Rusty, the 1970 F-100

[redstone65]

Got the license plate today. Feels good to be legit for the road now, even if we still have a ways to go.

The good news is that it cranked!

The bad news is that it wouldn't stop running, even with the key out.

@sargentrs has been helping me diagnose the issue over in the electrical & wiring forum, and I think it is close to being sorted out now. I'll post updates on that once it's nailed down.

[redstone65]

We got the ignition wiring sorted out. Thanks Randy!! And, for anyone wondering, here is how we ended up wiring it in the end:



This is my attempt at a breakdown of what's going on with the wires here:

- Red wire (fused) from solenoid input post to relay pin# 30: This wire feeds the relay with full battery load at all times. The relay is "normally open" on this pin so none of the circuit is hot past the relay until it gets a signal on the trigger pin to close.

- Red/Green wire from ignition switch to relay pin# 86: This factory wire is only hot with 12v when the key is in the START and ON positions. During those times it will send 12v to this relay trigger pin, closing the relay and allowing full 12v battery load to flow through pin#30 and out pin #87.

- Red wire from #87 on the relay to (+) on the Coil: During START and ON this wire will feed the coil a constant 12v.

- Red wire from (+) on the Coil to the Duraspark(DS) module: This feeds the DS box with a constant 12v, same as the coil.

- Black wire from the distributor to the DS module: This will provide ground for the DS box.

- Purple and Orange wires from the distributor to the DS module: These will carry the signals on either side of the pickup in the distrubutor.

- Green wire from (-) on the Coil to the DS module: This wire is how the DS module grounds the coil to collapse it's field and dump it's voltage. This wire does essentially what the points used to do.

- White wire from the DS box to the "S" terminal on the solenoid: This is a signal wire that only carries 12v to the DS box during cranking. This tells the DS module to retard timing a few degrees to make cranking easier.

If I got anything wrong, someone please correct me.

For now though, it's running pretty ok: VIDEO.

Now just have to clean up and secure all of that spaghetti wiring and then it's gas tank time.

[hfdco4]

That is awesome!

[redstone65]

That is awesome!

Thanks Paul!

[redstone65]

We got the gas tank out:



And, of course it was a horror show inside:



And, more dirt daubers :



We pulled the sender out and gave it a thorough sloshing inside with just soap and water and tried to get all of the rust sludge out. As much as we could at least. It smelled so bad.

Before we ditch it and buy a new one, I'm just going to try some witches brews and see if we can get it clean. If not, no harm, I'll just buy a new one.

First thing we tried was "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner:



After two days it hasn't done much. It does look better, but overall pretty anemic.

I picked up some degreaser and muriatic acid today. I'm going to try this guy's formula:

https://advrider.com/f/threads/diluting ... ng.670996/

And, if that doesn't work, then this guy's method:

http://www.xjrider.com/viewtopic.php?t=72

I'll post back with results...

[69Highboy]

Our local radiator guy cleans gas tanks as well as radiators. If your ideas don't work, you could try a radiator guy near you. Just an idea. Also, some companies sell gas tank cleaning solutions.

[redstone65]

Our local radiator guy cleans gas tanks as well as radiators. If your ideas don't work, you could try a radiator guy near you. Just an idea. Also, some companies sell gas tank cleaning solutions.

Well, I have bad news on the gas tank front. We did the muriatic acid wash last night.

It was looking a lot better inside:



...even after just washing the inside with this stuff:



But then we did the acid treatment. When we picked it up we noticed acid leaking out of a few pin holes in the back of the tank. It appears that it was rusted all the way through in a few spots.

So, I ordered a new tank, and the stuff to go with it (sender, neck, hose, etc.) this morning. The filler neck was in horrible shape. It was mostly eaten through. The gas cap was rusted to it. Even after soaking in acid for 4 hours I couldn't get it apart:



You win some, you lose some I guess.

Total cost down the drain, about $30 worth of acid, degreaser, rubber gloves, etc.

[redstone65]

Gas tank and parts will be here tomorrow, so we will get that started this weekend.

In the mean time we got a couple of things squared away. First was the gas pedal to carb linkage. I saw another poster refer to that mechanism on the back as a "trapeze". It's weird, but I think we got it working correctly:



There is a kit of clips that will work from Dorman. My local Advance Auto had them in stock for like $4. We had to torch and bend the rear rod a bit, but it all seems fine. The throttle return spring is from this kit, also in stock locally. Also, just a few dollars.

