Picked this up for “Free”from the Original owner , Dana 60 rear end burned up the pinion bearing in 2006 and it’s been sitting ever since .
107,000 miles on the original 360 . Bought new in 76 in Minot North Dakota. After getting orders to Eileson AFB in Fairbanks he drove it up the Alcan in 1979 Where the truck lived most of it life pulling trailers ,hauling firewood, going camping, fishing, and hunting, a slide in camper lived in it for many of those years.
In 2004 he retired from the Military after 30 years and he and his wife moved to Wasilla AK and started a custom cabinetry buisness . The truck was used for the buisness for the first year until the rear end burned up ( pulling a 35ft gooseneck enclosed trailer full off basically a Mobil cabinet shop)
As we all know , life happens plans to fix the old girl just kept getting put off , well we moved in next door about a year and 1/2 ago and if you didn’t know I’m kinda queer for the 70’s fords especially “Highboys”.
I offered to buy it multiple times since we moved in , always answered with “I’m gonna fix her up some day”
A 2006 F350 dually replaces the Highboy, and he still has that truck , it has the 6.0 and it has 6.O’d him plenty .I have bulletproffed it for him , rebuilt the front end , installed airbags , and helped him out with basic maintenance stuff . He has helped me with my seriously lacking woodworking skills .
His Wife has taken to Patty , and they have become like our Alaska Parents ( they never were able to have kids if their own)
Couple weekends ago I was over at his shop wiring in a new sander for him and James got real quiet ( silence is suspicious with a 5yr old) so we walk out the back of the shop and James is in the old ford with our German Sheperd Abby and Their blacklab Boomer riding shotgun!! He says to me all boys need a good dog and old truck! We had a good laugh and went back in to finish the job .
The other day he asked me if I would mind pulling the old ford out from behind the shop and seeing if I could get it running . I drug it out with the Cummins and it rolled pretty well . All 4-tires were up and the brakes still worked .
I went and got 5-gallons of AVGAS , a fresh group 31 battery , some marvel mystery oil , and a fresh filter and oil . I fogged all the cylinders with marvel ,changed the oil and filter , filled the float bowl with AVGAS and dumped the rest in the in cab tank and hit the key....... it fires right up and idles like a sewing machine!!!’ It was a little smoky while it burned off the marvel. But 60# of oil pressure at idle. It ran great until the fuel filter plugged up with crud from the in cab tank .
Fast forward a few days , he comes over to the garage while I’m building a FE motor for my buddy’s Jetboat and hands me the title, keys , and all the original paperwork, he said I need to fix that truck up for that little boy so he can go hunting and fishing and haul his dogs around .
I’m getting little choked up here so , long story short we have awesome neighbors and James has his first truck ( well second I guess I had planned to give him Smokey)
107,000 miles on the original 360 . Bought new in 76 in Minot North Dakota. After getting orders to Eileson AFB in Fairbanks he drove it up the Alcan in 1979 Where the truck lived most of it life pulling trailers ,hauling firewood, going camping, fishing, and hunting, a slide in camper lived in it for many of those years.
In 2004 he retired from the Military after 30 years and he and his wife moved to Wasilla AK and started a custom cabinetry buisness . The truck was used for the buisness for the first year until the rear end burned up ( pulling a 35ft gooseneck enclosed trailer full off basically a Mobil cabinet shop)
As we all know , life happens plans to fix the old girl just kept getting put off , well we moved in next door about a year and 1/2 ago and if you didn’t know I’m kinda queer for the 70’s fords especially “Highboys”.
I offered to buy it multiple times since we moved in , always answered with “I’m gonna fix her up some day”
A 2006 F350 dually replaces the Highboy, and he still has that truck , it has the 6.0 and it has 6.O’d him plenty .I have bulletproffed it for him , rebuilt the front end , installed airbags , and helped him out with basic maintenance stuff . He has helped me with my seriously lacking woodworking skills .
His Wife has taken to Patty , and they have become like our Alaska Parents ( they never were able to have kids if their own)
Couple weekends ago I was over at his shop wiring in a new sander for him and James got real quiet ( silence is suspicious with a 5yr old) so we walk out the back of the shop and James is in the old ford with our German Sheperd Abby and Their blacklab Boomer riding shotgun!! He says to me all boys need a good dog and old truck! We had a good laugh and went back in to finish the job .
The other day he asked me if I would mind pulling the old ford out from behind the shop and seeing if I could get it running . I drug it out with the Cummins and it rolled pretty well . All 4-tires were up and the brakes still worked .
I went and got 5-gallons of AVGAS , a fresh group 31 battery , some marvel mystery oil , and a fresh filter and oil . I fogged all the cylinders with marvel ,changed the oil and filter , filled the float bowl with AVGAS and dumped the rest in the in cab tank and hit the key....... it fires right up and idles like a sewing machine!!!’ It was a little smoky while it burned off the marvel. But 60# of oil pressure at idle. It ran great until the fuel filter plugged up with crud from the in cab tank .
Fast forward a few days , he comes over to the garage while I’m building a FE motor for my buddy’s Jetboat and hands me the title, keys , and all the original paperwork, he said I need to fix that truck up for that little boy so he can go hunting and fishing and haul his dogs around .
I’m getting little choked up here so , long story short we have awesome neighbors and James has his first truck ( well second I guess I had planned to give him Smokey)
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