Hi all, I am Chris. I am 15 and I have just been given a '70 Ford F-100. It's a 6 cylinder and auto. Rough shape, needs a good bit of work. I got the VIN #, it's FIOALH87032. I am not for sure on all the #s and letters asit is hard to read. None of the other blanks on the plate inside the door are filled in. I will probably be posting for some tips/pointers/advise on getting this thing going. I have a manual, only thing i found out is that it's got a 240 inline 6 cylinder from the VIN. It has been sitting for awhile ( last tag/inspection was '94) under a shade tree. It has no major rust that i have found, except behind both front wheels on the inner fender ( I guess thats what you would call it, you can't see it unless you look in the fender ). I gave it a look-over before dark today. I found that the left front wheel is real hard to turn by hand ( I have it on my wrecker so the front is off the ground, that how I went and got it today ). The emergency brake cable spring is broken, the dashpad is in bad shape, but the rest of the interior is good considering the age. I didn't examine it with a fine tooth comb yet. Ohh yea, it has 90,965.3 miles on it, now if thats right I couldn't say. I do know the truck was bought by a fellow here in town brand new and only had 3 owners, I am the 4th. It says "Sport Custom" on the bed if that means anything. Sorry for the long post

 

Welcome aboard and congradulations on your "new" pickup.
Is the rust you are talking about actually on the cab? It sounds like you might be describing the front cab mounts which commonly rust and need replaced. Anything you need to know about your truck can be found on this site, by searching the subject for previous discussions or by just asking. Also don't forget the Motorhaven store for your first stop in restoration needs. The Sport Custom was the milddle trim level and actually nicer looking than the fancier ones in my opinion. The Ranger series from 70-72 has a very wide and rather gaudy side trim and some if not all had a fake wood grain in there and on the inside of the cab.

 

The rust is probably the cab mount. The drivers door is hard to open, it kindof wedges itself bewteen the hood and the fender when you close it and it takes a good tug to get it open ( If that even makes any sense ). The passenger side is easy to open though. I will take some pictures maybe this morning. I've got a question, on a 240 I 6, is one of the timing gears plastic? From what I see in my manual, there is no chain, just gears. I was told by the previous owner that 3 people have tried to get it running but couldn't . I've heard of teeth breaking off the plastic gears that were used back then, plus I was told the last person to work on it hooked the plug wires up all wrong. I have a Chilton manual, and I found the wiring diagram so I can hook the plug wires up right.