Howdy all- this is going to be the build thread for my 1978 Ford F-150 Ranger Explorer. It's been a strange set of events that brought me here.

So first of all, the oldest vehicle I ever worked on was my 1995 Jeep, my first car in high school- with it I learned the basics and got some good experience, as well as taking auto shop in high school. After I graduated college, I sold the Jeep and bought a new car- and my wife has only had newer cars. I always liked working on cars, but there's simply nothing to work on with newer cars other than oil changes and other basic maintenance. I always wanted a classic car, and I'm in the position now where I can have one.

As for how I got this truck, in all honesty I wanted to get a classic Cadillac or other type of "cruiser" sedan...I've never really been a truck guy. My wife actually likes old trucks (she thinks I'm crazy for wanting a Cadillac). Browsing the marketplace one day I stumbled on this old truck only a few blocks away from where I live, and looked like it was a pretty good deal. So I figured I'd go check it out, and of course we both liked it. To a fault honestly...I must have blacked out or something because I didn't even do basic things like check the oil, the lights, etc. And so much is missing, almost all the exterior and interior trim, HVAC, lights, crazy stuff. Yet I bought it on the spot. I was able to get it to my house with no power steering, and lots of issues I didn't originally notice. To top it all off, we had a medical scare that had me trying to flip the truck and try to get what I paid back. I thought I made a huge mistake and I don't think I'll ever know what exactly it was I was thinking when I handed over the envelope of money.

But things panned out, the medical scare was nothing and I got some support from family and friends. I got it fixed up enough to get it to my in-laws where there's lots of space and peace to work on it, and all the stuff from high school auto tech class is coming back to me. Now instead of dreading the truck I couldn't move sitting in front of my house in the street, I actually look forward to driving to my in laws and fixing it up on the weekends.

So I plan on documenting progress in this thread, and welcome comments/advice. I've got the full shop manual and even found a PDF of the owners manual- but it's still an adventure figuring everything out without the benefit of experience with carburated, pre-computer vehicles.

Here's how the truck looked on the day I bought it:



All the exterior emblems are missing, and the hole in the hood indicates this was an "Explorer" package. Also notice the frosted turn signals...seems the previous owner wanted to do some "white out" aesthetic. Plus plenty of zip ties, tape, and broken/bent bumpers/fascia.


The truck's original color was Jade Green, relatively uncommon I could understand why you would want a different color, but my goodness this ugly white matte primer garbage is awful. Also notice no mirrors, no rubber channels for the window glass.


No tailgate, those clear tail lights had remnants of red LEDs, but no longer functional. That box is actually bolted in, looks like it was custom made, but it's just randomly in the middle of the bed, not even flush with the back. One neat thing though- that bumper is the original one the dealer put on, it says "Cowboy Ford-Merc Waxahachie TX)


The wheels are 17" aftermarket, they look pretty decent. The tires are old and cracked though, and mismatched front to back. Also, there's crappy peeling tint on the rear window that makes it pretty much impossible to see behind without opening. I know these trucks could be purchased with the sliding rear window, but this looks aftermarket. Also notice in the rear wheel well, it actually has aftermarket side-saddle gas tanks, and a manual switch under the seat in the cab.


This is mainly why I bought this truck- the motor is a 460 that runs smooth, the C6 auto shifts great, it's got a nice Edelbrock carb and intake manifold (though that air filter is ugly af and needs to go), and an aluminum radiator with electric fan. It seems the previous owners wanted to hot-rod this truck, and basically ripped out everything that wasn't in the driveline, as you can see the HVAC is completely missing.


The interior is, to put it mildly, in rough shape. All the HVAC vents and components are gone, no radio, none of the lights work (except for a stupid blue LED where the dome light used to be), no visors, no glove box, many ***** and little things missing, and a stupid small 14" steering wheel with no center cap. And they painted over the interior with that horrible white color too!

 

The best way to deal with a "Medical Scare" is to go out and work on an old Ford truck.... You will certainly get a lot of empathy here... LOL...

Looking forward to following your progress...

Hobo

 

Looks solid body wise. The rest is small potatoes. You will learn a lot about the truck as you work on it. Lots of knowledge here just ask away.

