Hi guys and gals,

My name is Matt, I've been a closet Ford lover for several years and now it's time to come out. I own a 1978 F150 LWB with the good ole' 300, she's got a 3 speed manual that's been converted to floor shift and 9" rear end. I use my truck as a daily driver/ heavy duty work truck. I'm 21 years old and I've been a hardcore mopar addict for as long as I can remember. I'm also an inline 6 addict too. I'm no stranger to old vehicles. I grew up with a a '72 olds, a '75 and an '84 C10, may they all rest in peace. The current Roster in the driveway is my truck, my Dad's 1965 Ford Falcon (been in the family since 1999, restoration on hold) my 1970 Dodge Dart (Been in the family since 2003, I took ownership in 2012, she's got a 225 slant six, Carter BBD, Lokar kickdown conversion, Transgo TF-1 shift kit, 7-1/4" rear with 3.55 open diff and MP SS springs). My latest project was finishing the rebuild on the 350 in my dad's 85 C10.

One could say I know my way around a carburetor lol

I bought my pickup in September, I found her in the Iwanna and was super excited when I read that it had a 6 cyl and a 3-speed on the tree! When I finally got to go check the truck out I got even more excited to see it still had the original stamped steel wheels with the dog dish hubcaps (bonus points). I manged to get the truck for a steal because everybody that had looked at it so far was scared away by the shifter lol! I was the first person to take it for a test drive. I was also happy to find she had power brakes and power steering, which I later found out it sucks to have power steering and a column shift)

So far, I have replaced everything related to the brakes up front, I have pictures to post later for the forum's amusement/horror. It was bad. Real bad. I also did a full tune up (can't set the timing due to a slipped harmonic balancer) and put in an M-Pact Stage I clutch kit cause the throwout bearing was really bad and I figured may as well do it right if I have to pull the tranny. I also replaced the worn out, jiggly and just plain small factory mirrors with some west coast junior mirrors from summit racing as well as some 6" clamp on blind spot mirrors. I also have some really neat period correct looking LED lights I wired in under the tailgate to increase visibility to other drivers cause I'm honestly scared by how close the gas tank is to the bumper on these trucks. I also had to convert to a floor shift cause it was the only good option I had at the time, but I kept all the original pieces so I can go back some day. My next mod will be a set of cab lights cause my inner 6 year old still loves some cab lights.

I've come a long way with this truck as far as fixing all the rednecked fixes the previous owners have committed and I've also spent a fair amount of time undoing their tuning. The previous owners were really really good at tuning an engine to run, but really horrible at tuning an engine to run correctly if that makes any sense.

I've really fallen in love with this truck. She's dead-nuts reliable, bad on gas, drives like an old vehicle, roomy, tough-as-nails, and already beat up and ugly so I won't feel bad if she gets a dent in the line of duty.

I look forward to getting to know everybody and pickin' yall's brains to help me sort out some gremlins and plan for mods.

 

Here she is the day I brought her home, I've jokingly named her creampuff And yes that is a bias-ply tire in the bed!




Here's my first love, she needs a lot of TLC but she'll get there.

 

Hey Matt. Welcome to FTE.
Love it when these old trucks are brought back to life. Have fun with that creampuff...

 

Sounds like you've got some great projects on your hands. Have fun and post plenty of pics - welcome to the forum!

 

Thanks for joining Matt

Tony

 

Good looking rigs man.