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Sep 20, 2007 | 07:03 PM

hondadriver4life

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Joined: Sep 2007

Posts: 20

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fairly new

i am the new owner of an old f150 ('86 to be exact) and i got the truck from a friend of mine who didnt need it anymore. well long story short: i have no idea what im doing when it comes to domestics ( except of course basic mechanics of angines) but what i would like to have some help with are these things:

1: what kind of wear and tear and parts am i gonna need to look at to replace? (the truck has 213,540 miles on it)

2: how do i tell what kind of engine is in it? ( i really never got into domestics, as this is my first one ever.)

and last but not least:
what can i do to get more power hahaha

any and all opinions and comments are more than welcomed!

edit: also is there anything i should look for that would need replacing due to a defect or wear down over time?

Last edited by hondadriver4life; Sep 20, 2007 at 07:08 PM. Reason: forgot question

Sep 20, 2007 | 07:48 PM

1980FORD

Senior User

Joined: Aug 2007

Posts: 156

Likes: 1

From: Greensburg,PA

First you need to determine what engine is in it. There were 3 different ones in 86. A 4.9l inline 6, a 5.0l v 8, and a 5.8l v 8. Obviously the inline six is the easiest to tell. You can get performance parts for the V8 engines from just about anywhere (summit, Jegs, etc), as well as the inline six. The engine section of this forum is a good place to see what other people are doing and can help you decide what kind of parts you want to look for. As for wear parts and such. A tune up would be good if it hasn't been done in a while. Maybe a new timing chain/gear (depending on engine). Get a Haynes of Chiltons book from your local parts store and it will help a lot.

Sep 21, 2007 | 07:33 AM

Sycostang67

Lead Driver

Joined: Dec 2002

Posts: 5,491

Likes: 16

From: Kuna ID

Everything breaks over time, just watch for rust in the cab corners, wheel wells. You might want to check the wiring from the plug on the headlight switch. There is a brown/white wire that likes to melt. Vacumn hoses get brittle and crumble, timing chains stretch, things leak.

Sep 21, 2007 | 02:31 PM

hondadriver4life

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New User

Joined: Sep 2007

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so where would i start if i wanted to tear off all the body panels to see the damage that is underneath; where woul di start?

Sep 21, 2007 | 03:31 PM

swooshcmk

Elder User

Joined: Apr 2002

Posts: 950

Likes: 2

From: West Bend

You can do a pretty good job of checking for rust without having to take the body panels off. Key places to check are always the rear cab corners (bottom back sides of cab and curving to the back of the cab between the box and the cab). Also the rocker panels are another one to look at. These are best seen from under the truck as they tend to rust out from behind. Check the cab's floor pans (again can be checked from underneath). Cab mount boxes, frame rails.. Just give it a thorough look-over. You can remove the inner fender covers pretty easily (just like an import really) to check behind the fenders and areas that are covered.

Short of the hood, front fenders and doors there's not too many panels to remove, and unless you plan to clean up any signs of rust to restore it, it's likely not worth the work to pull them off.

Congrats... just need to get my old beast going now...