I needed a replacement truck for my 87 f150 4x4 4.9, it was going to cost around 1500 to get it rebuilt and repaired good enough to haul my ranger around to off road parks.

Well I bought a new truck to day . 85 F150 4x4 5.8 ext cab with a flat bed. I never really looked the truck over the price was right it drove good and has minor engine repair. (carb needs work) I got it home and took a closer look at it. The 5.8 is a HO 4v motor, the rear end is a 9 inch and 44 up front with 3.50 gears and a C6 transmission. I happy with it cost almost nothing to buy.

The body need work. I need to find a passenager fender and trim that goes around the headlight. Also need to get a windshield for it. The interior needs help also the seat is in bad shape, but the guy I bought it from is giving me a set of bucket seats for it.

Now I need to search for all the info I can find on the 351w ho motors think I may need to do some modifing to it. I can't leave well enough alone for to long.

I am sure this truck will pull my ranger around with no problem.

Any one have a fender for sell?

Mike

 

Nice find

What happened to the old truck to make it unworkable?

Justin

 

The 4.9 has almost 400,000 on it and all the wiring is fallen apart, I broke a rear spring and its been put through hell and back. Plus the 3.08 gears just dont cut it for me when I am pulling a trailer. I am keeping it for the farm truck haul hay and wood and beat around in the woods with. I was going to fix it up but this truck was cheap.

I tuned it up today, changed the oil/filter, changed the tranny oil/filter, gave it a good grease job. I took it for a test drive and MAN does it run. I left 2 pretty strips of rubber at end of driveway. I have Positrac .
Tomorrow I am hooking up the goose neck with the old truck on it and pull it around a while to see how it does. After all that s why I bought this truck, to be my tow rig.

Once it warms up a bit more I am going to get the body work done.

Mike

 

What you can also do as a cheaper route, is get a set of Mustang shorty headers and fabricate the rest of the exhaist system. That's what I did for my buggy, and it works pretty dang good, as long as I keep exhaust wrap around the seal between the header and the flange on the exhaust pipe. There's no donut that fits there. For $40, I thought it to be a pretty good deal. ALso, aluminum intake. The only discernment between a 351 and an HO 351 is the 4bbl intake/carb, AFAIK. Get yourself an edelbrock performer rpm intake and the headers, and you'll be a step or 2 ahead. lso, I'm not sure if the do emissions testing up there in Monty City, but if you have the time, get another set of 351 heads, and start porting and polishing those, and change it over to roller rockers, and eventually, roller lifters, and plug that dang hole at the back of the head that's used for the emissions crap, as well as the air pump. But that's only IF the don't do emissions testing there...DEFINITELY will want a tranny cooler and a temp gauge for it. The in-radiator cooler just don't cut it. Get a good one, as well as a remote filter. I've got the B&M filter and it takes an FL-1A filter, just like your engine oil. Might also want to pick up 2 of em; 1 for the tranny, and 1 for the engine oil. That way, you can route both fluids thru separate cooling systems. The actually make coolers that you can put BOTH thru. It's got 2 different inputs and outputs.