Would be great, would love to see your truck, the color has me interested in seeing how close it is to mine.

 

I agree, would be neat to see and hear others who have, or had a dentside in the family that made an impact that last to this day.

However, with the title of this thread, I am guessing alot of people are passing it by, and not reading the thread. Time for a new thread on that subject?

 

From your pictures, the trucks are nearly identicle. Same stripes, same chrome around the windshield and drip rails, same front bumper, same seat and interior. The original carpet was gone, but because it had some sound deadening material which looked original, I assume it had the same carpet as well. I have no PS, PB, or AC. Hope to get the photo's up after work tonight.

 

I think your right Harold. I've started a new thread, Fond memories and dentsides, for people to post their own stories. Lets see how it goes.

 

Great idea, and I hope you tell your story and share pictures of your dent. If that truck didn't give alot of service none of them did!.

 

Here are 2 photo's of my 73 F100 Explorer that I drove in high school. This would have been taken about 1987. 302, 3-speed. And of course Orange. I liked it so much I bought a similar truck this summer.

 

And, this is the truck I bought this summer. 1977 F100 Explorer Custom Orange, 302, 3-speed manual. I didn't notice it til I was loading the photos but the left side view is the same as the left side view of my 73. Sitting in front of the same cabinet shop. Look at how the pine tree's have changed in 22 years. I changed the dash pad and armrests from brown to black and painted the headliner and door panels a tan color. You can see a patch on the seat where my puppy got hungry this summer. As per Harold's suggestion, I used a pair of my dad's old pants to patch the hole. The hood and LH fender have been changed. I added a masking tape stripe just to see and ended up leaving it temporarly. The truck has a 73 grill on it with the XLT badge which I assume is wrong. I added the sliding window and rubber floor matt. I assume it had carpet originally. The color code is 2 but the interior seems pretty orange and I doubt the exterior has ever been repainted. It's pretty solid over all. Took alot of work to get it this far, but I'm driving my old truck again. This site has been most helpful, thank you. ShaneAndAn

 

Thats great! thanks for sharing the pictures. It is amazing how those pine trees matured in 22 years! The first picture with the doors open that paint color looks just like my dad's truck. I found another picture of my dad's truck looks to be 1992 or 93, and I see the paint is getting dull and less shine which then makes it look like it is getting darker like yours. I guess they would say the paint is dying(?) I like you patching the seat with a pair of pap's pants!

That 73 looks like the one my dad had, I am going to scan some pictures and put it over in the new thread Mike did about family dents and memories. Check it out!

thanks again I think that is the color of my dad's 77, paint code "2", I really do now that I see yours.

 

COLOR 2: Medium Copper Metallic = F100/350 & Bronco (not Econoline).

COLOR 2: Tangerine = Econoline ONLY.

MU4 is the BODY code. MU is the trim code. The U has nothing to do with a bench seat.

MU: Tan Vinyl & Cloth - Explorer - Body Style 81B.

4 has nothing to do whether the truck is a Custom Cab, or not.

4 = Styleside Pickup, Bench Seat

 

Thank you, was hoping you'd see this post and help me out.
Medium Copper Metalic must be pretty orange like in color. I'll have to look up some color chips and see. So the body code does tell that it's an Explorer? Have you done any buck tag decoding for these trucks? I worked with Kevin Marti on my mustang many years ago before he bought all the ford info and he had alot of them figured out. Not sure about the trucks, or if they are even similar. I need to order the ford sheet on this so I know. I will get the story moved over to the memories post soon. Thanks again,
Shane

 

When MU is decoded, it says: Explorer. *

When Ford was planing to throw away all the info that pertained to 1967/79 vehicles, Marti found out...and got ALL of it.

You can get your truck build sheet info from Ford...for FREE. Call FoMoCo's 800 number.

But...it takes 4-6 weeks (or more) to get this info, because...Ford has to get it from Marti.

Buck tags are used by assembly line workers. They look at the codes on the tags, then install the specific parts that match what the dealer specified, when he ordered the truck.

I looked at the buck tag info you posted. To me, it's clear...as mud. I don't have any way to decode it, and I'm not gonna guess at what the codes might refer to.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The 1973/79 Ford Light Truck Parts Catalog is available on a CD from hipoparts.com.

The problem with it is: It was scanned from a very early edition of the paper catalog and has errors and omissions,

Almost everyone here on FTE that has the '73/79 parts catalog has this CD version, because it's all that's available for the general public.

I have this catalog on paper, and three other editions on microfiche, including the final edition of 10/88 which I bought from Ford for $110.00.

 

Thanks again Bill,
I knew some of those facts from my mustang research. I've got a pretty rare 69 car which Marti helped me decode. It's 1 of 2 coupes with an automatic, bench seat, and Qcode 428CJ. Like I said, that was before he got all the info from Ford. I received the customer service letter from Ford on the mustangs and one came twice, with different options. Was told that it was read off of microfilm which reinforced what you said. That was over 12 years ago before Marti had the information lined up I think. Do you happen to know if the trim package for my truck included the carpet like Harolds truck or if that was a separate option? I pulled the added piece of **** carpet out and there was what appeared to be a thick "jute backed" insulation on the floor which I wouldn't think would be under the floor matt. I assume it came with carpet originally.
Also a question for Harold, is the headliner and visors in your truck Tan or white?

Shane

 

This is the page from the Ford parts manual that I originally used when trying to decode the body code. In a later post I corrected myself and stated, as Bill said, that MU was for Explorer tan cloth and vinyl trim.
But, also on this page you see that the book says the second character identifies the type of seat and that the truck is equipped with.
Also, it clearly says the third character (4) identifies CUSTOM CAB with styleside bed.
Bill (NumberDummy) has resources beyond what anyone else on this forum has and Bill, you are an invaluable asset to all of us.
Unfortunately the rest of us have to deal with sometimes incorrect information and data. I don't like to give out wrong information (incorrect data is worse than no data) and do my best not to. When I am wrong not only do I not mind being corrected, I appreciate it.
Thanks Bill, keep up the good work. A lot of us would be sunk without you.
Mike

 

The resources I have do not include what came in the Explorer package, but I would assume that with the vinyl and cloth seat upholstery, that carpeting would have been included.

Several members in the past have posted scans from sales brochures that included Explorers. These brochures list what came with the various Custom, Ranger, Ranger XLT, Lariat and Explorer packages.

AFAIK, 4 refers to Styleside Pickup, Bench Seat. At once time, there were only two digits used for BODY codes...one letter, one number. For examples, see 1973/75.

When Ford went to three digits in 1976, 4 (for example) became the third digit.

 

I found and read some of them, just hadn't seen a 77 specific Explorer flyer yet. Not real important yet. Just curious. Thanks again for the information. I'm guessing that the Explorer package doesn't affect today's value alot on these old trucks, but don't know.