My shed of a 1978 Ford F-150
Discussion
Needed a pickup for a building project and house move - found this for the equivalent of £1k and bought it. Already been offered more for it, but I fell in love with it on the drive home despite its many, many faults, so I’ve decided to fix it up. Expect many stupid questions as I’ve never owned an old car before and don’t really know how anything works. I’ve changed shocks, throttle bodies, sensors etc on modern cars so how hard can it be? 
Good / working things:
Engine (recently rebuilt)
Transmission (all 3 speeds of it!)
LPG system with 100l tank (very much enjoyed paying 25ppl to fill it up on the way home)
Brakes
Door locks and ignition
Most gauges and lights
New radiator, battery and shocks
Power steering
Tailgate opens and locks fine
Solid, non rusty chassis, body and suspension
Non working things / damage:
Indicator stalk doesn’t do anything
Seat belts (it has the entire belt system on the door pillars but nothing to clip them into as it’s had the seats from a Silverado or something similar fitted)
Drivers door handle
Blower / radio assembly damaged and not working
No gear selector gauge
Steering wheel very off centre
Steering generally feels vague and misaligned
Steering wheel centre plastic missing
Dash top cracked
One door card missing (buying a good used one today for £4)
Some damage to front drivers side, indicator dislodged
Various dents and paint damage. Looks like it was originally dark green, so I’m probably going to repaint it eventually in the original colour, as well as sort out all the dents and bent chrome. I can get cosmetic work done very, very cheap through a family member, so I’m not concerned about that.
No doubt there’s more issues, but that’s all I found on the test drive and 1hr drive home.
Here’s some pictures - as you can see, it was bought from a rather “interesting” location, and I was quite relieved not to get robbed.
Good / working things:
Engine (recently rebuilt)
Transmission (all 3 speeds of it!)
LPG system with 100l tank (very much enjoyed paying 25ppl to fill it up on the way home)
Brakes
Door locks and ignition
Most gauges and lights
New radiator, battery and shocks
Power steering
Tailgate opens and locks fine
Solid, non rusty chassis, body and suspension
Non working things / damage:
Indicator stalk doesn’t do anything
Seat belts (it has the entire belt system on the door pillars but nothing to clip them into as it’s had the seats from a Silverado or something similar fitted)
Drivers door handle
Blower / radio assembly damaged and not working
No gear selector gauge
Steering wheel very off centre
Steering generally feels vague and misaligned
Steering wheel centre plastic missing
Dash top cracked
One door card missing (buying a good used one today for £4)
Some damage to front drivers side, indicator dislodged
Various dents and paint damage. Looks like it was originally dark green, so I’m probably going to repaint it eventually in the original colour, as well as sort out all the dents and bent chrome. I can get cosmetic work done very, very cheap through a family member, so I’m not concerned about that.
No doubt there’s more issues, but that’s all I found on the test drive and 1hr drive home.
Here’s some pictures - as you can see, it was bought from a rather “interesting” location, and I was quite relieved not to get robbed.
si_xsi said:
Yee-ha, solid work Geekman, needs a false floor for full Narcos effect. What's she running under the 'hood'? Must take some getting used to after all the modern cars you've had but what a piece of history to be smoking around in 
I’d love to make it into a proper vintage Narco truck 
I plan on driving it quite regularly in the US when it’s fixed up though, so probably won’t do that as I don’t fancy getting arrested!It’s got the original 5.0 Windsor V8 - I haven’t pushed it hard at all as I was too focused on getting home without breaking anything, but it feels pretty quick for a 42 year old truck. It was rebuilt a few months before I bought it.
NDA said:
Looks perfect for the job....
Are the tyres bald?
Do you have the equivalent of an MOT over there?
Tyres have about 2-3mm left - I’ll be leaving them as they are for the moment, but a new set of tyres will be fitted once the more pressing issues are sorted.Are the tyres bald?
Do you have the equivalent of an MOT over there?
There’s no MOT equivalent whatsoever - you’d be amazed at some of the stuff people drive around, many are far, far worse than this truck. I do however want it to be safe (or as safe as an old truck with no airbags or crumple zones can be), so I’ll be getting the seatbelts, steering etc sorted. The previous owner said he had it up to 90 on the highway - must have been pretty scary with the steering as it is now.
