I thought you were supposed to fix all that stuff on the side of the road, on the way to Florida. Where is your sense of adventure. 
Our man Gary went to town, diving into the rear brakes and getting the new Falken tires mounted and balanced.
And that’s why the rear brakes were frozen to the drum. The rear brakes had probably never been replaced in the truck's life.
With the ramp truck safely at Cobra Automotive, Curt and his crew looked it over and made us a list of what it would need. Their list is at the bottom of this update.
Our first call was to our friends at Falken Tire. We decided right away that some small amount of safety needed to be thrust into this whole crazy plan. We had seven new Falken R 52 Heavy Duty tires in 215/85R16LT shipped to Cobra Automotive.
Our next call was to National Parts Depot. While working with them on our Shelby Mustang project a few years back, we realized they had a great selection of classic Ford truck parts, too. So we asked them to send hoses and other basic tune-up parts to Cobra Automotive.
We also called Mac’s Tie Downs and had them ship one of their ProPack 6 foot tie down strap packages. This complete kit—with 24-inch axle straps—would be a much safer way to strap the Spitfire to the truck than the old rusty chains that came with the flatbed.
Now all we needed were boots on the ground in Connecticut to diagnose the rear brake and carburetor problems. Luckily, one of our best guys, Gary Hunter, was already heading to nearby Lime Rock Park to represent the magazine for a vintage race weekend. We sweet-talked him into stopping by Cobra Automotive and looking over the tired old truck so we could get parts ordered for when we arrived a month later.
When the time came, Gary not only brought the carburetor back to Florida, but rebuilt the rear brakes, and got our new Falken Tires mounted and balanced at a local truck tire shop that could deal with the old-fashioned split rims.
Ramp Truck Repair List
Diagnose right rear wheel that is locked up right now
Change belts and hoses
Check all fluids
Change carb for rebuilt unit
Check brakes, top off system and possibly bleed
Flush fuel system and change fuel filter
Change oil and filter
Flush radiator
Replace battery
Check charging system
Clean vehicle
Finish tune up with cap and rotor, plugs, set timing etc.
Fix broken running light on left rear of bed
Change tires and make sure spare is intact
Check operation of winch assembly
Check wheel bearings
Make spare key
Bring basic tool kit for trip
I thought you were supposed to fix all that stuff on the side of the road, on the way to Florida. Where is your sense of adventure.
Toyman01 wrote: I thought you were supposed to fix all that stuff on the side of the road, on the way to Florida. Where is your sense of adventure.
We're learning?
Check out what's parked inside the garage behind the ramp truck. Yes, lots of cool stuff at that shop.
Add: Change water pump. Sure it might feel fine and might not be leaking but way waste a good rad should it decide to let go on the ride home. it's been sitting a long time.
44Dwarf wrote: Add: Change water pump. Sure it might feel fine and might not be leaking but way waste a good rad should it decide to let go on the ride home. it's been sitting a long time.
+1. Ford water pumps are cheap and much easier to replace in a shop than on the side of the road...
This is a very cool project! So envious! If you need help when you are in the Carolinas, message me!
TiggerWelder wrote: This is a very cool project! So envious! If you need help when you are in the Carolinas, message me!
Thanks. And, yes, everyone needs a ramp truck.
I had a '69 F100 that would periodically lock only the right rear wheel with any touch of the brakes. It had a 9" rear end - the rear axle bearings are square shouldered and pressed onto the axle, and the grease seals sit just inboard of the bearings. On my truck there was a scar on the inside surface of the housing where the seal sat. The metal outer part of the seal covered it - it looked like a tool gouge from poor seal removal techniques. After about six months enough gear oil would force its way through to run into the brake drum and the first touch of the brakes cemented the 3" wide shoe to the drum surface with 90wt gear oil, locking up that wheel and casing to truck to pirouette right if you were under 20mph. Above that and it created a smoking flat spot on the right rear tire. It was fun. I miss that truck.
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