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In the Marine Corps and 3 months before I returned home from overseas in 1977 i tried to purchase a new Ford 4x4 pick-up through special services. Long story short, it fell through. Ive had my heart set on one ever since. I am now wanting to start that love affair again and purchase a 1976-1979 4x4 f-150 or f-250. I really could use some solid friendly advise on what years are better or worse, and just basically how to start. I want to learn the right way for this adventure, I figure I got one shot at his and sure could use some of you big guns. My auto skill set is average but ain't afraid of anything (with-in Reason)
Any ex-ground pounders out there that wouldn't mind sharing what you know to get this ex-Jar-Head started.
Those trucks are becoming a collectors item and the price is moving up quick. I have 3 1974 F series, 2 each 100s and 1 each 350 dually. None are stock but they're built for maximum work output. You'll find a heavy following of the FE engines with the 390 the most popular. It's not necessarily quick but whatever trailer you manage to hitch up to, it'll either pull it or pull the tongue off of it. The 73 to 79 are the same basic truck body with different grilles. The early ones had the big blocks and the later ones small blocks. If I were to build another one, it would have a 429 in it. I've built several 429s and yes, you can turn one real fast. The last one I built was in a squirt boat and it was chipped at 10 grand rev limiter. But if you can find one with a 390, lots of torque and there are still tons of performance parts out there. A set of GT heads, a Comp cam around a 268 non-symmetrical, a set of headers, and a 750 cfm carb sitting on a single plane intake will put you close to 400+HP and very drivable with A/C. My personal I'd want a C6 behind it but I understand wanting a manual tranny. Depending on tire size, a set of 3.78 gears front and rear would make for a real spiffy ride. I'm not a fan of any of the small blocks including the 400. The 302 is a dog and the 351 is a known oil burner and it sucks gas like cool aid. While you can get decent HP from one, I've seen far to many of them split wide open- they just can't take any major HP improvements and live. Here's what one looks like that the builder went too far on making HP.
I've also seen them with the heads separated from the block while still bolted to the block deck.....meaning the heads pushed the top of the block apart. But if you like a small block and keep the HP below 350, you can have a ton of fun with one. Just when it comes to the old iron, there is no replacement for displacement. Chose wisely, grasshopper.
At this point, they are collectable pickups. That being said, there are no years to avoid. What ever you buy will likely need restoration. Get in good with a Ford mechanic and you can get the engine you want with power and torque. Parts will be easy to come by.
Neighbor of mine purchase one of these new. F250 4X4. 1976. Took good care of it.
He died and left it to his daughter.
When she got tired of the size and poor gas mileage she asked me to sell it.
Low miles original family. Paint had faded as daughter never garaged it as Dad did.
I parked it in my driveway. For two days.
Then I counted 11 (eleven) spots on driveway.
Fluids leaking everywhere.
I then placed truck on grass/field area.
I finally sold it to a farmer. Not going to license it but use it only on farm.
Neighbor of mine purchase one of these new. F250 4X4. 1976. Took good care of it.
He died and left it to his daughter.
When she got tired of the size and poor gas mileage she asked me to sell it.
Low miles original family. Paint had faded as daughter never garaged it as Dad did.
I parked it in my driveway. For two days.
Then I counted 11 (eleven) spots on driveway.
Fluids leaking everywhere.
I then placed truck on grass/field area.
I finally sold it to a farmer. Not going to license it but use it only on farm.
Maybe you will find a good one. Good Luck.
Wish I could find a deal like that. It would be a fun restoration project.
At this point, they are collectable pickups. That being said, there are no years to avoid. What ever you buy will likely need restoration. Get in good with a Ford mechanic and you can get the engine you want with power and torque. Parts will be easy to come by.
agreed. the years of ford pick up you are looking at are solid and reliable trucks. any of them will serve you well, but as noted they are getting long in the tooth and will need some restoration work. truck beds will usually be beaten up, and you will want to look for rust in the body around the corners of the cab.
what engine you look for though depends on what you are wanting from the truck. daily drivers will do nicely with the 300 six, or 302 V8. if you find one with the 351, try to get the 351 windsor over the 351m, which in my opinion is good for building a 400. if you plan on doing some towing, the 400 or 460 will do quite nicely.
in any case, when these engines need a rebuild, step up and upgrade a lot of the stock parts, most of us here can give you a good rebuild/modification plan so you can build a healthy power plant.
agreed. the years of ford pick up you are looking at are solid and reliable trucks. any of them will serve you well, but as noted they are getting long in the tooth and will need some restoration work. truck beds will usually be beaten up, and you will want to look for rust in the body around the corners of the cab.
what engine you look for though depends on what you are wanting from the truck. daily drivers will do nicely with the 300 six, or 302 V8. if you find one with the 351, try to get the 351 windsor over the 351m, which in my opinion is good for building a 400. if you plan on doing some towing, the 400 or 460 will do quite nicely.
in any case, when these engines need a rebuild, step up and upgrade a lot of the stock parts, most of us here can give you a good rebuild/modification plan so you can build a healthy power plant.
For pulling I'd go with the 400 or 460.
I'd go with LMC for body parts. I'd also find a nice set of seats out of a 92 to 96 F series. They are a direct bolt up.
I'm going the other way from some of these posters...I would get an F150 with the 300 six and manual transmission. Take the head, port, polish and put in 1mm oversized valves. Maybe even shave the head 1/4 inch or so to raise compression. Put on an Offy intake manifold and either a 4 bbl carburetor or 2 two barrel carbs (might even work with 2 one barrel carbs). Maybe a new RV cam. My understanding is such a setup will net you about 200 hp and 300 lb/ft of torque. A very simple engine to work on going forward...
Most of the 76-79 pickups I have seen are not terribly expensive, around $3-4k for a nice one.
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