Hey all, I just got a `78 F-250(as the title may lead you to believe ), and this seems to be a good place for information on these old dentside trucks. First though, I wish to pay tribute to the truck I had before it.

It was an `88 Dodge Ramcharger. I know you guys probably aren`t big on these, but it was a good truck. I did alot with it, it was my first 4x4, and we went alot of places sans pavement. I just feel it should be recognized. However, it was pretty well dead, and I had always wanted a late 70`s ford, so here we are.

On to the truck you guys care about. It was a farm truck. Best I can figure, it has a 302 in it. It has an auto/np205. Nothing really special, but I can work with it. It has some possible tranny issues, and the transfer case shifter is very stiff. It needs a pair of doors, some general TLC, and some paint(of the cheap variety).

The only pictures I have so far are the ones from the CL ad, and they kinda suck, but I`ll post them anyway:








I`m going to pick it up this weekend(there is a Triumph Spitfire that needs to vacate my driveway first). It got my one year old 1000cca battery, and my 35x12.50r16.5 General Grabber MT`s(great tires), both from the Ramcharger. Ironically, the rims are the exact same as whats on it in the pictures(steel Outlaw II`s, 10 inches wide).

I have a few plans for it, in no particular order:
-Small lift, 1-2", it clears the 35`s now, but I`d like a bit more clearance.
-Radio, self-explanatory.
-CB with a PA speaker.
-Push-bar, just in case(maybe custom bumper).
-My amateur bodywork, and paint(considering bed-lining the whole truck).
-New exhaust(it has a single straight pipe now, I`ll probably just replace it with new pipe)
-?Maybe new gauge cluster(I`ve got a cool set of vintage S-W gauges)?
-West-Coast style mirrors.
-Possible manual trans swap.

I`ve got some research to do on a couple of these. The tranny swap would be a friends old M5R2 off of a `90 302. I need to see what T-cases I can use, lengths, etc. I hope to be around the forums quite a bit, as this truck should be a keeper(girlfriend likes it ).

Oh, and a bit about me. I`m a college student in southern Ohio, studying at Hocking College for an associates in Automotive Hybrid Tech. I needed a camping truck, winter driver, and off-roader. I hope this 250 will meet my needs and then some. My DD is a `90 Ranger with an SVO 2.3 turbo in it, 5 speed.

Thanks for having me guys,
Jake

 

Welcome to the forum, you are in the right place. Good looking truck, keep the pics coming.

I see you are in school doing some work with Hydrid Technology. Are theY going to kick you out for driving a gas guzzling dinosaur like that?

 

If they were, they would have already lol. The Ramcharger I had ran like crap and got like 8mpg when I drove to school. Of course that was in several inches of snow, but they know what I like.

 

Well, I`ve got an update, but no pics yet. Me and a friend went to get the truck today. It had been running a little rough under load(driving), so we took a fuel filter and some carb cleaner with us. Replaced the filter, checked the fluids, shot it with some carb cleaner and away we went.

It ran good all the way home. First is definitely out of it. It must have some low gears in it, as it had no problem movin itself on those 35`s without first gear(it is out though). Speedo read 60 at 65. The bed floor is about gone out of it. About the only thing that happened on the way home was that my rear plate fell off. And then down a huge hill out of sight. We never did find it. No radio, so all I heard was wind and the noise of a straight piped 302

Seriously considering bedlining the truck once I get straight panels on it. Leaving it the textured black, maybe throw in some green for an accent color, roof color.

So, I`m looking at the tranny swap for when my friend gets it out of his truck(he`s pulling his truck apart for a diesel swap). It is an M5R2 off of a `90 302. Before anyone says not to bother with the mazda, just get a t5, etc, it`s almost free I know I can reuse my t-case, I`m not sure I want too though. My 205 is really stiff, when I pull it out I`ll take it apart and clean it. If that doesn`t help I`m thinking about using the t-case he has(BW 1354, or 56? not sure).

I suppose I should start a thread to gather what info I couldn`t find about the tranny swap?

