Thanks for accepting me to the group!

Stumbled across this forum last night. Found good info. Slowly resurrecting a 1981 F350 dually that has a stake side/dump bed. Purchased this truck three years ago. Almost 60 years old, worked on Japanese motorcycles all my life. Shifting thought process to adapt to automotive mentality is a challenge, so forums are helpful.

351M that has been rebuilt as a 400, 4 speed manual w/granny low (T18). It is used on out 9 acre property as there is a lot of brush and clearing seems ongoing for the near future. Struggling to get engine performance to where I think it should be with the 400. It has Tim Meyer pistons but is stock other wise. Making one more run through a spare set of heads, will add intake and carburetor and see. If I cannot get it where I want, there will be a 460 conversion in the future.

Stacking projects one at a time and researching prior to get a thought process developed before disabling truck so it can continue to be mostly used while doing these things.

Have resealed the tranny, though there are still weeping gaskets. It appears they cannot be as "tight" as modern trucks. Oil pan leaking at dipstick adapter. I dismantled a spare pan and see there is a gasket in between. Spare dipstick adapter to pan gasket was cracked. So threaded the cast insert and will use a Loctite product to replace the gasket and large headed screws to reinstall and will swap pans one day.

Recently pulled I-beams and rebushed, re king pinned, new slotted brake rotors. They are Chinese manufacture, thus might have been a mistake, but limited choices for the older trucks. I generally prefer to do things one time and do them to factory standard and be done and able to move to the next project. EBC yellow pads were used, still breaking in. Truck hauls light loads of gravel from the local quarry for driveway repair on occasion.

Test fitted a set of headers recently. They were bought cheaply and for a 1979 4WD. FYI, cross member sits further back on 1981 2WD (probably 80-86) and left header, front cylinder tube will hit cross member about 1" before engine mount rests on the cradle. While refitting exhaust manifolds I am opening and matching the entry and cleaning some slag out of the exit area to help flow.

Starter would intermittently kick out, even with new ring gear, then a new bendix. New Powermaster starter sitting on the bench to be installed. Smaller and I hope it will be easier to work with later when headers are eventually installed.

When drive train is entirely resolved, body will be next. Project will keep me occupied until I am dead. Thus serve my interests and be useful while doing so.

Welcome!  Glad you joined.  

Where's home?  I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we can add you with a city/state or zip.

On the "stroked 351M" (see my signature), you should have worlds of power.  The 1/2" of extra stroke and the higher compression ratio, depending on which of Tim's pistons you got, should give you a bunch more than stock.  But did you change out the timing chain to an aftermarket one that is "straight up"?  The stock timing chains retard the cam badly, killing power.  But a friend that put a straight-up chain and a 4bbl on his otherwise stock 400 said it doubled the power.

You should start a thread in either the main section or in Projects so we can follow along.  More people will see it there than here.

Welcome!

Home-Springfield, MO


I'll lay out the story, but will say that while I am not afraid to ask a question and take a hit over the stupidity of it (I get to learn, that is a win regardless), I am not so much a grand stander and even sometimes lack some documentation as the work flow can get ahead of the documentation of the work and in the end, I will default to the work as being more important, thus not being good at posting process. I will be asking from time to time for direction and opinions, in the end, I usually do it my way. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it only works out that I learn and gain knowledge. I had only made the original post as I had received an email suggesting that I should as new member introduction.

Pretty sure this was the original engine in the truck. Light tapping sounds at highway speeds (2,600 rpm) with warm oil could be heard, even after initial oil change. Could have been rocker, lifter, or rod, but struck me as likely rods. Low oil pressure and high oil consumption. Disassembly also found worn cylinders and valve guides. Having worked at an auto shop in the early 80's where I ran the tear down room and hot tanked the engine parts prior to machine work, I would suspect the truck has at least 200,000 miles on it. Odometer had 5,000 miles showing and seller made no claim as he said he had no idea. I could even believe 300,000 as the clutch ball aluminum receiver was worn out, I mean severely worn. A new one was made using a mill and from 1/2" thick piece of 6061 aluminum. Could not find one anywhere. The thicker one the earlier 351M/302/351W uses I found. Z-bar bushing were beyond worn out and metal bracket on bell housing had stress cracks at various points and had to be welded and reinforced. I also discovered some binding and fitment issues with the aftermarket clutch actuator arm someone had installed during a prior repair. Lots of little tweaks to get the linkage correct.

