FE Power Forums
FE Power Forums => Member Projects => Topic started by: cjshaker on April 15, 2015, 02:17:04 AM
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I'm pulling the 390 Super Marauder out of my '68 F-250 4wd to put in my '70 F-350 dumptruck, hopefully to make the tow/haul to Beaver Springs here in one week. The original 100,000 mile 360 is an "unknown" as far as reliability goes and I don't want to chance taking it through the mountains of Pennsylvania hauling my Mach 1. I know this won't be very exciting compared to most stuff on here but I thought I'd show it for a couple of reasons.
First, I built this engine 20 years ago. It's the longest I've ever had an engine together and remain untouched since the day I did it. Besides adjusting the valves about 1/2 a dozen times the first few years, and getting tired of pulling the covers for nothing after the first couple of adjustments, I quit and haven't had them off, or needed to, in the past 15 years. And besides the original starter, which I had to replace after about a year, I have not done one single thing to the engine beyond replacing the wires once and adjusting the points a couple of times. It has an MSD Blaster ignition that is triggered by the points, and they have been in the truck the whole 20 years. Same goes for the plugs, same ones for 20 years. It has literally been the most dead-nuts reliable engine I have ever had and has been through a lifetime or two of hard work and lots of play. I thought it might be interesting to see how things have held up after all the years and abuse it's been through.
Second, I'm going to do a minor, and very quick, refresh of the bearings, gaskets and replace the intake with an Edelbrock RPM. The engine has never made a noise, but I figure after this long it deserves new bearings and a better intake. She's earned it :)
Quick background, the engine is a Super Marauder out of a '64 Mercury Monterey. It had the extra webbing and crossbolt nibs with thick cylinder walls, so I figured it was basically a left over 406 block or something cast using their performance block molds at the least. Either way, it is a stout block. I lightly ported the C4 heads, stuck a solid lifter Crane cam in it (mid .5s on lift) with blocked lifter passages, Crane hollow shell lifters (no longer available) with Crane pushrods, stock type adjustable rockers with Crane jam nuts on stock shafts with iron stands and no end stands, a Melling high volume oil pump with a HD shaft, a 750 Holley dual inlet center pivot carb and a set of Hedman headers running through a 2 1/2" custom exhaust with Edelbrock Crossflow mufflers, also no longer available.
The truck body is wasted from 21 years of Ohio winters and salt, and led it's previous farm life in Michigan. How it's lasted this long is beyond me. The hood mounting points on the inner fenderwells let go several years ago and the last 2 years I literally had a ratchet strap stretched across from front fenderwell to fenderwell to hold the hood on. :o
The starting point, after sitting the last year due to a busted brake line. It wasn't worth fixing at that point.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1375.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1375.jpg.html)
The engine looks remarkably good for how long it's been in there, and having NEVER been garaged. Mostly due to a healthy coat of DP40 Epoxy primer before painting. Now banned due to toxicity. ::)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1376.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1376.jpg.html)
After a few hours cutting with a torch. I figured it would be MUCH easier to do it this way, and nothing is worth saving.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1378.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1378.jpg.html)
Yep, MUCH easier to do it this way!
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1388.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1388.jpg.html)
So far I've been amazed at how good everything looks. The paint is still holding up and except for the front timing cover there is only minor seepage at a few spots on the engine. The rocker system still looks great and there is NO sludge buildup in the heads, and that's with no PCV and just a rear breather on the intake. Regular 10w-30 oil changes probably helped, as did letting the engine fully warm up 95% of the time.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1394.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1394.jpg.html)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1401.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1401.jpg.html)
I think what surprised me the most is the clutch, which shows little material wear despite the pilot bearing being worn fairly badly and the flywheel showing some heat marks. I often rode the clutch when doing heavy pulling jobs, like pulling over trees so they didn't fall towards a house or building. I treated this thing like a tractor. ::)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1392.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1392.jpg.html)
As you can see, there was literally nothing holding the hood on! :o
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1369.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1369.jpg.html)
I really hate to say goodbye to this truck, but I'll salvage the drivetrain, which has a somewhat rare large knuckle Dana 44 6BF-HD front axle with a locked center. This thing was a brute! It was a Special Order DSO destined for a hard life on a farm. In my experience, there never has been and never will be a better stronger truck made than the '67-'72 bumpsides. There's a reason Ak Miller was winning Baja races with these things!
