so I got my niece her first truck. she's about to turn 15, which in the state of north Carolina means she can get her learners permit. my brother specified something full framed, that we could work on, and damn near free.

well, I found a 77 f150 regular cab, long bed, 300 six, 3 on the tree, with a freshish interior for 600 bucks. I threw a battery and gas jug in it in the sellers yard, and took my niece for a spin in it. she fell in love immediately. my brother grunted something to the effect of "thick frame. not free. buy it anyway."

here's pics the day we drug it home on the trailer. I thought about driving it the 100 miles home, but it seemed like a recipe for a really bad day. tires are dry rotted, and the whole truck is a big flaming pile of unknown.



the first requirement I had was the my niece has to help on this thing almost every step of the way. I figure if shes going to drive it, she needs to know how its put together and how to fix it. my brothers first requirement was to spend no money that absolutely didn't have to be spent.

bree and I sat down and made a list that we broke down into three categories: safe, reliable, cool. in that order. cant drive it if it isn't safe, cant drive it much if it isn't reliable, and it don't matter if its cool if its not the other two.

the first order of business was to get the filthy pig cleaned up and cleaned out. as with any old truck, the bed was full of trash, the cab was full of crap, and the thing was covered in about 1/2 inch of environmental fallout. so I taught her about degreaser and a pressure washer, as well as why you always use rubber gloves when cleaning out other peoples refuse from a truck.

heres a picture of her pressure washing it, and the results of a thorough cleaning.









so, thr rundown of what we discovered I bought: new seat, door panels, instrument cluster. recent reman carb. new starter, belts, and hoses in recent history. new wires, cap, rotor, fuel pump. broken rear glass. manual steering, power disc brakes. new radiator (all this "new stuff is probably from 2003, the last inspection sticker on the truck. but still has stickers/shine/new on them). no battery. seller said fuel tank was bad. was running great and smoking a little, then dropped to five cylenders and started somking a lot. needs tires and radius arm bushings.

really a pretty good deal for 600 bucks, I think. rusty floor pans, a little in the hood, a very slight pinholing of the bedsides, and an absolutely rotten tailgate that doesn't open. pretty good truck.

we started by doing the battery reconditioning cycle on a battery my dad found for a core. turned a "bad battery into one that is now reliably starting the truck and holding a charge for a week at a time at least.

also, we started diagnosing the fuel tank. we saw no external leaks, and suspected it was empty. someone had run a rubber line up through the bed floor, and you stuck it into a portable gas can to feed it.

my dad and I (bree was with her other grandparents today) dropped the tank out, filled it with about 10psi of air, and started squirting sopay water at it. we found no pinholes or leaks in the tank.
what we did find was that someone had replaced the filler hose fairly recently, and could not locate the correct moulded hose. instead they used what appears to be a radiator hose, and kinked it completely in half. they also used heater hose for the vent. we have not checked the pickup or sock filter yet to see if there are any other problems there. but we've found a few. and drained 4 gallons of incredibly stale gas out of it. im not even sure its good enough for weed killer....

well, that's it for now. we will keep you posted as we get further along.

Michael

 

That truck is a STEAL for $600. Very few options, nice and basic. Won't find any better than that.

 

This seems like a good project in many ways. First, you outlined how to do it in order of importance. I always attack projects in that order. Also, you got here a good place to start. I am partial to the 300s and for a truck they are fairly efficient. Finally, making her do the work will create more ownership for her. It doesn't seem like many people have that anymore. Whether their stuff, or where they work, not much ownership in the outcome. Keep at it!

 

Looks like a great truck. That would easily go for $1200- $1500 in my area, good find.

 

Nice truck, and a nicer Uncle!

 

That's how my dad raised and taught me on my first car, a 70 duster. He and I are doing our best to pass it on to botb my daughter and my niece.

He beat that order of importance into my head, and it is the way I've approached every single project I've done, both at the shop and on my own stuff.

This is only the third Ford I've ever spent much time on though, so I have a bit of a learning curve.

 

Nice find .... and she'll learn stuff that will stay with her through life.

Has it got two tanks or is one door a dummy?

 

The rear door is bolted shut and appears to have been that way from the factory. Ive got to find the parts to make the front tank function properly.

And I see no need for a 15 yar old girl to have both tanks so we won't be making the rear door function.

 

Looks like a great start.

That setup is my ideal truck for my daughter, OK fuel mileage, not enough power to get her in too much trouble, NONE of her friends will have much interest in driving something that's 3 on the tree, probably the simplest platform to learn how to work on something and cheap.

 

And don't forget, very hard to steal!

 

where in nc are you i have a rear glass you can have if you or her take it out
im in lincolnton nc

 

Im just up the road in Albemarle. How do we get ahold of you? And THANK YOU!

That saves us some money that she doesn't have. She has to pay me and my brother back every penny. But im knocking a hundred and fifty bucks off for every honor roll report card.

 

dusterbd13 sent you a pm

 

Nice score, anxious to see it come along

 

Keep us posted too!

All in the Family: A 1977 Ford F-150 Build | Ford Trucks