Well, you've heard of a "barn find"......this is my "field find". 1978 F-150 Custom 2WD, 300 I6, 4-Speed. Towed it home yesterday (only had to put one new tires on it). This is a project, and so far no rust, very little damage anywhere, and what I believe to be 125K original miles. All wiring is OE, no changes/add-ins to be found. According to the last owner, it just "stopped running" one day while driving and was parked in the field beside the house. I do need to replae the driver side window and tail light, both of which I picked up yesterday at the local junkyard.

 

Nice find

 

you got sam waltons old truck lol. good find, I like the color combo.

 

Awesome.

Post up what it's gonna take to get the ol' girl running again.

 

Thats an awesome looking truck! I'm all for repainting the wheels white, then cruise it once you get it running. It just has a super cool look to it.

 

Well, I did not get anything done today! It has been raining hard, so I'm not inclined to stand out in it and try to work on this thing when its supposed to be 70 Friday

Tomorrow I will pick up a fresh battery and test out the electrical circuits (I can tell it needs new battery cables at the very least) and maybe crank it over. Another junkyard parts run may be in the cards.

 

Nice find for sure! Looks like a great candidate to save.

 

I got my driver side window installed today! Also cleaned about 20 bee nests out of the doors and tailgate. All thing hinges/window mechanisms were rusty and stuff so I spent some time cleaning those up as well. Over all, most of what needs to be done at this point is cleaning related! Here are a few shots (sorry for the poor quality) of where I am now.






I want to rebuild the carb, before I try and crank it over. My wife was due with our second son Friday, so we have sort of been on "hot standby" since then just kind of hanging around the house.

 

Well, ya'd better get as much done before it's 24/7 diaper duty! And with kids, I say you're in for 18 to life.

Yuuup. Rebuild the carb and change all engine fluids and engine filters. Verify if equipped with an AT, that the trans has fluid.

Do a full tune up... Pull the plugs and shoot WD-40 in each cylinder for lubrication. Turn it over by hand to verify it's not locked up. It'll smoke a bit at fire-up but it'll soon dissipate. I suggest running it off of a fuel can to eliminate the initial possibility of a gunked up fuel tank. Get 'er to fire.

 

Nice find! X2 on the full tune-up, and congratulations on your second baby boy!

 

Haha, thanks! It is a 4-speed, and that's a GREAT idea to use a gas can - I'm definitely going to do that (I was just wondering about the condition of the fuel tank last night!)

Sounds like a great idea to me! Need to make a parts list and phone it in for next week. And thank you! I'm not sure my wife likes the idea of having to take care of us 3 boys

 

Man that sure was a hell of a find. Hopefully it won't take to much to get it running again. That ole 300 was a pretty bullet proof engine, so I doubt that it would be anything major. FWIW you may want to have a knowingly good ignition module on stand by. Especially since the PO said it just quit running while he was driving the truck. They are either good or junk. Generally no in between. And can go out while driving as well.

 

I was involved in a similar "field find" two summers ago. My pal bought a property and found a lawn tractor completely buried by leaves under a tree. He yanked it out, hosed it off, but it wouldn't fire. His wife wanted to dump it immediately.

He asked me to look at it and I cobbled some wiring, hooked it to a good battery, and it fired up but wouldn't run on its own due to a gunked up carb.

Here is the before and, working on it on and off for about six months, the afters:

 

Holy crap HIO that thing is sweet.

 

No joke! I got a riding mower last year for $100 but I still need to get it running right. Maybe I'll pull the carb off and clean it out this week - that has inspired me big time!