Hey guys, I bought my first parts truck today! It's a '79 F150 4x2, the vin says it has a 302. It belonged to my neighbor that passed last year and the grandkids were gonna sell it for scrap!
My question is concerning the side toolbox, the po didn't have any keys for the truck and the toolbox is locked up. Is it possible to remove the toolbox without being able to open it?

***I know you guys like pictures, so I just finished washing most of the crud off of it and took some cellphone pics.

 

That's a beautiful truck! What are people thinking now days?
You might have to drive to a locksmith and have him pick the lock, at the same time cut a new key.
What are your plans for the truck?

 

That truck is far too nice to be scrapped, i hope you save it.

 

Yeah, it cleaned up better than I thought it would. The po said their grandfather bought it brand new. If I had the time, money, and had not made promises to the wife, I would keep it!

Well.....I can't drive it, so I guess I'll be calling Pop A Lock on Monday. He was a Snap on salesman, the po said there may be tools in there.

 

Geez, I'm glad you saved that from scrap. That's way too nice of a truck to scrap. I can't believe some people these days. I agree with the locksmith route. Shouldn't be hard at all for them guys to do it.

 

I really want to! I'm trying to talk the wife into letting me keep it.

 

Your truck, your money do as you wish.

That truck looks better than 90% of the trucks on the road today. Unless there is something major wrong with the engine or transmission, I wouldn't turn it into a parts truck; I would sell it for about twice what I gave for it to somebody that wants some to drive occasionally.

Incidentally, I think all trucks should have that side tool box-- somewhere to keep the fourway and good jack that is out of sight yet easy to get to even when loaded.

Robert

 

Right now, I have no idea what condition the engine and transmission is in. I'm charging one of the batteries right now, and tomorrow morning I plan to run down to the pick & pay and pull an ignition switch with a key. I do know the back wheels were frozen when I tried to pull it, they finally broke free.

 

Maybe the shoes rusted to the drums, especially if it was parked with the parking brake on???

The pick-n-pull that I go to neve has keys in the ignition, boo hiss. I would be temted to just disconnect the switsh from the ignition cylinder and hot wire it just to see if it would run.

Robert

 

Man your parts truck soo much nicer than my dent!!!!! Me so jealous.

 

THATS THE NICEST PARTS TRUCK IVE EVER SEEN!!

 

wheels were frozen on 2 trucks I got. Hell, one of them, the shifter, shift linkage on the transmission, transfer case, AND both rear wheels were locked up. We drug it out of a field with a chain and that broke everything loose. Put in new gas and new battery and it started right up.. drove fine.

That truck looks WAY nicer than 90% of the dents driving around on the road here. Personally, a truck that nice, I wouldn't consider making it a parts vehicle, I'd agree with others that you could probably double or triple or more your money if you get it running, if you bought it for even twice scrap value. and thats coming from me, and I never think anything is worth anything. lol.

You are only a couple hours south of me, if that truck is as rust free as it looks and you do end up parting it out, I'd be interested in the doors and maybe some other parts. The blue/blue scheme I feel is somewhat rare and its one of my favorite paint schemes, makes me sad to think about it getting parted, but I've parted some things that maybe shoulda been kept whole and sold myself at times, for a variety of reasons.

Looks like no factory AC on the firewall, but looks like an AC compressor on the top of the engine. Guess it has the dealer installed ac?

I have a keychain with a bunch of old ford keys on it, it will start most trucks. Probably a key off nearly any truck would open that lock, if you have any. personally I'd probably just pry the lock or use a punch to drill out the lock cylinder. Although I have a set of lock picks and if its like most stuff of the era, it only uses 2 pins off the key to open it so you can usually open them in a second or two using lock picks.

 

Yeah, that's add on A/C.

 

The only rust I've found on the truck so far is at the rear wheel wells, and on the roof near the drip rails. The doors, fenders, hood, and the rest of the cab seems solid.
I agree with everything you guys have been saying about the truck being to nice to part out. But I can't afford to keep it, so I will take your advice and put some effort into getting it running and sell it to someone that'll drive it.

 

My recollection is the lock on the bedside toolbox latch has a very simple key. I would think it's likely a locksmith would have a set of keys, one of which would fit your lock.

A week or two ago I started a thread asking if anyone had a bedside toolbox liner (the plastic toolbox itself) for sale as mine was toast. I don't think I got a single reply...

If you'd be interested in selling that part. I'd like to buy it, assuming it's in good shape.