My 1981 was pretty much hack free as well when I got it on my 18th birthday. I'm now 34.

The floor mats wore out, I went and put household carpet in it, and glued the seams, It looks alright, especially dyed the right color. $25 dollars for everything, but I cannot wait until I can afford new carpet however.

I also did the duct tape of the seat on the drivers side. At least I put a seat cover on it to cover that up.

Oh I have two screws holding the left side of the tailgate together, until I can have it welded by a friend of mine. This is the 3rd tailgate I had on the truck, even the factory Ford ones seem to be crappy. I will probably primer and touch up the paint when it gets done however. See below.

I put more scratches in the paint than I can count, and the dreaded hood peel has begun on the drivers side so I touched them all up. More touch up paint than real paint on it now it seems. But I'm keeping it rust free. Cant wait until I can afford to paint her.

that reminds me I need to buy more touchup. $25 a pint and it lasts me around 5 years.

I found that the U-pull-it yard is my best friend however, cheap affordable parts so you can fix things the right way, and you can get really cool factory options like the underhood lamp, and the underhood toolbox, for $5 each, when you know where to look. When you are on a tight budget such as I am, the u-pull-it, is a lifesaver.

Broken water pipe in the wall of the house just cost me my carpet, or paint job again. :S

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What I can't understand however, is why someone would put a Gillig school bus heater, inside a 1972 F-250, cut out the firewall to mount it, no defrosters, etc, when all it needed was a $15 heater core.

Or the guages, the instrument voltage regulator was toasted, so instead of finding one in a wrecker. About $1 each and thousands to choose from, he bought an aftermarket guage pack, and totally screwed the wiring up to where everything in the truck was being ran and charged through the ammeter. It was melted and catching on fire.

Replaced a $7 tailight, with a piece of red plastic he fabricated.

Oh, the switch on dash for backup lamps when the neutral saftey switch just needed to be put back on, hanging loose...

Stupid stuff like that... I cannot understand.

 

I salvage an otherwise good tailgate that all the spotwelds on the side had ripped out by drilling holes through the outer skin, close to the radius bend on the panel inbetween the outer skins, and plug welding it back closed, way better than any spot weld. I also ran some weld on the outer edge where the two pieces come together, and ground it back down. Still hasn't broke after 2 years of hard work. I also got tired of the cables breaking, so welded chain onto the cable ends, and did away with the cable.

 

In 1981 they still used the old style tailgate straps, like on the 70's models, thank God.

Thanks for the advise, very much apreciated.

 

the ol 83 had an interesting wiring hack under the hood. seems the MCU was all
wired wrong, as the feedback circuit was hooked to something else (fuel injection
circuit?), but it passed california smog, as everything was hooked up. then the hack
quit working causing the dreaded black smoke. found the correct harness for the
carb, but no signal. found another connector with the terminals reversed, then the
feedback signal comes back. still idles a bit rich. probably more work to do with that.

of course the center plastic was just hacksawed in half to allow installation of a
radio that didn't have the faceplate in it when i bought the truck. speakers were ok,
so a cheapie walmart radio sits in the slot for now until LMC gets me a new trim piece.

licence plate lights? where? the fuel line from the fuel pump to the carb has two
rubber line splices, but at least they used fuel injection hose.

and then the dash was foam taped with carpeting on it that had long ago sun faded
from red (found some scrap pieces under the seat) to pink. underneath it was several
pens rattling around in the defroster vents. of course no heat, the core was bypassed
with water hose (using correct hose, with a backflush tee until I get the core replaced
a bit later)


geez. must be a fashion thing to 'ghetto fix' trucks like this.

 

'86 f-150 Lariat SuperCab: PO had CB power running from batt into cab and up through rotted out speaker grille. Also had blower motor on a toggle switch that "only works on high" as I was told, but found out that all speeds did work with original switch, though it would always have power to the toggle switch. AC compressor disconnected. I put in a Pioneer stereo/Pioneer XM tuner and a pair of 6x9s in (hack job) the back corners. The "new" ignition lock cylinder wouldn't turn to ACC, so I used the hot wire from the batt for the PO's CB and wired up the stereo to that with a toggle switch.

