71 F250 4BT Cummins Work Horse: Just doing a little work

[KRob]

Well Dudes and ‘Dudettes’ its about to start!

I flew in from overseas a few days ago and after several days of traveling with my wife visiting her family and friends we have finally made it home. To not only be greeted by my happy family but also a new…well new to me…Red 71 F250.

The Plan!
1. Build the truck to be a daily work truck
2. Stuff a Cummins in it
3. Clean it up so it lasts
Now additionally when I say work truck…I mean Farm/Ranch daily work horse, she’s going to get used.
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This picture was one that the previous owner sent to me


This is right before my Dad replaced the starter….pre returning home.


This is a picture today; I’ve been home two full days.

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The background, I stumbled open this truck a few months ago on a craigslist. Below is my original introduction and going through the purchase.
http://fordification.com/forum/viewtopi ... hilit=krob

So the day my father picked it up he also had all the fluids changed and bought new tires….of course I got the bill a week or two later....thanks Dad. Can’t complain though… when your ‘ Old Man’ is driving out of his way to pick up your new toys, because you can’t, you just can’t complain. He additionally a few weekends later replaced the starter and cut out a portion of rusted inner fender and used some of an old sign to rebuild it. It looks pretty good in reality especially since there was no welding involved.

Yesterday evening (my first full day home) I got a stubborn streak in me going after dinner and went out into the snow and started tinkering with it. I finally got enough juice in the battery to get it to turn over and then got enough fuel up to the engine for it to spark and then run….BAM! Success. So then I asked my beautiful bride to go for a ride with me. Since she is a good natured wife she pulled her boots and jacket on and we bounced down 3 miles of dirt road to the first wide spot and then headed home. The good thing was it was in the dark so she couldn’t see how dirty and rough the inside of the truck is.

Well, I didn’t get near as much as I thought I would done today and she and I are now traveling for a week plus so hold on and will start with the new updates in a week and a half.

Rob

[Swegner99]

That looks like a pretty clean truck your starting with, keep us all updated. We love to see the pictures of progress so keep those coming too! Have fun with the truck!

[KRob]

Finally I have gotten back home. But since I have been gone for four years what was another two weeks especially when I was supposedly on vacation the entire time. Spent a week in Hawaii for a wedding, then put the wife on a plane back to her job in Germany three days ago, took the baby brother to two college which he has been accepted too to see which one he likes best, and now at 1030pm finally arrived back home. So to cope with the fact that I can’t heckle my wife, who by the way will be following the project at MrsKrob…I think I’m going to finally get started with the truck.

To do list tomorrow
-Go for my second drive first drive in the daytime to see what’s what.
-Clean up inside, and fix any minor problems.

Then after that I have a bunch of other projects I have to work on….one of them being a late 40s early 50s dozer that decided to die a couple weeks back.
Maybe I’ll try to go shooting in there too somewhere. And also somewhere in there i have to get ready for my new jobs start on Monday.

Should be a good day I’m looking forward to it.

And Yes Swegner I have been following a lot of projects while I was overseas and the ones thing I have learned is pictures are most definitely worth a thousand words.

Rob

[67mann]

Home and good luck with your truck.....it look's like a Beast

[KRob]

Alright so didn’t get very far today…ended up meeting up with an old work buddy in town and had a good time swapping lies at one of the dinners in town….one of the three. However I drove the truck all day today.

So I have discovered the temperature gauge probably doesn’t work since it never came off the peg, the engine is good and strong, and the tranny seems to shift pretty easily.

One of the places I drove was the foot of the lake to take in the view and also to make you all jealous….we had a real nice day today.




