81 F100 flare side custom with 300 six & T18

It wasn't a criticism, just an observation.

Sorry if I had a laugh at your expense Dave

It wasn't a criticism, just an observation.

Sorry if I had a laugh at your expense Dave

ArdWrknTrk wrote

It wasn't a criticism, just an observation.

Sorry if I had a laugh at your expense Dave

LOL I did not know I did that till you said about the same 3 pictures, guess that is why you said I was proud
I just did not pick up on it.
Guess I need to check my posts when they post.
Dave ----

Well..... that's why I put the rolling head emoji.

It does look nice!  

Only a little work done today.

Being the bed was off I wanted to test the wiring for the fuel gauge to both tanks.
Being the sender plugs also have the ground in it I took a jumper between them and turn the key on and ..... nothing?
Check my jumper connections even tried the other tanks still nothing! ?????
Flipping switch back-n-forth thinking bad contacts, nothing.
Cant find my test lights should have at least 2 so pull out the meter. It is giving me some strange readings of .5xx of a high and bouncing around?

Start checking if I have power to the rear light plug where the tail light harness plugs in and get the same readings?
Time to check fuses but the oil & temp gauges work, all look good and only missing the 25 amp for the cab lights, replace it any way.
So thinking I need to see if I have power where the main harness plugs into the frame rail harness and found the issue!

Never plugged in the frame rail harness and I now have fuel gauge for both tanks.

By this time wife shows up going out for breakfast so I put her to work real quick. I get under and have her flip the fuel switch to see if I can hear / feel the fuel tank valve switch ...... nope!
No noise of can feel anything so pull out the meter and I get power to it when on front tank IIRC so power is good, switch valve is bad and need to pick one up.
I did look in up and it is not a cheap as I thought but thankful it is not the 6 port valve.

BTW auto zone, rock auto, advance auto all say it takes the 6 port valve? advance auto I can get the 3 port but have to order it.

After a little breakfast I tackle the intermit wiper switch & control box install I got off Ebay.
Hardest part was finding a screw to fasten the control box to the lower dash frame and sanding said spot for a good ground.

Last thing I worked on was the filler plates used on flare side on the back of the cab to finish off the lower corners because the bed is narrower than the style side beds.
After sanding them better I found someone drilled 2 extra holes so pulled out the MIG and filled them in and ground them flush.
They also have some rust so I brushed on 2 heave coats of Eastwood's rust encapsulator and hung them in the 90* paint booth .... garage and called it a day.
Dave ----

Little more work done to the truck.
Last weekend I ordered parts off Ebay, 3 port fuel tank switch valve, Lic. plate light to fit the flare side plate bracket and a radio, so I would have them for this weekend.

Checked to make sure the new (open box) fuel valve worked and switched out it out. Had to do a little re-wire job as the new valve did not have the same connection.

With the valve in I then added 5 gal. of gas to the rear tank. This tank is the default tank if the valve should fail. Removed the gas can under the hood and hooked up the tanks fuel line.
Gas Gauge moved from below empty to the empty mark and that is just fin with me.

Good thing the bed was off as I seen a leak at the hose to tank. I took up on the clamp and hope that will fixe it. I also checked the other clamps.
I also want to replace the 2 roll over / vents and rubber grommets because 1 is loose and I am sure will leak with more fuel in it.
It now runs off it own tank!

The lic. plate light & bracket will need a little "fitting" to bolt up but not too bad. I picked up the light socket pig tail for the light on the way home from work today and why I got a late start on it.

I then fitted the cab filler plates used on flare sides to the cab and pop riveted them in place.

I fitted the radio to the opening and it fits pretty good and even the cut up bezel I have only needs a little fixing to look good.
I gave a quick look for the truck side for wires. I have the speaker wires and the dash light wire but cant find the power wire.
I also did not know what the wires did on the radio side so did not want to test it, they did not know if it worked but it was cheap enough and has all the mounting brackets I can use on another radio if I have to.

I have done a search and now have the wire colors and what they do so may give the radio a test tomorrow but still need to find the power wire on the truck side.
The truck side the wires were cut but the radio came with a "pig tail" of the truck side I can splice.

