebloom]

I love that body style. Sounds like you have some work to do, but you are obviously a good mechanic and up to the challenge.

In '81 we bought a '65 3/4 ton Camper Special. It was turquoise and white and had been babied by the original owner. It even had tuck and roll upholstery in the cab. I loved that truck!
It was the first automatic I had owned and it had power to spare. We lived out in the boonies and it was a long twisty uphill 12 miles to get to our place. No more shifting down on all the tight turns, and it leaped when you touched the accelerator, which was so fun I tended to overdo it.

My BIL talked my husband into selling it because it was "too old".
He always wished he hadn't listened to him.

 

[Nyboy]

My wish I never sold was a 1963 MGB, but I was 19 and couldn't afford the many break downs it had. Was the best car for NYC, could park in spaces a full size car couldn't.

 

[ninnymary]

My wish I never sold was a 1963 MGB, but I was 19 and couldn't afford the many break downs it had. Was the best car for NYC, could park in spaces a full size car couldn't.

OMG, I've always wanted an old MGB for years. Now that I'm older, I've out grown that wish. It's enough that I have fun on my husband's old convertible Z3 BMW. It's one of the originals with only 1 exhaust pipe instead of 2.

Mary

 

[freedhardwoods]

It's a little bit hard to see but the body seems to be in good shape. How's the frame and drivetrain?

The body does have several rusted through spots and one front cab mount is rusted, but I think I can get another 10 or 20 years out of it. The frame is solid, but the front spring hangars on the back axle are weak from rust. I'm going to weld in some gussets for now. The drive train is solid. I'll change the trans and rear end oil at some point to see if it has much wear.

Yikes, so how much did all the repairs cost you on top of the price you paid for it? The gas leaking into the cab...that's a bit scary.

I had intentions of doing this before I handed him the money. I'll pull and check all the wheel bearings when I'm checking the brakes. I might have $100 in it so far. I had the heater hose and fuel line in my shop. I keep lots of spare parts around. If I put $500 in it and it lasts me 10 years, that's a cheap investment.

DH has a '93 Ford F-150 that has dual gas tanks, bought used for $2000. One tank started leaking recently and on the other that does work the gauge constantly reads empty. I think Fords are pretty notorious for rusting out from underneath. It has been a great truck otherwise though. Nowadays the dealer just tries to sell you an add-on to have the undercarriage sprayed with something to protect against rust. Ought to come standard, duh! The bed on DH's truck is rusting out from below too and he wants to replace it. I wonder what it would take to outfit it with a dump bed? He's always wanted one too. It would make unloading 25 truckloads of firewood per year (plus all that manure and mulch I beg him to get me) so much easier.

I would say you would be lucky to find a dump bed for $1000. The hoist (2 stage, double cylinder) and bed on this truck was worth the $1400. After looking at it some more, I can just replace 1 cross member and patch the holes in the floor. I've probably got the steel to do that in my pile at home.