Project 1977 F100 - New radiator + electric fan!

[bobo333]

Hi guys,

some of you may have seen my previous car that introduced me to the ecomodding path to enlightenment :P (1993 Barina, link to thread in my sig)

Well last week i traded it in for a more suitable shop truck/tow vehicle, and here she is:




1977 Ford F100, 2wd, 4sp manual, complete with duel fuel petrol/LPG system on the factory 351ci V8


my goal is to match (ultimatly beat) the fuel costs of my old Barina due to the price of LPG being half that of petrol in my area, this means i need to get around 18mpg on LPG

before the ecomodding starts it needs a bit of a tidy up/service and a baseline mpg set.

40+ years of owners has left a bit of a mess in the electrical department and first on my list was to pull all of the wiring out and remove the random useless stuff and fix the factory loom before adding in some of my own goodies

after cutting a few cable ties heres what i was faced with:


the factory fusebox wasnt secured anymore and had no cover or lables, not to mention more than half the fuses missing, there were also 4 switches on the dash that did nothing as far as i could tell and many little things such a the interior light didnt work, so out came the dash and the whole interior loom:


once i removed all this useless mess:


the loom looked like this:


so i got to replacing the fusebox with a new and much more modern block of standard blade fuses:


i also added in a couple of new circuits for an audio system and thermo fan to replace the fixed mechanical one (not even a clutch fan :O)

i then started on a new facia to house the factory speedometer and aftermarket tacho, water temp, vacuum and oil press gauges as well as a full assortment of LED warning lights, new audio system, voltage guages and new switches for wipers, headlights, and other goodies


tommorow i will continue the wiring overhaul this time in the engine bay and hopefully get the facia closer to being in the car

thanks for looking

[Flakbadger]

Nice truck! Looks like despite its age the body's still straight. All I can say after seeing that initial wiring mess is "holy crap!" That was a rat's nest. Why would you even NEED that much wiring in an old truck anyway?

Good job on the modern fuses, looks like you're tidying things up nicely. It's fun to watch people fix up old stuff who aren't afraid to just dive right in. Looking forward to seeing your future progress!

~Matt

[bobo333]

Thanks,

theres a few dings here and there and the paints seen better days but for its age its doing very well, also no major rust that ive found so far which is always a good sign

it is currently my only car on the road so i needed to get that rats nest out asap and get it back together so i could drive it lol. diving right in is kinda a necessity at the moment .

i have no idea why all that wiring was in there, after pulling it all out the only things that dont work now are the yellow fog lamps on the front and the thermo fan, thats 2 wires i need to replace out of the whole mess!

i forgot to add this pic of where i am now, i needed to drive tonight so i got all of the dash wiring back in for the essentials (lights/wipers) and put the speedo in the dash lol:

[bobo333]

Hey guys,

i filled the tank up yesterday so i can start tracking how much fuel it uses, also after driving it around a lil bit ive got a list of thigs to do asap:
remove the side window tint (way too dark, cant see at night :S)
get convex blindspot mirrors (most likely on smaller lenses for better Cd at the same time)
get a taller diff (currently 1st gear is useless and 4th is revving quite high at motorway speeds, havnt got tacho hooked up to know exactly though)

also heres the last couple of dasy progress on the dash, it obviously still needs a lot of finishing work but its coming along nicely

radio and volt guages in (the rest of the space on this panel will be switches for lights, wipers etc)


guage cluster mocked up:


and the rest of the facia test fitted:


Still need a few little tweaks and a lot of finishing work... the spare 3 holes in the gauge cluster will be for water temp, oil press and vacuum, and the blank panel on the right will house some speakers

thanks for looking

[Ang84Indy]

I own a 1976 Ford F100, so I am going to be watching this thread. Mine has the step side bed, and it was equipped with very small mirrors, they would look at home on any '70s Ford car. By the way, a very good source of information on any Ford truck:

Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - Ford truck and SUV owners and enthusiasts Community And Information Source.

[Christ]

I envy your RHD vehicles.

[bobo333]

Thanks guys,

Today i spent most of the day pulling apart the engine bay wiring:


i cut out a few unnecessary joins and replaced any worn cables before re-taping all the looms up a bit neater:


i then upgraded the alternator and starter motor wires to heavier duty stuff (the factory ones were very thin


and added this fuse block for the alternator run, main power and an aux power that i ran to the interior:


i still need to upgrade the earths but it has gotten way too cold outside to continue tonight

thanks for lookin

[Sporty Modder]

Wow nice truck, and very ambitious,First thing after fixing your wiring I would do is remove the running boards/ side steps, and mud flaps.
I will be watching this one for sure.

[bobo333]

hi guys,

todays efforts involved gettin the radio in and working so i dont have to listen to the various creaks and bangs a clunks that a 35+ year old car has all the time:


then i spend the reso of the day trying to figure out why the voltage dropped enough to turn the radio off when i turn the heasdlights on... still haven't completely figured it out so tommorow im going to rewire the headlight circuit to the battery via a relay

i also replaced the spark plugs today so now its running on more than 6 cylinders lol

thanks for looking

[Neen]

Nice looking F100 and great pics! Keep them coming!