I did not like the trailer hitch hanging so low and could get it up higher if I flipped some brackets around. Thing is some of the bolts use locknuts and don't come off to easily. I broke 1, cut another off after welding them to keep from turning and the other 2 did come off. Got the hitch back on the truck but need to pick up new grade 8 hardware and tighten it all up.
Dave ----

Dave - That's a landmark with it running off its own gas tank.  Congrat's!  

But those leaks are a serious problem.  You have replaced all of the hoses, right?  I didn't and had a leak that caused the truck to stall after several miles on each run.

On the radio, I assume you have the wiring diagram, but just in case: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/radios.html.

As for the hitch, was it yours or Ray's that was hanging so low?

Gary Lewis wrote

Dave - That's a landmark with it running off its own gas tank.  Congrat's!  

But those leaks are a serious problem.  You have replaced all of the hoses, right?  I didn't and had a leak that caused the truck to stall after several miles on each run.

On the radio, I assume you have the wiring diagram, but just in case: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/radios.html.

As for the hitch, was it yours or Ray's that was hanging so low?

Yes a land mark to have it run off its own tank.

All the rubber supply lines are new when I put the tanks back in, even the small vent rubber hoses to the canisters up front.
I am reusing the rubber filler hoses and it was 1 of them that was leaking at the tank, think the clamp was not tight enough.
Only other thing I did not replace are the 2rubber grommets for the roll over valves and I will do them before I put the bed back on.

On the radio wiring, I gave a look but only found the part numbers for the radios & speakers and doing a search found nothing. I went to that other site did a search and found what I needed just need to get out and test this radio now.

It might be both of us that had the low hitch, I do remember someone else had it low also. When I put mine on I did it per the paper and after I got the bed on and then the bumper I did not like it that low.
Before the flip

Dave ----

We were to have rain since Firday night and be cooler ..... They should fire the weather man he was wrong on both counts.
Sunny and 94* in my garage at 12:30 so called it a day but let me back up a little.

Got out there about 7am and started cleaning out parts I had stored in the cab so I can blow it out really good before painting.

I pulled the radio from the dash, no screws or wiring so was easy, so I could bench test it as the Ebay listing said "do not know if it works"?
I am happy to report it does work, did not try the tape part, so for $60 I think it's a good deal.

The radio came with pig tails so I pulled them from the radio. I did a little digging and found the yellow power wire, I have the others and did what was needed to solder & heat srink them to the trucks wiring that was cut when they PO removed the radio & HVAC controls. Think it took longer to find screws used to hold the radio to the dash.

I want to use the wood grain bezel but it was cut a little to big but does not look to bad but it is made for the clock at the top and I don't have that so would need to close them off some how.

I do have a black weave "Custom" that came with my truck that was also cut but I would need to open it up a little more and do some other repairs then try and get wood grain on it to match the gauge bezel & steering wheel.

Before I installed the radio I made a trip to the hardware store to get the trailer hitch bolts but they were still closed till 10am and was not sitting around for half hour till then so on the way home I got 5 gal of gas for the front tank, never made it in got to hot and called it a day.

That is when I went for the hitch bolts. When I got home and put them in the garage at 1pm it was now 96* yep time to call it a day besides I got to get up a 3am for work so I should rest a little LOL.
Dave ----

Dave - Yes, that bumper is really low.  But perhaps that's the way they were designed as I think Ray's is that way as well.  However, they look odd.  Hope the flip helps.

As for the heat, that's way too warm.  Hopefully it'll cool off in a few days and you can get back to it.  But you do have the bolts and screws to make good progress when that happens.

I got home early (12pm) from work today but was just to tired (up at 3am) and the humidity was killer so never made it out to the garage.

Yes have the hardware for the hitch but may need to make the bolts a little shorter to fit inside the tubes and that is after they are welded to flat stock to keep the bolt from turning as you cant get a wrench inside the tube to hold them. So not a 2 min job LOL.

I also want to put the other 5 gal of gas in the front tank and see if that gauge moves a little like the rear tank did.

I also need to get the garden hose reel with 100" of hose from the garden shed to the house and see if I have enough hose to reach my garage so I can use it for wet sanding.
Thing is all 4 tires are flat so need to find my air tank as I don't have enough air hose to reach where it is at
Maybe I am just putting off the sanding ....... you think
Dave ----

LOL!  Yes, you may be avoiding sanding.  But, I can't blame you on that one.

How many times will you have to fill the air tank to fill up all four tires?