The front axle pivot bushings, king pin bearings were also shot. The steering box leaked, the power steering pump leaked, door hinge pins on both sides are well worn and various other components also were.

I have generally been around 1/2 ton trucks and when they are worn out, one generally only has to rebuild a trans, an engine, or a rear end, or install a clutch to get more use from it. 1/2 ton trucks are used like cars. I have never owned a "work" truck. I have since learned that a 1 ton would be purchased new only to work with and would be used as much as required to make payments and make profit. I have worked professionally on cars (three years), industrial fork lifts (3 years), and motorcycles, along with doing most of the maintenance on my cars through the years. This truck was/is thoroughly worn out. I mean every piece.... The last guy that owned it was cheap, but I found admiration for how well he was able to wear this thing down to the very last of everything being left, meaning every part was the same distance from end of life. I have never driven a vehicle home that required as much work as this one has. This has been like Vegas, one pays their money and one gets a shot at learning. I am not necessarily a Ford guy, but when talking about 40 year old 1 tons, they are all well used up regardless the brand. I only under estimated the task at hand in the beginning. I was excited about reliving my days of youth when I hauled hay as driving the grunty old manual trans truck brings back fun memories for me.

Other items were front brakes, rotors, all brake lines, booster was sucking brake fluid out of the rear master chamber and into the engine and was rebuilt, new Master cylinder, new brake lines all the way around, rear wheel cylinders (shoes and drums were in very good condition) new park brake cables, new park brake flat pieces that sit at the top of the rear shoes as those had the ears broken off that interacts with the cable arm. Fire wall was cracked around pedal mounts and the parking brake mounts. Weld and reinforce, lower dash support broken multiple pieces, mostly from flex of the parking brake as it attaches at the rear to the lower dash support due to the firewall moving when pedal pushed.... , wiper motor, dim headlights (saw the relay wiring that I need to use last night) replaced the headlight plugs as brass connectors were green, water pump, radiator leaked at both ends so new aluminum three row, alternator died the first week I had it..... Clutch rod from dash down was worn almost all the way through the upper pin and almost all the way through the hole in the rod. I used a straight rod with rod ends to make a new one. Yet I am able to smile in a warped way, as fixing all this, once I accepted where I was on the sliding scale, has been some fun and a bit rewarding, in a mentally ill kind of way.

It still has the seam in front of the windshield/below the vented panel that allows rain water into the right floor board when it rains. I'll get to that eventually and did see posts for repairing that last night. It sits in the garage that I did not have when the engine was rebuilt, so out of the rain for now. I fought with the dash lights since I brought the truck home, to get and keep all of them working, recently resolved. Making things worse, I try my best when I fix something to put it back to factory standard, unless the only parts available are Chinese manufactured, then one can only do what they can do. I am not cheap and I take responsibility for my bad purchase decisions. If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right. Ideally once and done. On the other hand, I am learning and wandering my way through, so making mistakes that cost additional money.


Not happy with the engine at all. Exceedingly disappointed. Couple of issues played in. I can assemble and choose parts with the best for Japanese motorcycle engines, four or two stroke. Have built both dirt and street all my life. 59 years old now. Have stepped away from the motorcycles a few years ago. just saying. I did countless research as to how to make this truck have power, get the best fuel mileage ("improve efficiency") and felt strongly that I selected the correct parts and that the rebuild was done properly. That said, there were two cooks in the kitchen, due to some things in my life moving around at the time. While I selected the parts, a friend who builds race Chevrolet engines and is retired but still very active, offered to assemble the engine and verify machine work. The machine shop that I had chosen failed to correct the alignment of the crank bore. They also have a worn cam bearing driver that hair lipped the bearings when they installed them. The bores were loose and tapered. Tim's pistons were $479 to my door, if I recall. Tim figured if we barely shaved heads and block only to straighten the surfaces, we might be around 9.2-9.3:1. He was concerned about some ping rattle taking off from a stop light with a heavy load on. After the bad machine work, a set of .040" pistons were ordered and my friend took the stuff to the machine shop he uses. I currently have a set of new Tim Meyer .030" pistons (Keith Black Claimer type) that I was unable to use on this engine. Those may go into a second engine that I have an itchy finger to build. I know, just "drop the tools and walk away" LOL! He and I  both saw/measured the second machine work to verify it when it left his machine shop.  

