fatherdoug said:

^^^ That's better! But there is a non-ford in the background of the K/R pic.

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Crap....nothing gets by you guys!

Memorial Day

Hello everybody and hope you all had a great Memorial Day holiday. On Monday my wife and I drove the dent to my brother-in-laws farm up near Gordonsville, Tennessee. Karen's sister asked if we could bring a table and 8 chairs and the '73 was the perfect truck for the purpose. I took some photos for you to see and it was a beautiful day! Cook-out always tastes better out of doors and with good friends and family.

Donald

moveoverGM said:

Hello everybody and hope you all had a great Memorial Day holiday. On Monday my wife and I drove the dent to my brother-in-laws farm up near Gordonsville, Tennessee. Karen's sister asked if we could bring a table and 8 chairs and the '73 was the perfect truck for the purpose. I took some photos for you to see and it was a beautiful day! Cook-out always tastes better out of doors and with good friends and family.

Donald

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Looks awesome. ....the truck blends in well with the grass! [emoji14]

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^^^looks like you had good weather also.

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Pulled the bed yesterday. Got the old tank out, the fuel lines for it, the hitch, and all the old exhaust hangars. I started grinding and wire wheeling the frame. Going to get it coated the fix the rust on the bed before it goes back on. That will get coated and bedlined once it's reinstalled. Pulled the glass packs back off so it is now straight pipes under the cab until I get the bed back on and the frame done. Not sure when I'll get the cab floors done or the front half of the frame. I think I'll wait until I find a front clip to swap on... I've decided to gear down to 4.88 for 37s, and im,either going to find a complete parts rig for an efi 460 swap or do the crank/rods and make a 390. Either way it's getting supercharged.

tjcustomranger said:

Pulled the bed yesterday. Got the old tank out, the fuel lines for it, the hitch, and all the old exhaust hangars. I started grinding and wire wheeling the frame. Going to get it coated the fix the rust on the bed before it goes back on. That will get coated and bedlined once it's reinstalled. Pulled the glass packs back off so it is now straight pipes under the cab until I get the bed back on and the frame done. Not sure when I'll get the cab floors done or the front half of the frame. I think I'll wait until I find a front clip to swap on... I've decided to gear down to 4.88 for 37s, and im,either going to find a complete parts rig for an efi 460 swap or do the crank/rods and make a 390. Either way it's getting supercharged.

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That's a lot of work! Any pics?

taxreliever said:

That's a lot of work! Any pics?

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All I have are cell phone pictures for now, didn't bring my camera this weekend I'll put them in the build thread

I just drove mine while my DD 07 Chevy Colorado is in the shop getting a timing issue and check engine light issue resolved, as well as getting it inspected.

Changed the oil and took the old BBQ grill to the dump. It is such a pleasure to drive this old truck. It's taken me one year to put 3000 miles on the truck. That's probably a good thing.

fatherdoug said:

Changed the oil and took the old BBQ grill to the dump. It is such a pleasure to drive this old truck. It's taken me one year to put 3000 miles on the truck. That's probably a good thing.

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Awesome Doug.......about enjoying the driving.....I feel the same way when I drive mine.

BTW, it took me 6 years to top 3000 miles....unfortunately! I blame it on the state I happen to live and work in!

I replaced the gauge cluster housing. The old one was flaking and the bulbs wouldn't make good contact anymore. Sure is nice being able to read the gauges in the dark again.

Also added a grab bar on the passenger side. My daughters friends were complaining about how hard it was to climb up in to the truck.

Jasperrc said:

I replaced the gauge cluster housing. The old one was flaking and the bulbs wouldn't make good contact anymore. Sure is nice being able to read the gauges in the dark again.

Also added a grab bar on the passenger side. My daughters friends were complaining about how hard it was to climb up in to the truck.

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That's probably the next step that I need to do on my bump is dash lights.
I rarely drive at night though!

Be careful not to bump your head on that grab bar as your cleaning though ,
I'm notorious of doing that!......

Looking good!....

Grab bars are almost essential now and standard on all new trucks and SUV's....not sure how people got along without them.

Jasperrc said:

I replaced the gauge cluster housing. The old one was flaking and the bulbs wouldn't make good contact anymore. Sure is nice being able to read the gauges in the dark again.

Also added a grab bar on the passenger side. My daughters friends were complaining about how hard it was to climb up in to the truck.

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I'm curious about your grab bars. Where did you purchase them, and how did you mount them? Those look nice.

Had a chance to put a few miles on the 79 yesterday.....really, really love driving my rigs....it's just rare these days!

taxreliever said:

Grab bars are almost essential now and standard on all new trucks and SUV's....not sure how people got along without them.

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The wife helped you in first, then you reached over and pulled her in....
It could be the other way around depending on the size of the wife...

Mine was running pretty rough, and I suspected the fuel pump was not doing well. Well you know how things snowball...


New timing set, fuel pump, and water pump.



Nicest looking piece on the truck.

amkatt1 said:

The wife helped you in first, then you reached over and pulled her in....
It could be the other way around depending on the size of the wife...

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Haha....

fatherdoug said:

I'm curious about your grab bars. Where did you purchase them, and how did you mount them? Those look nice.

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Actually I made that one, glad you like it! Mocked it up out of wood first to get the shape of the parts right and then used that as a pattern for the aluminum. Rough cut with a jig saw then more shaping with a router and final finish with a LOT of sanding. And yes, I used the router on the aluminum.

I sprayed the bar with undercoating to give it some texture for better grip and keep it from being so hot in the summer or cold in the winter.

Right now it is attached to the pillar with screws but if they ever pull out, I'll put in nutserts. The screws I'm using now are temporary, gonna pick up some stainless the next time I think about it.

Had a mild draw to the right while driving so I took my 73' to and old guy in town that does alignments. He said that he could not get to my truck till next week but suggested that I flip the front wheels and see what happened. That it might correct the drift or indicate a tire issue rather than mechanical. I had that done and the drift to the right was nearly identical. Took my dent to Firestone where two guys worked on it. They said that the design of the front has a king pin setup and there is not much that can be done to align it but they did the best they could. Toe was perfect. It still drifted right some so using some lead I fabricated a weight that is attached to the left of the steering wheel. Now it tracks straight as an arrow!