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Nov 17, 2021 15:42:13 GMT
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Of course, I had to go and say something... First breakdown yesterday, he came to a stop to turn in to school, heard a "pop" and smoke coming out from under the hood (bonnet). Turns out the battery exploded:   Now, I've been warned about such a possibility when jumpstarting a car all my life, but never actually heard of it happening, much less while driving, but here we have it. Not having anything more than his description of what happened and those pictures, I hooked up the trailer and picked him and the truck up after school.  On the way home we stopped by the parts store and bought a battery and a new positive cable, stuck it in and it fired right up. Had them hook up their tester just to see if there were any obvious faults, and other than a weak alternator it's all good. He drove it in successfully today, so at this point we'll chalk it up to a freak thing until proven otherwise... |
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Nov 17, 2021 16:05:56 GMT
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WTH ??
That is not good.
Hopefully the last time that happens.
Neat pic of the recovery though.
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Feb 14, 2022 23:43:47 GMT
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Sorry for leaving you all in suspense, you can breathe again now. The battery explosion was due to a faulty voltage regulator; I had him stick one of those cigarette lighter volt meters in on the school run the next day and he saw 17+ volts, a new regulator saw it correctly hovering around 14 and it's been fine since.  I finally got tired of waiting on him to put the letters on the tailgate. Originally of course they would have been painted, but we saw these vinyl decals and thought they were worth a try, given that painting them could have gone wrong in a number of ways and if the decals weren't right they were easy to pull off.  I think they're fine, certainly no worse than the paint quality. We got some snow, and I couldn't resist some pictures...   And it just keeps going, from gas station to gas station. We've put over 5,000 miles on it, and it's been great. Until last night...  (pictures from today in the daylight, obviously)We had gone to a friend's house about an hour away; it really is fun how this old truck just keeps on chugging along. No reason it shouldn't I guess, but it puts a smile on my face. At any rate, when we left we got about a mile before we were going through an intersection and he couldn't make the 1-2 shift. Coasted to the side of the road, and I poked around under the hood enough to determine that the problem wasn't out there:  That's the clutch actuator rod, snapped neatly off at the top. Obsolete for 20 years, not reproduced, unique to the 65 & 66 2wd trucks. No problem, I have a welder...  And we're off and running again, he drove it to work tonight. Rewarding to be able to make simple fixes like this... |
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,353
Club RR Member Number: 64
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1966 Ford F-100glenanderson
@glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member 64
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Feb 16, 2022 14:01:41 GMT
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I've said it before, but I am so jealous of the availability of classic stuff in the US. The combination of climate, space to store and the sheer size of the market back in the 50s and 60s compared to the UK means the condition of some of these "survivor" cars and trucks is stuff of dreams to us.
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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Feb 16, 2022 14:35:12 GMT
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 I'd like to say that this (and your Land Rover glenanderson ) is another example that "they are still out there," and I believe it is - you just have to invest the time and effort into finding them, and then actually spend the money when you find them. However it is true that the rules of supply and demand do apply, and supply certainly does vary by location. If anyone is interested in taking advantage of the relative supply advantage my location may provide, I'm happy to help in locating a "classic" over here...
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Feb 16, 2022 14:41:52 GMT
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This is a truly beautiful machine... Beautiful!!
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***GARAGE CURRENTLY EMPTY***
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,353
Club RR Member Number: 64
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1966 Ford F-100glenanderson
@glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member 64
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Feb 16, 2022 14:51:10 GMT
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I'd like to say that this (and your Land Rover glenanderson ) is another example that "they are still out there," and I believe it is - you just have to invest the time and effort into finding them, and then actually spend the money when you find them. However it is true that the rules of supply and demand do apply, and supply certainly does vary by location. If anyone is interested in taking advantage of the relative supply advantage my location may provide, I'm happy to help in locating a "classic" over here... My Land-Rover is only in the condition it's in because I have literally replaced every single part of it (at least once) in my ownership.  I'm really enjoying your adventures with the F100. Being the kind of madman that dailies a sixty-plus year old vehicle I can offer you the reassurance that once you've worked your way through the niggles, it'll be every bit as reliable as it would have been when it was new.  |
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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Feb 16, 2022 15:02:41 GMT
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Here's hoping!
I'm confident there's a clutch R&R in the near future, and as you can tell from the brake pedal in the picture above, the indicated 49k miles have rolled over at least once, so I'm contemplating drivetrain options just in case...easiest thing to do would be finding a 90s 300 I6, but just about anything would fit. First question would be whether or not to go to EFI...
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1966 Ford F-100Deleted
@Deleted
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Feb 16, 2022 18:46:31 GMT
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Nice truck.
Neat story and I look forward to popping in regularly for updates.