I had also started with a lightly rusted 400 virgin crank. First machine shop had turned it .010"/.010". When my friend checked it, the rod journals were turned too small (too much clearance) so crank stayed .010" on mains, but was machined to accept .020" bearings on rods. Funny thing about a machine shop. Their only responsibility is to restore specification to parts. If they can't do that.... Learned a fairly expensive lesson.

My friend was moving and trying to finish the engine at his house that he had sold and was up against it to get out. I think his work was good, but one big thing that we failed (I take responsibility for this as I knew we would be close) to do was to "cc" the engine assembled to know what we had for compression volume. Heads had had valve seats adjusted to make them all 72-73cc chambers. Not sure deck height on pistons. Close to level, maybe down a tick since we barely touched the deck? Queston's that have to be answered if one wants to know. No short cuts. If it was easy, every one would be doing it. Stupid on my part.

I bought new rocker arms (factory type), pivots, and cam chain from Comp Cams. It is said in catalog listings and they stated that these gears are "straight up" and correct for the factory retard.

When I told Comp that this was a box stock engine, stock two barrel, stock intake, stock manifolds, single exhaust they recommended two cam options, and felt the one I purchased would be "better". It is a #32-241-4. Tim seems to also think this is a good cam. Also bought their retainers and springs and lifters. Engine was assembled, push rod length required was measured. Shims were used under pedestals to "just" load the lifter piston and maintain center of valve contact. I have looked at everyone's cam specs online. For an RV cam or torque cam, the numbers for this Comp cam are well within the range that everyone else offers. Unless it was the wrong cam in the box.... Can't say that I verified that. Cam card and box say that's what I was sent.

I have had some communication with Tim that has not been helpful. Maybe it is the way I ask the questions, maybe he is only half in business, I don't know. I tried to get stainless valves from him at one time early in the rebuild. He told me he could get them, then dropped the ball. I asked twice, but the process had begun to get the engine out of my buddies garage.... I have also called for questions or sent maybe four emails that did not get responded to to Tim. This was during the original rebuild. Recently I ordered three one piece rear mains from Tim online. He shows one in stock. On the order I asked for it to be sent and that the other two could be sent later. It has been a week and a half and I have not received a seal, any response to the order beyond the automated response that came immediately after placing the order. Not trashing him as I should know enough to work past what I thought I needed him for, just saying there were questions that landed and died. Customer support was a bit light. One piece main will be for the second engine that I am more or less staging.

This engine has used about 1 quart of oil since it was assembled every 600 or so miles. Rings never seated. 6,500 miles on it now. One of the questions that I had asked Tim was what was required for bore finish. Never got an answer. I have since figured out the rings he uses and found bore finish information on the Total Seal website. This engine was already together by the time I completed the circle. We broke it in with Comp Cams break in oil.

Rough stuff was ground out of the cylinder head ports. No major opening up. I did not even remove the Thermactor bumps on them. I am currently working on a second set and thermactor bumps are gone and plugged on them. We reassembled this engine with no EGR and blocked the holes in the heads and the EGR hole in the intake under the carburetor. I used dykem and laid a head gasket on the heads using the dowels and scribed the circles of the combustion rings (not really circles, somewhat elliptical). Ground edges out to within .010" of gasket and gently hit sharp corners to knock them off. Engine is not particularly bad to ping, contrary to what many say.

Some won't agree with these mods and that is fine, just laying it out. I know the way I do things makes some people heads hurt. That is fine. This truck owes me an education as to why the engine doesn't work as it should.

