Freeing Clint Black's Flooded F-100

(Marc)>> You're watching Powernation!

(Eric)>> Hey y'all, today we're kicking off our new season with a famous Ford that's had a good run of bad luck.

(Joel)>> That's right! We're gonna be plucking the heart out of this fubar Ford and see if it's got any pep left in its step.

(Eric)>> Then we're gonna open the flood gates and tear into that transmission so that when the truck gets running it'll actually get down the road. All that and more coming up on Music City Trucks. [ Music ]

(Joel)>> Nothing cooler than an old pickup, am I right? [ Music ]

(Eric)>> Underneath all this dirt there's probably a pretty good truck. You know, here on Music City Trucks we've done a lot of really cool projects, but I don't think any of them are quite as cool as what we've got behind this door.

(Joel)>> Behind door number six here is not only a piece of automotive history but it truly encapsulates the name on our shirt. Get her open. [ door rattling ]

(Joel)>> This hidden gem is a 1960 Ford F-100. Nothing cooler than an old Ford pickup, am I right? This particular F-100 belongs to legendary country music superstar Clint Black. If you're a fan of Clint you've definitely seen this old Ford before. Its timeless design features a classic rounded cab with subtle stylish lines tying into that iconic grille.

(Eric)>> Lost them both.

(Joel)>> Ain't got enough lead in my pencil. That wasn't a pain in the butt!

(Eric)>> With this truck sitting in storage for over 25 years driving it onto the trailer wasn't an option. [ mechanical humming ]

(Eric)>> The springs in this seat feel like the ones in that mattress at your grandma's house that every family member has slept in since the '80s. [ Music ] [ ratchet clicking ]

(Eric)>> That was a little harder than I thought it would be.

(Joel)>> Definitely harder than it needed to be. You know the story on this old truck?

(Clint)>> The story of this truck is it was found for me to use in my first music video, A Better Man. So I drove it in the video. I used it in the second video, Killin' Time, and then I hit the road forever, and ever, and ever. 20 years go by I realize I need to do something with it.

(Joel)>> So Clint had us haul his beloved 1960 Ford pickup into the shop to see what we could do to get it up and running for his tour. It has an original inline six that doesn't look too shabby but someone has definitely made some questionable engineering choices that we'll have to address. And according to Clint, this truck has had its own history of hangups.

(Clint)>> The last time I drove it I'd normally at a rodeo I'd ride in on horseback. I thought, after those two videos I would drive the truck instead, and I did. I got halfway to the stage and it broke down. They managed to fix it. They told me it was the transmission. They fixed it with a coat hanger. Just enough to get it off the field. I haven't driven it since. It's a fantastic piece of automotive history. The work that Music City Trucks is gonna do on it you've gotta see. They love doing this stuff so much, and those guys having that same kind of passion I just know it's gonna be better than I imagine. You hear that guys, pressure's on!

(Joel)>> Clint we appreciate you stopping into the shop. Here's your old 1960 Ford F-100. How's it feel to look at it after all these years?

(Clint)>> Fantastic to see it again, and the idea that I'm gonna be able to drive it again I can't even tell you how that makes me feel.

(Joel)>> Initial walk around the truck it's definitely got some cosmetic damage and stuff like that. We've got a flat tire on that side.

(Clint)>> Look away from the dents.

(Joel)>> It gives it character, right?

(Clint)>> If you don't see that dent it looks almost new.

(Joel)>> Why don't you come around the front here. We'll actually pop the hood. The old hoods are heavy. What's this? It's got a soda can for the air cleaner. Did you put that there?

(Clint)>> I did not put that there. You can just keep that Coke can but chrome it out.

(Joel)>> Chrome adds 10 horsepower, did you know that?

(Eric)>> One of the things we love the most about these old trucks is you've got room to actually get in and fix it. Even with something like this that's been sitting for as long as it has we've got room to actually work around and get it back on the road for you.

(Joel)>> We want you to be able to get back into it, and fire it up, and just cruise it for when you did 30 years ago.

