I call it the Bruise..........

[Canonman67]

.......... 'cause it's black and Blue. It's a car flipper's ******* child, a 1970 F100 flareside.




I rented shop space to do the build, it includes access to a lift, welders, engine hoists etc. It has been worth the rent. Here's the 351W that was in the truck when I bought it.

I'm replacing all the tie rod ends and rubber in the front end. I'm also switching to disc brakes using the ScareBird brackets.


Here's a couple of shots of the disc brake setup.

[Canonman67]

I've gutted the cab to repair the floors and remove the in cab tank.

Driver's side.




Passenger side.
I decided to just patch the bad spot since it's just surface rust for the most part.
I used what was good from the drivers side.
This is my first experience welding so things aren't as pretty as they could be.


I have learned to patch rivet holes due to the many that the PO put in to "fix" the floors.

[Canonman67]

I've also had to replace a cab support.

From the top.

[Canonman67]

I'm removing the in cab tank and going to use the in frame tank I got out of the parts truck.


And it's out.....


There were a couple of holes in the floor to patch from the gas and emissions lines that ran to the engine.



And then there's the fill hole.

I watched another guy in the shop do this and decided I could do it myself.
It's not perfect but I didn't create any problems for myself.
My current project is cleaning up the tank prior to getting it in.

Next weekend I'll tackle the holes the PO cut in the cab.

[hfdco4]

Very nice start and a nice ride!

[Canonman67]

Thanks, I enjoy working on it and am looking forward to being back on the road.

[Canonman67]

Well I managed to get the speaker hole welded.

The dome light hole is another story.

I'll have to return to that one later. On the other hand I did managed to get some paint on the floors. I used POR15 on the footwells.

I'm doing a rattle can job on the firewall and underside with Rust Reformer which I'll topcoat when I decide on a color.

[Canonman67]

Well, I wasn't able to find the rust reformer today so I used rusty metal primer on everything but the footwells.

I had to wait to topcoat so I started on rebuilding the power steering gear box.

I was following instructions I found on another website but hit a wall when I couldn't remove the worm bearing race nut.
As you can see I was on my way to mucking things up before horse sense took over and I stopped.

I stored everything as safely as I could to await the arrival of my new wrench. Thank you Ebay and a seller from Indiana.

Well tomorrow I'll (hopefully) finish painting the floor and start on the engine assembly.

[Canonman67]

I did manage to get the floor painted with gloss black chassis coat. I wasn't finicky about applying it and have runs everywhere. It's not my best work but I don't seem to do well at all with this paint. Either way it's done and it'll be covered by vinyl when I'm done.

[Canonman67]

Engine assembly hit a snag when I found I didn't have the cam thrust plate. I'm not sure where it is and can only assume some idiot me, lost it. At least I was able to get the cam, crank and pistons in.
I also managed to finish the power steering gear box and get it mounted. The wrench made it too simple if you can believe that.
One of the car shows I watch demo'd a trick to cleaning aluminum manifolds, brake cleaner and a wire brush. I've tried it and though it's labor intensive it works pretty well.
A closer shot.
It still needs a lot of work but I keep it close to the tool box and when something frustrates me I work on it for a bit. It's going to be a longer term project. I also painted the firewall. I found an industrial paint called Safety Blue that I thought might be an okay match for the interior, turns out not so much. I thought it was blue enough for the engine bay so I went ahead and shot the firewall with it.
Other than changing the rag joint,
priming a few parts
painting the engine tins,
and scrubbing the underside of the cab to prepare for primer and paint there, I didn't get a lot done this weekend.

[Canonman67]

I want to say I welcome any comments about what I'm doing. If there's an easier way to do something I definately want to hear about it.
Anyway I didn't get a lot done this weekend. More painting of parts,

I did find a 390 in the back lot that I was able to scavenge the parts I needed for the motor.

A lot of parts cleaning happened, I use Purple Power for the most part. Not the most elegant cleaning station but it works for me.

Here's the new timing cover after cleaning and painting.

I did manage to get the heads on but didn't go any further since as you can see I need to do bit of touching up on the engine. Funny how I never thought to check the color of the heads when I bought the engine paint.

Thanks for looking.

[flyboy2610]

I think you're doing a great job! Keep it up!

[Canonman67]

Not a lot was done this weekend since I had family commitments on Saturday. I did manage to get the engine painted one color.

As well as the bell housing.



The gas tank is nearly ready to be installed.

I just need to seal the inside and finish painting the skid plate and the rest of the hangers.

Next weekend I REALLY need to clean up the work space and get organized.

[Canonman67]

It doesn't seem I got a lot done this week but I'm strangely satisfied with what was accomplished. I'm a mystery to myself lately. Anyway, I spent most of my time in the shop cleaning, painting and mounting what parts were ready that wouldn't be in the way later. Here's the perches waiting for the 390.
Note to self get under the cab and finish painting before you go too far and don't get it done.

I bolted the adapter to the bellhousing to get that box out of the bed.
It's almost too pretty to hide under the truck.
I pulled the slider out of the parts truck. Looks like it's not going to be that difficult to clean up.

I got started cleaning the inside of the tank and painting the skid plate with the Rustoleum rubberized coating.
Looks like the tank project will be spread across two weekends. I was impressed with how well the POR15 cleaner worked on the gummy residue of the tank. It was so clean after the first shot I was tempted to skip the second go around. The second left it almost new looking. I'm planning to finish next weekend. Other than getting the bed organized that's all I accomplished.
At least I know what still needs to be painted and where everything is.

[fordhillbilly]

Looks great wish I could make that kind of progress