hey everyone. I came across an old 83 F-250 last week thats for sale dirt cheap. I went to look at it and get a feel for it, and i have to say i left with a smile on my face. I wanted to gather some knowledge though, on the engine, trans, etc.

Its an 83 F250, like i said. It has the 300 cubic inch inline. Its got a 4 speed manual trans. No idea what the rear gears are, no idea how tall the tires are.

I was quite impressed. For a carbureted motor, i think this thing fired up faster than my fuel injected 5.0 HO mustang can. It didnt shake, shimey, backfire, sputter, NOTHIN. Cool! didnt even have to feed it throttle or find a choke or anything, and this was a cold start.

So here are my questions.

How much power and torque did ford rate these things at? i checked msn autos but they only went down to 1988 and i think those are FI with a bit more power. Anyone have a dyno graph?

How durable are the trannies? Its got just 86,000 miles on it, but this was a work truck so its gone to hell and back fully loaded at least 500 times. When i was busy trying to find first (the shifter ball didnt have the pattern etched into it so i was just guessing) it seemed to have trouble getting into first gear.

WHAT ARE THE GEAR RATIOS? I want to know what kinda revs this thing is pulling on the highway at 70 mph. Does it have a granny gear?

Any other advice on buying this truck?

Thanks in advance. I joined this board specifically because, after reading through the inline 6 forum, you all sounded like you knew every nut and bolt that went into these things. Ill keep reading but i had some specific questions about the engine and trans. thanks!

 

Sounds like a pretty good buy the way you described the engine. The axle might have a tag on it but I believe they were putting something like 2.75's in the rear for the manual trannies back then. I don't know the exact HP numbers on the engine either. Someone else knows them I'm sure and will post. It's not much and if I to get I'd say about 120 HP. As for the 4 speed I'd think it has to be a BW T-18 or a NP435 and they both have a granny. Both are great trannies that are as bulletproof as the 300 itself. As for trouble going into 1st this is normal on the granny trannies because there is no syncroniser on 1st and Reverse gears. You would want to start in 2nd for normal driving.

 

thanks a ton!

haha thats hilarious, no synchro on the granny gear. no wonder i had to push a couple of times! Thats just like the T5 in my mustang, it doesnt have a synchro on teh reverse hear and sometimes you gotta try a couple times. cool! glad to hear the tranny is bombproof because, again, this used to be a work truck, so the people who drove it (employees of my universities) didnt give a **** about it, so they beat it up pretty bad.

keep em comin!

 

get under it and look for rust on fuel tanks, suspension pieces, brake lines and frame.

 

And if ya can fix the rusted stuff then buy it and clean the oil system as best ya can w/ some synthetic blend and a few oil changes over a couple of months. Your I6 will thanks you.

 

It's not uncommon to get 300,000 miles out of these trucks. It is a truck, and not a mustang, so don't expect miracles in the speed dept. However, it'll do just fine for everyday use. The most common problem areas are just what quicklook2 said. I haven't had a truck yet without a gas tank leak, but I live in rust country.

rear gears can be decoded off the data plate on the door.

 

ok cool thanks for the responses guys. haha yeah im not expecting speed, by my calculations this thing carries around 30 pounds for every horsepower. My mustang is exactly half of that lol. Rest assured, thats not why im buying this thing. Im about to go get a bunch of furniture from my aunts house, my brother is going to be doing the same thing once he moves out this year, and im tired of my mom yellin at us when we scratch up the inside of her expedition! For a couple hundred bucks, im gonna have a beater thatll last a lifetime, and its actually quite fun to drive.

anyways, i did stick my head under the thing and did notice some surface rust, but just a very light brown. Nothing had dark brown / reddish holes in it or anything. I even checked on the ground itself for oil splotches and saw none. I think its a safe bet...

Keep em comin guys!

 

Who knows, you might even want to restore the thing one day! Post some pics in your gallery whenever you get this thing will ya.

 

It most likely has 3:55's and will turn about 2800 at 70!

 

holy ****!!! goddamn that is some gear right there!

why is it "most likely" 3.55s?