1973 Ford F100 that I got for free:

Missing parts:
01.Transmission
02. Shifter
03. All chrome pieces and emblems
04. Rubber floormat half gone

Engine smokes a little
Came with poorly done dual exhaust
One rust hole in driver door that can be easily covered up and one hole in bed that was covered up by chrome piece.

 

Tow dollies are the Devil


Lets see. . .My 1978 F250 4x4. . .I think the only things that were good to go with only a little paint were the front brake line mounts

-Rusty. . .whole thing, everywhere. I've replaced about 10 square feet of sheet metal on the cab alone. Drivers side floor pan, both FULL cab corners, upper rear drivers cab sheet metal, 18" of passenger side door seam, and I haven't even repaired the passenger side floor or both cab mounts

-Fixed worst cancer spots in frame. . .still a few spots I might go bad and redo.

-Bed. . .man, not gonna talk about it. . .

-460 swap was so jack legged, only had one full bolt on one side to hold motor in, wrong clutch, wrong, well. . .everything. Needed rebuilt.

-NP435 A ray of hope! Normal wear and rebuild

-NP205 Another ray of hope, normal wear, good condition only refreshed

-Both drive shafts to be replaced, though more due to risk of breakage with upgraded motor.

-Both axles replaced due to upgrades

-All exterior sheet metal needs work. . .

-Cab is being redone only becuase it has to be. Wiring, guages, door panels. Both doors are rotten, front glass cracked. . .

Gotta stop, I'm gonna start crying if I don't lol...

 

Recently picked up my '77 F250 2wd for $360 and paid $75 to have it towed to my work.
-'73 360 was running on 5 cylinders, had about 5 quarts of oil and 3 quarts of gasoline in the crankcase
-motor mount brackets not bolted to frame
-front tag said "I'm so horny, I get excited at the crack of dawn"
-large dent in dashboard
-large holes in floor
-much of seat cushion missing:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...136719.520.390
-alternator belt worn down to look like a piece of yarn
-headboard of flatbed wearing holes in back of cab
-brake pedal would stick down and lock up wheels, had to pull up with foot to release brakes (would have made good parking brake if brakelights didnt kill battery)
-exhaust manifold gasket leak. I repaired that in exchange for a donut leak.
-crazy sounds from driveshaft carrier bearing above 50mph
-some kind of green stuff growing on back of cab, moss? lichen?
-dash-mounted toggle switch for horn
-instrument cluster crumbling, had to glue the light bulbs to the back of it
-all heater controls seized
-empty Miller High Life can inside dash holding defroster ducts in place
-cool shotgun rack in back of cab

After a tuneup, oil change, lubing some parts, brake bleeding, and exhaust work, I've taken this truck on hour long drives without a hitch. Probably should change that carrier bearing though. Amazing how a well-made vehicle can be brought back to life after years of neglect. I'm quite happy with my purchase.

 

My 79 I got last year came to me free after it'd been sitting no-op in the original owner's driveway since 99. Let's see where to begin...
-Stock wheels and tires, all flat and bald.
-Seized motor, which was a rat's nest (literally) I'll post the picks when I get access to a scanner.
-Bed rusted out, front and back, whole roof was rust brown, inside of cab above windshield is rusted out really badly in one spot
-Rusted vice grips instead of column auto shifter (just going to paint them, since It'll be a long way down the road before I get a new column)
-(still) no front brakes, so the rears lock everytime I hit the pedal hard. (drove 300 miles with everything I own in that mother, and just barely made it)
-No working electrical in cab
-usual floor rot
Sure there's more...

My 70 F250 took the cake though:
-Half blue/primer cab, green bed
-floors rotted out
-seats were just pillows bungeed to the springs
-whole 360 leaked out of every gasket, and had a shot main bearing, clanked like all hell the whole time I drove it
-leaking, slipping P.O.S. trans
-some ***** put shocks that were too big in, so one mount was snapped, the other had already been welded
-zip ties and paperclips holding the carb together (no joke)
-whole front end suspension was shot. Clanked metal on metal and nearly jerked off the road at every bump.
-360 stock manifolds (that's ALWAYS a problem)
-rain gutters were completely rusted out and filld with bondo, but the metal the bondo was attached to rusted out, and my roof lifted up off the front of my truck about 2-3 inches oin the freeway, fixed that with a can of 3X expanding sprayfoam insulation.
-and insult to injury, I got rear ended while parked and sleeping in my cabover, hit and run, twisted the bumper, and never could get the tailgate back on.
I know there's plenty more, but can't recall. Pabst makes things hazy... I'll edit as a remember things...

P.S. Haha, after reading Mintford's post, I forgot to mention, I had the strange green moss in my back windshield too. It'd turn brown and seemed to die during the winter, than pop back to life when it warmed up. I ended up switching cabs with a 67, and dumped the old cab on my buddy's property, bet the moss is still growing!

 

1) On the topper at the back left corner just above the door window..there was crappy 8" round fix-it job (splotch of ivory paint) to cover up a rub mark from something on the way to the dealership.