I am very good with carburetion and have worked with a reman factory carb that I installed when we first installed the engine. I have also installed two stock "soft" advance springs with the distributor. And opened mechanical up so it is all in by 2700 rpm. Factory vacuum advance was not adjustable as this was an emissions evolutionary time even for the F350, so a Factory Motorcraft was found from a 1977 F150 and bought via Ebay and it is adjustable. We are around 36 degrees total mechanical and initial then around 14 degrees vacuum. The coffee can was retained to keep vacuum fluctuations to a minimum. The best the truck ever ran was when I bumped the timing to where I have stated. But then it pings a tick under light load. I can probably back the vacuum advance down. I run 91 octane fuel. Best fuel mileage it ever saw has been 10.3mpg. I feel 12 should be there when unloaded as I gently drive it.

Truck pulls best from 1,000-2,000 (not "good", just "best"). More RPM than that and it slows on rev gain. after 3,000 it really slows. Getting 4,000 rpm out of it would have to be down a long steep hill. Jetting is close, plugs are good. In fact, a tick rich. I also tried it with the entire factory air filter assembly removed (open carb/paved road). Exhaust is more or less rotted out so I find it tough to think there is a restriction in it. Gearing is 2,600 at 70 mph. On a two lane road if one had to pass a slightly slower car, would need a good bit of straightaway. Virtually no power. Even from 1,000-2,000 rpm, it has little power, it's just that the most it will do is in that range. Gets worse after that, even in second gear.

High volume water pump with corresponding high flow180 degree thermostat. Thermostat is correct style and utilizes the "hat" under. Engine runs very cool, yet after running for around 8 miles or more there is notable "heat" coming from it. Maybe another supporter the cam is off on time. I don't know what a 400 Chevrolet would feel like in a 7400 lb truck, but in a 5600 lb truck, they run much better than this engine does. May just be the heat soaked cast pieces.

My friend says he degreed the cam as the card stated. I will check it this summer. If cam is a tooth off, that could sure move me to a better place. Wouldn't be a mistake I would expect from him, but there is only one way to know. Would go some distance to explain the high compression and lack of top end.

I intend to install an SP2P intake and retain the 2 barrel carburetor to see if there are any low rpm gains. I see these engines making power, but it is over 4,000 rpm. If I build engine/gear truck to use at 4,000 rpm there will be no fuel mileage. I hope to actually use this a few times a year for highway travel up to three states away.

Truck went over the scales at the local metal yard at 7400lbs empty. Rear gear is 3.73:1 as it left the factory. Honestly, to get better fuel mileage on the highway, long term, I would like to find enough low end power to be able to drop to the highest gear which is 3.50:1 as that would help, provided there is power to pull it. That is way out there on future plans, just saying a direction. Like I said in the prior post, the truck will never be done as there will always be something to do that I can learn while doing.

So while tuning engine after it had 3,000 miles on it, I hit a long steep hill near town. 18 wheeler's hit it at 70 mph, but are lucky to clear it at 45 mph. Truck pinged half way up, throttle load was heavy. Within 15-30 seconds the light ping escalated and went strongly. Still makes me cringe as to how fast it escalated. I have since compression and leak down tested each cylinder. 175-185 on all cylinders. Leak down showed different story. 8% leak down on best cylinders, 37 % on #3 most through the exhaust valve. I had figured as fast as the ping escalated that the thin edge of the exhaust valve was the most likely part to have gained heat that fast. Valve is cracked, chipped, whatever. I keep it started and drive the back roads once in a while. Power and rpm complaints stated earlier were there prior to this event.

