"Grapes of Wrath" Excursion build

[rayra]

Doing good works bringing that beast back from the brink. how's the rust situation and what if anything are you doing to freshen up the motor? Or is it better left as is?

/I don't know anything about the V-10s

 

[nitro_rat]

If anybody was keeping count, I dropped probably $12 on the "Toreador Red" Duplicolor spray bomb, the Bondo and primer I had in the shed from another project.

A while back the battery died on an old '89-ish Ford pickup that I had. I bought a new battery for the Ex and tossed the Ex's battery on the truck. I bought the truck for $800, spent nothing on it other than the battery and sold it for $1000 so I'll call the new battery a freebie...

I don't have a pic of that truck handy but here's a few I saw on the Colorado trip:

I have a thing for old Holmes wrecker units!

Old iron in a creek in Northern New Mexico

Weird stretched Toyota

'63 Chevy on 5 slots, I would loose the white walls...

Super cool F-250 "lo-boy"

Cornbinder Crew Cab

Buick GS, the sun was in a bad spot for a pic

Early 60's Chrysler hardtop wagon

 

[nitro_rat]

Doing good works bringing that beast back from the brink. how's the rust situation and what if anything are you doing to freshen up the motor? Or is it better left as is?

/I don't know anything about the V-10s

This is East Texas, we don't have rust! The truck originally came from Wisconsin, I dug the block heater plug out when I had the bumper off for the winch install. I don't know how much time it spent up North but probably not much.

I've had a few V-10's and the only problems I've had is early examples blowing out spark plugs (the 5.4 V8's did it too) and cracked exhaust manifolds when hauling really heavy. The plug issue was resolved with a redesign in 2003 IIRC.

I'm not going to force the issue or touch the plugs unless I have to! I haven't done anything to the motor other than change the oil a few times and change the air filter. I have put almost 10k miles on it since December. I have been meaning to pick up a new serpentine belt and throw the old one in as a spare but haven't done it yet...

I had the tires rotated and rebalanced when we got back from Colorado. The guys that mounted them the first time didn't do a good job on the balance. It's much smoother now. I bought these tires from Discount Tire and the rotation and balance job was free.

 

[rayra]

Nice, sounds like you got a good deal overall.

I'd like to chat about E. TX some time. Been focusing in on moving somewhere semi-rural around Tyler in a few years. Dreams of doing some Barndominium building, some ag exemption grazing, big garden, small orchard, grapes / blackberries, bees too. Some Permaculture stuff. I want to build and grow a lot of things and the soils and rainfall and many other conditions around there seem to suit what I'm looking to accomplish with the rest of my life. First I've got to escape CA to Vegas (I know, doesn't seem like much of an improvement, but believe me it's a big deal to escape CA's taxes and small business killing regulations) and have to finish my schooling / re-training and become an x-ray tech.

 

[dman93]

What’s the fuel tank capacity on a V10 Excursion?

 

[nitro_rat]

What’s the fuel tank capacity on a V10 Excursion?

All Ex's have a 44 gallon tank. I get between 8 and 13 MPG depending on city/highway split and highway speed. 11 is a pretty good overall average.

 

[nitro_rat]

Picked up a Dana 60 for the Ex...

 

[hbabler]

Are you going to a 2005+ front end or staying with leafs?

 

[SDDiver5]

Man that IH Travelette is awesome!! Would kill to have one of those.

 

[nitro_rat]

Are you going to a 2005+ front end or staying with leafs?

Staying with leafs. I don't have the time or the room for a coil spring swap.

 

[TwinDuro]

Nice work on the Ex and I'm digging the Dana 60 and pictures from the Colorado trip! My first vehicle was almost a 1974 International 1210 with a 345/4speed and since I learned about those trucks, I've always had a soft spot for Cornbinders. That travelette is awesome.

 

[nitro_rat]

Well, the Ex fulfilled its purpose and I put almost 40k miles on it since its resurrection in February. Put it up on FB marketplace and sold it for asking price the same day. It was a good truck and now it will continue on with a new owner!