1981 Ford F100 Revival (Parked for 12 years)

rcarlisle wrote

I wouldn't trim those corners.  If you get inside the weled, it would ruin tank.  And if that is normal as said above, you will lose points at a concours event if you go messing about.  LOL.

I think I would gain points at a Concours event right?  I thought Concours quality cars are given a restoration to a standard far exceeding that of the car when it was new.

The weld stands out.  Easier to avoid then a dogs quick when you are cutting their nails.  Actually I can cut my guinea pigs nails with out making him bleed using electrical side cutters.  I should be able to avoid the weld.  
Just for a extra challenge I will drink two wobble pops before the attempt!

What would I know about Concours, really?  I thought it had to be dead nuts accurate to the day it rolled off the line.  

Is there a reason for the curl?  To help make sure everything doesn't vibrate apart?  Or to keep ppl like us from lobotomizing themselves on those sharp corners?   I have no idea.  I'm not an engineer or safety guy thinking about this.  

One of those corners in photos looked like it was rolled up past the weld was my only thought there.  

Think it will speak this weekend?  I hope your parts get on in.  

rcarlisle wrote

A guy's just going ALL factree on this one.  

Oh yeah... BRING THE THUNDER!

LOL it will be very factree!  I can't wait to bring the thunder!  You will hear me celebrate from your house! I should live stream the first start.

At least video.  We're all getting in on this one, seems like.  

rcarlisle wrote

What would I know about Concours, really?  I thought it had to be dead nuts accurate to the day it rolled off the line.  

Is there a reason for the curl?  To help make sure everything doesn't vibrate apart?  Or to keep ppl like us from lobotomizing themselves on those sharp corners?   I have no idea.  I'm not an engineer or safety guy thinking about this.  

One of those corners in photos looked like it was rolled up past the weld was my only thought there.  

Think it will speak this weekend?  I hope your parts get on in.

I am not sure why it curled.  I just ASSumed it was done during shipping. I am not sure they care enough about us to do it for safety.  Unless they do it to keep it from poking the box.  But if they cared that much I wish they would add some foam for five cents. I would pay more for it to be packed properly.

I can heat it up and unbend it before trimming.

LMC dropped the ball on shipping. They only created a label yesterday and it was not picked up yet.  I maybe able to try and run it off an IV this weekend just for fun using the old lightning components.

I've said the corners are folded on purpose two times before in this thread

Yes, it is intentional
The sheet needs to be gripped somewhere when the die slams closed.
And I imagine the pinch welding machine just leaves them long.
I don't know if I would mess with them.

ArdWrknTrk wrote

I've said the corners are folded on purpose two times before in this thread

Yes, it is intentional
The sheet needs to be gripped somewhere when the die slams closed.
And I imagine the pinch welding machine just leaves them long.
I don't know if I would mess with them.

Sorry about that.  I am a little slow.  You may need to tell me a few more times before it soaks in.

Yeah, I am not sure I will mess with it.  I worry when I bend it straight I may compromise the weld.

They were bent after welding...

I think I have higher priorities than fixing something that has been easily 'good enough' for what's probably billions of ICE vehicles over 100+ years.

ArdWrknTrk wrote

They were bent after welding...

I think I have higher priorities than fixing something that has been easily 'good enough' for what's probably billions of ICE vehicles over 100+ years.

I understand that part, I was thinking more on the line of metal fatigue.  Bend once twice.. Three times a lady and before you know it is broken.

This is dead soft steel prior to forming, and the flat ears haven't been workformed at all.
The weld seam is well above the annealing temperature and hasn't been quenched.

You are not going to see or cause any damage.  (on any level)

The stainless steel pre-bent fuel lines from LMC don't match up.  All the bends are wrong but the length is about right.  I am not sure what this line is for. After looking at pictures on Inline Tube it looks like the one LMC sent me is for a shortbed possibly.  Any recommendations to get one that matches?  I found another place called inlinetube.com.  Here is a link to what I think may be correct.

https://www.inlinetube.com/products/sfrf8001
Might work?

https://www.lmctruck.com/1980-96-ford/fuel-lines/fd-1980-96-pre-bent-fuel-lines
Didn't work.

I bought directly from Inline Tube and ran into the exact same problem.  Had to rebend every line to fit, and one of the brake lines coming from the tee on the rear axle had the wrong fitting.

