'69 F100 Ranger - Canada-born, Atlanta-raised, movie star(?)

[LeoZelig]

Hi y'all, let me introduce my second bump since joining here.

He doesn't have a name yet - we will just have to wait and see who he is. All my vehicles have names.

He was built in Canada for delivery to a dealer here in Atlanta, and as best I can tell spent his life here ever since. It's likely he's a movie or TV star. The fellow we got him from has a side business renting classic vehicles to the movie and TV industry here in Georgia.

I have a laundry list of things to do(list at end of the post), probably years of tinkering... and that's exactly what we were looking for. Tinkering is good for my brain. He's got good basics and no catastrophic rust. My wife and I enjoy tooling around backroads in the Southeast to relax, and nothing is more relaxing than a Ford time machine.

The steering wheel has to go and be returned to original, and I'd like to convert it back from floor shift to column. Otherwise, it's just about arresting decay and slowly renovating. Note, I said renovate - not restore. Our goal is to improve his appearance and operation, while keeping him era-appropriate. I'm good with stealthy tech improvements, like disc brakes, power brake booster, electronic ignition, etc.

At this point I've changed the oil and filter, changed air filter (and added air cleaner wing nut and washer), vacuumed up rodent droppings, and removed the bench.

Overview photo

overview.jpg

Day one interior

Day1interior.jpg

Bench seat out and carpet vacuumed

bench out.jpg

Laundry List

Engine
Oil leak at rear main seal


Fuel
Filler hose cracked
Under-chassis hose degraded

Cooling
Check and change coolant
Fan shroud broken
Heater hose looped back (bad heater core?)

Exhaust
Exhaust leak at front of manifold on passenger side
Exhaust hanger broken, rear passenger side
Passenger side muffler holed by rust

Transmission
Clutch engages very high
Change transmission fluid
Shifter clunky

Rear axle
Change differential fluid
Differential leaking fluid

Suspension / Steering / Brakes
Chassis lube needed
Steering wheel loose

Brakes
Rear brakes leaking (passenger side rear?)
Possible front brake leak
Parking brake unknown operation

Wheels & tires
Tires dry rotted
Front driver side wheel missing lug nut
Front passenger side wheel missing lug nut

Interior
Bench seat needs repair/reupholster
Carpet needs to be replaced
Water leaks need to be identified
Leaves in vent system
Driver side vent handle broken
Dome light missing lens

Body & Paint
Replace door locks
Check wiper operation

Electrical & Wiring
High beam switch sticking
Turn signal flasher sticks
Headlight rheostat needs cleaning
Fuel gauge inoperative
Oil pressure gauge inoperative
Check temperature gauge
Check charging gauge
Heater blower doesn't run
Defrost vent dangling

Miscellaneous
Horn does not work

[basketcase0302]

Highly suggest you do some more digging on the VIN, (including the frame stamp) on this truck!
I see Ranger trim on your instrument panel suggesting something's not "jiving".

A lot of kool Ontario Canuk Ford plant born bump era trucks were brought down here to Merica', (I know where a 67' Mercury is sitting rusting away about 70 miles North of you on Hwy 27 in Northeast Georgia). When i stopped and asked the family's response was, (it was Grandpa's he brought down from Canada-we're gonna resotre it someday). All I wanted was the Mercury tailgate hee hee!
There's also many bumps just north of you in Rome Georgia as I knew of 6-8 alone in the city limits there just sitting!

And your odometer mileage is usually easily determined by looking to see if ALL the digits are inline perfectly. Once they flipped over 100K the first digit, (the first 9 in 99K) will usually go out of alignment.

http://www.fordification.com/tech/67-72ID_01.htm

[Fordkid68]

That is an awesome truck leoZelig! Looks like a fun project. pretty solid too.

[LeoZelig]

Highly suggest you do some more digging on the VIN, (including the frame stamp) on this truck!
I see Ranger trim on your instrument panel suggesting something's not "jiving".

Hmmmm, what are you seeing that makes the Ranger trim seem out of place? I think it has a Ranger grille, too, along with some other clues to a Ranger background. I did run it through the VIN decoder when we bought it, but I didn't even know there was a frame stamp! Learned something new, thanks.

1969 F100 VIN Plate.jpg

There's also many bumps just north of you in Rome Georgia as I knew of 6-8 alone in the city limits there just sitting!

I didn't know I was living in such a cluster of Bumps . Mercury, huh? Now that's something I haven't run across yet - they sound pretty rare.

(the first 9 in 99K) will usually go out of alignment.

That is a really cool tip about the odometer - I'll check and see how the alignment looks and report back.

That is an awesome truck leoZelig! Looks like a fun project. pretty solid too.

Thanks! Definitely a fun project, and these classics deserve to be kept on the road.

[LeoZelig]

Today, I got the carpet out. It was falling apart in many places, but I got it out in mostly one piece. That should help when I need to see where to place the padding beneath the new carpet.

carpet out.jpg

Nice surprise to see the sound dampening materials under the carpet. I plan to remove them to get a better idea of the condition of the metal underneath, and replace with new mats later.

