Hello all. I hope this is a good place to post some questions. I have a 1976 ford courier that I use as a summer toy. I really want to get its bigger brother... f150-f250 4x4. Ideally it would be red and automatic. Also with the round light grill.. believe its 73-77. Im looking for any and all advice you guys can help me with.

Also if i found a 79 i liked how hard is switching out to an 76 Grill?

From what I could tell the hood seem to misalign often. Is there an easy fix to this?

thank everyone .. heres my little courier.

 

I have to say... that 72 Roadrunner is beautiful! Let the spamming begin, LOL.

The grills are interchangeable, I have a 78 F250 4X4 SC with a 77 grill and hood. As far as the hood alignment it just takes some tweaking to get it perfect, the hard part is getting the quarter panel and hood lines parallel, L2R alignment is pretty easy.

 

thanks for the reply. yea it was my first car show and made my truck look even more like an outcast. the thing was beautiful and surprised he parked next to me. heres the other angle.

really wish i had my hood popped as it opens reverse style.

I've been looking at this pretty nice 77 f250 custom 4x4 manual... has 400v8. ac/heat. said was partially restored and has no rust but clear coat is chipping. what are some common things to check out to make sure I'm not making a bad investment?

 

diggin the old road runner, def claassic muscle and its a beautiful car. I like your little truck as well, i have never seen a ford like that before. i love the stance and the look of it. Great job!! Good luck on your future investment

 

thanks. yea these guys are pretty rare and i have there rarest model (76, only year in this body style they had a larger cab) it was fords response to the ever popular small pickups datsun was selling like hot cakes. if it looks familiar its because the design was based off the mazda b1600 and branded ford with grill and tailgate. same with chevy contracting there luv through isuzu.

 

never new that. learn something new everyday. i like it, its different and a cool little ride, you can tell you showed it lots of love.. Great job!!

 

Things to look at with the future investment:
Previous owner 'fixes' be aware of any shotty repairs. Wiring splices or wires that go no where. Make sure all the lights work, windshield wipers and squirters, radio if equipped, all gauges work, 4WD works, 4 matching tires. All gears work, clutch doesn't slip and transmission does not pop out of gear when decelerating. it should start easy, idle well and have great torque if its actually a 400CID.
It should track straight down the road and steering should have minimal slack.
Honestly, most of these trucks have one of every category wrong with them. They will leak oil, sloppy steering, some funky noise or rattle. A light or more will not work, wiring most likely will have 'repairs'
Its all stuff the average Joe can fix it just will suck to buy it not knowing that those things are wrong.

 

yea I'm familiar with the steer play as the courier has that. needing to get that rebuilt.. kinda scary driving on the interstate. definitely hope most of those issues will be resoled as the one I'm looking at has been partially restored by a shop and is listed kinda pricy. Do you think the 400 4 speed would have any trouble making a road trip? I know my little courier doesn't like going faster than 65 but it has a 1.8 little and some bad gear ratios.

 

65 should be a non-issue if it has good coolant, hoses, oil. You'll really notice how un-aerodynamic these trucks are when you lift your foot.....

 

I haven't seen a Courier in a long time. I still remember when I was a kid one of the first trucks my uncle had converted to a 2wd pulling truck was a Courier. I remember being too short to see over the supercharger and running into the back of the tractor we used to move it lol. Didn't think much of then but now it's kind of shame it was cut up for that. Now they just order fiberglass bodies but back then it's was chop chop.