earthquake68 Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 I found a '79 F350 wrecker a while back and the guy held it for me until I could buy it. It had been his yard crane for years and he finally just parked it. After it sat for 5 years, slowly sinking into the ground, we used a back hoe to pull it out of it's grave.A testament to old Ford trucks. I had it fired up and running in 30 minutes after we got it home. The brakes on the other hand were a different story. I had to replace all the steel lines, brake hoses and brake master and booster. I also replaced all the fuel lines and filter. I just took it for it's maiden voyage today. I still have lots of work to do, but it's well on it's way to becoming a useful piece of equipment again. ....and yes, it'll be yellow with "Hazzard County Garage" on the door. Here's a picture of what it looks like so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerDuke Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 What a fantastic project. We look forward to seeing the progess....and 1979 is a pretty important year for Dukes fans!I love older vehicles. Even with my minimal mechanical skills I could replace distributers, starters, alternators, carbuerators, radiatiors, drive shafts and stuff like that. With these newer vehicles you can't even replace your own spark plugs without a computer. It makes me sick. Keep us updated and welcome to the HazzardNet fellow old timer. (I'm 52) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthquake68 Posted February 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 You got a couple years on me, but like Indiana Jones said, "It's not the age, it's the mileage." I got a LOT of miles on me. I'm 40 this year, but since my dad hated kids, I grew up pretty quick. At 5 years old I could explain in detail the difference between a hemi head and wedge head. I've been a gear head all my life. As far as the wrecker goes, since the bed sides are rotted anyway, I'm gonna build new ones that are closer to Cooter's truck. What I need is a good shot of the door on his yellow truck so I can reproduce the graphic. (I hand paint signs too.)Here's one I did for my wife's cousin to hang in his garage. It's 2'x4' steel and all hand painted. No stencils or vinyl graphics. (there's a neat story behind "Chevenhauser") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HossC Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 I'm looking forward to seeing this transformation. It looks like you got lucky with truck as it already has the right cab lights and a similar lightbar to Cooter's wrecker. Unlike the blue and white tow trucks, the yellow one had its graphics painted on directly. It also had some interesting pinstripe swirls around the cab: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthquake68 Posted February 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 Thanks for the screen shot! That helps. After I put some shake down miles on the truck and get it dependable, I'm gonna build new bed sides that are closer to Cooter's truck. I also want to move the light bar off the roof and mount it behind the cab like the show truck. I never did like the light bar on the roof. It promotes rust in the roof and rust is bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthquake68 Posted February 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 I got some more work done on the wrecker. Right now, I'm just concentrating on getting it road worthy. I put new style 16" wheels on the back and lost the 17.5" wheels. The tires are much shorter, so it did a lot to help the tall gear ratio. It's also starting to loosen up a little. It's starting easier and running a little better.I'm hoping to pick up a new windshield and a seat for it within the next week or so. I'll get pictures as I get stuff done. After it's a dependable tow truck, I'll go back and make the changes it needs to look like the yellow truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HossC Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 What I need is a good shot of the door on his yellow truck so I can reproduce the graphic. (I hand paint signs too.)The screengrab above is the only one of the truck graphics that I currently have, but I'll keep an eye out for other details. I think a hand-painted sign would finish the truck nicely, because the ones on the show were done that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HossC Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 I've been through most of season 3, and these are the best shots I've got so far. If you want to check for yourself, they're all from the last 10 minutes of 'Good Neighbors, Duke'. The first shows the pinstriping on the front fender.This is the clearest shot I could get of truck graphic on the door. It also shows the lightbar support.Here's a longer shot that shows the bottom of the door graphic and some more of the pinstriping.The last one is just for a close-up of the striping behind the door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthquake68 Posted March 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 WOW! Those are great shots. I think I have to buy a new quill to do all that pinstriping. I had no idea there was that much on the truck. Thanks a bunch!I got a new windshield and seat today for it. I also put insurance on it in anticipation of it getting on the road next week. (hopefully) While I have the seat out, I'm going to do the floor patches it needs. I think I have enough sheet metal to fix them. ...little by little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthquake68 Posted March 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 I got some more work done on the wrecker. For now, I'm trying to get it back on the road. It's coming along, but it's fighting me every step of the way.I decided to put my new seat in but while it was out, I wanted to patch the soft spots in the floor. Well, I pulled up the carpet and half the floor came with it. It took a minute to weld everything back together, but the truck has floors again. Now I'm on the search for a new engine. It turns out the 429 has oil pressure issues. I took it on a 4 mile test drive and the oil pressure was ZERO when I got back. ...no bueno.Anyway, here's the floors before...And with the rotted metal cut out....and finally with new metal welded in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthquake68 Posted March 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2013 I got the front wheels and tires on the wrecker. I even got some paint on them. I'm still not sure where I stand on the engine, so I'm gonna try a few different things before I yank the engine.I'm gonna start making the changes to make it look like Cooter's truck soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerDuke Posted March 18, 2013 Report Share Posted March 18, 2013 Thanks for this update. We had a guy from New Jersey build a General Lee and posted lots of pictures of it. It quickly became my favorite thread at the time. I love working on older vehicles. I was never as good as it as you are but I did a little "shade tree" work. It's not possible for a guy with my minimal skills to work on newer stuff anymore. I sure miss the satisfaction of replacing a carbeurator then tuning it up or putting in a new starter and hearing the vehicle come to life. Those were the days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthquake68 Posted March 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2013 I know what you mean. That's why I have a hotrod shop and NOT a repair shop. (although I do work on new stuff too) My favorite thing to do is make modifications and make them look like they came that way from the factory. I'm finishing up a build for a guy on a '66 Ford pick up. It's 4wd and has all factory options from an '80's Ford truck. (delay wipers, cruise, tilt wheel, power steering, factory bucket seats and center console, power disc brakes, etc.) I basically skinned an '85 Bronco with a '66 Ford F100.These fun projects like Cooter's tow truck here, keep me smiling while I'm working on the boring new stuff. I'll keep this thread up to date as much as I can with the progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerDuke Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 Are you going to replace the 429 with another one? What sized engines can you easily fit in there? I once had a 4 wheel drive 1963 F-250 with a 390 in it but as I recall it wasn't the original engine.....on second thought I think that it was an F-350. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthquake68 Posted March 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2013 The 429/460 are the same engine family. The bell housing will bolt to a 351M/400, but since I hate thise engines, that won't happen. I'll either rebuild/fix the 429, install a 460, or put a 7.3L IH diesel in it. I'm undecided at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerDuke Posted March 21, 2013 Report Share Posted March 21, 2013 Oh no, not a diesel. What would Cooter think of that? (just kidding, as long as it looks like his truck on the outside I'm sure he'll be fine) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark B / Scooter Davenport Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Old thread, but here are some screen caps for those interested: yellow wrecker screencaps by mommydawn2000, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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