Air filter lower half was split in many places when I bought the truck. When the aluminum is stamped, with a lifetime of sucking and letting go and sucking and letting go, it split along the stamp creased seams. So I had bought a factory air filter from a Ford car that is the same size and uses the taller air filter element that this truck came with. I have the hot air system working. What I missed is, I thought the temp sensors in the lids all worked the same, just at different temperatures, so I kept the car lid that came with the assembly on it as I didn't expect the temperature to matter much. I verified it held vacuum and that it completed the vacuum loop after the temperature was met. What I completely missed was the temperature sensor in the car lid works completely opposite the one that came for the truck. I am guessing the vacuum plumbing for the car uses a coolant temperature switch in the routing. Mine is routed direct. So the car lid allows cold air to pass into the air filter when engine is cold. Then when it applies vacuum it closes the heater door, only allowing hot air to reach the air filter. So going up the steep hill loaded and only supplying hot air helped damage the valve. Other issue is, there is simply too much compression. I have corrected the air filter lid. Was exceedingly stupid for me to have not caught, but I didn't.

I will prepare this second set of heads so they can be swapped. When doing so it will get the SP2P intake. This truck will never turn more than 3,000 rpm while I own it. 2,600 at 70 mph now. I further have an Edlebrock Performer that I can try if I prove the SP2P doesn't suit me. Will have to find a four barrel for that experiment.

When heads come off, I will turn one backwards and cc it to see what a couple of cylinders are so that information can be gained. I knew what the heads were, just not the entire assembly.

Plan is to get a good set of heads on it again, learn the current CC's and adjust with a thicker head gasket as needed, different intake. Pull front and check cam timing and degree to see what I have for a cam.

Second project is to prep the second bottom end over time, then swap heads back on, or fix existing heads and resolve the oil consumption. For the choices and effort placed, it has been pretty disappointing. There is no shortage of detractors for 351M/400 Fords. I tend to favor the under dogs and see no real reason why the 400 should not run better than mine does. In fact, all the points that made he engine "bad" have been addressed. I am not even sure this engine will out run the 351M we took out, which could lean towards an exhaust issue, but it is so loud due to the muffler being rotted inside..... Fuel mileage is not all that far from what should be expected, either.

Anyway, there's some entertainment at my expense....

Thanks

Greg - That is quite the story!  Wow!

First, you are now on the map.  And if you look you'll see you are close to Scott/kramttocs in Bolivar.  You two need to meet.

Second, I hope you can come to the truck show and get together here in Skiatook.  The GTG will be Friday night Sept 2nd, and the show will be Saturday the 3rd.

As for Tim, my 400 pulled 400 HP and 500 lb-ft on his dyno a few years ago.  And I consider him a friend, and he came to the show several years ago.  So if I can help with your issues please let me know.  He's a member on here and I can tag him so he'll get an email to come to this thread if you'd like.

Hi Greg - Welcome Aboard!

Read the whole story, and that's a lot more than I'd ever get into.

What caught my eye was the tilt-bed stakeside. In my early years (late teens), our neighbor (who lived in a log cabin) had a Model A stakeside dually (if I remember that right) that he had me drive into the city about 30 miles away (we lived in the country) to pick something up. That was an experience.

The days of working on cars is not nearly as interesting as it was back in the early '50s. Always had old cars and worked on them myself (until the late '60s), but never to the detail of your project. My most rewarding projects, bang for the buck, was replacing hydraulic lifters because the engine ran so smooth afterward.

Currently working on fuel tank replacements (hoses, pumps, etc) but due to winter it is on hold until things warm up a bit. The tilt-bed would be really, really handy!!!

Thank you!

It was more than I expected, and that's an understatement. Guess I had my eyes closed when I kicked in the door and bought it. Wanted something to "play with" to use for property clean up. Of course I could have hired someone to come in with equipment and do the job and be done for far less than I have in this truck. As of now, there is still plenty to do. I cut some brush, haul it to the burn area with the truck, burn it (legal here). I still have a few years of working winters to do this before it is the way I want it to be.

