1965 F250’s Rejuvenation

Urchy, from memory where the grease nipples go into the king pins, there are screw in caps top & bottom. Might pay to check on them. Cheers & good luck Tim

Far better to have the pins tight and hard to remove than have them come out with just a light tap. It's a good indication that they are not worn in the axle "eyes", which can become a major job to fix.
Good luck. You are going great so far, for a "simple rejuvenation".
Steve.

Good point wee -allis. I’ll check for the screws Tim mentioned just incase that’s what’s going.

Tim, thanks for the thought, I’ll investigate that on the drivers side when I start getting into it.

wee-allis, as for the rejuvenation....they say every 20 minute job is a snapped bolt away from a 3 day ordeal. I had hoped to be done by now but between the lack of time and the valve issue it’s blown that way out. Glad to have the support from all of you in here to get me to this point. Fingers crossed I’m coming into a bit more spare time shortly. Hopeful for some decent progress.

If I can get the brakes sorted in the next week (before I go back to work) it will be mobile for the first time since I’ve had it. For the F250, it will be the first time in well over 10 years that it’s moved under its own steam, really looking forward to that moment.

It’s blowing a bit of smoke since putting the head back on, hoping its simply due to the solvents/oils I used for cleaning the head, pistons etc and NOT due to the wear in the bore. Don’t recall it blowing smoke like this before tearing the head down. Will cross that hurdle later if it doesn’t clear up.

I wholeheartedly agree with your comment re the support received Urchy87, it certainly helps, and remember there are probably others who don't necessarily make a comment but read/follow/support your efforts.

Hang in there, and hopefully that great 300 picks up for you.

According to Motors Truck Repair book ,the F350 has a single tapered lock bolt securing the kingpin......There also appear to be sheet steel expansion plugs to keep dirt out.

Hang in there and be patient urchy. you will beat the b@st@rd soon enough. I never thought I would get that McDonald running again in the early days but now it is a genuine mossie killer.
As for the smokey engine maybe jsut neds a good long run at temp and under load to free up the rings. At this stage I wouldn't be bothered too much about it. Hope you do get to spend some more time on it.

PDU, spot on. I read through others work in here but as I have no knowledge on what they are doing I just read along without commenting. Certainly know
I’ll get there. Can’t wait to be able to spend some decent time on it. At the moment it’s a couple hours here and a couple hours there but a good part of that is setting/packing up. Not that I’m complaining, glad to be able to do it at all.

Cheers JOHN.K, that sounds about spot on. This seems to run the same front end as the F350. There is a steel boot/shroud on the bottom side which I assume is the sheet steel expansion plug they are referring to, unable to think of what else it might be. I’ll try to get them out again after a few K’s for an inspection, the fresh grease might free things up a bit.

Cheers cobbadog, I’m hoping the same re the smoke and a few decent heat cycles. There is certainly more time for me to work on it coming. Kids are in school and partner is back to full time work at an office instead of part time working from home. With that combined and my work hours it results in spare time for me to go down to the back shed without feeling guilt because I should be doing things with them. I’ll look for a thread on the McDonald when I have a cuppa next.

Still aiming for the brakes to be sorted by the end of this coming week. Seat will be dropped to the upholsterer also. Will be a 6 to 8 week wait for that to be complete. Will only be getting a basic job done, likely to be grey vinyl. These two jobs will have it near roadworthy ready. I’ll make it a bit more presentable before taking it in though. Chassis/underbody will get some paint, new door rubbers and a dint in the drivers side door will get pulled out. Less reason for them to think otherwise that way.

Urchy87,
As they say these days"That sounds like a plan"
I, too, believe that once the motor has run for a little while, preferably under load (driving the vehicle) the motor will settle down and the smoke will disappear. The Ford "Canadian" sixes were a good motor. I had one in a bus and was very disappointed in it until I had the distributor and carburettor overhauled. The difference was amazing. The bus was a Ford R Model and I do not remember any problem replacing the kingpins. Your truck may not be so straighforward but keep at it, you will get there.
I have followed the story of your work along with many others and have often been tempted to comment.

Cheers Morris, the support is appreciated. Might just need a bigger hammer for the kingpins. Haha. Was thinking I might get a bottle jack under them and give the general area a tap whilst under pressure. Would be surprised if the doesn’t get the job done. I’ll run it up and down the fence line a few times as soon as the wheels are back on it. Have got other options for longer runs if that doesn’t clear the engine up.

Urchy, from reading your last post on the king pins, the plugs John K was referring to are dish type expansion plugs on the top and bottom of the stub axle to keep dirt out of the king pins, similar to welch plugs in the cooling system.

From your description the "steel boot/shroud on the bottom side", this sounds like you are seeing the thrust race between the stub axle and the bottom of the axle eye.
Just my thoughts.
Steve.