2) They should have filled the AUX tank full of fuel as well..not just the main tank

 

My 75 f250 4x4 came with a problem that I didn't expect. Soon after getting my truck I started noticing thick webs from the bumpers and fenders to the ground. Didn't think anything of it for a while, until my friend spotted a black widow spider crawling on the seat. Got me thinking and I checked out the truck carefully - spotted a half dozen black widows in about 2 minutes!

Killed the ones that I could locate with bug killer, but webs kept appearing. Decided to quit playing around and tented the truck with plastic and set off 3 bug bombs (they say one is good for 400 sq. foot room, but I wasn't taking any chances!) Found a few more dead on the ground under the truck the next day, and haven't seen another one since

 

My 76 highboy was rolled the only piece of tin that made it to the truck after all the repairs was the tailgate every thing else was flat

 

When I picked up my truck it was very dirty.....................


It took me an entire 20 minutes to wash it.......................


Sorry for being a smart@**, I was lucky to find a very clean, low mileage truck. Really the only problems are a small amount of surface rust on the bottom edge of the drivers door and a dent in the passenger's door from bumping something with the mirror.

My dad's old '76 F250 Hiboy was a different story. We replaced every body panel on that truck except the hood and the inner fenders, and we had to repair a rust hole in the hood and repair the hood mounts on the inner fenders. Luckily the drivetrain was pretty solid and the old straight 6 ran like a dream, but we also had to weld repair plates on the frame because of rust. That's what 25 years of PA salt does to these trucks! That why my truck is in storage right now until spring.

 

Since acquiring mine late last summer, I've replaced the fuel pump and $10 worth of rubber fuel line. It needs a carb kit and brake master cylinder then a brake bleed.

She hasn't been on the road yet, but the 1/2 mile I have driven her has been enjoyable. I hope to have her purring by spring. The list of chores keeps getting longer.

 

Well I got my 73 for free as well...when I got it the follwing was wrong...
1) Exhaust was hanging on with bungee cords
2) Top tank in radiator was blown
3) 2bbl Carb needed rebuilt (now I just wanna get a 4bbl )
4) Brakes were going
5) Rag joint was basically non existant
6) The lever at the bottom of the cloumn that moves the neutral safety switch was busted
7) Exhaust mainfold gaskets leaked horribly

Thats about all I can think of right now but im sure there was some more.
-Chris

 

my 79 f100 had a bad trans.towed it home with my 74 dually.rebuilt the c4trans,rebuilt the holley carb generally went over the whole truck as it had sat for 5 years.

 

Well I can't compete with your long lists ( and I REALLY glad I can't) , especially the first post. I got my 77 250 ranger last week for $1500 and it had receipts for $3800 in repairs the last 2 years including trans and class 5 hitch. It seems to drive great, looks almost new, I just turned 60K miles on it.

things wrong-
wiper **** was a block of wood jammed on the shaft- just replaced that with a real ****;
the heater core leaked- put new core in yesterday after I got the A/C out of the way;
the dash has splits from the sun ;
it has 2 rust spots on left side and one on right door;
and the last thing wrong is it has the original shocks, will replace those next week

 

I had the same problem with a shell I put on my 70, was going to sleep in it until I noticed all the spiders. tarped it off and tossed in a couple of bombs. Actually sat there and watched all kinds of spiders and other bugs crawl out, had to chase off the birds that were trying to eat all of them (didn't want to get in trouble for any poisoned birds, I was just in a parking lot). Fixed the bug problem, but when it started to rain the thing leaked no matter how much work I put into it. Just lived in the cab for the time being (not a fun winter...)

 

right motor mount broken.
2 rust holes on drivers side inner fender.
driver's side door won't latch unless you slam it
radio not connected.
reverse lights wired to toggle switch on dash.
clearance lights not connected
left rear tire almost bald.
faded paint.
bench seat needs repair.
blower motor noisy when first used.
drivers window rolls halfway down then starts going at an angle.
front bumper higher on passenger side than on driver's.

However, it had 187,878 (or 278,878) miles on it, and it does not leak or burn oil.
The previous owner replaced the steering column, had the rear brakes done, and the wiring repaied because it was an out of state truck, and it needed a brake/light inspection before it could be registered in California.

I paid a grand total of $650 for it, and that includes an aluminum camper top.

 

Lets see here...

The first one the motor needed some starting fluid to get it started even in the summer and the bed was shot. The seat needed replaced too. Rust as usual. Also, it wasn't 4x4. It was a 3-speed though. Ended up just using the body on the next truck.

Second one had a blown motor and shot bed. Both front fenders were dented. Usual rust. Swapped bodies with the first truck and put in a later 351W and C-6. Not a manual trans.

Third truck. Bought it for body alone. Still needed floor pans and some general TLC. Motor didn't run.

Final truck will be a combination of all 3, 351W, 5-speed M5OD, NP205, 9" & D44 3.50 gears. Just the way I want it :-)