Being a mechanically minded individual all my life, I started with basic stuff like oil changes, tire swaps, etc..., then like most, worked my way up to bigger jobs and harder things. I have been fortunate/cursed to have worked with some people whom I consider brilliant, talented, and exceedingly capable. I don't think outside the box, but I can pay attention and learn from them and raise my game. As time would go by, of course we would talk about various projects we were doing, or wanted to do, When I would say "I don't know anything about that, I can't do that", they might toss back to me "All you have to do is..." Then they advise, might even help show me how. Then maybe I would dive into a project, providing them with entertainment, but also I gained knowledge. Not saying that I am that smart, as clearly I may not be, but I really had great support from them and they stepped up and were great teachers. I worked at an automotive shop in the early 1980's where we did fuel mileage related modifications to vehicles to increase fuel mileage, we also worked on a ton of the poorly designed GM diesels, and in the back there was a well equipped engine machine shop where standard engines were rebuilt along with pulling trucks engines, circle track and drag car engines. The "old guys" in that shop and the many motorcycle shops I worked at were gruff and grouchy. I later realized when one places the demand on themselves to excel, grouchy becomes part of the package. I also learned that if I suffered through their grouchy criticisms, I gained knowledge. After a period of that in many cases we became lifelong friends with mutual respect for each other. I am beginning to lose many of them now as they pass and I failed to try to make close friends with many younger people, so having to pirouette a bit and start working backwards to resolve that.

I feel that I have been blessed, yet a little cursed as mechanical things in terms of fixing vehicles don't really pay back on resell, it seems. Only with personal satisfaction due to achievement. Never the less, I like mechanical when it relates to a vehicle that doesn't have to be finished under a strict timeline. After most of my life spent in the motorcycle industry and having rebuilt/maintained many brands of motorcycles from frames found in the woods to nice race bikes, this truck is still mechanical/simple, not as electronic dependent as modern vehicles, though the path is different as to how to ask the questions, how to weave through the available options for machine work, parts, etc.... than the motorcycle industry. So learning still. I forgot a lot of what I knew in the early 1980's working at that garage.

Somewhere early in my learning I learned that walking away from something because I could not fix it was embarrassing and not acceptable. As I learned, I became better able to resolve issues, particularly when multiple layers were woven together to work in combination to disguise what was really causing the issue that might be at hand. Not bragging, it is more of a curse, but is my twisted entertainment.

So, that makes me stupid in some ways. I feel that at this point the old truck is mechanically "roughed in" and I know enough about it from front to back to fully understand what remains. Now that I made it this far, I hate to quit as the end is far out, but I can see it. Now to go back through a couple of things and tweak them back to perfect as I know what I missed, kind of.

Friend of mine was a farmer, though he recently passed due to a massive heart attack. He saw the truck and thought the bed was a Parker branded bed. When he was a kid they had a 1965 Ford on their farm and it had a Parker bed that he felt had the same sides. The Parker that his family had had a wooden floor. When I look at mine it seems clear there has been a metal floor installed, so maybe he is correct. I have been unable to find any information regarding Parker beds. There are no branding or numbers to help identify the bed. Maybe one day I will run across an old Ford dealer who remembers what bed companies Ford partnered with, or recommended, or they might tell me that these could be ordered from Ford. I am pretty sure that the Parker bed company is gone. I don't even know what state they may have been in.

I bought a CD parts book for the truck. One of the pages near the front of the book shows various drawings of 1981 Fords in different configurations. One shows a truck equipped with a bed that appears very similar to mine. Stake side is the reference, I believe. I would not expect Ford to sell a bed. That leaves me to wonder if Ford partnered with Parker to offer through the dealers for cab and chassis models, which mine is. Prior to purchasing this truck, I had not even known that the frame rails on cab and chassis were made differently than the pickups. So I am learning. Interestingly, my truck has no rear shocks, no brackets to mount them to on either the frame or the rear end housing. I have learned that this era of Cab and Chassis from Ford did not come with rear shocks or brackets. Maybe they felt those could interfere with some bed option? Maybe the suspension is so stiff they felt there was no advantage? I will eventually weld brackets to the housing and the upper mounts can be bolted to the frame so shocks can be installed. Coming from the motorcycle industry, these things are considered "control" systems which are construed in court as "safety" systems. I was surprised that Ford had chosen to not install them. Of course, lawyer issues were only really beginning to become an industry large enough to drive the auto market and Ford save a few dollars by not equipping the trucks with them. It does like to wallow up and down on a particular dip approaching a bridge by the house.

