Hello,
I am finally the proud owners of a Ford truck, so I thought I would make a thread to document my progress and pitfalls along the way.

The truck is a pretty standard F150 for this era. It has the 4.9l engine with the 5 speed manual transmission, an 8' box, dual fuel tanks, a diamond plate tool box and a back rack. It's been around the block with just under 330,000kms on the odometer and I believe I'm the 6th owner. Looking for the silver lining, I figure everything major that could break likely has by now and the previous owner gave me a very long list of components that have been replaced. I don't trust the previous owners workmanship on a lot of the fixes that he said he completed, so I will hopefully go through ever major component and area of this truck to improve it over time. I'm in no rush for it to be perfect since I have my Mustang to look good in if I want to. The purpose of this truck will be a winter beater with a long term goal of having a reliable truck that can be used to haul things and take places I don't want my car to go.

My first order of business will be to get the ebrake working so it doesn't roll away on me while I'm at work. The next will be to go through the basic maintenance items like the air filter, brake pads, shoes, rotors, and replace fluids.

I think I've rambled on long enough for now and unfortunately I don't have any pictures (it's been too dark by the time I get home from work), but I will be updating this on the weekend.

-Mark

 

Think this will fit in the rear end?

Torsen Differential

 

Yup that will fit, just remember everythings gotta be 31 spline for these trucks, nothing beats a gear driven posi IMO you can just throw it in there and forget about. No clutch packs to be worn out or anything. You can also check out the Detriot Tru-trac (made by Eaton) thats what I have in mine. Same concept just different manufacturer.

 

Thanks Nick! Thats great to know.

As for progress today I cleaned the interior, went to the junk yard and got some interior trim pieces and hood rubber bumpers, installed a seat cover, ordered winter tires and replaced both air filters.

Here some pictures as promised:







Does anyone know where to get the elbow that connects to the lower air filter? I assume that's the PCV air filter.

 

So on the drive home today it suddenly felt like I was loosing power. Then the battery light came on, then the check engine, then the engine quit. I'm thinking that the battery drained and since I was coasting downhill it wasn't charging enough. The defroster was on along with the wipers and I had the radio turned up. My other theory is that something is shorting out. Looks like electrical troubleshooting is in my future. After getting towed home I was a little too frustrated to try and diagnose the source of the problem. Anyone else have similar issues?

 

Check the green/ground wire that runs from the alternator to the wiring harness on the passenger side fender.

 

A word of warning on the rear fenderwells: If they haven't began rusting through, count yourself lucky.

They tend to trap dirt and roadsalt and hold it in 1 spot.

Do yourself a huge favor and pull.the taillights out (4 screws per light) amd pressure wash the arches. Best idea is to spray used engine oil or whatnot there to stave off the rust.

A better approach is the remove the inner wheel well, and cut drainage holes to allow the crud to wash away.



POR-15 or tractor implement paint is a good idea also. Both will work excellent to coat your floor pan, even if you're planning on carpet or even better, a rubber floormat.

Very nice looking truck and welcome to FTE!

 

So just for the heck of it I went to start it and it fired right up. I didn't leave it running long, but it seemed like it was loosing power. I'm thinking the alternator might be bad. Does that sound right?

 

Yes or a bad connection

 

On Saturday I was able to get some parts and get the truck into the garage to work on before the snow landed. The battery terminals looked pretty sketchy, so I took that all apart. They had a clamping terminal for two wires connecting to each terminal. Is that stock?
Afterwarda I replaced all of the spark plugs, boots, distributor cap and rotor. Also I had a chance to remove the instrument cluster so I can put the one with a tach that I got from the junkyard. A 1996 instrument cluster will work in a 1995, right? While I was taking trim off, I removed the headliner trim and realized water is coming in from a poorly replaced windshield. I plan on siliconing around it to seal the water out. Hopefully I'll get a chance to work on some things after work today.

 

Just a little progress update here. I got the rebuilt alternator installed along with a new serpintine belt, battery cable connectors and an instrument panel off of a '96 F150 with the factory tach. The seat belt warning light kept lighting up, so I removed the bulb since I don't think my truck has a sensor for that. As a temporary exhaust leak fix I put some JB weld-like material in the two areas that looked cracked. It sounded better when I ran the truck, so hopefully that will do until I can properly replace the exhaust. The truck is still needs a bit more work before I try taking it out in public. The new positive battery terminal cracked when I was installing it, so I'm going to try getting a different style one tomorrow. The ebrake still needs adjusted, but if everything goes well I can do those tomorrow and get back to driving this truck.

Also if everything goes well tomorrow, I'll have time for some more pictures.

 

So far this week I've been driving the truck and it has been holding up well. My idle seems a little high (just under 1000rpms) and the windshield is still leaking, but all of the other nagging issues seem to have been taken care of for now. I'll drive it like it is for now.

Here's my future mod list (feel free to add opinions on suggested products):
-2"-4" suspension lift
-full exhaust (headers to tip)
-torsen differential
-exterior mods (new headlights, black out the chrome, etc)
-suggestions?

 

So I've finally been able to get some picture worth posting.

Here it is beside my dad's 2011 Platinum EcoBoost:


Here is the comparison of the instrument clusters:




A photo of the engine bay before I did anything to it:


Some light reading my dad passed along from when he had his '92 XLT:


I wouldn't be able to park like this with my car:


Here is the last time I took photos of my car for this year:


I'll try to take and post up some more photos. The truck has worked great this week in getting me to and from work. It's going to be a fun winter driving and working on this beast. Still a lot to do to make it how I want, but that's the nice thing about buying a beat up and abused truck like this.

 

180?!?

Oh, Kilos!

 

Nice looking car, whatcha think about the 15?