Who: 1981 F150 Ranger Lariat Extended Cab 2wd
What: Restoration
Where: Enterprise, AL
When: Started in March
How: That's why I'm starting this thread because this is my first time undertaking such a task and I'm bound to have tons of questions along the way and having this thread will prevent me from accidentally hijacking others threads.

This truck belonged to my father-in-law who bought it brand new in 1981. He had a lot of plans for the truck once it hit 100K on the clock, mainly he was going to tear apart the hideous 351M it came with and rebuild it to make some power the way Ford should have originally. The plans fell through when he was injured and was paralyzed from the chest down though he kept the truck. I entered the picture in '96 and fell in love with the truck the first time I layed eyes on it. Anyway, he didn't drive it much, logging less than 5000 miles total the last 10 years he owned it, and I told him if he ever decided to sell it to let me know. In March of 2003 he called me up and asked me when I was going to get that "eyesore of a truck" out of his garage. Figuring he was selling it I started asking him how much he needed for it and if he'd hang onto it for me because the next day I was leaving for the war in Iraq. He said he didn't want any money. So he gave me the truck and I believe it is because he thought I'd follow through with most if not all of his plans for the truck. I didn't get to start right away because I had multiple deployments to Iraq and had a couple of moves to different bases also. I recently retired from the military and I've finally begun fixing her up.

Sorry if that was too long or boring, but I like hearing the stories that go with people's trucks. My dad always had Ford trucks and I grew up loving them and I'm very partial to the 80-96 body style. Thanks for looking, following, and most of all thanks very much in advance for all the help I'm sure I'll be needing.

Pics coming!

 

There are a few pics of how she sits today. I've already completed the engine rebuild (I'll get pics of that up soon), the 351M was torn down and rebuilt into a 408 with a nice cam, heads, Edelbrock intake manifold, and Holley 4BBL carb, etc. I'm very pleased with that so now I'm going to do the interior. Once that is complete its off to the body shop.

 

That beast is practically brand new! Looks great look forward to the work you put into it. Also thank you for your service to our country!

 

A good story is always welcome ...

You got yourself a real nice clean truck there, I can definitely see how you fell in love with it.

Sorry to hear about your father in law, I know what thats like, my father is also paralyzed from the chest down and has been since before I was born ... a war injury!

Most importantly ... Thank you for your service to our country!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

First off,Thanks for your service to our country.Second,welcome to FTE!Third,sweet truck!

The Radio Bezel you have in your truck is a pretty rare item,especially one that isn't cut apart like yours.The Ranger and Custom trim levels were only offered on the 7th gen(80-86) trucks from 1980-1981.So,the Ranger Lariat radio bezel was only offered in 1980-1981.Also,those woodgrain door panel trim pieces are also hard to find in good condition,though they are more numerous then the Ranger Lariat bezel.Since there's screws or rivets in yours,some would deem them ruined,but they look to still be in good condition otherwise,so take good care of them.

I'm in the process of converting my 1980 Custom to Ranger Lariat spec,and it's proven to be hard to find the Ranger Lariat radio bezel.I was able to find the Woodgrain door panel trim from a factory 1980 Ranger Lariat,but the entire dash was long gone.I'm still looking for the bezel as we speak.

I can't wait to see the pics of the interior restoration.Are you restoring it to what it looks like now,or are you doing any custom stuff to it?

Also,does your truck still have the factory trim panel on the tailgate?If so,does it still have the Lariat emblem on the lower right corner?If it does,would you mind snapping a pic for me and maybe taking some measurements of it's placement?Those emblems seem to fall off so nobody knows the exact placement of them.

 

Very neat, i enjoy that you included the story. The truck looks like its in great condition. Can't wait too see the pics of engine rebuild and of the truck under construction.

Good luck!

 

Btw, i was just wondering what the switch next to your hood release latch is?

 

I believe that would be an old style hydraulic trailer brake control.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Thank you JGreen for the kind words.

 

Thanks Festus! Yeah the truck is in pretty good shape for being 30 years old. Most of its wear and tear is from simply sitting I think. My father in law amazes me. I've seen that man do more than lots of able bodied men do. His injury was kind of a blessing in disguise because he was headed for Vietnam in less than a week and if I remember right less than 5 guys in his unit made it back alive.

 

I think it was the control for his "Tommy Lift". It's a hydraulic platform that raises and lowers things to the bed and ground. Father in law had it for obvious reasons and it was the one thing he took off the truck before he turned it over.

 

Thanks for all three. Glad to be here. I've been searching and reading threads like mad but not posting much until I was ready to pull the trigger on my truck.

Apparently the radio ***** are rare too. Last summer someone stole the left one out of my truck while it was parked at my house. I didn't lock it then but I guess someone knew what I didn't. I hope the ***** are easier to come by than the bezel.

I've got a couple of U Pull It's around here and I'm headed down to see what I can salvage there. They have half a dozen or so 80-96 trucks at the closer one and according to their site they trucks have only been there about a year so maybe... If I see anything that I think will be useful to you, I'll let you know.

My plan is to try to remain as factory as I can. The only part that I don't have for the truck that was taken off over the years by my father in law are the front seats. He saves EVERYTHING, but somehow not those. He still grumbles about it. I'm gonna look for a nice set of captains chairs from an 80-96 and I'll probably end up doing something with the audio. I like my tunes! I had a site bookmarked, but lost it, that sold stereos that look on the outside like ours do but had much better output/sound quality. I'm trying hard to find it again but so far no luck.

Man I wish! I'll put up a tailgate pic in a minute, but no my father in law put on a big, shiny, chrome tailgate insert. I don't much care for it and I plan on putting back the original insert. He saved THAT. I've been searching the internet for images of a Lariat to know where to put that badge back there. No luck so far. I found a guy on Ebay selling the orginal Ford brochure for the 81 F150. I'm thinking about buying it and getting lucky one might be pictured in that brochure. If so, Ill scan it and post it here.

 

Thanks FordNFishin! Here is what the new engine looks like. I blew it and didn't take any pics before it was done.

 

Here is what my tailgate looks like now:

 

The Shaft style Radios ran from 1980-1984,I don't think they ever changed the *****.There's a shaft style radio in my local junkyard,I don't remember if there's still ***** on it,but when I go out there this week I'll check and if they're there i'll pick em up for ya.

Thanks man,I greatly appreciate it.

Sounds sweet man!I'm glad you're trying to keep it close to factory.I've always liked the interiors in these trucks,especially the higher level 80-84 Lariat interiors



I actually have a pic of one,but it's the only one i've ever found,and it's hard to get dimensions from since it's at an angle.I have never seen a Lariat truck that still had the Lariat emblem intact on the Tailgate.I'm not sure if they put the emblem on the tailgate after 81.That might have something to do with it.You can see the emblem in the lower right corner.




Yea,i'd replace the tailgate panel too.lol.