I just bought a 1986 f-350 rack body dump truck.
It has a 12' bed, 7.5 liter v-8, four speed manual transmission, and only 49k miles.
The truck is in really good shape for an 86.
It has no rust on the frame or cab, runs, drives and shifts good.
There is a little rust on the top of the flatbed where the stake body sides slide in. But it looks like it would be fairly straight forward to weld in some flat stock.
I plan on going through the whole truck to make sure she is "sea worthy"
The only problems I am aware of right now are the following
Losing brake fluid in the rear brake circuit
Some hesitation when accelerating
Faint antifreeze odor (but no visible leak)
I will be doing all the standard stuff, belts, hoses, change oil, diff oil, tranny oil, flush cooling system, replace t-stat, etc.
Is there anyting special / unusual about this vintage truck that you guys can fill me in about.
I have not owned a Ford in over 30 years, but Iam stoked about this one.
Got the truck for $2800 does this sound like a good deal?

 

Got any pictures of the truck?

 

Sounds a good truck/deal, especially at those miles.

If the coolant smell is in the cab, it may be the heater core that's the issue....... with the heat giving enough evaporation that no leak shows.
Rockauto & others have replacements.

Special/unusual? - You'll have dim dash lights from age-darkened bulb covers, a sagging headliner, & a drooping sun visor - all guaranteed!........along with rattling doors from missing plastic sleeves on the latch posts, & whistling windows from the missing chunks of channel - nearly guaranteed!
Certain transmissions weren't so great in this era truck, but the 4-spd granny low that you will have, is fine.

 

Thanks Ken,
You are right on the money with the dim dash bulbs and door rattles.
If that is the worst of the issues I have with this truck I will be a very happy camper.
It is after all a work truck.
I want to keep it in as good condition mechanically and apearance wise as possible.
Where do you guys buy most of your replacement parts?
You mentioned Rock Auto never tried them but will check out the web site.

 

Also LMC truck carries a lot of stuff for F150 and F250, and many of those items may cross platforms with the F350. I'm sure folks here would be glad to let you know if the part numbers are the same. Sounds like a descent deal to me. Since many of these older Ford trucks got crushed a couple years ago, the prices have gone up and $2800 doesn't sound out of line, especially for one in good shape.

 

I've found Rockauto excellent on price & service; & they generally have options of price/quality on the one part that you can choose from.
LMC (as 86fordtruck mentioned) & National Parts Depot are more expensive but have a bigger range of truck-specific parts (including body, interior, cosmetic etc).

There's a wealth of knowledge & experience on this site too, with everyone glad to help out.(Pics will motivate!)

 

Thanks everyone for your input.
My son (17) and I played around with the truck today.
We gave her a good wash and wax job and she cleaned up pretty good.
I will try to post some pics.
Everything was looking pretty good.
We took it for a spin around the block and she ran pretty good.
Everything went downhill from there.
We parked next to the house and shut her down.
After lunch she would not fire up.
It turned over no problem but would not start. ( seemed like no fuel)
Let it sit for a while and she fired right up.
We pulled it in the barn to have a look.
I shut it down and restarted it a few times with no issues.
When I went to pull it back outside the starter would not stop spinning.
It was engaged with the motor running.
I turned the key to the off position but the starter just kept on turning the motor over.
It would not stop.
I had to disconnect the battery terminal to get it to stop.
I had purchased a new starter relay switch ( that mounts on the fender)
because the truck did not want to turn over,( it would just click) earlier in the day.
I figured what the heck let me install this and see if it makes any difference.
I put in the new switch and everything is good again.
Starts right up and shuts down no problem.
So I decide its time to park the truck for the day and count our blessings.
When I go to start the truck the starter onc again will not stop I have to run out and disconnect the battery again.
Anyone have any Ideas?
I am leaning towards a bad ignition switch.
We are just letting it sit for the night I had enough excitement for one day.

 

If you're going to change the ignition switch, I'm just going to let you know that the switch itself is down inside the steering column. The lock cylinder where you put the key in is not the ignition switch, it's the ignition lock cylinder and acts as a type of "relay" for the ignition switch, much like the starter relay works for the starter. The cylinder and switch are connected inside the column by a metal rod.

 

When the starter won't stop turning, pull the small red/blue-stripe off the solenoid (#5 in the diagram; if it suddenly stops, the problem is in the wiring up to and including the column-mounted switch.

If it continues to turn, the solenoid is defective; rap on it with a screwdriver handle or sumthin' and try to free it (or disconnect the battery like you've done)..

The Owner's Manual says to actuate the starter motor continuously for a max of only 30 seconds before letting it cool for a few minutes.

 

A common cause (but maybe not yours) of these symptoms is a failing ignition module. When cold they work OK, but when the module gets hot they won't restart - then eventually won't function at all.
Some are an aluminum box on the driver's side inner fender, later ones (TFI) are a slim rectangular unit on the side of the distributor - the Rockauto site shows 1986 F350/460's as having both types.

 

Not sure about the 80s trucks, but on the 90s ones they had the TFI module on a little heatsink plate on the inner fender...might see if you have that setup before buying a module, if you have TFI.

 

I messed around with the truck this afternoon.
I could not get it to repeat any of the symptoms.
It started right up and ran good.
Let it get up to temp. and shut her down, came back about twenty min. later and it fired right up again shut it down and fired it up a few more times with no issues.
I did find the source of the coolant odor.
The radiator is leaking a bit for the passenger side just below the top hose.
My plan going forward is to flush the cooling system, replace the leaking radiator, change the t-stat, check the water pump for play/ leakage,and replace belts.
After that I will get a set of temp. plates and run it through DMV for inspection and hopefully get it registered.
I will keep you all posted on my progress.
BTW I tried to post some pics but did not succeed.
Anything special I should know?
Thanks eveyone for yor help.

 

This should help with pictures:

User Gallery & Picture Display Help - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

Basically, upload 'em somewhere (can by your Gallery or Album on FTE or a place like photobucket) and source 'em here - use the Advanced editor and clock the button that looks like a sun & mountain, enter the URL to your picture there.

 

Here are some pics of the truck.

http://s1187.photobucket.com/albums/z394/rims421/

 

The pictures didn't show up for me, I followed the link and decided to embed them for you.