 

So for this project, I'm going for a resto-mod, I'd like to restore the trim and interior as close as possible to how it was new in 1978, with some minor creature comforts/modern benefits. But before I can get into that, I need to get the basics done- this truck was sorely neglected by some of the morons who previously owned it. I'm approaching this in phases:

Phase 0: Minimal Driveability- I want to get this off the street in front of my house to my in-laws property so I have space and ability to work on it.

• Repair Power Steering
• Restore tail lights & signals
• Restore mirrors

Phase 1: Basic maintenance & repairs- I want to be able to drive it around and do "truck stuff" without worrying about damage or reliability

• "The Basics"- brakes, oil change, coolant flush, belts, spark plugs, etc.
• Timing/tune up
• Tires
• Leak repairs
• Deep interior cleaning
• Any other discovered issues

Phase 2: Basic Cosmetics/Creature Comforts- I want to do some repairs/upgrades that will make the truck nicer to ride in & look at.

• Restore badging/exterior trim
• Restore tailgate
• Restore window channel rubber/foam
• Restore weatherstripping
• Replace grille/front fascia
• Restore door panels
• Interior lighting

Phase 3: Major Upgrades & Cosmetics- These are things I eventually want to do, but are lower on the priority/time list. Things to get it where I can take it to car shows/out to show off

• Repaint
• Exhaust upgrade to dual exhaust & tubular headers
• Radio & speakers
• CB Radio
• Seat upholstry
• Complete dash/interior trim replacement

This isn't everything, as I'm sure I'll discover things along the way, and I won't necessarily do everything in order by phase, but this is a basic layout of my priorities. With my budget and schedule I'll probably be able to tackle one project per month or so, but it's in a place where it can sit for a while if it needs to. At the very least if I can get the basic stuff neglected by the previous owner finished, I'll be able to use it for "truck stuff", like hauling stuff.

 

Now I'll document the first big thing I did- repair the power steering. At first I thought it was just a leaking hose, but after testing I discovered it wasn't leaking, it was gushing fluid out of the input shaft. When I drove it home, I filled it with a quart or so of PS fluid, it was all gone after a few blocks. After researching and looking at the service manual, I decided to attempt rebuilding the power steering gearbox with a new seal kit. I'm fairly handy and I can follow instructions, but it was a pretty complex and arduous undertaking, especially since I had to work on the truck in the street with people flying by close at 40mph. One tip- if you have to work on your car in the street, get a couple orange traffic cones, it actually helped slow people down and move over a bit.

I didn't take a ton of pictures or document this as I didn't have time to, but I was successful. The box was very greasy, you could tell it had been neglected for a long time, I was worried the unit would be trashed inside and I'd need a new steering box altogether. But upon taking apart the box it looked alright, just with old grease. Everything was pretty straightforward as far as replacing the seals, the only scary moment was getting the Teflon rings on the pistons- I didn't have the mandrel tools for it so I just pulled them over, they got really stretched out but seated just fine when I pushed the shaft back in to the housing. Greased everything up, put it back together, got it adjusted and back in the vehicle. Also- that thing is heavy! It was such a pain trying to get under the truck around the curb and everything in the street, even with my wife helping.

I replaced both hoses for good measure, and flushed the pump of old fluid, as I figured out it's supposed to be filled with Type F auto transmission fluid per the manual, not PS fluid. Test drive went well, I think I might need to adjust it a bit, as more effort is needed to turn one way than the other, and the steering wheel isn't centered, but overall it went well. I'm sure I'll need to replace the pump at some point, as it probably ran dry for a long time but it's working for now. No leaks after a 30mi drive. Very happy I was able to pull it off rather than buying a rebuilt unit. I wouldn't recommend it for the average joe, but if you have patience, tools, and the service manual, it's doable.



Most parts disassembled- there was one race nut that the service manual calls for a special tool, but after looking online I was able to get it out with a screwdriver and hammer.