I have a friend who does body work that acquired a 1951 Ford F1 in running condition. He fitted an LS engine and trans, modern front chassis and rear end. He left it patina'd and it runs and drives really well. I looked at those for a long time, just couldn't reach a point where I felt comfortable with all the interior work required to rebuild and really not equipped to do the chassis modifications. Plus it would be limited after done as a pretty truck to drive around, not something I could use and enjoy on a limited basis. My usage/justification for having it is a little different than most. Still, his is a neat truck and I hold a lot of respect for it and the work he has done. I understand what you are saying about the older vehicles being more fun to work on.

I recently built a shop building at home after 6 years of not having a place to work on motorcycles or cars or my lawn mower. Still putting finishing touches on it. When my buddy who helped with this engine moved, I bought his two post lift and stored it for a year until it was installed in my new shop. I still need to plumb air and need to add a welder to the mix. I am hoping this truck can satisfy my psychotic need to always piddle, yet stay usable most of the time to play with. The lift was handy when rebuilding the front end recently.

The friend who rebuilt the engine in this truck also has an odd hobby. He started playing with railroad inspection cars a few years ago. They are referred to as Rail Speeders. One joins a club, buys a car, and there are multiple "runs" organized where the cars can be used. He and I have had fun working together on this truck, despite the current conundrum which will be sorted out. We have been friends for 35 years. He helped me with theory and knowledge application my race bikes, he did water craft for several years, and has been involved with fast boats and drag cars. He, too was one of my mentors. He has been into the speeder hobby for three years or so. I am thinning my motorcycles out and intend to pick up a speeder at some point. I want to go with he and his wife and play with the speeders for a while. I need a new hobby as several things in my life are changing at the moment. Done the motorcycle thing until any part of it that was of interest has passed. This truck will be used to haul the speeder the three or four times a year that I go. Not the best choice, but it is my "toy" and that will expand the use of it a limited amount so it doesn't sit all the time. And if I can bring it back to reliably road worthy for occasional long distance trips again, I think I have accomplished a fairly decent standard with the work. The stake sides will be stored (they can be removed sectional) and it will either be used flatbed, or some ornamental wooden slat sides will be substituted. That header catches a ton of air and the sides weigh a good bit. When I need to grab a bit of gravel from the quarry for driveway repair, the sides can go back on.

I had to replace virtually everything in the fuel system on mine, I know you are surprised, Haha! Lines, tank, sending unit, fuel pump. I am still trying to figure out how to install a larger tank. Though as fuel mileage has improved on my truck through tuning, 1-2 mpg really makes a notable difference. I prefer not to add a second tank as those always seem to be problematic. Additionally, right side frame rail would be easiest place to install and that is where the electric hydraulic pump system sits to operate the bed. Of course, if a trans driven PTO system can be found, the pump space can be opened back up..... It would also be nice to have a place to store a spare other than on the bed. Like I said, it'll never be done. The only point is personal achievement. Would have been nice to have had a speedier start, but I guess I will learn more getting it wrong and working back through than if it were easy. Likely my last project of this scale.

I bet the Model A was an experience! I originally wanted a ton and half "big truck". When I learned that all the "cool" body styles barely would run 55-60 mph, and beat the occupants in them to death while bouncing down the road, that parts were commercial pricing or worse due to the rarity of them (1950's - 1970's), and that parts were extra heavy to handle in the shop, and modern engines and updates were difficult to use for replacement as there was typically limited/no room for v8's, no gearing for the old rear ends, space they take up in the garage..... This Ford looked good as it will run 70mph. When I get a handle on what we got wrong on the engine it should run 75 with little issue. A friend of mine bought a 1952 Chevrolet "Advanced Design" 2 ton grain truck with less than 50,000 miles. He drove it to a tractor salvage 70 miles away to get some two cylinder tractor parts and said that he was sick of it by the time he arrived and still had to drive it back. It sat in his shop on a battery charger most of the time. Leaked some oil. Was really neat, but pretty useless.

Thank you for the welcome and sharing!