Looking for guidance

[Nold]

Bought a 68 f100 yesterday. I have a general plan laid out, but I'm looking for help on order of actions.

As a complete noob at this kind of thing I'm going to need all the help I can get. The truck runs so I'm focusing my efforts on stopping and repairing rust. Would this be the best plan of action?

Floor pans will need replacing, and the bed it pretty rusty. I need a book or a guide on where to start, and how to do it.

[jimmy828]

from Asheville,NC. I was a noob also when i join this group. You will find 99.9" of what you need to know on this site. Just learn to navigate and search for the info you need. You will be surprised with the help you will receive to complete your project.

[Nold]

Thanks Jimmy,

Can you recommend any external references? I have 10000 questions. I've been searching and found quite a bit of great information so far.

[jimmy828]

Thanks Jimmy,

Can you recommend any external references? I have 10000 questions. I've been searching and found quite a bit of great information so far.

I did purchase a repair manual specifically for my 69. Between this site and the manual is what i use the majority of the time. Might want to try Fordification Facebook also.

[squearl]

word to the wise about floor pan replacement. Measure every different angle you can prior to cutting. Make sure they don't lay in the cab "deeper" than before because if they are, chances are they will be laying on the frame when you bolt your cab down.

[tsherry]

Here's some advice from 40 years of Ford daily drivers and hobby projects:

1) start with a plan. When I haul or drive a project home, I inventory it from a systems perspective. Brakes, steering, suspension, fuel, electrical. List everything that needs repair just to make it roadworthy, and pick off them one at a time, with life-safety and critical operations first. (life safety: brakes, tires, fuel, steering; critical operations: cooling, oil, clutch/trans, electrical). I always make a vehicle roadworthy before I make it pretty, unless it's a complete basket case. At my age, I'm about done with basket cases.

2) be realistic with your time. When I was in my teens and twenties, I had a metric sh*tload more time to work on cars than I do now.

3) Work consistently--schedule it. "Tuesday nights and Saturday afternoons are shop time." Attack it if you can on a systems basis ("all the brakes", or if it's in halfway decent shape, changing all the old hoses, coolant, belts, then tune it up with plugs, plug wires, points/condensor, then change out the old oil, fluids...and get it on the road.)

4) Budget accordingly by task, but remember you might not want to know how much this is going to cost. Your spouse might not either. Use websites like Rockauto.com, carparts.com, and sites mentioned on this forum for most of your parts. You'll get the right parts, and save money usually over 'local' stores (O'Reilly's, Autozone, etc.)

5) You generally don't need to go hog-wild with buying a bunch of tools to work on these trucks. For a solid ten years, I made do with a set of combination wrenches, 3/8 socket set, pliers, vice grips, crescent wrenches, screwdrivers, etc. Only after I could afford it did I start to expand the toolkit.

6) Like Neil Young said, rust never sleeps. There are lots of folks here who've replaced pans and sections of beds, sometimes it becomes apparent that a whole cab replacement is easier/cheaper than What Lurks Beneath when it comes to rust. As for me, I built patch panels on my first Falcon, riveted them in place, rustproofed them top and bottom, and they were fine for ten years. Later I welded them in. My F250 needed a little patch, which I did with a Harbor Freight wire feed welder in about fifteen minutes. I formed up the patches by hand with a small home made sheetmetal brake, and cut the metal with big-ass sheet metal shears. POR-15 is your friend. Go to their website and read up. Check your cab supports to see how they look. If you're doing floors, chances are your cab mounts are more like a screen door than a foundation, too.

7) Don't be afraid to ask questions.

[sargentrs]

Oh no! He's been bitten by "the bug". Run as fast as you can to the nearest BMW dealership and buy your wife the most expensive luxury car you can find. It'll wind up costing you less and your wife will be a lot happier with you.

But seriously...