Today I'll be cleaning the engine up and pulling the pan to check bearings and prepping it for a quicky paint job, fresh gaskets and some new hardware, as well as getting the 360 ready to pull in the F-350.
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It's a shame to have to let it go.
Sometimes they are just to rusty.
Anyways good luck on the swap and may the wrench deities be with you.
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Its really cool to see a truck like that which has hung in there that long. The old 3/4 ton 4X4s were great vehicles; I had a friend back in the day that had a '72, and that thing would do anything you asked of it. Maybe you can find yourself a nice clean one some day, and swap in all the drivetrain stuff...
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Wow, the inside of that engine is c-l-e-a-n! Nice and I'd guess the warm-ups helped a lot as did oil changes.
Any estimate of running time in 20 years? Mileage may be low if you only used it locally.
Not surprised by the little worn clutch disc. Bet 1st gear x rear end gear is a really high overall ratio, hence little true clutch slippage.
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15 years and no valve adjustment needed.
Thats something for those who belive in
the myth that mec. cams needing constant
adjustment
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Actually, it's not a myth if you've worked on 1st gen SBC's when they still used the ball/sled rockers and BBC's which still use the same system even today. I think that Ford's rocker shaft system and the interference fit adjusters are what makes valve adjustment, unlike the GM stuff, highly stable and resistant to regular lash checks.
Just ask any BBC user today IF they aren't using a Moroso-style rocker stud stabilizer bar system and have retained the factory set-up.
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Well i should have said the myth that you cant build engines
with mecanical cams that not need constant adjustment.
Almost all european cars had mecanical cams until about 10
15 years ago.
And no one needed to adjust them constantly.
If you had to there was something wrong
Volvo used a scaled down copy of the FE system on the
B18/B20 that came out in 62 thats more or less a scaled down
half FE. Even use the same oilfilter
But now im hijacking .....
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Maybe you can find yourself a nice clean one some day, and swap in all the drivetrain stuff...
Yeah, I won't be happy until I can replace it. The drivetrain is all still good. I redid the axles with bearings and seals and all new U-joints when I did the engine. I'll get another one, but I'll never be able to replace it. :(
Any estimate of running time in 20 years? Mileage may be low if you only used it locally.
Not surprised by the little worn clutch disc. Bet 1st gear x rear end gear is a really high overall ratio, hence little true clutch slippage.
Bob, you couldn't be more wrong...lol This was my daily driver for about 15 years. It's been everywhere including multiple family camping vacations out of the state, numerous long distance hauls to transport old cars/trucks, to work and back 30 miles daily for years, hauling wood yearly, etc etc. The speedometer quit working a few years after I got it, but I'd conservatively guesstimate that I put about 65-70,000 miles on it. It's probably pushing 150,000 as a total on the truck.
Camping in Kentucky...
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/DSCF0002.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/DSCF0002.jpg.html)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/DSCF0031_1.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/DSCF0031_1.jpg.html)
Busting snow drifts up to the grille was no problem...
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/Truck640x480.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/Truck640x480.jpg.html)
I never plowed snow with it, but I did plow a lady that turned in front of me once ???
It totaled her car, and besides pushing my 4" well casing front bumper back a bit on one side, the truck was fine and I drove it home. Look at this picture closely and you can see a mouse nest that got knocked out of my passenger door from the big rust hole at the bottom. ;D ;D ;D
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/Picture048a.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/Picture048a.jpg.html)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/Picture050a.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/Picture050a.jpg.html)
What the engine looked like when I finished it. Maybe I should have titled this thread "In memorial of my '68 F-250". ;D Sadly, I've lost most of the early pictures I had of it, when it was all one color, due to computer crashes, before I learned to back up stuff on an external hard drive.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/390truck1.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/390truck1.jpg.html)
15 years and no valve adjustment needed.
Thats something for those who belive in
the myth that mec. cams needing constant
adjustment
Heo, as far as FEs are concerned, you're absolutely right. After a couple of initial adjustments, you typically never have to touch them again on most street or street/strip engines.
