1973 or '74 Ford F-350 XLT Ranger Super Camper Special
2 wd
460 cid v-8
automatic transmission

Well I picked up this two tone lime green truck about a month back for $500 CAD. It runs. I drove it 125 km from where I bought it to my home. It's my first stab at restoring an old truck. I intend to rebuild it so that it closely resembles a truck that came off the dealer's lot.

Right now I'm stripping the trim and the interior of the cab so I can do some body work this winter. Once I am happy enought with the body I'll overhaul the engine. I'll probably get a machine shop to rebuild the short block as I don't think I am up to doing a full overhaul just yet.

The cab mounts and the radiator core are rotten. I think this project will give me a crash course on how to weld this winter.

I'll post some pics when I figure out how to post pictures on this forum.

 

Awesome, can't wait to see the pics! Welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome aboard!!! Sounds like a good project.

 

welcome! if you haven't owned one of these old girls before, your in for the suprise of your life! they are the hardest working, most beautiful trucks out there! people will take pictures and all the girls will wave!

and it seems the cheaper they are the better they turn out to be...

 

Thanks guys. I have been lurking on this forum the day after I brought the truck home. I am very impressed with all of the information that is shared here at FTE. I'm not very knowledgeable about auto-truck restorations so I have to say I am very fortunate to have found this community of Ford enthusiasts.

My father had a 1973 F-250 Ranger when I was little. I have always wanted one of my own.

 

 

Here's some pics of my SCS when I brought it home

 

Here's some pics of my rusty floor boards. The firewall is pretty rotten too. I tried to find a cab with no success on the island. So I'm going to do a crash course on welding sheet metal.

 

Welcome to FTE, boy you jump in with both feet as far as the floor pans, yea get to know how to weld, that will save you some money.

 

Glad I'm not the only new guy here. And the radiator mounts being shot is an issue I have. Why in the **** are these rubber mounts so dad-gum expensive? I'm looking at almost $80 to replace them, and I'm a cheap SOB. It is impossible to find any good ones in the junkyards I've been to.

 

welcome to FTE, IMHO you got a great deal a rare truck, those west coast mirrors and the spare tire storage place are rare also

 

Hey Nlareau,

I was thinking of scavenging the rubber parts and putting together a thing with washers, some metal tube welding it and fastening it with some grade 8 bolts. I think I could make something that could work. Right now I'm looking at replacing some of the cowl and firewall. Rad/cab support bushings and bumpers will have to go onto my to do list for now.

 

I will post some pics of the firewall and cowl tonight. You guys are going to have a real chuckle when you see the scope of the cancer on this cab. I live on Vancouver Island. Finding a useable replacement cab on this side of the ferry terminal to the mainland has been very difficult.

 

The rubber radiator support bushings are the same as the front/rear cab to frame rubber bushings. The bushings are specific to upper and lower.

You can buy an entire kit from a repro parts seller. If the radiator support bushings are shot, so will be the cab mount bushings.

It might be possible to find individua NOS bushings, but there are variations. I need the I.D. (inside diameter) to find the correct types.

Radiator support: 1973/77 = There are two different types. One for the Standard, Xtra Cooling and A/C radiators. Another for the Super Cooling Radiator (S/CR).

Your truck has the S/CR. The difference in the two supports: The S/CR support has a larger opening radius.

 

Yup it's the super cooling rad support. It has the larger hole in the front. My replacement rad core has the smaller hole. I was thinking of cutting the hole to make it bigger, and welding the rad fins(flange like thingeys that the radiator bolts to) from the old core to the newer core with the newer bigger hole.