Unfortunate surprise is the swiss cheese sheet metal I found on the passenger side. I knew there was some rust-through, but not this much! Time to learn welding? I see water marks running down from the air vent, and it is full of leaves - time to clean that out.

swiss cheese 2.jpg

An interesting hole inboard under the dash, too. In reading about leaks in the cab, I saw that wiper shaft seals are a culprit. Is that the culprit here?

Passenger floorboard swiss - Copy.jpg

[basketcase0302]

My bad, (you are corect in your posting it as a Ranger-I thought you had listed it as a 67'). The faded Ranger grill threw me off, (I've seen OEM Ranger grills sell from theRobertTher GrillGuy on fleabay for over $1K)!

The floor pans are common rot spots on our trucks. But pay particular attention to the "toeboard" area in the very foward righthand, (and lefthand in the DS) sheetmetal as that where the floorboard transitions to the cab mounts CRITICAL AREA THAT CAUSES MANY OTHER ISSUES!
And you'll usually find the issue with that rot starts at the cowl venting in front of the windshield, (once our trucks are "put out to pasture" they are usually parked under trees allowing the leaves to fill the cowl causing the heater fresh air "pleunum to stop draining, (rusting that area out too).
Pull both side vents in the inside kickboard area and do a good inspectiion there as it'll be a frugal effort to replace the sheetmetal floorboards if the leak isn't found and stopped.

Sad to say your last image looks real...close to the cab mount area! If the cab mount is rusted you'll have major work in the near future as it effect everything from the steering to the transmission shifting!
Crawl under that area and look at the cab mount very good!

[LeoZelig]

The faded Ranger grill threw me off

Ah, okay - I was wondering if this truck had more tales to tell, including a checkered parts past - anything is possible . Glad to see I wasn't too far astray this time.

But pay particular attention to the "toeboard" area in the very foward righthand, (and lefthand in the DS) sheetmetal as that where the floorboard transitions to the cab mounts CRITICAL AREA THAT CAUSES MANY OTHER ISSUES!

Crawl under that area and look at the cab mount very good!

Ok, thanks for the tip - that's my next inspection area. Fingers-crossed

Pull both side vents in the inside kickboard area and do a good inspectiion there as it'll be a frugal effort to replace the sheetmetal floorboards if the leak isn't found and stopped.

Roger that - fix the leaks, then fix the damage.

Thanks for the guidance!

[basketcase0302]

Your more than welcome. And if it were my Ranger I'd probably go ahead and do a Marti report on it. The Ranger's always held their value, the Marti report tells you a lot more on the history of the truck you may not know.

https://www.martiauto.com/martireports.cfm

[LeoZelig]

Thanks Jeff, I had never heard of a Marti report. I checked out the link you shared - very cool! I may pony up the cash to learn a bit more about our new friend.

Speaking of learning about the truck, by examining the service paperwork and registrations in the glove box, I found names and numbers of a couple of previous owners, and even who I suspect may be the original buyer. I'm torn on whether I should go down those paths, though. Sometimes the past should stay there, too. I might find out something I don't want to know, or I could find out something neat. Like I said, I'm torn.

[LeoZelig]

Well, here's the latest on a couple of fronts.

I removed the driver side and passenger side cabin vents, then removed leaves and debris from the wells on both sides.

The leaves were up to the top edge on both wells:

driver side leaves.jpg

After remove the leaves and some of the richest, darkest soil I've seen , the wells are draining and I can see the drain holes:

passenger clear.jpg

This morning, after a long, soaking overnight rain, I checked the cab. No evidence of leaks at the vent areas now, but I am seeing what I'm guessing is either a cowl leak or wiper gasket leak, coming down the driver's side firewall:

driver leak.jpg

A very cursory inspection of the cowl area shows little debris, so I'm hopeful it's the wiper gasket.

In other news, I replaced both door cylinders since we didn't get a key from the PO. Fortunately we have a key for the ignition, and I'll replace the ignition cylinder next - then all three locks will match.

And finally, I found the cause of my zero rear brake pressure: the hard line has sprung a leak just rear of the front of the bed. Looks like I'll be making a new brake line! A definite cause for concern on the overall state of the brake lines. I'll probably do the rear soft line at the same time.

[hfdco4]

I would replace all the soft line in the brake system. Then look a all the hard lines. Remember, you are dealing with a 50 yr old truck.

[basketcase0302]

like Paul said as the soft lines will often deteriate and be a majot troubleshooting issue.
Also highly advise getting the double flare tool, (has to be a double flare or your putting folks lives in danger) and an entire roll of tubing from Summit and start practicing your flaring technique before just cutting the proper length of tube and starting to flare it. It is very...easy to mess up a flare and practice/practice/practice makes perfect. And get a decent tubing bender, (mine is a mechanical that uses different dies for 3/4 different size brake lines).