 

Next, I noticed while testing the steering that I didn't have tail lights whatsoever. When I took off the stupid clear housings, I could see that the sockets had been snipped- not chewed or worn out, but cut with scissors. Oh, and it was a cheap LED tail light kit, the LEDs were basic light strips that had basically disintegrated, they just crumbled when I looked at them. So with one RockAuto shipment later and some splicing, I restored the tail lights to OEM. The reverse lamps don't work at all though, I'm thinking a blown fuse or maybe a cut wire somewhere else, I'll check on that later. Maybe it's just me, but normal lenses look 100 times better than goofy clear.

 

Quoting you:
I didn't have the mandrel tools for it so I just pulled them over, they got really stretched out but seated just fine when I pushed the shaft back in to the housing.

If you will soak those seals in hot water before installing, they go on much easier.

When you change the engine oil, save enough in a clean container to have it analyzed. This could save you from a surprise later on.

Hobo


Blackstone

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/?ses...35055%29%29%2F

 

Another thing I did before my trip to my in-laws was restore the side mirrors- the holes on the side of the door didn't really make sense, looks like there were tripod tow mirrors or something on it at some point. I decided to go with reproduction folding mirrors from LMC truck since it matched the ones on the original Explorer package it had. I eventually figured out figured out the holes had just been filled with bondo, was able to pop them out and attach the mirrors without a hitch.



Mirrors! Yay basic safety!

 

Finally I had enough on the truck to make my trip to my in-laws, I was able to improve the brakes drastically after I filled the empty front reservoir, they're still a little grabby but passable until after the 30 mile trip on the backroads.

Had my wife follow in our Jeep with loads of recovery equipment, but the drive went flawless. Shifts from the transmission were crisp, the engine ran fairly smooth, no overheating, everything went well even up to 55mph. The speedometer bounces around all over the place, it doesn't have a tach yet, and the windows rattle like crazy because the rubber/foam channels are missing, but I didn't have to stop and nothing concerned me during the drive.


Now I can work in peace!


One quick thing I did was pop the wheels off to see how much of the drum brakes I needed to replace- I had already checked the front brakes, only a sliver of material left and the rotors are done too. Figured the rear drums would be trash, but to my surprise they look nearly new! Of course I think I know why...that empty reservoir, I bet it had been running on only the front brakes, and the rear drums had just never engaged. But hey, that's some money and time I can save. I'll still be doing a full fluid flush because the old brake fluid is nasty, but not needing drums, shoes, & hardware is nice.



Nice drums. Notice the ancient piece of wood on the leaf spring secured with a U-bolt, I'm thinking an original repair from it's days as a farm truck?

More nice drums. More wood on the leaf spring secured with U-bolt.

 

I might do that, probably a good idea for something this old. There's a sticker on the window from a Valvoline oil change done about 2000 miles ago, but also 2 or 3 years ago. The oil doesn't look great...probably just broken down.

 

Oh! One more thing for my first post. I watched a lot of youtube videos to learn more about my truck, and found a really entertaining group of channels that messes around with old Ford trucks and all sorts of other cars. One youtuber even has the exact same truck as I do, right down to the original color, except for the motor. So I have a great template to work with when I get into the cosmetic updates. Go check them out, there are a bunch of them that all live in Iowa, there are a ton of other channels they collaborate with:

Junkyard Mook
Junkyard Digs

Thunderhead289

 

Wow, nice work. I've never heard of anyone rebuilding a power steering pump!

That piece of wood looks like an improvised bump-stop maybe? Are there marks on its top where it might've contacted the frame?


I think Thunderhead289 just hit 200,000 miles in his Dentside.

 

That is not the PS pump but the PS box that bolt to the frame.

Nice work so far and yes I like them RED tail lights over the crappy clear ones.
Dave ----

 

The woods just there so the truck doesn't sag as much when it's loaded to the bump stop. I bet it was run with a heavy load often.

How much trouble did you have getting all the ***** back in the box? I've heard it's a pain.

 

Ah interesting. Yeah, I'd guess if whoever originally bought it ordered the 460, and at some point put trailer mirrors on it, that it'd be hauling heavy stuff.

It actually wasn't too bad, just had to be careful to collect all the ***** initially, then it was just a matter of filling through the guide while moving the worm shaft back and forth a bit to get everything to seat. More of a methodical, tedious effort.