Alright, I told myself I wouldn't, but I have to. I have to join the cool kids and start a build thread of my own. I hear it's an exclusive club


Like everybody else, I'm proud of my truck. And my mediocre mechanical prowess So, here we go.


I like what another guy was doing with his thread, so I'll be tracking the costs as I go.


Basic rundown of the truck:


1988 F-250 Lariat
7.3L IDI Diesel
ATS Turbo kit
ZF-5 5-Speed Manual Transmission
4x4
160,000 miles


Purchased for $2,000.


Lots of work to be done tomorrow (if the weather holds )

 

Looks nice. Lets see more right after purchase pics? What are the plans so far? That's low mileage for a diesel that age. Nice find.

 

My first plans are to get things back in running order. It needs ball joints, it has sloppy steering that is as yet undiagnosed, it needs an alignment, and a whole laundry list of little things I'll detail along the way.


I've got a bunch of after-purchase pictures, and a bunch of pictures to post from today. But for some reason, some of the pictures say "wrong format" when I try to upload them, even though they're all JPEG images. Any idea how to fix that?


I'm also having a problem where every time I insert a picture, it automatically puts it above the text, instead of where my typing marker was. Once I can figure this out, I've got lots to upload/update.

 

Driver side valve cover leaks




Passenger side valve cover leaks


Pictures I took right after I got it home...

 

First coat of paint. it doesn't match as well as I'd hoped, it appears that the paint on the hood had become discolored.




One of several random wires I yanked out




Hood brought down to bare metal for painting

For some reason, several photos won't upload so these are what I got for now. The hood had some surface rust so I brought it down to bare metal and repainted it best I could. I tracked down the original color code and had a can mixed at NAPA, and here she is. It's not a perfect match, but off-color paint is infinitely preferable to rust.


The previous owner had all kinds of wires running every which way that weren't actually hooked up to anything, so I spent quite awhile tracking them down and yanking them out.

 

Alright, so here's one thing I need fixed. I had a friend work the transfer case lever back and forth while I watched from underneath. It has a good inch or two of play before it will engage the four wheel drive.


What we're looking at here is the lever coming down through the floor and the connection to the actual linkage. I was able to identify this as the loose connection.


What I'm I looking at as far as repairs to this linkage? Any ideas?

 

Looks like a good one for 2K. Keep the pics and projects coming.

 

Alright, so update time. I didn't actually work on it today, we spent the whole day changing the starter and some other things in a friend's truck. Here's a rundown of where I'm at with mine:

Oil changed
Miscellaneous wires removed
Auxiliary lights and mounts removed
Steps removed
Bug deflector removed
Hood painted - roof still needs painting
Valve cover bolts tightened: couldn't reach a few on passenger side
Door panel retainer clips and wiper **** on order

Need to pick up new air and fuel filters

Still working on fixing the loose transfer case shifter

I thought a bad ball joint was the reason for my RF tire to be wearing so badly on the outside edge, but it's not. So it'll go into the shop this week to be diagnosed.

Sloppy steering appears to be due to something loose down near the bottom of the steering column. I'm afraid that will have to get checked out at the shop.

Throttle cable is seizing, but I'm still trying to figure out how to remove it. I'm afraid I may have to remove the dash, and that's not something I want to do.

 

You probably will not have to remove the entire dash for the throttle cable. Looks like a very nice start for a project truck. Looks like a great deal for $2000. I really like brown Ford trucks. They look tough to me, keep up the good work.

 

The throttle cable is screwed in on the engine side of the firewall, unhook the cable from the peddle and remove the 2 screws by the drivers side valve cover area on the firewall. Get an OEM cable if you can, the after market ones are junk.

 

Yeah, I did some more internet investigating and it appears that it should be a fairly straightforward removal. At this point I'm wondering if it's worth spending the $80 on a new one, because it's possible that a good oiling will reinvigorate the one I've got.


On today's agenda:


New air filter
New fuel filter w/ integrated water separator
New Moog ball joints all the way around
Possible new throttle cable?


It appears as though the valve cover gaskets are fine, the problem was just loose bolts. I cleaned up the valve covers as best I could when I tightened them down, and so far I've not seen any new oil appearing so that's a positive sign. Helps to offset the $350 ball joint job a little


Thanks for the info Ifrythings. I had a friend turn the steering wheel so I could look at the steering column, it appears that the loose bit is somewhere at the bottom of the steering column. I couldn't see exactly what, because it disappeared into a rubber boot of some kind. I know it's not the tie rod ends though. Any thoughts?


I'll be sure to grab an OEM cable. Do you think it's even worth trying to salvage the one that's already in it?


Edited to add: I just called the local Ford dealership, an OEM cable is a special order item that'll run me $129.95. Good lord.

 

While I'm thinking of it, this is a picture of the air filter housing. The big gaping hole on the right side really doesn't seem right to me, is it supposed to have a conical filter or something over it??

 

air filter SHOULD be under the snap on cover. the air tube out to the rad support is supposed to connect to the air box.

 

Thanks Tom, so it looks like I'm missing the air tube to the radiator support.

 

yup. by the way, i really like the custom wiper ****.