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Then, you win the toughest clutch disc of the century award! ;)
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Hey Doug,
Cool story on the truck. What happened to the pics? Was you reported to the moderator for the emotional torture of seeing the truck cut up with the torch? :o
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John, I don't know, they're still there for me. I was changing the size earlier so maybe you caught it when I was in the middle of that? They should be there.
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Really dig the picture of the truck in the snow - that's how I remember those things getting used!
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I'm not seeing the first series of pictures either?
But I can see the snow pic "ugh" and the smash up.
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I had moved the pictures to an album in Photobucket and it broke the link. Fixed now.
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I'm surprised you got away with running a front sump oil pan. Didn't catch enough air for the Dana 44 to kiss it I guess. ;) Did you slot the header flanges to get them to fit the early exhaust ports?
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I'm surprised you got away with running a front sump oil pan. Didn't catch enough air for the Dana 44 to kiss it I guess. ;) Did you slot the header flanges to get them to fit the early exhaust ports?
Kevin, the truck originally came with a front sump pan, clearance was never an issue, although I'll admit I never attempted any Dukes Of Hazzard jumps with it ;D The '70 also has a front sump pan. I'm not sure when/where Ford used the rear sump. I thought it was just on the bigger trucks, but I don't know for sure. As for the headers, they lined up perfectly with the exhaust ports. Don't know if it was blind luck, stupid luck or just plain it's-about-time luck, but I had no issues with them and didn't have to modify anything.
Grudgingly, I'm not going to make it to Beaver this year with the car. I ran into a couple problems that set me back just enough that I would have been pushing right up to the last minute. The trailer still needed new tires and a rewire and I wanted to at least get a few miles on it before making a 7hr trip through Pennsylvania. There just wasn't enough time left.
My hood cowl seal always leaked, so water would get on the intake and sit there. As it turns out, 2 of the intake bolts had heads that were rusted beyond being able to get anything on them to remove them.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1413.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1413.jpg.html)
The passenger side bolt I was able to reach with a set of lock-jaw pliers through the intake and get it loosened. Who said these intakes are a PITA? ;D Unfortunately, I could not get a good grip on the drivers side bolt. I've got two options, weld an extension onto the bolt and back it out (done that before on bad bolts) or grind it off and remove the passenger head so I could slide the intake off and then remove the bolt.
If I was going to go that far, I figured it would be stupid not to tear the whole engine down. This was enough to make me rethink my strategy. Soooo, I'm pulling the engine apart and going the 445 route. This should make me a real strong towing truck for pulling an enclosed trailer, so that's what I'm doing. I'll be keeping the same heads, cam etc. and just using the stroker kit.
This is the truck it's going into. As you can see, it's a LOT more solid than the '68. While I've got the engine out and waiting on some parts, I might as well clean it up inside the engine compartment and make it look good, even if the truck doesn't :D
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/99IMAG4739.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/99IMAG4739.jpg.html)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1408.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1408.jpg.html)
I'm really bummed that I can't take my car this year....again :( But hopefully I can get the kit together soon and have it done this spring/summer. I'm already looking at trailers, so this time next year......fingers crossed, I'll finally make it.
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A shame you can't get the Mustang to Beaver this year, I was looking forward to getting the 3 D tour.
On the engine I couldn't agree more. Once a man has to remove at least 1 cylinder head, a stroker kit is pretty much mandatory 8)
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On the engine I couldn't agree more. Once a man has to remove at least 1 cylinder head, a stroker kit is pretty much mandatory 8)
Len, you'll be disappointed that I decided against the stroker kit. :) I think the engine has plenty of power as it was and didn't want to mess with a combo that worked well, other than the RPM intake I am putting on. And after talking with John Vermeersch about longer stroke truck engines, I think the shorter 3.78 stroke would be better. Without starting a debate, there was a reason that Ford used shorter stroke engines in trucks. I know many would have a differing view.
I've gotten the engine tore down now and found a few interesting things. Mostly good, one bad.
Here's how I took the head/intake off, in one piece. That is one HEAVY Hombre when they're attached!!