When I did get home and after taking care of some other chores, I did finally get a little work done, I fix the driver’s door handle which had slipped one of its pins and was thus making it difficult to open the door, and I started adjusting the mirrors so that hopefully I will actually be able to use them. However while adjusting the mirror I discovered where the top of the drivers mirror mounts in it has cracked the metal…so that will need a little TLC. Additionally I crawled around underneath to figure out what the story was with the fuel tanks. So out of the three I have one that is plumbed in (passenger side) however the lines need to be replaced and since I also ran the tank dry I am sure I sucked any crud in the bottom of the tank into the filters. This is all fine because the lines are cracking and the filters looked like they needed to be changed.

So question is it possible to easily plumb a fuel gauge sensor into the side tanks?

Well hopefully tomorrow there will be more progress and I plan on taking more pictures so you all can get a better look at her.

Rob

[KRob]

Well, my first week of work ended up being 5 full days 10+ Hours and two partial days 6+ hours and to add in to the schedual i also helped some family friends brand there calves on one of those days too... so needless to say i havnt gotten a whole lot done on the truck.

But i have run a new fuel line and fuel filters from the passanger tank to the pump and then to the engine, and i have changed out the battery cabelas and installed a new battery.

So not much, well see how much i work this week maybe i'll get a little more done.

[KRob]

Jiminy Christmas it’s been a little while.

So a week or two back a friend…mechanic body….took a look at the truck for me. While he did a quick tune on it he told me that it was a 390 not a 360, which in a way makes sense because it runs like a raped ape. So now the truck idles and runs a little better.

I also finished reworking the fuel system. I found out that the fuel pump on the engine is actually bypassed and an electrical pump has been substituted. I also changed out all the fuel lines and fuel filters. I am still running off of only one tank though…rear passenger.

Well not much of an update, sorry. I actually went back to Germany to see my wife and then once I return will go back to the project.

I also stumbled upon another post on another forum that the guy was talking about using a Isuzu 4bd1t which is a 4cyl diesel very similar to the cummins 4bt but a little easier to find and cheaper so I am going to do some more research but I may opt that way instead.

Anyway hope your all having a good day.
Rob

[71PA_Highboy]

Pics of the Aux tank(s) please

[CrypticRacer13]

Looks like a solid start man!

[KRob]

71 PA Highboy,
Here are the pictures you requested. In fact I am glad you ask because I am curious how must of you have your fuel tanks set up because at least my filling system is a little odd….yes that is exhaust pipe.





So I got back and found out that my truck doesn’t run the key had been left in the run position drained the battery and also even now after charging the battery I can’t get the truck to catch… so tomorrow I am going to drain the fuel because maybe it has water in it and will see if that gets it going.

I only have the one tank in the bed working and as you can see from the pictures they are kind of hobbled together. The tank and the exhaust pipe were joined by a rubber boot however they are not connected and sealed now so water can easily get into it. Anyway, tomorrow problem…but I am up for ideas?

[averagef250]

Key on= burned points.

Good looking truck you got there.

Isuzu's are pretty good. Both Cummins and Isuzu engines seem about the same money to me, but opening your options to both makes better odds of finding a deal for sure.

[KRob]

Well did a little work a few days ago. Pulled out the seat the tank and then pulled the carpet off. Well found a few interesting things…including several bullets, not the a round the actual bullet, boat tails to be exact. Anyway I also discovered the expected rust. Both sides however its not to bad.



So now I am debating about scabbing in some metal or buy new floor panes from somewhere….suggestions….ideas where to get the pans?

Anyway, put the seat back in so I could move the truck and its now doing a little work. Two loads of gravel four between it and the Dodge. (thats the ol' man in the picture)




Anyway...now im off to scower the internet for floor pans and ideas.

[sargentrs]

Dennis Carpenter has floor pans for $60 each.

[KRob]

Yeah i just dont want to know what freight costs and it sounds like if i replace the floor pans i will either have alot of work detaching the mounts or need new ones too. So today some time i am going to see what the mounts look like and the underside of the floor pan and make a more informed decision.

[sargentrs]

Here's a good shot of the approximate location of the cab mounts in relation to the floor pan. Tyler's case looks a lot worse than yours though. http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... p?p=526277