Hi Everyone,
This is my first post on this forum, and it's about a 1977 Ford F150 that I just bought. I sold my 2016 Chev Colorado a couple of weeks ago, and told my
wife that I've always wanted a vintage pickup, and that's what I was going to get... She was very supportive. I searched the internet all over, and found
this one through Hemmings, listed by World Wide vintage autos. I hired a mechanic in Colorado to look it over, from here in Ct., and although he said it would need
work, it was a solid truck. All original, although he didn't know about the 351M, the paint, interior and rest were from 1977. The seat is even in great shape!
So I bought it. It was shipped to me in less than a week, and I met the truck driver at a local truck stop to take delivery. He gave me the keys, and it started
right up. As my son and I merged onto the local interstate, the steering wheel had about 4" of freeplay in each direction of neutral! A bit hair raising to
say the least!, but got it home. Needless to say the first thing I did was to replace the steering gear, pittman arm, steering shaft, column bearings, steering
damper, and welded the bottom of the column to the firewall. New steering wheel too. I took the behind the seat tank out, for stereo room, took the 19 gal.
rear tank out, and purchased the 38 gal. rear tank. It should be enough, I hope. I am doing extensive electrical work now, including a back up camera, and
work to all lighting. I'm extremely happy with it, especially the light Jade Ford color. I became pretty fed up with the Chevy, with too much tech in it, and too
many bad habits that it had. I was tired of its rings, dings, warnings, computer controlled everything, and the fact that there was 0 leg room in the driver's
seat, with the light and 4wd switches in a position that turned them on or off, without your knowledge, as your knee hit them every time you climbed in or out,due to there being no leg room!! Also, there was no 4wd indicator light, so you never knew when it had been accidently turned on.... I'm happy to go back to basics,
I have a great big 8' bed now, and simplicity. I now drive this, and have a '68 VW beetle, fully restored as my backup. I couldn't be happier!!
Tonight I'll just start with my first question, and there's many to come, where can I find the VIN where it's stamped on the frame rail? I need to get
a VIN check, here in CT, and I've found the one on the driver's door, and I need to find a second.
Thanks for looking,
Bob Lemay,
Sherman Ct.

 

RJ Lemay,
Nice looking rig and welcome to the forum. Allot of knowledge members here that are willing to share their knowledge. From what I've read on the forum the VIN is stamped on the top of frame, passenger side front, close to where the front cab mounts to the frame. Beleive Rich (77 F250) had a previous picture on a thread showing it's location. I tried looking for the VIN stamped on top of the frame as I mentioned earleir on my 77 F-150 4 X 4 and never found it. Suppose if I got serious, with a small wire brush, flashlight and angle mirror I would find it. I purchased my 77 F-150 out of State, it came out of Wyomying and when I registred it at AAA, an AAA DMV representive inspected my truck and I guess was satisified seeing the VIN tag on the driver's door.

A different story registering a motorcyle I owned in the philippines when I was stationed there, Philippines DMV made me use onion paper and a pencil to highlift the motorcyle VIN before they authorized me to register it.

 

Congrats!! Looks good. I know this, you really got after it!!! Full steam ahead!! And a big thank you for the post and all the responses, you folks have motivated me to get busy with mine!! - thanks to all of you!!

 

There is a vin on the door and the jam by the striker, those were the two I needed to get mine registered.

Post a pic of both of those and people on here can decode it to tell you about your truck.

 

Warranty Plate riveted to the left door face below the latch // Certification Label glued to the left B pillar (door post) below the striker plate.

FoMoCo stated that the VIN on the Warranty Plate (known as the Warranty Number) was not to be used for title or registration purposes.

The reason was that the Warranty Plate was too EZ to change. The usual reason:

People replaced damaged left doors with used doors. 99.9% of the time, they failed to install the original Warranty Plates on the replaced doors.

Compare the VIN on the title/registration to the VIN on the Warranty Plate to the VIN on the Certification Label to the hidden frame VIN to see if they all match.

 

Nice truck! I bought my first old ford last year, a 77 as well. Love these trucks and the simplicity!

 

LOL... A backup camera! Can't you see outta that Hugh back window?

Welcome to FTE. I remember my first drive after buying my 77 and the steering was also terrible. First thing I fixed too.
Nice looking truck. LOVE that color!! Also what did you pay for your truck? Just curious.

 

Ever backed a truck up to a trailer with a back up camera? Way easier...

 

I bought my first old pickup in 2017, a 77 F250. I love driving it so much that I have only ridden my motorcycle once in the past 2 years! I only wish I lived in the states so the shipping costs would be bearable. I'd have done so much more already if I could get parts more readily.

 

Hey Guys,
thanks for the compliments... since I first bought it I've found the vins, and have registered it with a nice classic tag. Yes!! a hundred times over, The simplicity is unmatchable on this truck, more than any other vehicle I've ever owned. I can almost kneel underneath it! Working on it is a breeze, and very enjoyable. Replacing the front end components now, including all ball joints and drag and center links. Then onto the oil pan, pump, pick up tube and gasket. It's a daily driver now, but there's a lot of oil coming from the pan at the gasket. Yes backing up is a breeze with that big window, the camera is for attaching the trailer and for those dark New England mornings where you can't see a thing behind you!
Bob

 

No I haven't. Thats what my sons are for..... If they aren't around then I backup until I bump into the hitch. Both work great!

 

Nice truck. I like the color. My father had a f250 not sure of the year that was that color or similar. I think it was called tidewater aqua.