83 F-150 Explorer: This one's not quite as bad (edit after almost completing this: maybe this one's the worse one..., though the original owner had it until December and there is a small notebook with service records written in it. I noticed that when it needed something, it got it.). PO bought this one in Dec. to replace the 86 SuperCab listed above. Sold it because of gas prices/mileage, etc. Floor pan rusted out on driver's side, not repaired yet, cab corners (both rear) rusted completely out (not repaired correctly yet - I took the bolt for the door latch and put 2 washers behind it, and also put about a foot long 2x4 between the cab and box on driver's side and drove a nail through the box to hold the 2x4. At least the door closes without having to lift on it! ) Also the brakes don't work very well. It had (I just got done pulling it out) a trailer brake controller added after about a year - date code on the back of the controller is 08-83. The date on the pickup is 10-82. The MC is empty on the line that had the controller on it. I ran to the hardware store this morning and picked up a plug for the tee that fed the brake controller. Next project is finding out if/where the leak in the brake line is and repairing it. I know winter's not going to be here for a while, but I don't like having to shift the TC into 4H to stop. And, the last one that I can think of, the dimmer switch was bad. Something that is easy to take care of, but finding out about it on a weekend (I just started driving this to work), and noticed that it was a PITA to get the lights to work. I got home from work on Sat. and ended up having to run to a parts store 30 miles away for a $5 switch, since I normally am leaving for work at about 4:15 in the morning, and didn't need to have any trouble with the lights.

I'm not going to go into detail about the 86 f-150 reg cab that I have. That one has a lot of stuff wrong with it.

 

Found this by accident while searching...not posting.

Love this, thought it could use a refresh.

P.O.'s list

1) aftermarket electric fuel pump wired to house light switch on dash. p.o. forgot to trun the switch off on several occasions filling the crank case with gas.

2) large coil spring for parking brake return

3) emissions and vacuum hacks

4) string through vent window to operate wipers

5) 110v converter to power hair dryer defroster under dash

6) 12v power outlets in every door (crew cab) which was a cool feature undoubtly used for multiple spotlights

7) always pleasent wiring hacks - radios mostly - lights too

8) vise grip window cranks

9) pad lock and latch tailgate

10) cereal box head gasket(s)

 

My buddies ol,d '65 Mustang had the fuel line ghetto bent and routed through the driveshaft tunnel, rubbing the shaft no less.

When I got my '86 F-250 Supercab I changed the plugs as part of a tune-up. 170,000 miles or so. Previous owners(s) never saw fit to change the #4 plug, as apparently it was too hard to get at. SAll other plugs were reasonably worn, but #4 was clearly just plugging the hole and along for the ride.

 

well my grandpa bought this truck new in 85 and has been ragging it out since 95, when he blew the motor... then the transmission.... then another motor. at this time he was VP of a huge international steel company so we had money to burn. unfortunately NRON decided to buy his company shortly before going away for ever... i have been working to keep this thing running since i was 12 ( the first one was the first time i worked on the truck)

he set it on fire by spraying starter fluid down the carb and telling me to crank it.... twice!
(dont flame me i was 12)

ran out of wire so spliced 6 wires togeather, the wire went from the fuse box to the radio.... not that far.

rerouted radiator hose so a belt was dangerously close... " it'll be FINE!" obivously the belt wore a hole in the hose and you can imagen what happend next....

throttle cable broke so replaced with some high impact shoe strings...

pushed the radiator into the fan by use of off duty cop...( ok so that was me...) then just drove it home......( as i screamed bloody murder)

overloaded it once untill the hitch scraped against the pavement...

drove around town with parking brake on

(unmentioned lady) put hole in the floor board with high heel...

put dual catalytic converters on single exaust...

and tons of other stuff that annoys the hell out of me... in conclusion in all the time he had it, he NEVER NOT EVEN ONCE changed
shocks, sparkplugs wires, tie rods, ball joints, back drum brakes, or touched the carb. luckly the truck is being transferred to my name and she will never be molested by his cruel hands again!

 

Good thread! I'll add this....
Got a 81 F150 as payment for money owed....
Some moemoe put a chevy I6 and th350 in it.
Welded the chevy engine mounts directly to cross member, the drivers side must of keeped braking welds so they wrapped chain around the cross member and bolted to engine to keep from torqing over.
Cut a hole in the floor so a broom stick could shift the tranny(runined a rust free cab).
No back brakes due to rubber hose splicing the cut brake line together.
Never did figure out what the radiator came out of, was held in place by coat hangers.
The wireing what was left was more wire nuts than wire. No fuses, just tin foil in place.
Power steering pump was just hanging to the side not hooked up at all
Other than that the rest of the truck was good.

