Behind me

Awesome: Got a driver's side mirror from MAC yesterday. Installation took minutes, and that includes knocking the Bondo out of the original mounting slot in the door.

Not Awesome: The passenger side mirror is still on backorder.

Vent windows

It's 90 degrees today, and the '60 doesn't have air conditioning. But it does have vent windows.  Vents are the most bitchin' pieces of glass you can have in a truck, except maybe for a split rear window. Crack one of them open just a little, and the airstream sucks cigarette smoke out.  Shove them open all the way, and you've got a delicious breeze in the cab even at low speeds.  I still can't figure out why they quit putting vent windows in cars.

The American Truck Historical Society Truck Show, Brooklyn CT

The family and I took the day off and went down to the Brooklyn CT Fairgrounds on Route 169 today for the annual American Truck Historical Society Truck Show and Flea Market.  Most of the trucks being shown are big rigs, but there were quite a few nice old pickups there as well (mostly Fords.) 

There were a few really nice 1960's F-series pickups, like this 1960 F250. 

It was a great day - sunny and warm and perfect for wandering around looking at nice old trucks and chatting with the owners.  There was a flea market/swap meet as well, around the edges of the show area, but unfortunately not too many vendors showed up and the ones that were there didn't have very much stuff for 60's vintage trucks. 

By next year, I should have the paint and exterior done on my truck, and I'll enter it to show it off.

I took about 40 pictures at the show of various trucks. I haven't labeled or edited many of them yet, but if you'd like to check them out, here's the link to the Flickr set: http://bit.ly/ATHS6-11

Humping Furniture

There were two car shows this weekend - one on Saturday in Somers, the other Sunday in East Windsor.  I had planned to enter the Somers show - not in search of an award, but to meet and chat with other old gearheads.  Half the fun of a car show is talking with the car owners, comparing notes and making friends.  And I was hoping to get to the East Windsor show as a spectator to walk around and admire the hot rods and the carefully restored stockers.

It turned out that I didn't get to either of them.  I got some kind of bug Friday night which kept me off my feet all day Saturday. And Sunday the '60 and I hauled furniture all day, helping my stepdaughter move to a new apartment.

I haven't owned anything but quarter-ton 4-cylinder pickups for the past 15 years, and they have always been pretty well-matched to my light hauling needs.  But I have to say, it was pretty awesome having a full-sized truck to hump the furniture this weekend. The bed of the '60 is a full eight feet long and a little over 6 feet wide - I can lay a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood down between the wheel wells with room to spare on all sides - and we loaded the hell out of her.

Steering Adjustment and Other Stuff.

Brought the '60 down to my brother-in-law Bob's place so he could give me a hand with the steering adjustment.  Bob is longtime mechanic with a special affinity for pre-70s cars and he's forgotten more about old cars than I'll ever learn.

Take a look at the photo above. That small area in color shows the steering box.  On Bob's '62 Galaxie, the preload adjustment screw is on the top of the box, but on the '60 F100, that bolt on top is a filler cap for gear oil.  When we took that cap off, we found that there wasn't any oil in there, so we filled it up.

The adjustment screw was on the side of the box toward the engine, in a really tight spot.  We were able to get to it, though, with a 3/4-inch box wrench (to loosen the locknut) and an offset screwdriver (to turn the adjustment screw.)  It was a pain in the ass, but we managed to take quite a bit of play out of the steering.  That was the good news.  The bad news was that the gears in the steering box are showing a lot of wear.  I'll be able to keep adjusting them for awhile, but sooner or later I'm going to need to put in a new or rebuilt box.

While I was under the truck, I inspected the speedometer gear in the transmission. Good news and bad there, too. The gear is brand new and in perfect condition, but that just means that the problem with the speedometer is probably in the instrument cluster.  There's more work to be done there.

And the gas gauge isn't working because there's no voltage going to the sending unit in the tank. The wiring under the dash is a bird's nest of black wires, all bundled tightly up with plastic cable ties. Sometime this week I'm going to try to crawl under there, cut the cable ties, and trace out the wires to see exactly why some electrical things are working and some aren't.

Vehicle Overview - Part 1: Interior

With so little work needed on the outside of the truck, I thought that the interior of the cab would be a good place to start documenting what the '60 looks like right now, before any changes get made.

The driver's door looks good, with the original red driver's armrest (available as an option in 1960.)  The door handle and the window crank are both original.

The door latch mechanism and the window assembly are going to need some attention. The door opens "hard" and the window is mighty tough to roll up (though it glides down smoothly.)

Meanwhile, over on the passenger side, we have no arm rest (that's a driver's side only feature,) the original door handle, and some random window handle.

The window on this side operates better than the one on the driver's side, but the door lock is malfunctioning - the door locks just fine, but the key won't open the door from outside (the key turns, but the door won't unlock.)

That's a new headliner, but I don't think that original headliners in the '60 F100s were perforated. I'll probably leave it for now, but replace it later with a one-piece molded headliner for more epic looks, which fits with my "Custom Stock" overall plan for the truck.

The visors and brackets are repro, but they're good repro - correct for the year and model. At the least, I want to dye them red to match the interior color scheme.

 Two problems with the dome light:  The previous owner warned me that he did something wrong while wiring it and now it stays on all the time. The other problem is the lack of a lens. I'll have to trace out the wire to find the first problem.  There are plenty of places online where I can get the lens.

The dash is in exceptionally good shape, but does need some detailing.  The only thing that seems to be working in the instrument cluster is the idiot light for the oil pressure.  Everything else is either non-functional or malfunctioning. The idiot light for the generator is out, the speedometer has, I believe, a broken tooth preventing it from being accurate.

Knobs and switches from left to right:

1. Headlights/Panel dimmer 
2. Windshield wiper control - this knob is not correct
3. Left side floor vent control
4. Heater fan control
5. Choke - this knob is not correct and is missing the bezel
6. Right side floor vent control - not currently operating
7. Cigarette lighter (it works!)

Under the dash are the aftermarket gauges - Oil pressure, water temperature, amps. I'll probably leave those in even after I get the cluster working again.

Regged and On The Road

I'm not sure any state agency in Connecticut is more disliked than the Department of Motor Vehicles. The lines are often long, and I'm always hearing complaints about surly employees, horrendous wait times, finally getting to an examiner's window only to find that you need this or that additional form or document - the list of grievances goes on and on.

Even though I usually don't have too many problems at the DMV, I decided on Wednesday to get there early and just get the registration process over with.  I had all the necessary paperwork ready - completed Bill of Sale, insurance card, and the application form (which I had picked up earlier in the week so I wouldn't have to waste time filling it out there.)  It was hot and humid that day, even at 8 in the morning when I got there, and the DMV is air-conditioned so I didn't really care how long I would have to wait - at least I'd be comfortable while waiting.

As it turned out, though, I was only the 8th person in line. The examiners were all friendly and helpful, and I was out of there by 8:30, licence plates for the '60 in hand.

May you always be this awesome, DMV.