It'll take you 3 times longer and cost twice as much as what you think it will. Like tsherry said, address phases of your project by "systems" and complete each one before tackling the next. Be patient, search for parts and research completely before beginning. I made up an Excel spreadsheet and listed every part I intended to replace, where to buy it, and how much it cost. I researched and hunted for parts for a full 3 years before I ever started. In the meantime, I fixed what was broken and just drove and enjoyed her. I owned my truck 7 years before I started disassembly for a full frame off rebuild. Fordification.com and it's fantastic members is the best resource you will ever find. For hard to find parts, just post in the Parts Wanted section and somebody here probably has what you're looking for. Start a project thread and let us in on the fun! Good luck!

[Nold]

Wow, you guys are great!

Tonight I'm going to sit down and make a list as you all recommended. It's going to be SUPER HARD to resist buying tons of shiny new parts.

Current top priorities will be:

Engine tune up
New tires
brake work
seatbelts
fix the seat

This just so I can tool around town on weekends, then I can focus on rust etc.

I'll post a more detailed list for you all to critique this evening. Again, thanks so much for the advice!

[jimmy828]

Wow, you guys are great!

Tonight I'm going to sit down and make a list as you all recommended. It's going to be SUPER HARD to resist buying tons of shiny new parts.

Current top priorities will be:

Engine tune up
New tires
brake work
seatbelts
fix the seat

This just so I can tool around town on weekends, then I can focus on rust etc.

I'll post a more detailed list for you all to critique this evening. Again, thanks so much for the advice!

And don't forget those shiny new tools also

[hillcountryflt]

Oh, one other thing. "One thing leads to another!"
Engine tune-up turns into, upgrading to Pertronix electronic ignition. While working on the engine you realize you need to replace all of your rubber hoses (you should anyway). Well while replacing those you see that something else needs replacing.
The truck becomes a rabbit hole you can't get out of (:

[1972hiboy]

Yeah to everything above and watch out, sometimes one truck somehow multiplies to two or four or.........

[sargentrs]

And you will never be "done" with your truck. It's a deep black hole that crawl into and lose all track of time and money...smiling the whole time and loving every minute of the journey. You'll get a crick in your neck from turning around to look at every bump side you see going down the road or sitting in somebody's yard. You'll see one in a field rusting away and walk up to a stranger's door to ask if you can buy the beautiful grill off of it. You'll find yourself living on craigslist and ebay looking at parts you don't even need because the price is good and you want to build up your stash pile just in case. You'll lead a solitary life because no will ride in your truck because it doesn't have AC. Everyone who needs a truck will ask you to bring yours because they can't drive without p/s or power brakes. You'll drive around the parking over and over looking for a straight through parking spot because parallel parking is impossible and it takes 6 tries to back out. You'll lay awake at night dreaming about what you're going to do to your truck next. You'll schedule vacation days around truck projects so you can spend a solid week working on your truck. Oh wait, I'm talking about myself!

[Nold]

Ok guys a little update. As per everyone's advice I will be tackling the major "vital" systems first. The first on the list will be brakes and new tires.

Regarding the brakes. How far should I go here? Should I replace simply the shoes? Obviously this is a tough to answer question without knowing the condition of the current brakes. I'm leaning heavily towards new drums, shoes, and hardware. Should I do the cylinders as well since I'll be in there?

Edit to add: I'll start a new post seeing as how I'm no longer asking about body and paint.

[sargentrs]

Go ahead and replace the wheel cylinders too. As for drums, if you're old ones can be turned, do that. The OEM drums are much better than the new ones you buy at the auto parts stores. Be prepared to fight the brake line connection at the wheel cylinder. Be careful when loosening the fitting as they have a tendency to round off. Get the appropriate size line wrenches and disconnect the brake line from the wheel cylinder before you loosen the wheel cylinder bolts.

[rwilly]

I agree with Sarge, I just did all new brakes on my 68, it was a reasonable price and easy to do. I replaced everything except the drums. I didn't do new rubber lines which I wish I would've. That will be for another day.