Teething Problems with the '67 F250

I had some super gnarly dental surgery a few days after I got the F250, so it was a couple of weeks before I had a chance to do anything other than look at the truck. Then, on a Saturday morning about three weeks ago, I went out and tried to start the truck....and it was dead! This was unexpected because I had driven it almost 300 miles without any problems and the battery should be fully charged. I had a go at jumping the truck from the RAV4 and it started right up. After letting it run for 20 minutes or so I drained the oil, changed the oil filter, and refilled with new oil. Then I left the battery to charge for a bit and went on to the next thing.

When I came back a few hours later the battery was fully charged and the truck was.....still totally dead! And what's more, this time it obstinately would not start with a jump from the Toyota. Oh dear, oh dear oh dear. 

So, not the battery, but pretty clearly an electrical problem of some kind. Which is not that surprising really, given the electrical system is supposedly 50+ years old and all the visible sections are crusty to say the least. I'd like to say that I traced the problem to a bad starter solenoid and corroded battery cables within a few minutes, but it did take a while longer than that. If you're not familiar, the starter solenoid connects the battery to the starter motor when the ignition key is turned.

the starter solenoid mounts at the left side of the engine bay

I replaced the starter solenoid, and I made two (2) new battery cables because I already had some #2 gauge cable and hardware left over from re-wring the mustang, and I already bought the crimping tool. 

I only had black cable so I wrapped some red electrical tape around the positive section. At some point I will probably replace the entire wiring harness...

I also installed a battery hold down strap, which the truck didn't have when I got it (!) As you can see from the next photo, I am not heading down the classic restoration route with this vehicle. I'm not going to worry about keeping everything looking stock, functionality is the priority. After this was all done, the '67 started up at the first turn of the ignition key! 

I couldn't fix the lock at the passenger door so I decided to change the lock barrels at both doors and at the ignition. I also swapped the miniature air cleaner for one I had at the back of the garage; this one came off the mustang back when it had a six cylinder engine, so I've been storing it for a while. I had to take off the "200 ci" sticker since this truck has a 352 ci V8. 

I also installed the "O" at the front of the hood and added the proper fasteners to the other letters. The previous owner told me he was planning to install the "O" with superglue, but (fortunately) he did not have time...

What's next? Well first of all I need to make a few trips to the city dump. The garage and the back yard are overflowing with crap that I need to get rid off. After that, the radiator/fan shroud needs a serious re-think. I also need to get the turn signals and horn working and do something about the sloppy steering...watch this space!