I think I have just bought one of these trucks and am now very intrigued by the history! Does anybody make repop decals or roll bars? Does this trim model add any value to the truck or make it worthy of working it into a show truck?

The truck currently is..
I'm told a 400 that's been rebuilt
4speed manual
9" rear
6" lift
33's
Rust free
Missing a roll bar
Shortbed
Has the interior dead on like ones posted above
Missing any exterior decals

 

Tend to disagree, I have a 1978 Ford Ranger 1/2 ton, 460, c6, 275 gears in the rear end. The thing screams!

 

Your truck is not an Indy truck, since all Indy trucks were longbeds. What you have is an equally cool Freewheeling truck. It could have had one of two different decal packages, the non-reflective version like this truck:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...eewheelin.html
Or the reflective chromatic stripe like this one:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/337768...0-regular-cab/

I just posted in the for sale section the new reproduction Indy truck stripes.

 

What about the interior? I haven't seen any freewheeling trucks with that type of interior. I have also been told that none of the trucks were 4x4, but that turned out wrong.


Supposedly, there is a tag on the firewall that will be able to tell if the truck is an Indy trim. What should one look for on this tag?

 

Every Freewheeling truck from 1977 through 1979 has that interior. I've seen many of them. Even the stepside trucks with the pinstripe outlining have that interior.

The tag is on the firewall directly behind the carburetor. If you remove the air cleaner, you should be able to get a good luck at it. All Indy trucks have "INDY" stamped along the bottom edge.

There were 4x4 versions of Indy trucks, even F-250 and F-350 versions. There is a lot of bad information floating around out there. Even, apparently, my statement that they were all longbeds. I looked up my original factory brochure, and I can tell you these things were mandatory on the Indy trucks:

F-Series Styleside Pickup, Regular Cab only
with short or long wheelbase
4x2 F-100, F-150, F-250
4x4 F-150, F-250, F-350
Silver metallic exterior paint
Ranger trim package (bright wheellip moldings, bodyside moldings, hub caps deleted)
Black floor mat
Ranger XLT level Instrument Panel (red color tape replaces wood grain)
Black glove box applique
Door trim panels - black with silver vinyl applique and red molding
Seat trim - Ranger sew style with black grained vinyl bolsters; super-soft silver vinyl inserts with red colored vinyl welts
Black headliner and sun visor
Black Tape Stripes with Red and Orange Accents
Black grille insert and headlight doors with argent surround
Black front bumper
Argent rear step bumper or black contour rear bumper
Auxiliary fuel tank (all Indy trucks have dual tanks)
GT bar, black (aka rollbar, but they couldn't call it that for legal reasons)
Tailgate applique - black FORD letters on orange field
Spare tire lock (with standard under frame carrier only)
Ten-hole forged aluminum wheels with L78x15C all-terrain RWL tires
White Styled Steel Wheels available with 4x4
Base tires and wheels for F-250/350 (due to 8-lug pattern)

Everything else, from the push bar to the sport steering wheel and black low-mount mirrors, were "recommended options." My Indy truck has the sport steering wheel and black mirrors, but no push bar.
Given that your truck only has one fuel tank, I still lean towards it being a Freewheeler, but let us know what you find on your buck tag. If you can't find anything, there is always the option of a Marti Report. I did one for my truck, and it has a wealth of information.

 

Thank you for that information! All of the trim options and special models are interesting to me.


Some changes have been made to my truck with the past restoration. The "GT" bar has been removed, but the mounting holes remain. The black bumper was replaced with a chrome one(the PO still has it). The truck came with a mid tank, but it and the door was removed with the body work. Stock the truck had a C6, but has been changed to a NP435. I am sure many other things have been changed that I just have not discovered yet.


I thought the red was actually orange! Colors must have faded in the last 35 years. I will have to get out a ladder and brush to look at the tag. Someone painted over it

 

I have an NOS passenger side dash piece, and I agree with you that it looks more orange than red. I just copied what it says in the Ford showroom brochure. It's a great color, really. I think it's about the same color as one of my Mustangs, Calypso Coral. It was a '69-70 color, and it always amuses me how some people swear it's red and others swear it's orange. To me it's orange, though definitely on the reddish side of the spectrum.

I look forward to hearing what your tag says.

 

My partner in crime, Dean, recently purchased another Indy truck, and included with the sale was an NOS set of stripes for it. The big surprise was that even though the truck is a longbed, the stripes are for a shortbed! Apparently the P.O. bought the stripes to use for restoration, and found out after the fact that they were not going to fit!

So, we now have a template to do shortbed stripes for both Indy trucks and Freewheeling chromatic stripes.

Did you ever get a chance to check your tag, Steven?

 

I met Dean Saturday at a car show with one of his trucks. He told me that i ended up with an Indy truck that he had bought awhile back. I had thought it might be one, but wasn't sure. I started a group over on facebook to see if i could find more trucks and more info.

 

This thread got awfully quiet. Where are all of the Indy trucks at?
I've been driving mine this week, with a brand new set of Goodyear Wrangler Radials on the original 10-hole wheels. The rest of the truck still looks terrible, but at least it has some nice new shoes.