Here it goes, I am venturing off with another project vehicle. I have owned a few over the years, everything from muscle cars, 1950's Ford and Chevy trucks, Land Cruiser's, and most recently a Miata. My current daily driver, a turbo Subaru, is somewhat of a project, but I need to keep it sane and dependable as it has to serve me on my daily 130 mile round trip commute. This will be my first non computerized, not very modern vehicle since the Land Cruiser's.

You are probably asking what is your project? It is my recently acquired 1985 F350 XL Crew Cab, 4x4, DRW, 460 4-speed beast. Affectionately named by my wife "The Green Monster". Regarding The Green Monster name, I know the truck looks blue in the pictures, but it is green. Kind of a greenish, bluish, I don't really know what color you would call it but it does have a green cast to it in person.

I will maintain this thread to be a record of my build, fun, frustrations and trials and tribulations with this truck. I will probably ramble on here and there about thoughts and plans, looking for input on my ideas and what to do and not to do. Please do not expect a lot of work and mods quickly, I'm on a tight budget and will not be depending on this truck for anything but fun, getting firewood and the usual household chores that one needs a truck to perform. I have not owned very many Ford trucks, so this arena is somewhat new to me. I currently own a 7.3l Excursion, previous others include a 97' F150 which I did nothing but drive and maintain and a 56' F100 back in high school.

Here she is, The Green Monster.



Here is what I know about the truck; The previous owner seemed to be somewhat of an enthusiast, taking good care of it and using it primarily for hunting, fishing and camping trips. He owned it for about eight years, knew little of it's former life other than it had been repainted. The paint codes indicate this truck should be desert tan and white. The odometer currently shows about 95,000 miles, I have no ideas if it has rolled over, but the condition of the truck would suggest the mileage is original. The previous owner recently replaced the clutch, seven tires, new rear drive shaft, new front fuel tank and installed a performance cam and an all steel timing chain set. This is a plain Jane truck, manual windows and locks, it does have AC and cruise, which to my surprise, both work.

The truck runs okay and drives great, it goes down the highway nicely. To me, its seems somewhat gutless at the altitude I live at (9000') but I am usually driving a tuned Power Stroke or my turbo Subaru. The body is in excellent condition. I cannot find any rust in the usual locations, or just about anywhere for that matter. The only body blemishes I can find are a minor wrinkle/kink in the bed against the cab and where the passenger side mirror mounts to the door. The PO said he clipped a tree with the mirror which damaged the door slightly, there is also a small amount of rust forming at one of the mirror mounting points. I will replace the mirrors and fix this ASAP. The paint is heavily oxidized, but I think it can be revived with some effort.

The interior is in good condition for an almost 30 year old truck. The carpet has a few stains but still looks decent, both bench seats are in excellent condition and currently covered. The dash is nice and original and not cut up. The headliner looks good, the door panels show some wear but should be salvageable. Major issues; the fuel gauge when set to the front tank is erratic, I guess this is not major, but it does make me uncomfortable with a thirsty engine under the hood. PO stated the rear main seal needs to be replaced, it is leaking quite a bit of oil. I will track this down and address it before I drive the truck much. Otherwise, a good clean up and the usual stuff expected when purchasing a new used vehicle should be all The Green Monster needs to be road worthy and dependable.



Why did I buy this thing? We need a truck, I'm tired of hauling firewood (we heat with wood) in the back of my Excursion or renting a trailer for household hauling chores. But mostly because I have been itching for a project. I figured this is one that can be fun and practical, except the 8 mpg part. A big part of the decision to purchase this particular truck vs the many others I looked at was the good condition and the crew cab, I will have room for my three young kids in this beast! I could have done without the dual rear wheel part, but the truck and price were too good to pass on. The DRW thing is kind of growing on me.

What do I plan on doing with it? The first thing will be to fix the oil leak(s). Change fluids and filters, belts and hoses, the usual stuff you do with a new used vehicle. If the tuck provides to be reliable and the wife and I enjoy driving it (don't worry about the wife not liking it, she is comfortable driving the Excursion and already likes the truck) I will start working on things to make it more comfortable and efficient to drive. My initial thoughts are this thing needs a 5 speed, the motor is screaming on the highway with the 4-speed and 4:10 axle ratios. Next would be the interior, maybe a very nice stock restoration or upgrades with later model seats, I will drive the truck for awhile before making any decisions here. After she is comfortable to spend time in, I will look at engine upgrades. Maybe a few performance goodies for the 460 or possibly a Cummins swap. If this thing would knock down fuel mileage like my Excursion, I could see us using it to take the place of the Excursion, family road trips, pulling the camping trailer, etc. We will see how it goes and how The Green Monster treats us.

