Brand New Used Truck

Brand New Used Truck; Now turned Build Thread

Well, I brought home my first IDI truck, not my first IDI engine though. I found a 1987 F-350 CCLB dually. She was a little rough but few trucks like this were bought new to baby. It is said to have a rebuilt 7.3 with a C6 and 3000 or so miles from a U-Haul truck, Group 31's already, a complete and solid interior, 4.10 LS rear, frame had been rust proofed, vinyl floors and seats, no tilt or cruise or radio or intermittent wipers but it HAS A/C, and free F-550 springs with overloads. Now the bad; glow plugs are on a push button, A/C needs attention, and some wiring needs straightened out.

Now comes the fun of getting the truck on the road. The guy got it stuck in the snow over the winter and decided to hook a strap to the tie rod, so it got bent. We took everything from the 20lb sledge to the high-lift jack to some chains and a ratchet strap. We got a chain warped around the tie rod, a chain around the rear "holy heavy" bumper and stuck the high-lift in the middle and started to pull. After some handle extensions were added we got the wheel pointed the right direction. Then the rear brake line needed to be pinched off to one wheel since the line broke.

Once the truck was on the road an unseen exhaust leak became very apparent. The box sounded as if it was going to be laying in the middle of the expressway by the end of the trip. The slight black smoke from starting at a stop sign cleared up shortly after the trip started (less than five miles, and the truck sat for six months or so not moving). One headlight was pointing four feet in front of the truck, and the other at the trees in the ditch. The gauges had a tendency to bounce around. Other than that the truck drove great with no wobbles or wandering between 65-70 MPh and shifted smooth, it could use an alignment dunno why??

You guys wouldn't happen to have a wiring diagram now would you?












Free floating B-pillar

Earlier this month I called on a Craigslist add for a 1985 crew cab for $600. The posting had expired and I had fortunately saved the phone number. I talked with the guy and decided it was worth a look so I asked his price and he threw out the number of $350 and I said I would be down the following weekend. I have to order a patch panel from LMC or the like to fix the drivers side floor. The mounts and cab corners are solid. The cab was said to have come from Missouri to Ohio then got sold to a guy in Michigan who had it sitting on a truck for ten years and never drove it before it was sold back into Ohio.

Last weekend I picked up a ZF-5 from a 460 with intentions to Typ4 it, along with the headlight and some plastic for my dad's project. The deal wasn't to bad although it is only 2wd so I will run a divorced NP205 or similar case when I convert my truck to a 4x4.

Last night I worked a deal for a 1990 F-350 that was IDI, but sadly wrecked, owned by a friend. I am trading my dad's rolling chassis from his truck for it. The thing is in excellent shape with no apparent rust, dents are limited to the inside of the box. This truck was run off the road and broke the main leaf on the rear along with curling the passenger rocker under, and popped a pinch weld on the cab. We pulled the IDI and ZF from it for him so he can drop it into a 197? F-600 flatbed. My dad will use the dash and wiring harness along with some interior parts to convert his F-250 body over to diesel. I will take the bed and replace the rattle trap I have hanging on by it's last thread.

I got the box pulled over the weekend and the rear bumper cut off.

Now the real fun begins. It looks like a four flat trailer plug was used to power my tail lights. The marker light wiring on the fenders need to be replaced, some were left unhooked others were just missing.

I have been having hard start issues that I thought was due to a leak in the return line system allowing it to bleed back down. I ordered a return line kit form Typ4 and got set of ZD-9 glowplugs from another member here to replace things under the hood.
The PO had the glowplug system wired into a push button that I disconnected before plugs got burnt up. I went and tracked everything down over the cobble-hacked-spliced-together-rat's nest of a wiring job for the push button and to my surprise it was connected CORRECTLY!! I checked voltage at the plugs and found that some had voltage others didn't. I found a lose connection to be my problem. My truck now starts on it's own with out excessive cranking and jumping the batteries.

I got the new cab stripped down to just the steering wheel, wiring harness, heater ducts, and seat belts left attached to remove this leek so I can start to sand blast and patch the one pesky hole in the floor.