(Clint)>> Sounds like fun.

(Joel)>> Let's look at the rest of the truck. Something that's been sitting this long. It's got old drum brakes. It'd probably be best if we do through new shoes, new drums. Just completely do the whole thing cause safety's gonna be the number one priority on any kind of barn find, or old truck, or anything that's been sitting a while.

(Clint)>> I like that safety part.

(Joel)>> For sure, and probably some shocks. We'll go through the steering linkage.

(Eric)>> By the time we get done with this the end goal is for you to be able to hop in whenever you feel like it wherever you feel like driving this thing.

(Clint)>> Hard to imagine.

(Joel)>> How long has it been since you sat behind that steering wheel?

(Clint)>> It's been 30 years or more.

(Eric)>> What do you say we get you back in this thing?

(Clint)>> I'd like to sit in there. The door still opens.

(Eric)>> Wonder if that coat hanger's still hanging out down there?

(Joel)>> That'd be cool if it was.

(Clint)>> I want a picture of that.

(Joel)>> I bet you've got a lot of good memories sitting in that driver's seat don't you?

(Clint)>> I'm remembering now that it doesn't have a radio.

(Eric)>> We'll get in and make sure all those gauges are working too. That way you know you don't have anything to worry about once you get it back on the road.

(Joel)>> Law abiding man like you doesn't need a working speedometer anyways.

(Clint)>> I know what 90 looks like.

(Joel)>> We know you're a busy man and you want to get going on your tour, but next time you see this thing I think you're gonna be pretty happy with it.

(Eric)>> Next time you sit in that seat you'll be driving it down the road.

(Clint)>> In the meantime I'm leaving here a better man.

(Joel)>> Never gets old. [ Music ] Up next, we stop killing time and pluck the heart from this old Ford.

(Joel)>> Well guys it's an honor and a privilege that mister Clint Black enstrusted us to get his old 1960 Ford F-100 back on the road. During initial inspection we went through everything including the brakes, suspension, fuel, and cooling systems. However we did run into one more serious issue that we did not anticipate.

(Eric)>> Any time you're dealing with a truck that's been sitting for a long time like this one the biggest question is always gonna be will it run. Before you try and run it there's a few things you've got to check. Fluids, make sure all the parts are there, and make sure it actually turns over, and that is where we ran into our issue because this should really be moving right now, especially with a breaker bar this big on it. Our first step is gonna have to be to yank this out of here and see if it can even be rebuilt.

(Joel)>> It reminds me when I was working at a restoration shop we actually did a 1960 Ford F-100 and we ended up nicknaming that thing Murphy after Murphy's Law. Whatever could go wrong went wrong. [ Music ]

(Eric)>> Now that we've got things moving there's a hole in the radiator.

(Joel)>> Wouldn't have it any other way.

(Eric)>> I don't think a radiator hose is supposed to sound like that.

(Joel)>> Smells good! That is a genuine FoMoCo part right there my friend. This old Ford pickup is kind of an odd duck, and parts and hardware are a little hard to come by. So be sure when you're tackling a project like this tag and bag everything. These old Ford trucks rust out in the weirdest spots don't they?

(Eric)>> At least with Chevys you know exactly where they're gonna rust every single time.

(Joel)>> Sometimes these little screws get pretty rusty. Shock them by giving them a couple of taps like that and they break free. So far almost every nut, bolt, and screw has given us a little bit of fits. This thing's definitely rustier than we anticipated, but we're still making great progress. I've got a couple more things to loosen up here in the front while Eric tackles a few things in the back.

(Eric)>> The first thing we're gonna be doing back here is getting this driveshaft disconnected from our rear axle. As you can see, this thing's been leaking for who knows how long. In this case it's probably gonna help us a little bit cause all that leakage is gonna make sure that these didn't rust over and get seized up. [ drill humming ]

(Eric)>> Sounds like you're having a ton of fun up there.

