I have owned my truck since 1987. I finally got a chance to build it the way I want it. Part traditional, part modern safety upgrades, part comfort. Can't help the comfort part, I am an 'Old Fart'. This is the third time I have tried to post an introduction. The first 2 wiped the screen blank. I am not going into a lot of detail because of that.
Thank you for the warm welcomes. I bought this truck in 1987 and for the first 3 years it was my daily driver. The original builder and previous owner both had a hand in making it pretty dangerous to drive but, that was exciting and with my young and nimble reflexes, I could anticipate the bump steer and keep the old girl on the road. Brought her from AK to OK when I moved down here and as I got older, and with the worst roads I have ever in my life been on, I drove it less and less until about summer of '03 I parked it in the garage until I could afford to do something with it. Around March ‘08 I realized I was not getting any younger, I was never going to have all the money I needed to build the truck and it was time to start on the truck before I got too old to do anything at all so, I bought a plasma cutter and a little gas MIG welder and took a night course at the local voc-tech to brush up on some old dusty skills. I figured if I started at the rear it would give me confidence to tackle the front and if I screwed it up I could always tow it to a shop to have someone fix it. About a year into the modification my mother got ill and I put the truck back on the back burner. Turns out she contracted cancer and she started chemo-therapy. I traveled between RI and OK several times during the course of her illness and in December ’09, I had a house fire. Fortunately the truck and my Harley were not damaged. The rest of the house was toast though. In March of ’10 mom passed in her sleep while I was visiting her. I stayed a couple weeks to help my brother and sister clean out her apartment and settle her affairs and came home to turn my attention to rebuilding my home. The house was finished in June of ’10 and I moved in and began replacing items for the insurance company. I got all the necessary items and decided not to replace my art and collectibles so that money became my truck fund. Fortunately for me my collectibles and art appreciated over the years. I started the front and one thing led to another and now the truck is getting close to being back on the road again. It’s not completely traditional so I don’t know how many of you here will give me crap about it. Progress so far: ’64 model 289 rebuilt with: Edelbrock ‘E’ street heads Edelbrock ‘E’ street cam Cleaned up 28 yr. old Edelbrock performer 289 manifold Rebuilt 28 yr. old Holley 600 cfm 4 bbl. 28 yr. old Accel electronic distributor New Oil, Water and Fuel pumps. Sanderson Headers Roller rockers, new pushrods, timing set, cleaned up the old forged pistons and reused them after installing new rings and then honing the block. Rebuilt torque converter and beefed up, rebuilt ‘64 model C4 transmission Heidt’s Mustang II cross member and R&P unit. Air Ride Tech front control arms, triangulated rear 4 link, shockwaves front and rear and E3 air pod ride control system. Wilwood spindles, tandem master cylinder and forged Dyna-Lite disc brakes front and rear with integrated parking brake in the rear. Flushed and coated original rusty fuel tank. Cleaned and rebuilt the radiator. All new brake, fuel and trans cooler lines. Sound proofing the entire cab. New steering column and wheel. Reupholstered seat, door panels and kick panels. American Muscle wheels with Nitto Invo tires. Lots more little stuff. I'll try to post some pics soon in the F1/F100 thread.
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