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I recently acquired this 78 ford f150 from the original owner. It was their first truck and their main family vehicle for many years. It has the original 351m, original transmission, and I'm guessing an oringinal 144k miles. It sat for about 4 years in this spot until she decided something needed to be done with it, so instead of hauling it to the junk yard I said I'd take it and see if I can get it on the road again. With a new battery, some fresh gas and a little air in the tires it actually fired right up and drove out of the driveway. It still needs quite a bit of work to get it road worthy but it's not very often that you see a one owner 78 pickup still running on the original engine. Gotta love the old Fords.
I'll post more pics as we get it cleaned up.
I love the people that keep their cars for that long. I just bought my 79 a few months ago. 133k original miles on original engine and tranny...I'm technically the 3rd owner but I feel jipped because I only bought it a couple of months after the second owner bought it from the original owner...he got laid off right after he bought it. It now sits in my driveway only 3 miles from the dealership it was originally purchased from. I love the history that these old guys have behind them, always great stories.
Looks pretty good in pics man, can't wait to see what you do with it.
Hio Silver has a to do list on here somewhere and it's a good guide to getting started on these projects, er trucks. Shop around in order to try to keep a budget, may be worth it to buy a more modern truck for parts use. For the cost of a good used motor you can usually find a good running ugly truck with lots of parts or find one that someone has gotten tired of putting on new parts. Sometimes they're a part away from being rebuilt and the seller doesn't realize it.
You'd be surprised how much that 351 will wake up with a carburetor rebuild!
It does need that!.. but I believe the cam is a little flat too, I will run a compression test along with a few other diagnostics when I have time. We got it idling well and firing on all 8 but you can tell it's a little uneven. the good news is that it still has some oil pressure which I know is always a challenge for the 351m/400s. I have yet to take off a valve cover which will reveal plenty about it's maintenance history.
i just bought a 78 shorty 2wd from original owner. it started up with a new battery and some new fuel after a couple years of sitting . checked the tank and it was very rusty !! the float on the sender was half gone from sitting so long.installed a new tank and sender. took the carb off and apart and took to work and put in the ultra-sonic cleaner. Should have seen the color of cleaner after i took carb out ! make sure and check the tank .
i just bought a 78 shorty 2wd from original owner. it started up with a new battery and some new fuel after a couple years of sitting . checked the tank and it was very rusty !! the float on the sender was half gone from sitting so long.installed a new tank and sender. took the carb off and apart and took to work and put in the ultra-sonic cleaner. Should have seen the color of cleaner after i took carb out ! make sure and check the tank .
I love those shorties, I wish this one was a short box, I have 2 1980 short boxes, one is 4x4 and the other is a 2wd flareside they are just sporty little trucks
