Hi everyone,
We bought a 1981 F100 flareside for our daughter about a year ago. She wasn't old enough to drive yet, which was good since the truck needed some work. After ten months, she changed her mind.

I have put some pictures in an album on this site, not sure how to link to the album. It has the 4.9L inline 6 cyl. engine, three on the tree, starts and runs good, has a good frame and pretty good body. There is surface rust. Door locks don't work. The interior is usable but showing its age. Needs some work under the hood. For example, someone used the windshield fluid tank for the radiator overflow. It does not leak oil on to the driveway but the engine does have oil all over it. We have driven it a hundred miles or so around town without any problems. It has several new parts: two tires, starter, distributor cap and rotor, plugs, and little things like lights and wiper blades.

Our options are: sell it as-is, fix it up and then sell it, or fix it up and let my son in Colorado drive it.

I have looked around the Internet for ideas about what the truck might be worth but have not learned enough to feel my guess would be accurate.

Any ideas what it might be worth as-is?

I can do some mechanical work and think I could swap out interior parts of that would be worth my time to get a better price.

As for keeping it, this is a last resort. If my son lived closer, we would definitely do this. I hate to trust my repairs when he lives 600 miles away

Thanks!

More pictures

 

Sounds like you know your options. So now all you have to do is decide.

Craig

 

The 300-6 motor is hard to beat. The leaking gaskets is a common problem and a can or two of engine degreaser and few bucks for valve cover and pushrod cover gaskets should cure that problem.

The pictures you have look like it has an automatic behind it, which may not be ideal, but not a bad combo with that motor. The interior could easily be freshened up with some carpet, seat covers, and few cans of SEM colorcoat to match the original color.

I didn't note any serious rust in the cab corners, or floor, but that would be the biggest concern. If there is no rust there, you should have a keeper. Get the paint stripped to metal, seal it, and put a paint job on it, it will look like new.

There aren't that many of these old trucks around, and the interest in them is starting to increase now that they are over 25 years old. Stock, as it is, should also qualify it for antique tags in many states.

Good luck with it.

 

Thanks for the quick reply.

Yes, we know our options. But, we would prefer to sell it, just not sure how much it might be worth. Or, if a little bit of work might get us more money. We probably overpaid, $1700, but it was the truck she had been wanting for almost a year.

 

Thanks for all the info! I have heard good things about the 300-6. Thanks for the tips on which gaskets to start with.

You are right about it being an automatic. I am not familiar with the strengths/weaknesses of this tranny, why would that not be ideal?

We haven't found any serious rust on it.

The idea was to do everything you are talking about so our daughter could drive it. We had ordered catalogs, looked at salvage yards, this forum, eBay, etc. to find parts and get ideas. Now, my dream of getting at least a little bonding time and making her happy isn't going to happen, we would prefer to sell it.

 

I would say the truck in its current state is worth 800-1500.

I say that because I hard a hard time selling my 84 F150 flareside 302 4speed, a/c with fresh paint for 2800

 

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with an automatic transmission behind the 300-6, although I think the manual trans behind it is better. Personal preference. Sorry to hear you're selling. If you were closer, I might even consider it. Good luck.

 

Sell it as-is.

No one will pay you any more for it "fixed up".

People who buy a truck of this age are generally not going to pay top dollar. Most can't afford a newer truck and are simply looking for the "most for the lea$t". Those that can afford it and want a toy can also afford to wait and wear you down or find another one.

Sounds like a decent truck, good luck with it.

 

Thanks for the advice. We get a lot of traffic where we live and the people who have stopped are from two groups. The older, retired guys who used to own something similar and want to restore it and the worker guys who want a truck to haul stuff in for work. You described exactly what has been happening!