(Joel)>> Want to switch me?

(Eric)>> I think I'm alright. That looked like water.

(Joel)>> Not good! That's not a good sign if there's that much moisture coming out of the tail shaft.

(Eric)>> I'm gonna go grab a drain so we can pop that drain plug and see what the rest of it looks like.

(Joel)>> Just out of our morbid curiosity if nothing else. [ ratchet clicking ]

(Eric)>> I can smell it already!

(Joel)>> Rusty, watery, gross gear oil. That is straight water right there.

(Eric)>> That's bad! Should be the last one. Got it?

(Joel)>> Yes sir!

(Eric)>> Finally!

(Joel)>> With everything out of the way we're finally ready to pluck this thing out of here. Now the reason why we went this route is because we are pulling the engine and transmission out as one unit. To get all of that up and over that tall core support that was gonna be a pain. This is gonna be much easier. [ Music ] [ mechanical humming ] [ Music ] [ drill humming ] [ Music ]

(Eric)>> Give it a shot and see what happens. That's gonna lean quite a bit. Think maybe we should get a chain we can run up just to support this side. Now probably gonna need a longer bolt here in the washer. That bottom link, right thread? Beautiful! There we go, it works! A little bit drippy. That's coming out of the dipstick tube.

(Joel)>> Water in the crankcase I'm gonna say.

(Eric)>> That'll do her! [ Music ] Oh boy! You know what we've got to do now. We've got to crack this thing open and see what's going on.

(Joel)>> If nothing else out of our morbid curiosity. I wonder if this thing was in a flood or something.

(Eric)>> Coming up, we get our hands on something that's old, new, borrowed, and blue.

(Eric)>> So with everything we found inside that engine and all the water that came out of this transmission it's pretty safe to say we're gonna have to bust this thing open and see what's going on in there. This is, based on these numbers up here on the top, a BorgWarner T-85 that Ford used from 1953 to 1962. It's not anything special. It's not gonna make your truck any faster, but it is a good, reliable transmission if you're not putting a lot of power to the rear wheels. Now as you can see our third and reverse linkage is still perfectly fine but the first and second, not going anywhere. Now our input shaft still spins good. So I think we'll be able to rebuild this but the only way to find out is to get it torn apart. The first step, we've got to get this clutch shift fork popped out. That actually came out really easy. Something I thought was really interesting about this particular truck is that it had a factory equipped hydraulic clutch, which I've never seen in a truck this old. I think that's pretty cool. [ ratchet clicking ]

(Eric)>> Slide that off there. While you're tearing these apart be on the look out for anything broken, showing any signs of excess wear, and definitely any rust. Which if we're gonna find anything inside of this it's probably gonna be rust. You do want to try and be careful, make sure you don't break anything, and especially if you're dealing with something this old you won't find replacements. I know this thing's been in storage for quite a while, but all this all over the engine and transmission. Everything else really makes you wonder what this truck did before Clint got it. [ Music ] And that right there is exactly what we expected to find. Let's get these guts pulled out and see just how bad it is. [ Music ] There we go! That's a good release. Definitely not as bad as it could be. I think it's pretty safe to say that we could definitely rebuild this, but that's gonna require finding some parts. I'm gonna go take a look.

