I just bought a 1983 F-150 on ebay for 550 bucks this weekend and picked it up sunday afternoon............
The body is a bit rough in places, all the fenderwells are rusty as well as corners of the cab and even some inside above the sliding rear window.

This truck has the 351 windsor in it w/ auto trans.
When the guy I bought it from, towed it home, the engine was seized from sitting for around 3 years in a barn. The engine was totally rebuilt several months ago. Apparently the wiring is messed up somehow or something was not hooked back up correctly and the truck has no spark.

I hope this isn't gonna be to complicated to fix. I am good at fixing things I know are wrong and can even diagnose some problems, But, troubleshooting ignitions is NOT a strong suit of mine.

My initial thoughts go to the module on the inside of the fender in the engine compartment. I will also be checkig the wiring and making sure that everything is hooked up properly.
Can someone point me towards a wiring diagram and link me or even post a graphic of one ?? I will be heading to my local auto parts store to find a haynes or chiltons for the truck this week too.

Once I get this running, I think the trans will need to be looked at, Most likely it does not work having sat for a while unmoved.

 

Good luck! and post pics! id look for the obvious loose, not connected wires and go from there

 

Worst part of bringing this back home was towing it with a towbar in 50 mph cross winds for 150 miles. Talk about being white knuckled. Never again will I do that trick.
I'l be looking further into the wiring as weather permits and it warms up a touch.
I'll definitely look for anything disconnected and possibly even broken inside making intermittent contact.
It's been a while since I priced a module for an older Ford, Don't they generally run around 60 to 80 bucks ??
I may even try to redo the wiring if necessary, Right now, I have the feeling that I may be looking online for a wiring harness if all else fails.

I'll post pics if I can as I work on this.
Maybe once this is done, I can get my 96 in the garage to blast and repaint the frame and do some minor body work. Replacing fuel lines and such is also in the plans. With 125k on the Inline 6, It still plows snow and is my workhorse.

 

Were in Pa are you?

 

One other thing. My VIN code is as follows.

1FTDF15G4DPA77219

I was able to determine everything that I needed to EXCEPT for the last 5 digits.
Is this the code for production ?? Meaning was this the 77,219th unit off the line in the Twin Cities plant in Minnesota ??

 

I used to live in Downingtown, Just a few miles away from West Chester.

I moved back to Dayton Ohio around 3 years ago.

 

Any ideas or insights here ??

 

You are correct that it was made in Twin cities and the last letter and numbers that follow are the production sequence number.

If at some time you need any electrical diagrams let me know and I should be able to help you.

 

I definitely need a diagram for this truck.
Any help with this is really appreciated.

 

What type of gauges do you have, are they all gauges or are some of them idiot lights?

 

Fuel, Ammeter, Speedometer, Temp, and Oil Pressure are guages.
There are 5 lights along the bottom edge of the dash, I have no idea what they are right yet. I'll have to check them and see.

 

Shouldn't your username be: baffledinoh then?

 

Yuppers
I sent an email the other day about a name change, Still waiting on word back.

 

Hey, and what's with this 5 lights along the bottom of the dash? I've never seen that.

 

When you are looking at the dash from the drivers seat, The lights are along the top of the dash on the bottom edge. Just above the guages and instrument cluster.