The wiper gaskets are easy to saource and cheap enough to go ahead and replace whil you have easy access like right now, (and easily verified by having a second set of hands spray water lightly in the cowl area while you're up under the dash with a flashlight). Go a step further on the cowl vent area, (and I know it's a pain in the butt) but go ahead and scrub with scothbrite pads or whatever you can get down in there then get any kind of rust preventative coated, (the better you treat this are the more you'll be thabnkful for down the road when you're driving in pouring down rain belive me LOL)! And you should be able to see if the cowl itself is rusted out leaking by yanking the speedo, (not that hard) and the defrost ducting).

[LeoZelig]

I would replace all the soft line in the brake system. Then look a all the hard lines. Remember, you are dealing with a 50 yr old truck.

You're exactly right hfdco4 (Paul)! The PO replaced the front soft lines in the month before I bought the truck, so I think there is only one soft line left, correct? From the hard lines to the mount point on the rear axle? And I agree, if a hard line burst it's possible others aren't far behind. When I remove the offending section, I'll be interested to see what I find - was it vibration, corrosion, or both?

Also highly advise getting the double flare tool, (has to be a double flare or your putting folks lives in danger)

Yes, Jeff, I still have that left from my last Bump but I didn't know there was a single flare tool. Glad I have the right thing. I also ordered a replacement 3/16" adapter for the tool - the original bent over last time I used it. In fact, I bought two, since that seems easy to happen

start practicing your flaring technique before just cutting the proper length of tube and starting to flare it

That is excellent advice, and I will follow it! And I still have some line left from the last truck. And a very basic tubing bender... but I might need to upgrade that tool, but I'll try to make it work, first.

I also spotted what looks to be a brass union not more than 2" from the leak. Brass struck me as strange (can you get a dielectric effect on brass/steel?)... and a union? Is that factory, or would it have been a continuous line, originally. Have I uncovered a patchwork previous repair? Hmmm

The wiper gaskets are easy to saource and cheap enough to go ahead and replace whil you have easy access like right now, (and easily verified by having a second set of hands spray water lightly in the cowl area while you're up under the dash with a flashlight).

Good idea - I know what I'll be asking my wife to help with in the near future

go ahead and scrub with scothbrite pads or whatever you can get down in there

Do you mean down inside these slots, Jeff?

Screenshot 2021-02-09 201414.png

Just confirming, because I can tell that won't be fun - but I'll do it if it saves headaches!

get any kind of rust preventative coated

Say like POR=15 or the like?

And you should be able to see if the cowl itself is rusted out leaking by yanking the speedo, (not that hard) and the defrost ducting)

Sounds good - the defrost ducting will need replacement anyway and getting the speedo out should be easy enough. Let me add all this valuable advice to my plan! Thank again!

[basketcase0302]

The brass double flare union is def someone's "quick fix" and really not DOT "safe" as all brake lines should be one piece from each termination point to reduce the possibility of failure or leaking, (but not to worry about di-electric corrosion as brass is what is used in brake fittings for corrosion resistantance where steel isn't used).

A single flare tool is what we use in the HVAC and plumbing trades, (mostly HVAC where soldering near a valve is not practical/safe).

POR 15 rocks! And makes hard to resotre areas like this much easier, (do all you can now to avoid costly repairs there in the future).

Yes have your wife "lightly" sprinkle type pattern spray down the cowl vent area and wiper shaft(s) while you're under the dash, (yes upside down but do it now while you have the seat out!!!) and you'll nail the area where the leak is!

Another old skool trick is to find an old magnetic sign, (like companies plaster on the doors for business) and cut it to fit-or go buy the magnetic cowl vent cover like this one! I'm sure someone made them for our trucks but can't remember which vendor it was...
This saved me so...much future work as I was still forced to park underneath trees after doing all this work you're doing!


https://www.ebay.com/itm/1962-1964-Ford ... xynwlTcnRT

[LeoZelig]

The brass double flare union is def someone's "quick fix" and really not DOT "safe" as all brake lines should be one piece from each termination point to reduce the possibility of failure or leaking

Jeff, that makes perfect sense. I will replace the entire line, from the soft line at the rear to wherever it terminates at the front. If memory serves, there is a balance block or something before you get to the master cylinder. Is there anything tricky about the connections to that block? Seems like there is, from my last Bump. I'll check the brakes section and search. The soft line arrived yesterday, but it's going to rain a LOT this weekend. So it's time for garage organization and clean up.

A single flare tool is what we use in the HVAC and plumbing trades

Ah, ok. Thanks for explaining.

POR 15 rocks! And makes hard to resotre areas like this much easier, (do all you can now to avoid costly repairs there in the future)

Right on! I am all about a "stitch in time".

Yes have your wife "lightly" sprinkle type pattern spray down the cowl vent area and wiper shaft(s) while you're under the dash

Will do. It's raining this weekend, so it's all wet right now. I'll have to wait for a dry day.

Another old skool trick is to find an old magnetic sign

The cowl cover is a good idea - I'll cobble something together.

Have a good weekend!