Why don't you see more trucks like these beauties undergoing restorations? Seems like every truck I see of this generation is a work truck. You see plenty of good looking 80s Chevy's but not many Fords (or Dodges for that matter). What gives? The 80-86 is a good looking body style (at least I think so) parts are cheap, and they run forever. Plus most of them are old enough to be emissions exempt by now. I guess being rare isn't necessarily a bad thing because my restored 85 always gets alot of looks and compliments. I was just wondering if there was a reason they are so rare in the restoration hobby.

 

That's next on the agenda for mine. While mine isn't bad, it still says "work truck" when you look at it. Of course, it IS a work truck, but I don't think a work truck has to look like a work truck. Hopefully, over the next year or so, I can get mine looking good again.

 

I have no idea why more people don't restore these trucks. I went to a good-guys event at the Texas Motor Speedway, advertised under the guise of a swap meet. While there were 30 or 40 booths set up for parts sales, it was really a car show and there were several hundred cars. If I'm not mistaken Good Guys may be a GM based organization, but there were plenty of Mopars and a fair sprinkling of Ford muscle as well. I saw at least 10-15 effies, but they were in the 50's range with most '55 and '56. I think I saw a couple of '60-'70 models as well, but not one '80-'86, which I was looking for to get some ideas for mine. Perhaps it is because they are so common, or percieved as work trucks, and so many of them are, that is limiting the number that get restored. I don't mind, there's nothing wrong with standing out in the crowd, and probably more people are restoring these trucks than we realize. There sure seems to be a healthy market for parts on ebay. All it will take is for Chip Foose (or someone like him), to roll one across the auction block at Barret-Jackson and have it fetch upwards of $100,000, and everyone will want to restore one. I don't think it's gonna happen anytime soon and hope it doesn't.

 

My neighbor used to have some badass C10s. I like the C10s.


Hopefully one day mine will be a nice resto mod.

 

Just a matter of time. They're still in that interim period - but I don't think there's any doubt that they will become a classic.
Personally, I think they were the best-looking Ford truck since as far back as the '56

 

I don't know, but with gas going up I don't think we'll see much of an increase in interest in our trucks.

Mine gets 10 mpg and it's getting harder and harder to enjoy driving it.

 

I'll have one ready in a few weeks time after about a year's worth of restorations/upgrades. It's hard to find a good straight rust free place to start, mine was no exception. I'm going to use this as a tow car, I never would have bought it just to fix it up. The main reason for all the work is that I want it to be reliable and comfortable with a few more mod cons than it originally came with.

 

I am picking up what you are putting down, oxstang65. I brought this same topic up about a year ago, see here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...rd-trucks.html

 

Whoah, whoah, whoah.... something here just aint right. The brake booster is on the wrong side.

Nobody else noticed that?

 

Yeah, I noticed that right away. Get a load of those brake lines that go all the way around the firewall! Somebody went through a lot of trouble to mount the brake booster/master cylinder on the opposite side of the engine.

What caught my eye the most was that distributor. Is it the angle, or does that distributor look like it is mounted like an old Mopar engine?!?

 

Is it going to be right hand drive?

 

I was gonna say, if it's RHD, the booster is on the correct side.

 

I just figured with his username being ozstang, with an icon of a Mustang over an Australia background, it was RHD for Oz.

 

I own three body styles...'84, '87, and '92 and the '80-'86 body style is my favorite. I restored my '84 from the ground up, inside and out. The body was totally shot but through some contacts I found a rust free body from New Mexico and had it shipped clear up here. Every nut, bolt and screw has been apart on this truck. I did everything myself except the paint. I have more than I care to admit invested in the paint job, but the looks and comments I get when driving it are priceless.

I've always loved the '79 F-series trucks too, I think they are the best looking of the '73-'79 series. For years I've been wanting to build a '79 F-250 with a Cummins 24 valve from a wrecked Dodge, but funds won't allow it.

 

I don't know if I should say what engine it is.... Maybe I should let y'all guess???

Here's a hint: It's factory original.....

PS I get a lot of my parts from Summit via mail order. Usually delivered within a week. I just discovered Dennis Carpenter also, had a lot of the bits that I couldn't find locally too - also delivered within a week.