The F100 is on the road

I have been driving the F100 around all this week. It's cool. Did a lot of small things to it. Figure I might as well use it for now (more on that farther down). I put a new antenna on it. The radio works. Mostly I drive it around with the radio off though. That cowl vent in front of the windshield throws a lot of air onto your feet when the truck is moving. Very neat.

I was going to check the rear brakes when I discovered that the rear wheels have a locking lug on each. Oh-oh. They're supposed to keep people from stealing the wheels. But the truck did not come with the adapter tool. How am I going to get those off? Look at how they sit in there.
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I actually drilled them out, starting with a small drill bit, and increasing the size until I was up to 7/16". By then there is so little left they break off. You have to get that first hole centered real well though. It's a lot of drilling. Another way is to weld another nut on top of the lock, then turn on that. No real room to do that here.

The exhaust system was crap; the half that had not fallen off was held on with that thin peforated steel strap that plumbers use. It was just looped over the framerails, and under the pipes. The local muffler shop was out of 2" tubing (likely story) so I went to the house of Tony Stewart and got 10' of 2" rigid conduit. I just love makin' stuff out of welded conduit. I got some real exhaust clamps and hangers, and fabbed up a full set of dual exhaust that goes all the way out the back. Not show quality, admittedly, but good enough for this, for now. And cheap.

I made up a set of sign boards for above the bed sides. I'll letter them up to advertise my businesses. Pretty trick, right?

Avert your eyes now if you get queasy from viewing burned body parts...

...OH, TOO LATE! This is what happens when you roll onto your just-used acetylene torch tip. Only what, about 1000 degrees there? That's a full inch across, and yeah it hurts.
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The F100 actually passed inspection, so it is legally on the road. I have decided to do some fixing and just keep it around for now. So it has gotten a second chance. Some would call this indecisiveness, in politics it's "flip-flopping". I prefer to think of it as adaptability, or open-mindedness. I am going to keep it around in case the circumstances allow me to go ahead with the EV conversion. In the meantime, it will continue to get closer to being ready, should that time come, while still having utility as a second car, or just a pleasure vehicle. Ok the exhaust will not be needed, but it is needed now.
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Still to do: I need to put a new input bearing in the transmission. The brakes work, but the truck darts around under braking. The clutch may need replacing. All the wiring works, miraculously, but the electrons are the only thing holding it together; a complete re-wire is in order. I am even thinking of continuing with the frame swap, while keeping the gas motor and trans that are in it now. That would solve a lot of current problems, and still keep to the original project plans.
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I plan to go to some car "cruises" (they're more like parks) with it, to hopefully get some car work side jobs. Despite driving like a 53 year old truck, it is a lot of fun. I had forgotten how cool it is to tool around in a funky old vehicle. It is, as they say, "my bag". I've done probably 100 miles in it already. It certainly is an attention-getter, too. Might be useful to keep it around.
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Kieran, '55 or so Ford, and 2 late 40's cars of unknown make.