I called them and they said "We mostly work on Chevy vehicles and can't figure out the Fords with all of the different rear axles they had."  What!  All of the rear axles use the same brake lines within the same size truck, meaning F150 vs F250, etc.  

I won't buy Inline Tube again.

Gary Lewis wrote

I bought directly from Inline Tube and ran into the exact same problem.  Had to rebend every line to fit, and one of the brake lines coming from the tee on the rear axle had the wrong fitting.

I called them and they said "We mostly work on Chevy vehicles and can't figure out the Fords with all of the different rear axles they had."  What!  All of the rear axles use the same brake lines within the same size truck, meaning F150 vs F250, etc.  

I won't buy Inline Tube again.

Thanks for the feedback.  I will proceed with caution.  After looking at the pictures of the one on their website it looks correct. And it really looks like the one LMC sent me is for a shortbed.

I just placed an order from Inline Tube.  At least they have a picture of the fuel line and it looks correct.  LMC purchases from Inline Tube by the pallet they told me.  They sometimes label things wrong.  I figure it is probably better to purchase from the source. LMC looked in the history of the part number and they saw they had a note in the system of a mislabel before.  So probably happened again to me.

Hope it fits.  At least you got LMC to work with you.

And I got Inline Tube to work with me.  They acknowledged that they sometimes put the wrong fitting on, so they made a new part with the right fitting and shipped it to me.  Then I bent it correctly and put it on.  

So the returns are coming together.  LMC just sent me a return label for the fuel line and RockAuto just refunded me for the defective fuel pump that I sent back.

I started to clean and restore the fuel system components. The metal filler neck was cleaned and is being de-rusted. After that I will sand it down and paint black to help prevent rusting again. I will use a fuel resistant paint. The fuel door was cleaned and the hinge is being de-rusted. The hardware was tumbled to polish after soaking in the rust solution.  The fuel door bolts need to be replaced because the rust was too much, I couldn't find exact replacements so I ordered something close online that is made of stainless steel.  The fuel tank strap bolts were too rusted for the bolt to go on smooth so I used my thread restore kit to fix the nicks in the bolt and nut and covered it in anti-seize compound. I have new rubber bumpers for the fuel door and will replace it after it is finished soaking in the rust solution.

Cool stuff.  And yes, the bolts are all pretty crusty/questionable after 40 years.   You're doing the right thing replacing.  

The little metal blind nut clips on these trucks are either missing, worn out, or rusty.  And they arin't necessarily cheap.  I went ahead and bought a couple little containers of the black Phillips screws used in the interior, since that's where I've been working so much.  Mine has all sorts of mismatched screws used - trying to get them all corrected as I go.  And to get them all in place - a lot were missing.  I try to get clips and bolts/screws when I can, so I don't have to stall a project to run to parts store.  Good luck getting ahead of that.  

I will be interested in seeing how the body looks with a pressure washing.   The hood in the background of your photos - is it environmental junk on it, or rusty scale?   I hope it cleans good.  

rcarlisle wrote

Cool stuff.  And yes, the bolts are all pretty crusty/questionable after 40 years.   You're doing the right thing replacing.  

The little metal blind nut clips on these trucks are either missing, worn out, or rusty.  And they arin't necessarily cheap.  I went ahead and bought a couple little containers of the black Phillips screws used in the interior, since that's where I've been working so much.  Mine has all sorts of mismatched screws used - trying to get them all corrected as I go.  And to get them all in place - a lot were missing.  I try to get clips and bolts/screws when I can, so I don't have to stall a project to run to parts store.  Good luck getting ahead of that.  

I will be interested in seeing how the body looks with a pressure washing.   The hood in the background of your photos - is it environmental junk on it, or rusty scale?   I hope it cleans good.

Factory accurate hardware is hard to find and expensive. But I try to get it when I can or clean up the old bolts.  The fuel neck screws came out great for some reason.  But all the other bolts are trash.  The tank strap bolts I got functional and will reuse because nobody will see it really.

As for the hood it may look a little better after washing.  After I get it running I will start to clean it up some.  The truck bed is the first priority.  It still smells like death back there.  Just walking by the truck you can smell it.  Here are some photos of the truck when I was helping clean out the back.  It was full to the top but I don't have a totally full picture.