F10GRR31104
117 5M F100 1 4 G 08 J
04550 72

1973 that I am looking at for a possible disc and power steering donor.

 

Looks like a 1/2 ton with a 302.




John

 

F10 = F100 2WD Pickup.

G = 302 2V.

R = San Jose CA Assembly Plant.

R31104 = 1973.

117" Wheelbase.

5M: 5 = Grabber Blue / M = Wimbledon White.

F100 2WD / 4550 lbs. GVWR

14: 1 = Blue Vinyl & Cloth-Ranger XLT / 4 = Styleside Pickup, Bench Seat.

G = C4 Cruise-O-Matic.

08J: 08 = Ford 9" Rear Axle / 3.50-1 / non Limited Slip / 3300 lb. Rear Axle Capacity // J = Power Steering.

4550 lbs. Gross Vehicle Weight Rating.

72 = San Jose (NorCal) Ford District Sales Office, where the original selling dealer ordered the truck from.

CAVEAT EMPTOR: Let the buyer beware.

1973/79 F100 2WD's came with manual front disc brakes as standard equipment. Power front disc brakes were optional.

 

They also came with power disc brakes and manual steering.




John

 

Thanks guys. It has both power disc and power steering.

 

Quite true, Johnnie me boy. But this truck's axle code has the 3rd letter of J which decodes to P/S, so I assumed the truck still has power steering.

But...there's no way to know if a '73/79 F100 2WD has power disc brakes...or not...until one looks under the hood to see if there's a power booster there...and some ppl don't look...they assume.

 

But were we referring to this truck in this thread when we wrote,
"CAVEAT EMPTOR: Let the buyer beware.

1973/79 F100 2WD's came with manual front disc brakes as standard equipment. Power front disc brakes were optional."




John

 

I typed that Caveat jazz because I wanted the OP to verify that this F100 has power front disc brakes before buying it, because some do not.

 

I looked under the hood and behind the tires before I even wrote down the codes.
I'm new to the old truck scene but did build these two from the ground up with my daughter and oldest son.


The daughter's '66 now has 100K miles of true daily driving since it was finished 9 years ago(easy to track after resetting the odometer to -0-).
Currently working on the youngest son's '67 Mustang and trying to squeeze in time on the F100.
Glad I found this site, you folks are a great help.

If I buy the '73 is there any benefit to using the rear brakes as well or are they the same or not much different from my '65s?

 

Do you know if your Mustang was sold new in West LA?

The letter sequence of the black plates points to the Culver City DMV office that serviced most of the Westside except Santa Monica.

 

The 66 was sold from Ames Ford in San Rafael, Ca $2,888.64 on the window sticker.
The 68 was sold from Burch Ford in La Habra, Ca.
My 65 was Ben Alexander Ford in San Francisco, Ca. $3,500ish on the window sticker.

The pic of our daughter's is from Meguiars web-site where it is displayed as the Shining Stars contest winner. It also was a feature car in 8/04 Mustang Monthly(article is also on-line in their archives)

 

Ben Alexander also owned Hollywood Ford at one time, and was an actor.

He co-starred with Jack Webb in the original 1950's (black & white) Dragnet TV show as Officer Frank Smith.

I believe that Ames Ford was owned by Leon Ames, who also owned Leon Ames Ford in Studio City, the dealership later moved to Encino. Leon Ames was also an actor.

Leon Ames Ford later became Ralph Williams Ford after Williams married Ames' daughter. Williams also owned Ford dealerships in NorCal, why I believe it's the same Ames.

Ralph Williams Ford moved to Long Beach in 1970. Williams changed the name first to Four Seasons Ford, then to Queen City Ford, then sold out to "Go see Cal" Worthington.

Burch Ford in La Habra closed last year. I went over there when I heard they were closing (La Habra is 10 minutes from here), bought a few obsolete parts and a coupla parts catalogs.

btw: I worked at Leon Ames Ford; Ralph Williams Ford, twice.

 

Wow, you are not just the numbers expert but the dealership expert too. The original owner of my 65 Mustang(I'm 2nd owner) told me about the Ben Alexander/Dragnet connection. I've got the original owners manual signed by Ben A.

Seems like the actors really got into the dealership game.

I'm suprised that Burch Ford closed since it was still in the family. Was it a victim of the economy or some thing else? When we finished the son's 68, about 3 years ago, I talked to them to see if they had any of their old dealer lic. plate frames to put on his car. I talked to a woman that I think was a daughter. They were very nice and sent us two of their current plastic frames. One is chrome on the plastic so it looks alot like the old school frames. If you ever see and original metal frame in good shape for sale in your area let me know.

One other question on the '73 F100 that I am getting closer to buying for a possible brake and steering donor. How interchangable is the rear axle for it for my '65 and are there benefits to a later model rear end? My rear is supposed to be a 3.50 ratio but the PO told me it was changed to 4.11. I beleive it since the speedo reads 5mph fast at 55mph according to the Cal-Trans road side indicator. The donor's tag says it should be 3.50. I may also be able to get a 3.00 gear set that my nephew took out of his '69 Mach 1. I have also wondered if the change to the 4.11s was the whole axle since the truck has the original rims(I beleive) with 235 tires and it looks like they will(and maybe have) rub on the inside of the wheel houses with a heavy load. Made me wonder if the original was swapped for some thing narrower?