Now I replaced that shevy engine/tranny with a 300 I found in the woods!!My friend was calling me a idiot for lugging it out of the woods(he bought the truck from me later on). Used a C6 from a van I stripped out and got a new drive shaft. All new brake lines and a proper radiator. Redid all wiring. Got it running in good shape.
Then the PO found out what I did with the truck and wanted it back. But too bad jerk . Had to repaint it with a six pack paint job with some hidous blue color(to keep him from coming after it, he hated blue, hehe...) Finaly sold to my friend who rediculed me for lugging a engine from the woods home, nothing was wrong with that engine too!! Some people just don't like six cylinder engines....GOOD FOR ME!

My friend had it for several years and finaly sold it off as his needs changed(didn't tell me that he was selling it,jerk...).
That hidous blue truck is still roaming around southwest Fla to this day! And all that work I did was 10 years ago too!

 

My 1981 Came from the Factory like that.

Seriously. And It still has two. Needs two to pass smog.

:P

 

1981 F350 4x4 400 T18 4-speed tranny

Where to begin....

The Driveline:

• Engine from a 1971 sedan.
• Head gaskets sealed with blue RTV. (https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ssageways.html)
  • What seemed like half a tube's worth of RTV chunks had accumulated in the oil pump pickup filter.

• Some (but not all) compression rings installed upside down.
• Rear axle from a 1970's God-only-knows-what-model of vehicle that took some weird-assed size of brake shoes.
• Only the passenger side parking brake cable was actually connected to the foot pedal's cable, and that was via coat hanger wire.

The Interior:

• Aftermarket radio (it didn't even work) hangin' about two inches out of the big hole in the dash.
• Bench seat replaced with one from a 1970s Japanese truck. This would have been cool, it had a center fold-down section with cup holders, but it was installed at such an angle that you sat on your tail bone.

The Wiring From Hell:

• Wipers wouldn't park, so PO rigged the switch such that there were only two speeds - on & off.
• Lower RH quarter of the fusebox was melted beyond usability, so new "circuits" were added via speaker wire connected to the battery. I've got most of the wiring fixed but still have a problem where the turn signal fuse blows when putting it into reverse gear when a trailer is wired to it.

 

my favorite "mod" on my truck had to do with the brake failure warning light. the rear section of the master was shot so when the light came on the guy just covered the bulb with electrical tape. I learned the hard way when my brakes completely failed with no warning

 

When I got my truck,there were a couple of "mods" done to it that to this day I don't understand why they were done.At first glance over the truck,I found out that almost all of the taillight wires were cut,including the license plate light harness.A couple of the heater wires were also cut for no apparent reason.The truck was missing a gas cap for the front tank,and had a locking cap with no key on the rear.There was no exhaust past the muffler,and the entire exhaust system was held in by coat hangers.The driver's side door panel support was missing,and so was the door lock rod.I found the door lock rod under the seat,but the support was never found.I also found miscellaneous tools all over the engine compartment,one of the most peculiar being a wrench stuck in the K-member.Luckily,those were the only mods to the truck that i've come across.All have been fixed with the exception of the exhaust held in by coathangers.However,the more I work on the truck,the more things I find done to it.So who knows what else i'll find in the next couple of months.

 

I remember an old Jeep CJ we had in the shop once that had the charging system wired to a household light switch for unknown reasons. We all know how handy it is to shut off the charging system while driving down the road, right? I've also seen aluminum foil used as a substitute for fuses. Another one that comes to mind is a 351W from a Mustang we had in the shop last year. The PO had proudly rebuilt the engine himself, but it was leaking oil almost as fast as you could pour it in. I soon discovered he had installed both the rear main seal and the front oil seal backwards. Not only that, he also installed the intake gaskets backwards so engine vacuum was pulling oil out of the lifter valley. I ended up completely tearing the engine down and re-doing everything.

Fortunately I haven't had to deal with many mechanical blunders on my personal vehicles. I think the worst I had was with the body on my '84 F-250. The PO had used a slurry of duct tape, paper towels, and Bondo which was mixed together and used to plug the rust holes in the tailgate and cab corners then sanded smooth and painted. I didn't realize how much Bondo was in that thing when I bought it, but that body is history now.

 

When I bought my 85...

Plexi glass section rear window
license plate patching holes in floor
Used metal rod to hold the side of the bed up because of the bad rust, when I removed it the side kind of slumped over.

My favorite is the rubber line for brake line, for about 2 feet going to the rear brakes, wonder why he had a piece of tape covering the brake light!