1966 Thriftside J 3000

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66stepside
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1966 Thriftside J 3000

Post by 66stepside »

jaber wrote:Drive looks awesome...
Thanks! I just wrapped up cutting the final pieces to fill in the area in front of the gate. I hope to complete the next phase of cutting this weekend.

Meanwhile, I had to do the unthinkable and leave Leroy outside while I wrap up the details of the mega cab project, but I did pony up to buy a car cover- one meant for a suburban!

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66stepside
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Post by 66stepside »

Had to swap out the ignition switch today. Couldn’t find an aftermarket one that fit in the local area, so I had to dig in my stash o’ spare pieces.

Here’s my “new” key to match the “new” ignition:

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twisted frame
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Post by twisted frame »

Sweet! I kept a dash, key, and ignition switch from a 69 parts truck I had. It might make it into my truck if I swap to a Kaiser dash.
73 J4000. 360, MC 2100, T18A, D20, stock closed knuckle Dana 44 front, 60-2 rear. Warn Lock-O-Matics, Warn/Belleview electric winch, true duals with glasspacks, old-school front diff skid plate, used 265 Toyos on 16" AR wheels.
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66stepside
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

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twisted frame wrote:Sweet! I kept a dash, key, and ignition switch from a 69 parts truck I had. It might make it into my truck if I swap to a Kaiser dash.
I geek out on that kind of stuff! Haha. I bought an NOS key blank from eBay years ago and had planned on buying a new ignition cylinder and having the blank made to fit if my current set up gave up on me, but since I had this spare and didn’t want any additional down time, I just used what I had on hand.

When I get some spare time, I’ll figure and where I can source a new switch that fits into the stock location- one of these days.

I’ve heard you can swap out just the key cylinders, and retain the older key, but I’ve never done that. I did keep the non-op ignition cyl. just in case I ever figure out how to do the swap.


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Phils67
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

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In the very first few pics on this post, what hubcaps are those and what size wheels were they on? I want hubcaps for 16" steelies and think they look great
1967 Gladiator J2000, 1998 4.0L OBD2, T18, D20 twin sticks, D44HD/D60, Detroit lockers, 3.73s, 4wheel disc brake, FSSR, Dakota digital, etc.
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66stepside
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1966 Thriftside J 3000

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I bought two complete sets of Accuride Steelies for the 8 lug axles under her- then welded on tabs to fit the stock 60’s era dog dish caps. They were at an estate sale north of Spokane.

I like they way they turned out, it gives it a sleeper look- not like she’s a 3/4 behemoth.


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Last edited by 66stepside on Sun Jan 06, 2019 5:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Phils67
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

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Are they the j20 style caps that were basically dodge caps? The only 60s era caps for j-trucks I know of are the dog dishes for 15" wheels
1967 Gladiator J2000, 1998 4.0L OBD2, T18, D20 twin sticks, D44HD/D60, Detroit lockers, 3.73s, 4wheel disc brake, FSSR, Dakota digital, etc.
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66stepside
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Post by 66stepside »

Phils67 wrote:Are they the j20 style caps that were basically dodge caps? The only 60s era caps for j-trucks I know of are the dog dishes for 15" wheels
No, I have a set of those J20 I used to have on It.

If you look closely:

Image

You can see the hubcaps do not actually fit over the hubcap ring as a stock cap should. I welded hubcap tabs onto the rim so I could run the standard 15” dog dish cap on the larger rims.

If you’ve ever seen the older Willy’s truck rims, you may have seen the rims that had the tabs on them to run hubcaps. I did something like that to the 16” 8 lug steel rims.


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Phils67
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

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Gotcha. The pic with J20 caps was the one I was referring to originally but I think I may do like you did with the early dog dishes. It looks right
1967 Gladiator J2000, 1998 4.0L OBD2, T18, D20 twin sticks, D44HD/D60, Detroit lockers, 3.73s, 4wheel disc brake, FSSR, Dakota digital, etc.
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66stepside
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

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Phils67 wrote:Gotcha. The pic with J20 caps was the one I was referring to originally but I think I may do like you did with the early dog dishes. It looks right
Hahaha, gotcha. A pic is worth a 1,000 words!


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66stepside
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1966 Thriftside J 3000

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Tried to delete duplicate post... it didn’t work.
Last edited by 66stepside on Sun May 26, 2019 8:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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66stepside
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1966 Thriftside J 3000

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After 18 years, or so, the old MSD 6a box gave up the ghost yesterday. So I ponied up for a new box and spent the afternoon wiring up the newer version.

Image

I hope this one lasts twice as long!


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66stepside
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Post by 66stepside »

I finally made the time to fix the exhaust leak I developed after dragging the 78 Cherokee home.

I noticed oil coating the underside- so that’s next on my list to do- reseal the oil sending unit near the oil filter.


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coolhand75
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

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66stepside wrote:After 18 years, or so, the old MSD 6a box gave up the ghost yesterday. So I ponied up for a new box and spent the afternoon wiring up the newer version.

Image

I hope this one lasts twice as long!


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What were the symptoms that lead you to believe your box was bad.


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66stepside
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Post by 66stepside »

coolhand75 wrote:
66stepside wrote:After 18 years, or so, the old MSD 6a box gave up the ghost yesterday. So I ponied up for a new box and spent the afternoon wiring up the newer version.

Image

I hope this one lasts twice as long!


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What were the symptoms that lead you to believe your box was bad.


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A serious case of “no run”.

I went through all the standard checklist tests: distributor, wiring, plugs, etc. I think I spent about 5-7 hours diagnosing it to narrow it down to the ignition box.


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66stepside
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

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Image

Image


Picked up some westcoast jr mirrors off the blue Ford sitting behind my truck.


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66stepside
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

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My son took this shot from his 62 Thriftside... of another Thriftside! The Amber Poly one is a 63 and owned by the original owner’s grandson.

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FLeetFox
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Post by FLeetFox »

So that's where old fords go to die....


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I do things my way, and I pay a high price.... JCM
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66stepside
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

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FLeetFox wrote:So that's where old fords go to die....


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He had more than I wanted to count. But if I had his space, I’d have that many jeeps, or more. Image


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66stepside
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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

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I went to drag this one home with the 66 and ended up passing on it (800 firm on FB marketplace)-

Image

Image

BUT I did find out my brake lights were not working. After blowing another fuse, I traced the wires to find the power wire grounding out where it had frayed. Yikes.


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