Thread: Project Special K

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Well it's been since July 2014 that my truck got towed to the custom muffler shop, and then went to a friends house for some fine tuning of the Lokar Nostalgia shifter, and engine tuning, carb replacement, and a whole list of other things. Since that time my wife wanted a divorce, I had to sell my house of 18 years, move temporarily into an apartment and finally into my new home, which I've been working on non stop since April this year. Full circle, the truck came home last night, sounding fantastic and a bit dirtier than when it left! In the imortal words of Jerry Garcia, "What a Long Strange Trip this has Been!" I can't even describe the feeling of being able to keep the truck thru out this last year of moves and divorce, and even more getting it home! Here are a few shots. Ill post a video once I get it cleaned up and then fill you in on the bucket list of what's ahead!

Congrats on getting it home!

Times 2! So glad for you to have it back where it belongs!

Thanks guys. I spent a hour washing off dust. Have some small generalized rust spotting on chrome plated valve covers, but they are temporary anyway. Best news, she fires up with two pumps of the accelerator petal, idles smooth, shifts flawlessly, and actually stops when braking! Bad news a large piece of frame was cut away to fit passenger side header at custom exhaust shop, so a frame patch will have to be welded in around pipe to strengthen frame. Good news it's doable! Just pleased as punch to be able to spend some time on this site and this project again!

Hell, I had typed out a reply to be told I had to refresh the page and sign in again which I did to find I have lost my reply, bother and other swear words.

Whiplash glad to see your replys

It's good to see that the truck is back in your shed and you can start to make progress again.
I had wondered what was happening to it; but with the stress and drama you were involved with didn't want to make waves by asking.
Now you've got yourself and your life back on track (I'm pleased for you about that too,) I hope you get to spend many happy hours 'playing' with it.
You go mate!

Johnboy stole my words that had disappeared but, of course, our resident word smith has written much nicer than I had. Awesome to have you and your " Girl " back together Steve and I will look forward to any updates.

Got aq few minor things fixed today. The original Lokar nostalgia shifter would never go into all of the gears despite the factory recommended instructions. So my friend Randy spent 6 hours tweaking it to get it to shift correctly between gears, turns out the push button on gear lever wouldn't allow it to lock into proper gear. After some adjustments to linkage and push button all is well. So I installed a set of lock nuts to keep push button in proper place now that it is set. Then the next problem was the fuel filter was leaking from a seam, so new fuel filter(inline) was installed no more gas leaks. Next on the endless Ford bucket list was the loose lug nuts to mag wheels, apparently 2 years ago I polished the aluminum mags and didn't finish, so never tightened then=m to torque specs, I.E. loose wheels. Fixed! Ran engine for about twenty minutes to cycle some fuel thru carb. running well. So next will be to address frame weld that needs some beefing up wher header pipe cutout was done at custom exhaust shop. After that I want to get front end back on so I can clear up space in garage. Fun to spend even a little time on the truck,

Good for you Steve. PROGRESS!
After your recent journey.. I'll bet you were having a blast!

Yeah, good on you and your friend for helping as 6 hours on the shifter would of had me cussin' real bad and then realising that I was only getting myself upset as the shifter couldn't understand a damn word I had said to it. LOL.

Steve, your post made me think, when life takes us away from a project it's easy to overlook exactly what had been done, or maybe even worse, what one had knowingly left undone when pulled away. A guy's got to pretty well start from ground zero, checking everything for status before really getting into it. Like your lug nuts - polishing wheels, putting them back on with the truck on jack stands and spinning nuts finger tight. Next you know it's a year or two or three or ??? later and a guy sees shiny wheels on the truck so they're done, right? Let's get the front clip on! Now let's take her for a spin and have some fun and next you know you're watching a wheel or two roll down the road, down on rotors/drums! You're taking the right approach, finding the things left undone, or not finished done-done, and taking care of them one by one.
Thanks for posting.

Thanks guys. It's funny, because I kept trying to remember what I was doing last and what I was thinking. I remember thinking I need to come back to some stuff so don't torque it all the way, well it just goes to show you time makes us all forget stuff. So I guess I need to check every single system, and make a check list knocking them off one by one so I'll know it's been addressed. I am also making a build book of everything that is going into the truck, as memory fades there too!
I do remember crawling under the transmission and putting on an impulse generator for the new speedo before the tow truck took the truck away!

I bit my self a couple years ago when the drain plug fell out of the engine in my wife's excursion after I built it. That sucked so bad. I'm just glad it wasn't a customer's rig. After the incident I figured out what happened. When I cleaned the oil pan in the solvent tank, I removed the drain plug. When I rinsed the pan with water and then blew it dry with compressed air, I screwed the drain plug in finger tight. Well, my finger tight was apparently tight enough for the seal to do it's job because it wasn't leaking. I checked under her truck before I drove it. Re torqued the wheels, rear caliper, checked drive shaft etc. I checked everything except the engine oil pan drain plug. Stupid, bad deal. So from then on, I changed my work practices. For instance, if I have a connecting rod with a rod cap going together and I have to leave, I leave the rod cap off and finish it when I get back. I try to finish a step so I can remember where I was and hopefully eliminate any issues. At least you remembered your wheels were loose and caught it!

Originally Posted by stovens

... apparently 2 years ago I polished the aluminum mags and didn't finish, so never tightened then=m to torque specs, I.E. loose wheels. ...

Half the time I can't remember why I walked into a room, let alone what I did or didn't do 2 yrs ago.

Keep pluggin' away Steve... and remember, "Never"...uh ...I mean... "Always..." Crap, can't remember what I was gonna say.