(Joel)>> Obviously that old engine that we pulled out of Clint Black's 1960 Ford F-100 has kicked the bucket. And yeah, technically it could be saved with some serious machine work, but in the spirit of saving ourselves some time and some coin we visited a friend up in Waverly, Tennessee, and he had this one sitting in his boneyard. Now this particular model actually came out of a '63 or '64 F-100, which they are pretty much the same except for the position of the thermostat, timing cover, and motor mounts among a couple of other things. The most important part is that it does spin freely. However it's a little bit ugly on the outside. So I'm gonna get to work tearing off all these accessories and start prepping it for some paint. Now the first thing I'm zipping off is this exhaust manifold, which is also the intake manifold. Now when you're taking this off you want to make sure that you keep all of your bolts in order because they do have different sizes and lengths, and it does matter when you go to put it back together. [ Music ] If I was exposed to this much heat and elements for the past 60 years I'd be pretty crusty too. I'm gonna go ahead and mask all these off. So I'm gonna be flinging some debris here when I start using a wire wheel to clean all this gunk off. Better be safe than sorry I guess. Knuckle buster, gotta love it. Usually these just have a thick gasket on them but looks like somebody used some of this gasket sealant or gasket maker to use in place of the old school gasket cause it's missing half of it. The water pump's a little crusty. Hopefully, we can get another one. Earlier I mentioned the motor mounts. On Clint's old truck it has two motor mounts that sit on both sides and come down at a diagonal, but on these later model ones the front motor mounts actually mount to the front crossmember. You guys remember that old flatbed that Music City Trucks built a little while back? That's kinda the same setup, but swapping these out not that big a deal. [ trilling ] [ brush scraping noise ] [ compressed air hissing ] [ grinder humming ]

(Joel)>> At this point I'm not trying to strip everything down underneath the paint. Just trying to get all this loose grime and grease off just so we have a nice, smooth platform for when I go to lay down some paint. Up next, we mask up for prime time and start feeling blue.

(Joel)>> Well after a few hours of some elbow grease we're just about ready to lay some color on our inline six here. Before we do that we need to tape off all of our ports, and for you guys doing this at home I've got a little masking trick for you. Most of these openings have these little sharp edges, and you can use those to your advantage. Basically all you're gonna do is spread your masking tape all the way across. As you set it down you want to push firmly as much as you can, and then here's where the trick comes in. Take you a rubber mallet and you're just gonna go gently all around those little sharp edges. As I'm doing this it's just nice, little taps, not trying to necessarily kill it. What it does is gives you an imprint on your masking tape and then that will provide a little bit of a roadmap to where you need to cut with your razor blade. [ Music ]

Last step we're gonna clean everything with wax and grease remover and we're ready for some primer. [ compressed air hissing ] [ Music ]

(Joel)>> I feel like I'm mixing this in a big ole witch's cauldron. [ paint gun hissing ]

(Joel)>> This black epoxy primer is ideal for our first coat because it's sturdy, neutralizes rust, and has a high heat threshold. [ paint gun hissing ]

(Joel)>> The color we chose to lay down is Ford Corporate Blue courtesy of our pals at POR-15. [ paint gun hissing ]

(Joel)>> I know Clint is a big fan of black but black and blue have been known to go together a time or two.

(Eric)>> While Joel was getting our engine cleaned up and painted I went ahead and took some of the smaller parts and got them refurbished. Things like brackets, manifolds, and some other little stuff.

(Joel)>> Some of the stuff is really hard to come by. So we've got a good mixture of old parts and new parts, but for everything we've got on the table I think it's gonna look pretty sweet on that old engine. [ Music ] Something oddly satisfying about this kind of work isn't there?

(Eric)>> Simple, easy, this thing's gonna look great when we get done. [ ratchet clicking ] [ Music ]

(Joel)>> One thing I do love about these old trucks. They are simple!

(Eric)>> I don't think it gets much more simple than a base model F-100.

(Joel)>> You know what's crazy about the Titanic? After all these years the swimming pool is still full of water, fun fact! RIP soda can!

(Eric)>> Today we made a lot of progress. It's a little tight but we're good. We found an old Ford F-100 that was lost in yesterday. So we swapped out a few parts to put an end to its sorrow. Oh my god!

(Joel)>> We turned the page on its flooded out, locked up motor, and instead of chasing our blues away we painted it Ford's corporate color to get Clint Black one step closer to taking home the truck he's known.

(Eric)>> Now don't think we forgot about this old boat anchor that actually came out of the truck. Woo! We did some pretty shocking stuff to get it freed up that you can check out on our website.

(Joel)>> That's not a chocolate milkshake.

(Eric)>> But for now we'll see you truckers next time!