New to Forum
 

Good morning everyone,

Wanted to say hello for the first time to everyone on the site. I'm looking forward to being a long time member.

A little backstory, I was recently passed down a near perfect condition 1972 Ford F-100 Explorer. It was my grandfather's from the day he drove it off the lot. He's been promising he'd give it to me when he passed away since the day I was born. The happy part here is he decided to fast track his plan a bit and signed it over well before he died (he's in great health) because he knew I'd be able to use it to remodel my new house and appreciate it as the work horse it's always been for him. I'm ecstatic about it and it will someday be passed down to my son.

Not sure what my plan is with it yet. Probably just take care of it and repair it as things break. (although there is a small temptation for my to VERY mildly modify the original 302 in it with Edelbrock street heads, manifold, carb and exhaust but I'm not sure I will) Also kind of wondering if any of you would do anything to a basically completely stock 44 year old F-100?

Anything I should do immediately on it? Maintenance wise or preventative measures for rust, breakdowns or repairs?

Look forward to joining the FTE community,
Cheers :-drink

Welcome to FTE. Great looking truck you have there. I think you game plan is a good one. Just keep it clean and fix things as you need to. Enjoy you ride:-X22

Welcome to FTE, and the bumpside forum! Man, what a beautiful truck! Look forward to more pics, and seeing what your plans for it are!

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...mpilation.html

Take a look at that link for a compilation of mods by HIO Silver.

Changing rubber products under the hood and changing all fluids might be a good idea. But I wouldn't change a thing other than what might wear out. Keep it washed and waxed so he will continue to be happy and proud he gave it to you. And DON'T ever sell it. As long as he is still with us anyways.

My 1st car was my Grandpa's 1965 triumph TR4. My father didn't want me to get it but my Grandpa knew I had wanted it for years. Grandpa forced my father to allow it. I just had to give him a measly $100 to satisfy my Father. He was proud and happy I got it. To make a long story short, after the engine overheated one cold winter night, it was burning anti freeze. I couldn't find a crack,warp, blown head gasket,etc. So my father forced me to sell it. Once my Grandpa found out he said "oh Jeff, why didn't you tell me? I would have bought it back".
I felt so low I was looking up at the underbelly of an ant.:( DON'T make the same mistake!

Welcome to the Bump section of FTE.

Looks like your truck was well taken care of and in good shape. :-X22

72Heirloom Welcome to :-X25 and the Bumpside Forum. :-wink

I say don't do anything til 2017 but keep the truck going. After driving it for a few months you could have a completely different idea of what you might want to do to it.


John

If it doesn't have power steering, that is always a nice stock upgrade. And discs from a donor truck don't hurt a bit as far as originality because it's all Ford parts. And a delay wiper switch from an 80s truck.

Great advice and agreed. There are very few things I have that I will never get rid of, my first gun, my dog, and this truck. And I'm definitely already ordering some stuff on the truck to replace, one Hood hinge, turn signal switch doesn't hold the lever in place anymore, gonna give the engine a good look over and replace a bunch of the rubber and plastic that's gotten old and brittle.

Yeah haha. I guess I can force myself to hold off for 6 months. It's already driving and running great so no reason to fix what isn't broke.

Just check basics out now to make sure it drives safely. Check the rubber suspension bushings and replace them if you don't know when they were last done. Same for the rubber brake hoses. Make sure the kingpins don't have slop, and check the trans and rear end for leaks.

Something I personally think is worthy, especially with a vehicle as nice as this one is at some point pull the motor out and replace all the seals and gaskets; you just eliminate a lot of miniscule leaks and improve the reliability. Put a new water pump, fuel pump and freeze plugs along with the other rubber parts you mentioned. Not many original ones left, especially one with a family legacy like this has. It's a beautiful truck.

One more thing; spend as much time with the truck, your grandfather and the family as you can and get some great pictures with everyone and the truck. You'll appreciate this more and more the older you get.

Very nice truck! Welcome to the forum! If I did anything it would be the 3g alternator upgrade and the disk brake upgrades. These upgrades don't show or change the original truck much, but they sure help elsewhere.

1972 FTW

Looks clean. Can't wait to see some more pics.

I wouldn't do anything except check the rubber, look for rust ( check radiator support, cab mounts, cab support cross member and floor pan ) and arrest any ASAP. If you take care of any you find now, when you decide to do a resto with your son/daughter it will be easier and less $$.

Make sure to change out your brake fluid too if it hasn't been done in the last 5 years.

Good advice, and ...
 

I second all the advice above.

The 3G upgrade is a big safety issue improvement also, as the lights get brighter. Along with it, is the relay upgrade. Use larger size wire per instructions. Best overall mod I've heard of.

Second place may be a Pertronics Ignitor points replacement. It will save you a ton of time and gas money. Just follow the instructions. Don't forget the ground jumper.

Some things that go bad over time, but are hidden:
Foot-switch for brights starts feeding both headlights, and puts a big load on the old alternator, and all the wiring -bad-. Switch is cheap, replace it. AFTER that, replace the headlights with modern Halogen bulbs.

Vacuum advance starts leaking, and ruins gas mileage/drivability. Replace it, and learn to adjust it.

Choke pull-off gets brittle, and works poorly especially in cold weather. A well-spent $14 bucks, but it doesn't come in cheaper rebuild kits.

Gas tank level float will sink. Get a plastic snap-in replacement. Cheap.

A couple of other thoughts:

Avoid carburetor mods. Read-up on the excellent one you have. Do remember that we now almost always have 10-20% gasahol (More than what is posted on the pump) so you will need larger main jets than 40+ years ago. Maybe two sizes, depending on other things.

Re-time engine. Learn why 16 degrees BTDC is right, the difference between initial and total advance, and learn which weights you have in your distributor (15L ?). Your reading and searches will be enlightening. Re-curving a distributor with the right springs will make the truck a new beast. Don't push it to pinging. Not worth it.

Ask crisp, researched questions on this site, and the old-timers will bend over backwards to help you out. They will tell you to get a good vacuum gauge, a digital parts book, a couple of manuals, and to follow the procedure. They aren't mean, it's just that those things are required.

Luck,
Kevin