We also hooked the trans cooler lines back up. I cut the hard lines back about 3 inches and used fuel hose with band clamps to make the connections to the radiator easier to manage. I would have liked to have scrapped the hard lines altogether and just used that stainless braided stuff, but that's not in the budget. Here's what it looks like:



We also started cleaning up the wiring for proper routing:



Once we get all of that finalized I'll post pics of the ICM mounted and such.

We also got the trans shifter linkage connected to the shift arm on the steering column. I didn't get a picture of it, but the bushing I used was from this kit. Also, in stock and also cheap. The biggest bushing in the kit was the propper inside diameter, but had a very pronounced ridge in the center. I just ran a drill bit through it to knock most of the ridge off, just leaving a little to catch on the groove. The outside flangy part was also way too big, so I just lightly chucked it in the drill and ran it on some sandpaper to knock it down. After trial and error it popped through with the help of some vise grips. Then put an E clip on the back side groove and it seems fine.

E-clips from this kit.

[The Bandit]

I would double up on those hose clamps on the trans lines or get a short piece of metal line and two couplings and do away with the hose and clamps if it were me. That line is under a fair amount of pressure and they will fail on you and make a mess. and it"s not if it's a matter of when because it's going to happen.

[redstone65]

I would double up on those hose clamps on the trans lines or get a short piece of metal line and two couplings and do away with the hose and clamps if it were me. That line is under a fair amount of pressure and they will fail on you and make a mess. and it"s not if it's a matter of when because it's going to happen.

Man, I didn't realize they carried that much pressure. Thanks for the advice. I'm so terrible at flaring steel. Would the NiCopp stuff work? If so, I may just make some new hard lines all the way since I need a roll of it to run the new fuel line anyway.

[redstone65]

Got the ignition wiring cleaned up and "done".

I started by routing everything over to the Duraspark module through the MC bracket. I put some large grommets in the holes to keep the wires from rubbing:



Then wire wheeled the inner fender a bit, shot it with some rust converter and drilled the holes to mount the Duraspark:



Based on Randy's suggestion to isolate the module from vibration, I used some small grommets and just drilled out the center of them to use as "feet" for it:



The 1" bolts are 1/4-20 thread, with flat washers underneath the fender as a base and lock washers:





And, here it is mounted:




Having it up off the metal like that should keep it from getting too wet if water runs down the top of that inside fender.

There's a little more cleanup to do on the battery/solenoid. I want to cut down the overly long (+) battery cable and route it better with some clips. And, also put on some better battery cable clamps. Then that part is done. I'll post a pic of that once finished.

The new gas tank and accoutrements came in yesterday, so that'll be this weekend.

[hfdco4]

Great work, looks real nice.

[sargentrs]

Very clean! Good job!

[redstone65]

Great work, looks real nice.

Very clean! Good job!

Thanks guys!

I've been off work the last 2 days and gotten a ton done on the truck. First up, the battery side of the engine bay wiring is "done". It's a lot tidier now:



I didn't waste time painting the inner fender since it's rotten under the battery tray (what's left of the battery tray). It'll need replacing or patching. Another shot from the top:





I think every truck I've ever owned has ended up having a rubber bungee strap holding the battery down. It's like a tradition at this point. Can't mess with the juju.

There are still wiring demons in this truck. The headlights just decided to start working yesterday. I have no idea what made that happen. And, the left turn signal was working, but only if the turn signal lever was on any position OTHER than left. . But, then today it's back to only the right side working. None of the gauges seem to work except the gas gauge. Oh well. Plenty of time for those things.

[redstone65]

I cracked open the new gas tank and it sure was shiny:



After getting all of the styrofoam bits off of it, I wiped it all down with Xylene and then sprayed a coat of self-etching primer on it, and 2 coats of semi-gloss black. It seems a little shinier than the original, but it'll pass. Maybe the original was shinier too when new:



And, here is it's new home:



Um, gross.

So, I cleaned it all up and put 2 coats of rust converter on it, and a coat of matte black:



I painted the bottom ledge on the sides with Boxwood green to help it blend in a little, and then installed the tank:



And, the filler neck, grommet, sender, etc:







And, painted the cap:



With that part done, next will be the fuel line.