Still need the wiring diagram? Go to Autozone, put in your truck, go to repairs, then wiring diagrams, scroll down til you find your truck.
Found it for you, pick engine electrical or chassis electrical, then wiring diagrams
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideMain.jsp

Thanks for the tip. I found out shortly after I posted this that I can access all of the Chilton books through the library at college's on-line database. I will have to keep that in mind once I graduate.

Coyote_Red said:

Thanks for the tip. I found out shortly after I posted this that I can access all of the Chilton books through the library at college's on-line database. I will have to keep that in mind once I graduate.

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Chilton isn't very good, Haynes Techbook Diesel Engine repair Manual is better.

I am not a Chilton fan either. I have found some reprints of the factory International book I need to get my hands on, if the reviews turn up okay for them. Only problem is that doesn't cover the Chassis wiring.

Pushbutton glowplugs > Ether

My Chilton's manual that came with the black truck got a good workout last week... We had ran out of TP in the trailer and luckily had the Chilton's close by... Saved me a trip to the drug store in the middle of the night.

SparkandFire said:

Pushbutton glowplugs > Ether

My Chilton's manual that came with the black truck got a good workout last week... We had ran out of TP in the trailer and luckily had the Chilton's close by... Saved me a trip to the drug store in the middle of the night.

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I do have to agree with you but;
Proper Glowplug system > pushbutton

In due time I will get the wiring straightened out along with all the electrical systems.

Coyote_Red said:

I do have to agree with you but;
Proper Glowplug system > pushbutton

In due time I will get the wiring straightened out along with all the electrical systems.

Click to expand...

This is true, I was just thinking that it's good the previous owner took the time to at least get the glowplugs somewhat functional. I went to look at a truck one time where the owner popped the hood, spray about five seconds worth of starting fluid into the air cleaner, and went to crank it up... I debated shouting "STOP" but, I figured why ruin a good show. He cranked it up (batteries were very weak) and it banged and clacked and smoked to life... I said "thanks, but no thanks" on that one.

SparkandFire said:

This is true, I was just thinking that it's good the previous owner took the time to at least get the glowplugs somewhat functional. I went to look at a truck one time where the owner popped the hood, spray about five seconds worth of starting fluid into the air cleaner, and went to crank it up... I debated shouting "STOP" but, I figured why ruin a good show. He cranked it up (batteries were very weak) and it banged and clacked and smoked to life... I said "thanks, but no thanks" on that one.

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I don't know why you would pass up that beauty. It starts so well that it doesn't even need full batteries . The things some people will do to band-aid by instead of fixing the real problem just amaze me. I can understand a quick sniff to get you back from an emergency situation.

I got the new cab stripped down to just the steering wheel, wiring harness, heater ducts, and seat belts left attached to remove this leek so I can start to sand blast and patch the one pesky hole in the floor.[/QUOTE]

me thinks,,from the one pic,,with the rusted pillar,,youd be better of,,to look for a diff cab.....thats major..

sassyrel said:

I got the new cab stripped down to just the steering wheel, wiring harness, heater ducts, and seat belts left attached to remove this leek so I can start to sand blast and patch the one pesky hole in the floor.

Click to expand...

me thinks,,from the one pic,,with the rusted pillar,,youd be better of,,to look for a diff cab.....thats major..[/QUOTE]


I got a new cab that is being stripped down. If the pillar in the picture you are referring to is red that is the old cab that will be going to the scrapper; It is very, very, rough. The blue cab has a hole that will be replaced with a patch piece and a few dings bumped out.

very cool project! Cant wait to see some pictures of the progress

Coyote_Red said:

me thinks,,from the one pic,,with the rusted pillar,,youd be better of,,to look for a diff cab.....thats major..

Click to expand...

I got a new cab that is being stripped down. If the pillar in the picture you are referring to is red that is the old cab that will be going to the scrapper; It is very, very, rough. The blue cab has a hole that will be replaced with a patch piece and a few dings bumped out.[/QUOTE]

skipped right over that!!