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1514.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1514.jpg.html)
Valve tip wear didn't look bad and all the cylinders looked VERY nice. I was surprised that cross-hatch pattern was still visible. There is NO ridge at the top that you can feel with a fingernail, no scuffing except a couple of very minor small spots at the top of a couple of cylinders. Wear looked even throughout all the cylinders, top to bottom. I was VERY happy about this! No overbore and I'll be re-using the pistons with just a short hone and new rings :)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1517.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1517.jpg.html)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1520.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1520.jpg.html)
I used C3 Lowriser rods with the bigger rod bolts when I built the engine. The pistons still looked perfect, after 20 years! I was pretty stoked at this point! No play in any of the pins, no scuffing on any of the pistons. Everything will be getting cleaned and going back together just as it is.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1557.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1557.jpg.html)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1553.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1553.jpg.html)
The rod bearings showed a little wear. The bottoms looked good, but with a few signs of fatigue after 20 years.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1552.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1552.jpg.html)
The uppers showed the most wear, as expected. Here you could see the effects of lugging and working the engine hard its entire rebuilt life. I lugged the engine probably harder than I should have. I usually do that to save the clutch, which it did. Still, I didn't think they looked terrible, considering the age and use. That's not copper showing, but just a colored reflection. None of the bearings had gotten into the copper backing.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1550.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1550.jpg.html)
However, the crank looked GREAT. There were literally NO signs of wear, grooving, dirt, heat or anything on ANY of the rod throws or mains! They mic-ed perfect, so despite the upper bearings, It's getting cleaned, new bearings and going back together just the way it is.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1547.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1547.jpg.html)
The main bearings also looked very good, with just a couple minor abnormalities. Not enough to worry about, in my opinion. If it lasted this long with the crank looking great, it'll go another 20 :) Regular 3000 mile oil changes really showed as the engine was super clean everywhere inside. I used regular 10w-30 summer and winter.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1542.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1542.jpg.html)
The block is kind of an uncommon one. From what I know, a few 390s were only cast this way in '64 and this came out of a '64 Mercury Monterey. While I have never had the block sonic tested, my theory is that this is basically a leftover 406 block, but being machined as a 390. It has all the signs of it being cast from 406 patterns, like cross bolt nibs in all locations, and it has the 3 fingered side webbing. This could be built into a pretty stout block if cross-bolt caps were used. With the Lowriser rods in it, I figure it's plenty strong and could handle 500hp fairly easily. I had the rods straightened, new bushings installed, new rod bolts added and balanced back then.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1535.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1535.jpg.html)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1537.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1537.jpg.html)
And I wanted to address a myth about something. I have always liked and used the factory hollow shell lifters. Some people love 'em, some people don't. I do, for many reasons that can be debated. But ONE myth that always pops up is that the "light weight" feature of them is not the case when they fill up with oil. I've always said that this is bunk. How could anything moving up and down so violently retain any fluid in it? Well, I wanted to prove it by showing how they look anytime I've ever taken off an intake. They have VERY little oil in them. You can see by the screwdriver tip that there is about 1/4" that puddles in them, and much of that is just from drainback when the engine is shut off. Myth...BUSTED ;D
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1508.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1508.jpg.html)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1512.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1512.jpg.html)
Now the bad news. Every lifter cam out very easily and showed no signs of any wear. That is until the very last lifter on the right bank, which would be the exhaust for the #4 cylinder. The lifter would not just lift out. At first I thought maybe crud had built up, but after several tugs with my finger, it popped out. I could immediately feel the sharp edge at the bottom, where it should have been lightly chamfered, and when I flipped it over I could see the early signs of a lifter failing. I checked lobe lift and compared it to another cylinder and the cam card, and sure enough, the lobe was .020 down on lift. What's odd is that I hand checked the rocker gaps before I removed the assemblies and none of them felt excessive. While I didn't measure them, I've done this enough to tell by feel when a rocker gap is excessive. This is the first time I've ever had a cam/lifter problem and that really bummed me out. What I don't know is how long it's been this way. I haven't adjusted the valves in MANY years, so it would appear this happened some time ago, but how it didn't just fail is not understood. And just ONE lobe to boot. All the other lobes look good and all the other lifters look perfect on the bottom, just as the picture shows of the one beside the bad one.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1543.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1543.jpg.html)
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1539.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1539.jpg.html)
What's even worse, after getting over the "failure", I just decided to replace it with the same cam because it just worked great with this combo and worked equally well in the truck as a mild performance/hard working cam, but Crane no longer lists or sells this particular cam. So now I have to find something similar, which so far hasn't been easy, or even possible. Everything has very aggressive ramps now to increase the effective lift time, but I liked this cam specifically because it had softer ramps, which is much easier on valvetrain parts. :(
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I have the same casting on my 64 PI block and att 060 bore it
is thin in a couple of spots.(0.105) So thinner walls than a 406
I saw another block from a 64 Galaxie at the shop of the guy
who is porting my heads. Same casting same casting numbers
C4AE -A but machined for hydraulic lifters
Here we can see the difference of a wrong an right assembled
engine.My was totaly worn out after much much less milage
while your is in nice shape after 20 years hard use
My crane Fireball 294 was about to loosing a loobe to
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Just wanted to give a quick update on the truck. I decided to buy a 390 that Blair had for sale a while back and keep the old 390 to rework and put into my '65 Galaxie. He was heading west to drop off a couple of engines and pick up some BBM heads so I met him in Cincinnati and exchanged the SOG block that I had for the engine. He'll be doing the heads and machine work on my upcoming stroker motor so it was the perfect chance to get together.
