Open Road

Am I stupid?

My F-150 is the perfect truck for me. Plenty of power with the coyote engine, 4wd for when I need it, tows the stuff I need it to with zero effort, has been virtually flawless and troublefree for 60k miles. My only complaint is that it’s too new and I am getting a serious hankering to modify it. I’ve been on the fence about lowering it and boosting it, both of which are probably dumb ideas. I only occasionally need a truck to haul stuff, and it’s usually local. The rest of the time, it’s sitting or used more for pleasure.

So, instead, I am thinking I’d like to get a hot rod truck that’s a bit of a beater (not show quality) that is simpler in design and less complex to work on. I already have a Jeep for when weather requires a 4x4, and I am thinking it’s be net positive $’s if I sold my current truck for a mid 60’s F-100 that I could play with more. I am talking play money here, everything has already been paid for cash and will continue to be.

Thoughts?

Do it.

Thoughts?

As I wrote many times before - no good story ever starts with “I made a wise and informed decision”.

Definitely do it!

Open Roaders like to encourage bad decisions.

I knew I could count on you guys... lol

Here's something along the lines of what I want...

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/li ... ri-2746406

Old school enough that if the terrorists set off an EMP, I have a running vehicle, enough HP to be legit, and I can work on it to make it nicer without getting totally stupid. And, no worries about show quality paint or using it to haul random shit around.

Wife already okay'd it (like I actually needed to ask...) as long as it has an automatic so she can drive it as well.

Stupid decision? that's debatable, after looking at newer vehicles that cost more than my first house, I started looking in the same direction as you, and found a 30 year old Jeep, super simple and runs good.

Gregs04.5 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 3:13 pm Stupid decision? that's debatable, after looking at newer vehicles that cost more than my first house, I started looking in the same direction as you, and found a 30 year old Jeep, super simple and runs good.

Oh look, a "new" jeep.

Did it…





It has a 428CJ with a C6 tranny, , 9” rear end with 3.50 r&p, Crown Vic front suspension and discs on all four corners…

Sic!! Post pics of the interior and engine bay.

Woohoo! Nothing like being encouraged to jump, although it sounds like you didn't need to be pushed.

Love it, even though red is not my color, it looks great!

Interior and engine compartments are just “so-so” at the moment. I have a lot of plans in the works for both tho…



The exterior looks like it does in these pictures because I had been out driving it and it started to snow. The paint is a decent 10 footer…. Not show quality by any stretch but way better than a month old Maaco job.

Just as a follow up, I got rid of my perfectly good 2018 F-150 yesterday for $30K, which is $2k more than I paid for it back in 2019. It will go down in history as the first vehicle I truly made money on... lol

Seriously cool truck. Well done.

Stance is perfect.

My first vehicle was a '65 C10 short bed. We blueprinted a 292, bored to 4" (made it a 312). Loved that truck. Went off to the Air Force and my brother traded it for hay. I was pissed. Very hard to find shorty's anymore for decent money.

Congrats she is a beauty and drivable....I mistakenly stayed with the straight 6 and the three on the tree for my old Ford which caused me to sell it.

I think 60's Ford pickups are seriously underrated for the cool factor. Everyone loves 60's C-10's but I really like these old Fords.

My old '61 unibody. Bought it off the original owner.

When I had it...I did a new interior/front discs/ and new tire wheels (including spare) got it running and driving again.






And when the Frenchman I sold it to fully restored it to Bud Ekins shop truck.

When I was in elementary school and it was a cold, snowy, icy day, the lady down the street would give me and my brother and her son a ride to school in her 65 ford pickup. It was robin egg blue from the factory and had three on the tree. You are right, these are cool and very reliable trucks when they are maintained....

It's the little things that matter, right? Case in point...

Before:


After:

sh944 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 4:57 pm It's the little things that matter, right? Case in point...

Before:


After:

15 extra hp?

Nope, that would have been the "Super" Cobra Jet version. THe "plain ol" Cobra Jet sticker is only good for 12hp.

So, I’ve put about 1,000 miles on it and seriously love this thing. I’ve got a decent list of projects lined up for it and will try to use this thread as a place to document the journey.

On the short list is new rubber (Firestone Firehawks going on it on Monday along with an alignment) and then I am going to do a complete brake refresh as they don’t work as well as I’d like them to. It’s got Crown Vic front discs and calipers and you’d think that would be enough but it really doesn’t grab well, so I might upgrade to four pot calipers.

New tires and alignment helped a bunch...

Also, I have decided that the pony center caps just aren't correct for the truck, so I am making my own. The truck is named "Doris" after the transvestite bartender at the Ugly Step Sister Saloon in the Shrek movies (my wife has a thing for the Shrek movies so all of our cars have been named after various characters. and with the 428 transplant in the truck, the name just seemed to fit... lol), so I am building "Doris caps".

First fitment to make sure I have the sizing right...
I am going to make some cosmetic adjustments and print it in the right colors next, the idea being silver to match the spokes for the body with black concentric circles and red letters for the text.

Okay, so I pulled the trigger on going with a Mustang S550 set up by ordering the Range Industries (https://range-industries.com/products/bolt-in-s-550) kit. I am guessing I will be spending the next 6 months or so gathering parts, so don't look for anything to happen soon here regarding the installation.

The basic plan is to identify what gear ratio I want and then track down as low mileage a carrier diff assembly as I can find that's not stupidly priced. This will force me to upgrade the master cylinder/power booster to a four wheel disc set up, so I will likely go all in on Wilwood here. At the same time it would be nice to see if I can also update the calipers to Wilwood four piston calipers that will fit inside 17" Mustang rims, but truth be told, that's probably not really necessary as I think the CV front and Mustang rear calipers should be fine. I also don't have any inclination to move to 18" rims unless I really have to update the brake calipers.

While I have the bed of the truck off, I'm also going to replumb the brake lines and redo the wiring and see about prepping for a new fuel tank that will support fuel injection.

Lots to do on this truck... lol