A few more pictures from her first weekend home;

 

Nice its in great shape these trucks are a blast to own. Any thing that deals with the crew cabs are very hard to find for 83-86 years but most stuff from crews up to 96 will fit with a little talking to. If you need any help on any thing just ask

 

Very nice for it's age. It looks way better than both my 81 F250 and my 80 Bronco did. In better shape than my 69K original miles Supra was.

EFI and a ZF swap will be your best bets for mileage and appropriate gearing in it. I don't see much that needs done from the pictures you posted. It looks like it is done now. If the paint is not salvageable, there are lots of places to get better paint.

 

Thanks for the compliments! It is in great shape for it's age, but I still have some work to do. I'm looking forward to working on it, unfortunately it is snowing today so all I can do is look at it out the window.

 

I decided to work on the truck today. Figured I would try and track down the oil leaks and decide a plan of attack to repair them.



After a little looking around I determined that the majority of the oil leaks are coming from the valve cover gaskets. More so the passenger side, it is really leaking. Both of them need attention.

After staring at the rats nest of emissions garbage, I decided all of this crap needs to come off. I can't get to the valve covers easily or much else under the hood with all of this junk on the engine. Here is what it looks like now.



I'm going to strip off the air injection, evap stuff and EGR. If anybody needs any of this stuff, it is free for the asking. I'm near Denver, CO.

I'm going to order a new carb and possibly an intake. I'm going to go with and Edelbrock 1411 750cfm carb and a non-emission Performer manifold. I may throw a set of headers on at the same time. The intake and headers would greatly simplify getting rid of the emissions stuff.

I also found evidence of a small fire on top of the intake. Most of the vacuum lines on top of the intake are a melted blob of rubber. The wiring harness for the distributor is a crispy mess too, I'm surprised the truck even runs. This might explain some of my lack of power. I do not think the distributor was receiving a vacuum signal and there are vacuum leaks. I will address all of the above before I drive it again. Fortunately, I do not depend on this truck for transportation so it is not a big deal if it is down for a week or two.

I also found a ZF5 and a set of early small chamber heads. Debating if I want to take the truck down for awhile for some major surgery or just get it running good.

 

I would re-think the headers. Have you ever had a set on a vehicle before? If so, you know what a pain they are for sparkplugs, starters, and ground clearance underneath. And it will need custom work to hook them up underneath.

 

I'm still debating the headers. One of the exhaust manifolds has a small crack in it. I'm going to have to replace a manifold or go with headers in the near future.

I'm not sure if I want to mess with headers, but I'm leaning towards yes. It is my understanding that the factory manifolds are restrictive in these trucks. The truck has a non-OE dual set up that I think will adapt fairly easily to headers. No cats. I want to try and hop this engine up a little too - I have a custom grind cam in mind, carb, intake, heads. I'm looking to get some decent HP and torque out of this beast. Part of the reason I purchased it was to have something to tinker with.

I have owned vehicles with headers and I'm aware they can be a PITA. That is the only thing holding me back on this decision.

 

On another note; after crawling around under the truck for awhile, I can confirm there is no rust. No rust anywhere, nothing! Are there any areas prone to collecting road debris or water that I need to be aware of and keep clean?

 

Nice looking truck, if you DO wind up going with headers, get shorties for these trucks. I have long tubes on my single cab F250 with a 351W, and I wouldn't recommend them to someone I hate.

 

Thanks for the compliment

Curious about your recommendation on the shorty headers - what problems do the long tubes present?

 

Fitment issues, on mine I had a minor issue with transmission shift linkage clearance when you'd put a pipe on it. They also make it hard to change starters, and often are very close to starters and cause heat soak problems with them. I have Hooker long tubes, wish I didn't now.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the header fitment. I want to put headers on it, but I'm not sure if it is worth the headaches.

 

Most shorty headers come down in about the same spot as factory manifolds.

 

Most of the fit issues I hear about come from Hooker brand. I am going to try Flowtech brand. I will let you know how those work out. Bear in mind I am building my exhaust around the headers and dumping on the passenger side behind the cab.

 

I have a friend who put flowtechs on his suburban, they fit good. But Holley owns both Hooker and Flowtech so who knows with that one.