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Apr 10, 2022 12:35:07 GMT
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Good to be reminded of this one.
And like you say, a silly grin when seeing them mixed up with modern blandmobiles.
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Apr 10, 2022 20:49:53 GMT
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I did have to fix the clutch rod again, welds were too cold the first time around. No great drama, and this time when it happened he called and knew exactly what it was, so even if it doesn't always seem like it he is paying attention. Even better, he was explaining to Mom the other day why he preferred driving this over her car, even though it saves him gas to drive hers..."It's my truck and I know how it drives, it just feels like I'm not myself in your car."  Winning. |
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May 28, 2022 20:16:50 GMT
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Still going... But it wasn't sounding all that great, so a $45 muffler was ordered.  Yep, it was time.  All better. |
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Nov 17, 2022 19:46:16 GMT
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The risk you take when you put one on the road...    Nobody hurt, and the boy took it as well as could be expected. Both vehicles drove away, and it was as friendly an interaction after the fact as could be expected. Obviously could have been much, much worse. But now we get to navigate the insurance labyrinth, and figure out who does what work to what level. Of course, any bodyshop I'd trust with it is saying they can't even look at it until next summer... |
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Nov 17, 2022 20:39:32 GMT
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OH MAN! That truck was MIINNTT! Great thread. Cool truck, super good all around. As skilled as you all are- I say get some body dollies and a stud welder- you can fix that! Go for it, I need more to read about  |
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Nov 17, 2022 21:33:45 GMT
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OH MAN! That truck was MIINNTT!... Literally! Having had a look around for bed sides, it may be down to straightening what's there (which I'm dumb enough to try, surely I can't make it worse) or find an old trailer or other donor. Replacement bed side panels for the slicks (64-66s) don't appear to be available. Sigh. All part of the adventure, though. |
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Nov 18, 2022 21:15:00 GMT
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I needed bed sides for one of those era trucks and we just bought an entire donor truck and cut off what we needed. Made it happen & it looks great. Best of luck!!
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Nov 26, 2022 22:04:45 GMT
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As instructed...   This is a long bed that someone has obviously used to patch a passenger side wheel arch, but I need the driver's side, and one man's trash is another man's treasure... |
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So. In 1966 the "long" bed was 14" longer ahead of the wheel arch, and 6" longer behind it. My original plan was to cut it at 13" and 5" respectively, leaving an inch on either end to bend over as the flange to spot weld to. I consulted with a friend who owns a body shop yesterday, and he advised against it, stating that trying to break that 1" flange over would destroy the curve of the panel, and that I should instead retain about 2" of the panel to be replaced keeping the factory flange, and then weld those flanges to the cut out section of the long bed panel. That makes sense to me, but it leaves me with seams on either side of the "face" of the panel that I have to get right. Any thoughts from the collective?
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So. In 1966 the "long" bed was 14" longer ahead of the wheel arch, and 6" longer behind it. My original plan was to cut it at 13" and 5" respectively, leaving an inch on either end to bend over as the flange to spot weld to. I consulted with a friend who owns a body shop yesterday, and he advised against it, stating that trying to break that 1" flange over would destroy the curve of the panel, and that I should instead retain about 2" of the panel to be replaced keeping the factory flange, and then weld those flanges to the cut out section of the long bed panel. That makes sense to me, but it leaves me with seams on either side of the "face" of the panel that I have to get right. Any thoughts from the collective? and tonybmw are some of the names that spring to mind. Locally also Dez I cant help. |
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You rang?  How I would do that is do the shortening with butt welds near a original weld seam ( about 1/2" next to it). The original flange will help with the inevitable warp. I never do overlapping weld seams, and trying to put a 90 deg flange on it ( although possible) is really difficult. But before I'd do anything, I'd try to push the original metal enough into shape so you can try to save the original corner piece. If that can be saved, it will make a big difference in the time it will take to repair this. For the welds themself, take your time. Make sure you don't put too much heat into one place. ( cooling with compressed air or a wet rag is possible, but be careful - you can also make it worse...) When doing a butt weld, make sure the fit of the panel is good (1/16" or less, but not zero). And if possible ( meaning if you can get to it ) use the original spotweld seams ( by carefully grinding the panels apart so you end up with a clean flange for each side) , punch or drill holes ( about 1/4"), and rosette weld with your MIG. I hope some of this helps... Edit. Couple more things... Set your MIG up for the thinnest possible wire ( 0.6 Standard or 0.23 in Metric) Its kind of a pain, because the thin wire will have a tendency to kink and bunch up in the machine, but the difference is worth it. And use Argon/CO2 mix for the shield gas ( do not use a flux core MIG, it doesnt control the heat as well as shield gas, the gas probably dissipates some of the heat...) |
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Winning.