FuzzFace2 wrote

I got home early (12pm) from work today but was just to tired (up at 3am) and the humidity was killer so never made it out to the garage.

Dave, the heat and humidity is killing me here, and I'm a 1000 miles or so north of you...lol.

Seriously...I was supposed to be finished all this stuff in the spring. I get it man.

Gary Lewis wrote

LOL!  Yes, you may be avoiding sanding.  But, I can't blame you on that one.

How many times will you have to fill the air tank to fill up all four tires?

I have a big tank, read heavy, that should get them filled in 1 shot.
I been wondering how I can use the garden tractor to drag it to the garage to fill them, that is lazy or conserving energy
Dave ----

Rembrant wrote

FuzzFace2 wrote

I got home early (12pm) from work today but was just to tired (up at 3am) and the humidity was killer so never made it out to the garage.

Dave, the heat and humidity is killing me here, and I'm a 1000 miles or so north of you...lol.

Seriously...I was supposed to be finished all this stuff in the spring. I get it man.

I say you cant rush perfection
Dave ----

Sorry nothing worth getting pictures of.

The last few time moving the truck I did not see the dash lights on?? So I took the knob and started to install it and it did not feel right so I bought anew one during the week and got that installed.
In testing I see the dash lights do not turn off just dim and get bright when turning the knob. They are so bright I can see them in the garage with all the lights on during the day and doors open.

I poured 5 gal of gas in the front tank, hooked the battery up to see where it reads, just a needle width above E I am good with that. The rear tank was on E or a hair below it.

Moved the truck out and finished bolting down the hitch. I had to cut the bolts shorter to fit inside the tube but long enough to use a ny-lock nut. Looks much better higher to the bumper that is not on but I can tell.

Called it a day as I had yard work I had to get done before it got to hot, trash to the dump and then to work to empty out my work truck as I got a newer one.
I wanted to wash my trailer but the wash bay was off limits till Tuesday I am told.

Oh Friday when cutting the other half of the yard, started the day before, I used the 3 point hitch to drag the water hose reel up to the garage to get air in the tires so I aired them up today.

Being I have to get up at 11pm Sunday night for work I will get up at 3am Sunday so I am tired at 5pm for bed, and see how far the water hose will reach to my garage and see about starting the wet sanding for paint.

It should be some what cooler to sand that early I hope.
Dave ----

I got tired just reading that!  Lots of work going on.  And that pesky yard work sure gets in the way.

Anyway, you are making good progress.  Keep on keeping on!

I can't even mow my grass because it's been raining non-stop for days now.

Can't wait to see the truck in final color.

Gary Lewis wrote

I got tired just reading that!  Lots of work going on.  And that pesky yard work sure gets in the way.

Anyway, you are making good progress.  Keep on keeping on!

Between the last 3 days doing the yard work I can put it off for a week or 2 so if it is not to hot I can get something done.

salans7 wrote

I can't even mow my grass because it's been raining non-stop for days now.

Can't wait to see the truck in final color.

We have had some heavy rain here in the evenings when it cools off to cause flooding but after an hour or so it stops.
Because of the rain & heat I  have only been getting 1 long maybe 2 short loads but when I get out of work it is to hot at 95*+ to hit the garage.

On the paint I cant wait either but this heat is killing me on spray time.
Heading out now to see about wet sanding.
Dave ----

Well not up at 3am but 4am and out in garage by 4:30am only stopping 30 min. for breakfast at 8:30.

I fist had to make sure my 200' of water hose would reach my garage then finish cleaning stuff off the roof and got the truck out side.

I used air to blow any dirt & dust off it then washed the remaining dust off the frame, looked pretty good when I got the truck back inside.

I started off with the roof left door and then the hood and right fender.
Almost had to call it quits with half the truck wet sanded because of a cramp in 1 arm and could not move it.
A 5 min rest and I was able to move it again, sore but moving, so I pushed on.
Truck was done sanding and a wipe down to get  the dribble off at 2:30pm, that is a L O N G day.

Sad part is there are spots with metal showing so I will need to prime the truck and sand it again.

Before I prime it I want to do a cleaning of the garage to get most of the dust out, drape plastic over things I cant move out (most of it lol) and drape plastic down back wall and work bench.

Time for bed as 11pm get up time is coming pretty quick.
Dave ----