-Jake

 

Good news, I had been expecting it to be hard to start, well I was wrong. Went out today after it sat for a full day, pumped the gas twice and hit the key, started but sputtered out. Hit the gas a couple more times, fired and idled great Looks like less tinkering will be required than I thought.

Ok, pics from earlier today.

This is with my 35`s on it:




Front:


Rear:


Dent in the door(I think they hit it with a tractor):


Inside(note the custom floor patches ):






And here is one of it next to Phil, my turbo Ranger:


Feelin` pretty good about the truck. I`ll play with it a bit tomorrow, maybe drive down to the gas station just cause. I could feed you guys some BS about circulating the fluids, getting the engine up to temp, etc. But, truth be told, I just want to drive it

-Jake

 

Looking like a pretty good truck Jake.

Here are a few upgrades I think you should consider:

1) Better seat. The old bench seat on these old rigs isn't very comfy, nor is it ergonomic by any means. I know you're a college student, but so am I! Comfort may not be on our priorities because we're young, but it'll make the world of difference! Most of the ford seats up to 97, IIRC but don't quote me on it, will bolt right up without mods to the original seat brackets! Wouldn't it be nice to have a cup holder and a comfy seat to boot?

2) 3G alternator. Just because us boys love to run our accessories on our toys . It'll make your rig pretty much bullet-proof when it comes to power needed to run all the extra little bits on your truck like extra lights, bigger stereo (subs maybe?), and whatever extra interior lights/switches/gauges you want.

3) Mark VIII Fan. It'll cool the beast in almost any conditions, and is also just as easy as the 3G alt swap. And the best thing is... both the 3G and electric fan can be grabbed from the same vehicle at the local pick-n-pull! Cha-ching! $$$

4) Back-up lights. Nothing is more important than being able to see at night! These old trucks don't have the greatest of lights on them for the rear of the truck... so adding something onto the bumper so you can see better when backing up would be a great idea!

Can't think of anything else small at the moment, but you get the idea.

 

Welcome to FTE

The only 4WD vehicles with a 302 prior to 1980 were 1969/77 Bronco's.

302's were not installed in F250/350 2WD's, F100/150's 2WD's only.

The engine code is the 4th digit of the VIN.

1977/79 F150/250 4WD & 1979 F350 4WD available engines.

B = 300 1V I-6 / H = 351M 2V / S = 400 2V / 351M/400 = 8 valve cover bolt holes per side.

 

@Aaron:
I`ve been giving a few of those some thought.

1)Not too sure on the seat yet, but a cupholder will be required...
2)I plan on the 3g swap at some point.
3)I have a fan that might be a mkVIII, not sure but it is big and pushes alot of air. I have a controller and everything as well.
4)I`ll probably throw a couple tractor style lights on the rear bumper.

@Bill:
I was going off of an auto parts store website for engine options, not the most reliable source

Well, I know it`s not an inline six It is a 2V carb. I guess I`ll check the vin today. I won`t be driving it(not much time now, and its raining pretty good out there).

Thanks for the help/suggestions guys,
Jake

 

I was thinking those looked like 351M/400 valve covers in that tiny pic in the first post......

 

Well you were right. It is a 400. Oh well, at least I was wrong in a good way!

I`m gonna look for a VIN decoder now, just for the heck of it. Thanks again to Bill for pointing that out to me, you have saved me some $$$ and frustration in getting the wrong parts.

 

You can look for a VIN decoder, but be aware, most aren't worth two cents, have multiple errors and omissions...FTE's for one example.

Post the VIN, all the codes found on the Warranty Plate or P/M or email them to me if you wanna keep it private.

Since I've decoded over 800 VIN's/Warranty Plates here on FTE, It'll take me about 90 seconds to decode all the jazz.

 

All I got right this second is the VIN, it`s dark and raining outside. Never did find one yet.

VIN is F26SNAG1932. Both the b pillar tag and the title match.

 

You have a 351m or 400m assuming no one swapped the motor out...

 

You`re just a few posts late. We figured out it came from the factory with a 400, doesn`t look like it has been swapped.

 

Haha i was stating it off the vin... opps didnt see your post saying it was a 400 been a long day im super tired