I had to make a couple minor changes to the engine to make it work in the truck chassis (oil pan and filter adapter) and add some of my own junk that I had sitting around since it was just a long block with an RPM intake on it. I had an Edelbrock water pump, some March pulleys and a newer Holley 750 sitting around so I threw them on, along with a nice matching air cleaner to go with the valve covers that Blair had put on. It should look pretty sharp when finished, at least worthy of showing up at the FE Reunion next year. I'm guessing I might be the only guy showing up with an FE powered car, hauled by an FE powered truck. I like the idea of that ;D
Anyway, here's a quick shot right after I got it dropped in Friday night. I busted butt all weekend and got most of it together and now just need to work on the 2 1/2" stainless exhaust and do some work to make the throttle work with the higher intake. Things are finally moving along after a loooooong and worthless spring (had 30+ inches of rain in 2 months, making doing just about anything impossible) and a host of other problems that crept up this summer.
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1942.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1942.jpg.html)
And after ALMOST being talked into looking for a 7.3 Powerstroke earlier this year, to pull my newly ordered car hauler, I had decided to just stick with the '70 and put money into it. Boy am I glad I did!! I've driven early/mid '60s trucks and bumpsides my whole life and enjoy being able to work on them. Other than 6 cylinder Falcons and Comets, there is NOTHING easier to work on than these trucks! You could NEVER do this with any newer truck past '72.....stand in the engine compartment and easily access anything you want. MAN I love these trucks!
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/68%20Truck/IMAG1953.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/68%20Truck/IMAG1953.jpg.html)
After this year I'll start restoring the truck by taking the cab off and going completely through the chassis and giving it a nice paint job. It should be a nice car hauler and have the "look" for pulling my Mach 1. I'll also be cutting off the dump bed and fabricating a flatbed to weld onto the dump frame, so that way I'll have a dump flatbed and can still haul wood and other things that I normally need my truck for.
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Looking great Doug! :) I wish there were some way I could make it to the FE reunion, even just to spectate. I want to go so bad!
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Progress is looking good.
Once upon a time, I was able to stand on the ground while working under the hood of a 76 F-100 with a 6 cylinder. I think those days are over for me though. I don't see near as much of my feet as you do when I look down. ::)
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Jared, after finally making it last year, I'm bound and determined that I'll never miss it again, barring bad weather. Even if you just go as a spectator, it's worth making it your "vacation trip". If the wife resists the idea (if you're married), then I'd suggest taking the girlfriend instead ;)
John, LOL, it definitely helps being on the light side of 140 pounds. I can walk around the engine while it's in the truck, even when the radiator is in (if the fan is off). But these trucks are so easy to work on, I can sit on the fenderwell with the hood on and do just about anything. Sure beats leaning over a fender and killing your back. On my '68 Highboy, I could turn the wheels and reach right through the fenderwell to change the starter. I've reached a point where I can't stand working on new crap, just because it's such a pain in the butt. I'll drive old vehicles the rest of my life.