What have I done??? Test Mule, Money Pit, Bad idea or???

Up until last week, I had a morning regimen of browsing Craigslist for parts. The first thing that got me was a rusty 413 that had an original set of adjustable rockers on it that I wanted... Turns out after dragging it home and inspecting it, the motor was rebuilt in 1971 but never run. Even had a decent sized solid cam in it. It's now on a stand in my garage and being reassembled after diligently cleaning everything up. I didn't really need it, but I'm now shoveling time and money at it with big dreams of installing it in something because otherwise, why would I have it? I should have learned from this and stopped looking at Craigslist but I didn't... So last Wednesday while searching for Mopar parts I come across this gem, a 1964 Ford F100 with a supposed fresh 383, 18 Spline 4-Speed and a new McLeod Dual Disc clutch. None of which I really needed but that didn't dissuade me from what I convinced myself to be a good deal. I'm still dumb enough to think it was, so now I'm now the proud owner of a Mutt that for some unknown reason is growing on me like a sickness. Perhaps it's the fact that it's curb weight is less than my GTX, maybe it's all the room under the tilt front end that's just begging for Turbos or maybe it's the fact that I feel like I could chop, hack and beat on it like a rented mule because it's just so ratty already and doesn't require emissions. Perhaps a test bed for all the dumb things I buy? Either way, I was hoping that this strange attachment wasn't happening but I have a Torker intake and new alternator brackets heading this way for it as I type this. It may be too late for me... Have I gone off the deep end? Will I ever learn?

It's a sickness and there is no known cure.
I am thinking a MoPar motor in an older F-100 might qualify as the advanced stages.

Craigslist is evil.........



Randy

Awesome! And three deuces! Congrats. You might be in the running for the president of the club!

Seriously, it looks like a super project. I love the tilt nose, and all of the room in the engine compartment.

I like it!

I don't hate it

“I had a morning regimen of browsing Craigslist for parts.”

That’s your first mistake, I start with B.A.T. So I know I can afford to bring something home.

I avoid Craigslist and Racingjunk like the plague!

I’m going with “B”.

On some level....... it’s gonna be a money pit.

But aren’t they all?

You and I both. Honestly Facebook is my go to place now for buying and selling. We used to have a local printed weekly ad called Horse Trader that came out on Thursdays and I was hooked on it like some are on crack. I think it’s an age thing to because I have more blocks, heads, Transmissions, intakes, etc etc than I could ever use.

I'm afraid you have a terminal case. Drive it like a rented mule.

If you can find a low deck Eddy six pack dual plane intake it will flat wake that rascal up over the intake that is on their
If you use those same carbs. you will need a adapter for those early GM type two barrels also

Bad ideas can (and do) become interesting hot rods.

I'd drive it

Unfortunately, IMO you kind of nailed it right there.

Of course you're free to ask me how much $$$ I've poured into / wasted on The MoPig, too.

And I'm free to Take the 5th as my response.

Many men choose to chase and catch women, fish, hunt or golf also
If your not enjoying life what are you doing

Funny thing about those early 60s F-100's. Every other motor in the world fits better in them than a Ford.

Every man needs someplace to burn up vast quantities of $100 bills in their life.

It doesn't suck

After reading all your guys responses, I'm at least starting to think I'm not alone. Not that I'm not sick, just that I'm not alone.

So now that the wheels are starting to turn in the direction of keeping it... I honestly don't have much desire to mess around with the intake setup that's on it and can't imagine it's overall performance is all that impressive, so until I can commit to chopping a hole in the hood for the Weiand tunnel ram and Holley 660's, I'll just throw a Torker on it with a spare 825 Demon I have laying around and see how it runs. It does have a decent list of issues that need to be addressed before it's road worthy but I'm hopeful I'll knock that list out fairly quick. Either way, I'll get some better pics in the next few days and bounce some ideas off you guys as I go along. Appreciate the input, as always. -Trent

Some 64 to 72 F-100's had a Dana 60, 5 bolt on 5 1/2", big brakes, and either a 3:54 or 4:10 Powerloc. Fairly obvious with a quick look. Have one in my 66, and at one time had 4 more for resale. Went quick to Jeep guys.

I like it! i bet that fresh solidcamed 413 would make it even better:D

My has tried to ban me off of market place,craigslist ebay and some others! Cool old truck my oldest brother years ago bought a 57 gmc that was built from a 69 road runner it had everything from it but the body and front suspension.

Cool find man..

Damn, It looks like I missed something on craigslist last week.

If I ever start using facebook marketplace, I will need a bigger garage.
Craigslist keeps me busy as it is.

