Rusty, the 1970 F-100

[redstone65]

Two big improvements this week.

A new dash lens:



Man, it looks so much better. Just makes an overall better feeling in the cab, even with nothing else cleaned much.

Also replaced the wiper pivot gaskets:



The only type of replacements I could find were leather. So, I ordered a sheet of neoprene and cut my own. This is the material I used. It was easy to work with and should last a lot longer than the leather.

When I put the bolts back in I dabbed some silicone sealant on the threads of each to stop capillary action from sucking water in. Not sure if that was necessary, but figured it wouldn't hurt.

BTW, that wiper arm clip is a serious pain to remove.

I also installed a new headlight switch, and found that the bezel nut threads were stripped so I'm waiting on a new nut to come in. The old switch had a dirt dauber nest (shocker) built in the spring loop and basically ate itself when I tried to rotate the knob, not realizing.

[redstone65]

Almost done getting the lighting back working:







The only thing left that doesn't work are the turn signals aren't flashing. It's odd, because they were working before I replaced the housings and refurbished the instrument panel. Going to check the fuse and go hunting to see if I can find the culprit.

I also had the starter worked on because about 80% of the time it won't engage. After putting it back in, it worked the first 4 or 5 cranks, then stopped engaging again. [sigh] You can hear it clang off of the flex plate like the alignment isn't right. But, if that's the case, I don't know why it would ever engage at all. If I crank it 10 times it may work 2 out of those 10. Sometimes it just won't work no matter what, and I have to get out and rotate the crank by hand with a breaker bar. After that it'll work about 50% of the time.

What's odd is that when it does actually engage, it sounds perfect. No grinding or evil noises. Sounds just like it's supposed to.

[redstone65]

Pulling the fuse and cleaning the contacts seemed to fix the turn signal issue. All lighting is now fully functional. Woo!

I'm just dealing with the starting issues for right now, since it's going to mean dropping the trans to swap in a better flex plate.

So, in the mean time I decided to get power steering working. I have two pumps and a few hoses. Here is the "final" product:



That pressure hose is crazy long, so I'll get a shorter one. Not sure why it's so long. If anybody has any ideas I'm all ears. It's like 16" longer than it needs to be. . Had to rig up a return hose out of some 3/8 brake line and some power steering hose and clamps. I need to put a cooler and a filter in-line as well.

It steers like a dream now though. Makes a huge difference in drive-ability. I drove it down to the gas station to fill 'er up this afternoon and it was really great.

Only thing keeping it from being truly road worthy now is a thorough brake line/wheel cylinder inspection, fix some exhaust leaks, and swap the flex plate. Both exhaust manifolds are leaking pretty good. Have to fix that. That'll be a project I'm afraid.

After that, the next priority items are:

- Windshield
- Back glass
- A/C + Heater replace
- Floor pan replacement
- Floor mat
- Seat upholstery
- Dash pad
- Horn

Everything after that is "want", not need.

[rhyne]

i love the glow in the cab. love the old bulbs.

[hfdco4]

Any updates? I am looking at all the nice projects and trying to keep this forum alive.

[beejaytx225]

I'm with hfdco4 on this