The "I've never done this before" build.
 

Here we go, I've never taken on an endeavor this large before. I've built a few motorcycles and I'm an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force so I am confident in my mechanical abilities. I got a steal on this '72 longbed out of eastern Colorado. The truck has a really solid frame and body. The 250 straight six is pretty tired and has some pretty gnarly blow by that's coming out the rocker cover breather. I don't have much of a game plan right now as I just got the truck two days ago. I've been poking around and am pretty happy with its condition, overall. I ripped the floor mats and seat out last night to look at the floors and again, I think I'm starting off better than most. This is gonna be a rolling project and I'm gonna have a lot of questions. I'm not new to forums though so I will search my hardest before I ask some newbie stuff and piss everyone off. Here's Old Blue as she sits right now.

Re: The "I've never done this before" build.
 

Looks great. You're way better off than I am. I have very little background with mechanics on cars and I have way more rust to deal with. Best of luck!

Re: The "I've never done this before" build.
 

Great looking truck. It looks pretty solid will be a great project. I will be happy to answer any questions you have.

Re: The "I've never done this before" build.
 

Thanks Will same to you.

Becker, thank you in advance. I am already finding quite a few things that, with mechanical knowledge of how **** SHOULD work, are looking questionable. Although I drove it two hours home so, in my eyes, that's a testament to how tough these trucks are. I'm sure I'll be picking your brain along with many others who are hopefully as eager to share their knowledge.

Re: The "I've never done this before" build.
 

So in the meantime while I save for an SBC swap and some other work this summer I got the little I6 running a bit better. It's still smoking cause the rings are shot but it's runnin better than before. I swapped in a remanunfactured distributor cause the old one had a ton of play in the shaft bushings so I opted for a reman one instead of rebuilding mine, a new coil, new plugs and wires, new dizzy cap and a new fuel filter. All said and done like $140 so I can rip around while bigger things are brewing for the truck. I adjusted the valves, which were all kinda outta whack. Loose on some and tight others. It'll do for now. Note to self, and others, ALWAYS check your plug wires for proper order. I spent a bit of time scratching my head over a misfire before I remembered, 1-5-3-6-2-4 NOT 1-3-5-6-2-4 ��

Re: The "I've never done this before" build.
 

I’m pretty bad about not keeping up with this. But a lot has gone down with the truck. Ripped out the I6, cleaned up the bay, new inner fenders, new radiator support, got a hood that doesn’t have holes in it, pulled all the wiring out of the engine bay. I’ve been slowly building my sbc in the garage. It’s almost ready to go in. Trans and driveshaft are rebuilt and painted. Bellhousing is painted. Next is new wiring harnesses for the bay. Going HEI on the new motor and doing a three wire alternator.

Also hit the paint with a wool wheel and polishing compound. Got a pretty nice patina with a nice gloss to it.

Here’s the motor. I’ll try and put up some more pics once I get this thing rolling under it’s own power.

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Re: The "I've never done this before" build.
 

Nice lookin' project. Looks like it's going well.

Re: The "I've never done this before" build.
 

Finished up in February. After engine break in I did a 2000 road trip to New Braunfels Texas and back, with my Panhead, firewood and camping gear in the bed. 70 on the highway the entire way and not so much as a hiccup. Averaged 14 MPG. Been daily driving ever since and this thing cant be beat.

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