So here we are several weeks later and I'm still messing with the truck with no plans of sending it packing although after typing this, I'm wondering why... Among the early findings was a dry radiator due to a leaky water pump so the fun began with what should have been one simple project. One of the first things I became frustrated with was the homemade alternator brackets so I installed a set of chrome OEM type replacements at the same time. Since this moved the alternator back, the oddball water pump pulley would no longer work which then resulted in the crank pulley hitting the newly installed single groove water pump pulley so on went a single groove crank pulley as well. While I had everything apart I figured it was a good time to remove the pipe nipples from the water pump and eliminate the heater hoses so into the garbage they went. I also installed a dipstick which was never installed and replaced the PH8A filter that was uncomfortably close to the frame with a shorter counterpart. The next hurdle was there was no home for the battery so I ran about 25' of #1 wire to rear passenger side of the bed where a new battery and kill switch now reside. Moving on, I removed the Weiand tri power intake and while installing a different valley pan with heat crossover block offs, decided I should check the lifters as the cam just looked off to me. To my surprise, the lifters looked "ok" although I plan on a cam swap in the near future. I did discover during this inspection, incorrect length bolts on the rocker arm shafts resulting in extra washers being used as spacers, so off to the parts bin for a complete set of bolts and hold downs I went. After being sidetracked by my unexpected findings I finally got the eBay Torker installed and topped it off with an 825 Demon I rebuilt. In case it seems like I'm getting close to actually driving this thing, let me add that I discovered the motorhome seats were never bolted in and there is no fuel line run to the tank which has a set of vice grips pinching off the hose at the bottom. I can only imagine what goodness I'll find when I remove the vice grips but, I went ahead and ordered up some 3/8" aluminum fuel line and will keep trucking along. Since the seats are actually not a great fit anyhow, I picked up a really nice pair of bucket seats from an early mustang for a smoking deal which will eventually get mounted to some fancy brackets that will completely cancel out the deal I got on the seats. That being said, I should be close to putting some miles on the truck soon but I'm guessing I've still got more work to do that has yet to be discovered so I'll not hold my breath. Oh well, it's only time and money right?

Thanks for the update, forge on and keep us posted.

Funny you should mention money pit… my wifes work is slow this evening so she sent me a picture of the old 68 Dart 340 ad that says: 6,000 RPM for around $3,000 .. I replied I shift at 6,500 and its around $65,000 (over 37 years I have had car) .. she didn't think it was funny! BTW I like old trucks .. yours is cool!

Well today was the day... After a few short trips around the block, to the gas station etc over the past several weeks, I finally decided it was time to drive the truck into work. With our 4th child now 10 days old I was no longer worried about something breaking just as the wife the called to say it was baby time. That would typically be my luck. Today proved that I had made the correct decision in waiting to drive it. Just about 15 minutes into my drive and about a block away from work the truck started ticking and quickly escalated into a loud knock. I shut the thing down fairly quick and had one of my buddies tow me the rest of the way to the shop. I had a feeling it was a rod and convinced myself that there was no way it was a fresh motor as I was told when I purchased the truck and even if it was, it was apparently junk. I made the decision to fire it one more time in an attempt to avoid pushing it uphill into a space to work on it. In a few short seconds, it knocked, it banged and then it locked up.

Being that I was at work, I had little time to work on it but did manage to get the heads off. Much to my surprise, it looks like it was a fresh rebuild with new .040 over pistons, cross hatching still present and no ridge on the block. This leads me to believe that someone probably forgot to tighten the rod bolts as it looks like the #8 rod decided to separate from the crankshaft in an attempt to eject the piston through the cylinder head. At first glance the piston is obviously junk and the cylinder head has a bent valve. I don't see any windows anywhere but won't really know the extent of the damage until I get the motor out and apart later this week.

I'm not terribly heartbroken as I had plans to install the 413 into the truck in the near future anyhow. However, I also had plans to throw the 383 into my roadrunner just to get it moving under its own power... I can now see half that dream sailing off into the sunset. Is what it is. I wish I could change the day but I can't. I'm fairly certain that 383 will end up as a boat anchor.

Oh well, I'll keep you guys up to date as I move along... Here's hoping for a quick recovery for the truck anyhow.

I like those trucks.

I had a 65 with Custom Cab that looked like that right down to the patina. I had a 429 in it and it was nothing to fool with. 65 to 79 was the same chassis so we got the frame brackets for a late 70's 460 F150 and didn't even have to drill any holes. Bolted right in. Bucket seats from a 68 300 and a console and shifter from a 65 Olds Starfire. She was stylish. lol

I grenaded the 429 doing something foolish and had a 440 4spd mocked up in it but sold it before it got finished.

A late model Crown Vic front clip can be swapped into that chassis with a minimum of fuss so it will stop, turn, ride good and not eat tires.

Kevin

Congratulations on the new young'un.
Too bad about the 383 , but you still have a viable plan B.

Keep up the good fight!

Wanna buy a boat??

Got a couple more minutes to tear into the truck today. Looks like it was definitely a case of someone leaving the rod bolt nuts loose. It did break the lower part of the cylinder in addition to bending the exhaust valve, breaking both the rod and piston, and probably trashing the crank as well. In hindsight, I wish I would have shut it down sooner but when your in traffic you have to make choices. Oh well, live and learn.

On the plus side, it should be back together pretty quick and better than it was when I'm done...

I'm thinking of going more gasser wth the truck so I'll probably retain the straight axle. Good to know about the crown vic front end though. I've got a buddy looking to buy one of these trucks and I'm sure he'd be all over that.

Thanks.

Our first was a boy, then we had 2 girls and our newest is a boy. He's a joy for sure. That's it though, we are done. No more kids. I'm going stay put in the garage and try working on cars instead of staying in the house. The truck breaking was probably divine intervention.

No boats for me... Yet...

Ouch

So although things aren't coming along as quickly as I hoped for, today was certainly a jump in the right direction. With the 413 now residing in the truck I can call this weekend's efforts a win. I'll keep you guys posted as things progress... Hopefully sooner than later.