Hey guys,

I always sign up to the corresponding vehicle forums when I get into a car (and now truck) due to the expertise of fellow enthusiasts.

I guess you could say it started about a year and a half ago, September 2014 - I picked up a 1973 Triumph spitfire due to a buddy owning a 70' GT6, and his insistence that it would be very easy to work on pushed me off the deep end.

Well in the ensuing car buying (towing) madness, and the real life challenges which require a truck, my old man denied me every time I wanted to borrow his 05' Avalanche for buying parts/parts cars and all that stuff. "If anything happened I wouldn't be able to afford a new truck... yadda yadda"

So after much craigslist hunting I found a deal on a 1986 Ford F-150 flareside with 87K miles on the 300 L6 - 4speed 4x2. Several mishaps later (Lying to Uhaul to tow the thing, overweighing the trailer by 800LBS, the previous owner shutting his phone off and almost blowing the deal, the truck barely fitting on the trailer) and a long day on the road yesterday I found my way home with a pretty nice bullnose for the modest sum of 1650$.

I know its a huge jump from a Triumph to a fullsize truck, but I've learned a HUGE deal of mechanical skill which I never thought myself capable of just from taking apart my Triumph.

Anyway, Here I am, expect me asking for help with this that and the other sooner or later. When I get home from work, where I'm sitting bored on a slow day typing this post, I'll post some pictures!

 

First welcome to the forum.


My 81 flare side was half the $$ but I am sure needs 4x the work to get it on the road.
Oh I bought a parts truck for half of the first truck.


To get them both home I kind of went thru the same thing as you. I have a car trailer with a non-running car on it but my tow SUV was in for repair. Checking Uhaul it looked like the LWB parts truck would not fit on the Uhaul trailer or dolly. My trailer has a 2-5/16" ball Uhaul is only 2". I have a receiver ball but most of the Uhaul trucks don't have the 2" square to fit it. After looking over what was on the lot we found a truck that would take my receiver ball. That was a $260+ charge just to use the truck for a day.

Don't have picture of the LWB truck hanging over the rear of my trailer.
What we do to get our prizes home
So when do we see pictures of your truck?
Dave ----

 

Here's one picture I snapped last night for now. Theres some mangled wires and some other assorted electrical gremlins, body work & rust galore, but the frame is really solid.

 

Welcome to FTE! I like that truck, and hope it'll be easy to fix. But, I find these trucks to be like onions - lots of layers to peel and much crying in doing so. So, be prepared.

If you have wiring issues your best friend is Ford's Electrical & Vacuum Troubleshooting Manual - aka EVTM. I have both the fold-out schematics and the EVTM, and go to the EVTM every time since it breaks the circuits down into one-page schematics. And, it provides troubleshooting suggestions.

I have the 1981 EVTM on my web site that might help you. I realize that yours is an '86 so there will be some differences, but Ford kept much of the wiring the same and used the same color codes, so at least the '81 EVTM will provide the basics.

 

Welcome Joe
The more to share the misery, And joyful accomplishments the better!
Just finished a 1986 Flareside 4x4....2 years of fun, swearing, excitement, frustration, and triumph getting to drive down the road in the "Victory Drive"

 

Now you say that after I have peeled away every layer

Joe; To give you a little encouragement look over my post and how bad mine is / was as I am repairing rusted floors, rockers & cab corners. Bed will be another project far down the road.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...lare-side.html
Dave ----

 

Heres the down and dirty pictures. Unfortuneately the glare was working in the trucks favor and doesn't really showcase the body rust. But other than that the interior is really clean with just a crack in the vent area on the top of the dash, and one small rip on the driver side of the bench seat...which I may just throw a saddle blanket cover on now, cause I do like the look.

Runs pretty good, but doesn't wanna start cold. I think the DPO (A phrase we use over on the TriumphExperience forum, stands for dumb previous owner) put in a small battery without the proper cold cranking amps.

So in otherwords it just needs some love. To get the ball (and truck rolling) I've got a stuck drum to address.

But doesn't it look nice next to the 'stang? Keepin it in the ford Family.

 

Yes, it looks good next to the Stang. And a really good starting point.

 

Fender rust is nothing that new fenders cant fix. Looks like cab corners are needed what are the floors & rockers like?


I also see a little rust on the right side bed by the step what is the rest of the bed like also?


I see you have a tail gate, mine did not come with one or the hinge brackets.
The gate is not cheap from what I have seen and even more $$ if it has FORD on it.


Good luck with the project
Dave ----

 

I have a brand new tailgate in the box if you want to replace the rusty one

 

With "FORD" on it?
How much???