Straight Sixin' '63

[ThinLizzy13]

Installed a new coil (ironically an Accel Mr. Jones lol) and now have strong spark but the same overall issue. I noticed a crack in my distributor cap. A new one of those is on order and we’ll see if that clears anything up.

[ThinLizzy13]

My stumbly issue has been solved! Thanks for the input from Slick4x4 and Mr.Jones. It ended up being an accelerator pump circuit issue. I rebuilt the autolite 1100 that does not have a SCV. The accelerator pump circuit has an internal check ball. I didn't know this and I added a check ball (upper red circle). Took the check ball out and it's all good




I also got around to replacing my worn throttle shaft bushings. I picked up a set with a reamer. Throttle linkage side worked well in the drill press, but I couldn't get to the other side. Ended up having to connect it to a hand drill and pull the reamer through. Luckily it ended up working out....

[My wife's nightmare]

Man you are getting serious. Replacing throttle shaft bushings are a pain in the rump!!
Good to see that the parts and changes you are going through are making improvements. Sometimes you just get one that has a bad attitude and you have to show it ALOT of love

[ThinLizzy13]

Man you are getting serious. Replacing throttle shaft bushings are a pain in the rump!!
Good to see that the parts and changes you are going through are making improvements. Sometimes you just get one that has a bad attitude and you have to show it ALOT of love

Lately this truck has been DEMANDING attention

Well after a lot of carb tweaking and switching, adjusting the engine with the vac gauge, and then an oil pump issue, I finally have the truck running well! Went on a few dump runs and got my NYS inspection with zero issues. Going to start to adventure out more with it now that I'm a bit more confident.

I scored an extra engine and transmission out of a 1960 F100 for cheap today. Engine is froze from sitting. It looks like it's been inactive a while, still has Champion 860 plugs in it I looked down the cylinders and they didn't look messed up. It's getting harder to find these engines around here so I figured it'd be good to have for a rainy day in 10-15 years...



best part is it has the carb linkage I was missing! Good bye metal wire.

[ThinLizzy13]

Well I adjusted my brakes today for the first time since I got the truck. Surprisingly everything was still pretty good. The wife and I are closing on a house next month and the truck has to be ready to go because it’s gunna get loaded down. New house has a two car garage so I’ll be able to comfortably start tearing into the truck

[oldsmiley]

Well I adjusted my brakes today for the first time since I got the truck. Surprisingly everything was still pretty good. The wife and I are closing on a house next month and the truck has to be ready to go because it’s gunna get loaded down. New house has a two car garage so I’ll be able to comfortably start tearing into the truck

Be very careful.....do you know how EASY it is to overload a 2 car garage? Then the truck won't fit into it.....

[ThinLizzy13]

So that it will definitely fit I’ll make sure I park the truck in one of the bays, then cover it with stuff!

[My wife's nightmare]

Congratulations on the throttle bracket score! Those little things can drive you nuts and finally finding "the" part is always a great feeling. Congrat also on the new house (and garage)! It is easy to cover one up too, mine was for too many years

[ThinLizzy13]

Thanks nightmare, I had been searching for a new bracket for a while!

Shout out to Shipwrecked for the new dash. Got it installed and not only does it look better, but I no longer have a bouncing needle! Now that my Speedo is good it is reading high so I will have to get a new driven gear.

Before and after

[shipwrecked]

Looks good! Glad it worked out.

[ThinLizzy13]

Well, 2 garages do fill up fast, but I managed to squeeze the truck in! The green toad made the trip all loaded down on a 25 degree day. The heater decided not to work and I lost all gauges and lights 1 mile into the trip but it’s all tucked away for the winter lol.

[ThinLizzy13]

Started tearing down my extra 223 so that I can get it on my engine stand. Looks like something was living in the bellhousing for a looooong time. So long that the flywheel cover actually rusted right out

[ThinLizzy13]

Started to rebuild my old load-o-matic dizzy, cleaned up pretty well for being almost 60

[ThinLizzy13]

Well after a lot of fiddling around and debating I went back to points After driving the truck more I wasn’t happy with the DSII and could never quite get it tuned in right, which I think is due to my engine. My strange rough idle had returned and it was easier to diagnose with the shop manual if everything was stock.
I had a heck of a time getting the points setup, and after some continuity chasing it ended up being a bad set of points. Once I sorted that out and tried to get the truck running so I could tune it in I lost all power to the ignition! Electricity sure is finnicky, my battery ground went bad. Scrubbed everything down and reattached the ground and I was in business. Ended up having to adjust the valve lash (I think 3 and 4 have bad rocker nuts) and got the truck dialed in.
Unfortunately the unobtanium throttle connector I scored off my extra engine is about 1/8” too tall so it’s back to wire as a throttle connector. Truck is dialed in and purring along. Will have to get some miles on it here soon and see if those rocker nuts come out of adjustment again....

[ThinLizzy13]

Haven’t made much progress on the toad, it’s pretty much been a dump runner for the year. It’s been running well with the points back in and is a big hit at the dump. Today the clutch started slipping. So I guess that’ll give me something to fiddle with on for the winter. Hopefully it’s just an adjustment issue.

[ThinLizzy13]

Finally got my new clutch in. Put in new motor mounts while I was at it. Probably gunna tear the rad support out and weld in up next and fab up a cab mount for the driver side….

[My wife's nightmare]

Glad you got a new clutch in!! That always is rewarding when you finally get it finished.
Good luck with the radiator support repairs, be sure to share some photos. I am really happy with how the one I did on the 63 turned out. Wishing now that I'd tried patching the 65's instead of buying the reproduction one and cutting it apart to install the 65 braces/brackets. Also interested in the fabricated cab mount. I did buy re-pops for the 63 because there wasn't enough of the originals to figure out what they were supposed to look like. They fit pretty good but I forgot to insert a sleeve between it and the floorpan for the cab mount bolt. Not a real big deal but can't get too heavy-handed tightening the bolts.

[ThinLizzy13]

I’ll definitely share some pictures, it won’t be pretty, but it’ll work lol.
Finally took the truck out for a test drive. Clutch grabs good, but I have a shake at around 40-45 mph. I was on some curvy backroads so I couldn’t get it up to that speed for very long. I hoping it’s from when I did the wheel bearing almost…a year ago maybe? Prolly be a while before I can diagnose it more….

[ThinLizzy13]

After years of saying I was going to, I finally got my welder hooked up. Bought a new muffler to replace the beat to hell old one and ended up breaking the flange weld at the manifold trying to install it. Looks like the original weld didn’t penetrate very well and wasn’t complete (probably part of my exhaust leak I could never get rid of). Anyway I cleaned it up a bit and managed to tig through the rust. Should be good and will finally have a quiet truck. Next up is the driver’s side cab mount

[My wife's nightmare]

Nice work on the exhaust leak fix!!! Those things drive me nuts.

That picture of your cab mount sure brings back memories. Best wishes on that project. I used the reproductions from Carolina Classics and was/am happy with how it all turned out. It was scary for me to get into that because the step risers were very rusty, the "floor" wasn't much of a floor, and the kick panels were missing several inches. Hard to take any measurements before you start cutting but it all came back together. The doors shut and the fenders line up so I guess I could pass Ford's quality control from 1963.

Keep us posted on the progress please!