Bonehead things done by a previous owner? How 'bout this one. Put the wrong modulator valve in the trans. Nothing held it in place but the o-ring. Granted, it held for more than 6 years until one day the mod valve just popped out. ATF went everywhere..... (purchased in 97, and this occured in 03/04)
Fortunately, the hold down and bolt were firmly tightened down, even though they weren't doing anything but holding the mod valve out ~1/8" or so.
Somehow, I missed that minor little item in my otherwise very thorough 3 hour inspection before I bought the truck. The car lot guy actually went to lunch while I was checking it over........

 

Taking the rear seat and jack out of a super cab

 

My grandfather was the previous owner of my truck, so I can't call him a bonehead. But he was an old man with better things to do than fix his truck the right way.

Mechanically it was taken care of, but the little things didn't matter to him much. So when the door seals started falling apart, he used RTV Silicone sealant to hold them in place. It was smeared all the way around, he must have had a bucket of this stuff. Then when the rubber seal finally rotted away, he used expanding foam carved to shape, and some more RTV silicone just for good measure. That's about it, nothing else on the truck was rigged or messed with when I got it.

 

wow, all this makes me feel a little better about my truck
82 F100 "converted" to 4x4...consists of body swap to a 79 F150 rolling chassis
more wire in it than my 04 had in it from the factory
e-brake non existent
no rear brakes for that matter....no shoes,wheel cylinders,hardware,anything
the PO's cure for this? cut the rear brake line at master cyl.(why not unscrew) and screw pipe plug into master cyl.
more zip ties holding cables together than should be allowed
plugged(with screws) vacuum line everywhere
broken intermediate shaft ($) because the gear box front seal leaked
for some reason, torched(doesnt anyone have a drill anymore?) new holes for gear box when factory ones work perfectly(I know, I just put rebuilt one back in IN FACTORY LOCATION)
home made body lift that leaves front 2" higher than rear
home made gooseneck mounted to more booger welds bracket in frame rails
booger booger booger welded cab mounts
exhaust manifold on pass side didnt quite fit in between frame rails, so top of frame cut out


and the best for last
79 F150 frame was apparently too long, so frame was sectioned horribly wrong.(how I missed this I dont know) at least he strengthened his booger welds....c-channel on inside of frame, bigger c-channel on outside of frame.....nice

she may be a POS right now, but the missus bought it for me for $636, and I didnt have to crush another good old truck. Good 351M and C6 with dana front axle and 9" rear.

plus, I have to make it a nice truck now, I have about 25 people I have to prove wrong

 

I have just one question for everybody...If your trucks were this messed up before you bought them, well, why did you buy them? There are plenty of good trucks out there, why not just wait until you find a better truck? Just asking...

 

Price was right, more than likely. Thats why I bought mine. Most of the time you don't see this stuff til after you bought it.

 

This is very true, I bought my 83 with a little bit of rust but no other major defects as far as I could tell. On my way home I discovered that when I pushed the clutch the firewall flexed, and I wasn't getting full travel of the clutch. I also discovered the PO rewired the heater blower to a toggle switch under the dash, for what reason I still haven't a clue.

I also found out his "trailer wiring" included nothing more than some house extension cord and a bunch of hacks to make work. And that doesn't even get into the 18 splices for a power wire to the stereo or about 5 to each door speaker.

At least it came with a bulletproof drivetrain....

 

Previous owner replaced a brake line, then used the old hard line he took off to make a "new" fuel line going from the pump to the carb, with the wrong fuel filter installed.

 

I couldnt let this one get crushed. Plus, the $ was way right. Good trucks are out there, but most of the time the $ isnt.

 

I paid $1000 for an 86' F-150 with a 302 efi, c6 tranny, 9" rear, 2wd, 8 foot bed. Base trim. Not a spec of rot anywhere, but has a few minor dents. Was a texas and oklahoma truck all its life. No crazy redneck wiring messes or anything the PO did that was bonehead. All electrical items work but radio (because its not there). Did I get a good deal? Or did I get screwed?

 

The only thing I found that the PO did that was stupid was someone had tried to steal the truck and in the process they destroyed the steering column and ignition. So the PO decided to rivet a small piece of metal to the top of the column (im guessing for support?) and mounted a dinky little ignition on the bottom of the dash.

From what i could tell, everything else is how it came from the factory!

 

When I bought my truck, the POS PO had primed the truck and then waxed over the primer. All the electrical connections never had any bullet connecters. They were spliced with masking tape. The wing windows were bent in so that moisture got inside the cab and rusted the floor pans.

 

A waffle-face framing hammer had been struck against the brake disc surface as a way to break it loose

Coolant overflow tank placed near heater blower

Deep cycle boat battery with 8 gauge wires spliced with no connectors

Aftermarket burglar alarm causing the engin e to cut out while driving, and the starter to stay engaged after releasing key (I figured it's already f*d up, so I just grabbed the box and ripped it out, wires and, all- haven't had a problem since)

20+ places where bolts used to plug various types of hoses

Apparently having towed a 35+ foot boat with the bumper

During a roadside emergency, using a 5.56 NATO case to plug a hose (oh yeah, that was me)

Using nothing but 3 sheet metal screws to hold the bed cap on

Attaching the pressure plate with 2 bolts

etc...
And yes, I did not notice many of the smaller things until some time after I bought...

 

I got a pill bottle zip tied to my fender for some reason, no choke on the carb, hacked wiring job, he screwed metal to the floorboards to try and cover the hole, lowrider seats, the wrong air filter and its lifted with blocks, and a gaping hole in the middle of the dash!

 

On my little brother's truck the previous owner took the factory 5x7 speakers out and taped in 5 inch round speakers, not screwed, taped. And left leads for other speakers hanging loose to short out against the metal in the door.

PO on my old truck repainted it but decided not to remove anything and crappily taped off badges. So parts of my mirrors were white, all the tailgate hardware, including the cables and rubber bumpers were white.