Scrump said:
That looks great.
Don’t do too much to the bodywork, a bit of ‘patina’ suits it.
Looking forward to reading more about this as you sort it out.
Don't worry - I'm not going to restore it to mint condition as it's going to be used for carrying building supplies, trees etc, and some light off roading. The main aim is to get it as mechanically spot on as possible, then look at the cosmetics later. I would like to get it looking better than it does now though, particularly the front end and some of the larger side dents. The grill surrond is currently in such poor condition that I can't secure the indicator for example.Don’t do too much to the bodywork, a bit of ‘patina’ suits it.
Looking forward to reading more about this as you sort it out.
Nice! I love these things. Having recently moved to canada I love seeing all the old pickup trucks around. I also love that they all have big thumping old petrol engines. A friend of mine had an old ford RV of a similar age with presumably the same V8 in it. They make an amazing noise but go nowhere fast, haha. I'm always tempted by old trucks like this but feel like I'd be working on it constantly
ANJ91 said:
It looks ready for the scrapyard 
Ah, I see worse every day I have a boring, modern car to get to work so it’s not like I’m relying on it for anything important. It made it the hour’s drive home without dying so it can’t be that bad. I can always sell it and get my money back anyway, but I think it deserves to be saved. It’s survived for 42 years, after all!
Looks great! And won't need to save you many pickup/van rentals to pay you back. ISTR that "commercial" vehicles like these were mostly exempt from the rising tide of smog regulations that emasculated passenger cars through the 1970s, so hopefully the engine is decent for what it is.
I feel like it would look better with either the blue oval or the F O R D lettering on the front, but not both personally. Like the wheels!
I feel like it would look better with either the blue oval or the F O R D lettering on the front, but not both personally. Like the wheels!
samoht said:
Looks great! And won't need to save you many pickup/van rentals to pay you back. ISTR that "commercial" vehicles like these were mostly exempt from the rising tide of smog regulations that emasculated passenger cars through the 1970s, so hopefully the engine is decent for what it is.
I feel like it would look better with either the blue oval or the F O R D lettering on the front, but not both personally. Like the wheels!
It certainly feels decent - I was worried it would be incredibly slow, but once I’ve got the steering sorted out I reckon it’ll be able to cruise at 80 with no issues.I feel like it would look better with either the blue oval or the F O R D lettering on the front, but not both personally. Like the wheels!
I totally agree about the blue oval - I’m going to remove it when we do the bodywork. It seems to be stuck on with some sort of bondo material so I don’t want to do it right now as it’ll just make it look even worse than it does already
Brick-Nose OBS F-150's (like yours) are highly prized by many F-150 fans/collectors in the US, particularly if they are rot-free. Your truck is most definitely worth rescuing and in a restored state could be worth $7-8K. They are attractive because their body-on-frame construction makes them really easy to do major work on and pre-EFi engines are far less afflicted with electronic/sensor/vacuum issues than later versions with injected engines. I really like your truck - it has so much potential.
I have a later (1992) Flareside that I bought from a neighbor for buttons (relatively). I have done all the work myself, aside from paint and a transmission rebuild. I get generous offers to buy it all the time.
I have a close friend with a Brick-Nose Bronco - admittedly, he's spent a chunk of change on his (stroker motor etc), but his is conservatively worth $12k to someone who knows what they are buying.
Please save that truck!
I have a later (1992) Flareside that I bought from a neighbor for buttons (relatively). I have done all the work myself, aside from paint and a transmission rebuild. I get generous offers to buy it all the time.
I have a close friend with a Brick-Nose Bronco - admittedly, he's spent a chunk of change on his (stroker motor etc), but his is conservatively worth $12k to someone who knows what they are buying.
Please save that truck!
That's great to hear - don't worry, I'll definitely be saving it. I can't see a time in my life where I won't need a pickup for occasional use, so this should be a long term keeper.
Your truck looks fantastic - I'm incredibly jealous! I actually went to see two almost identical ones to yours, but sadly both were completely rotten. Whilst dry state or Mexican trucks don't rust, plenty of northern trucks get imported here when they're too rotten to pass inspection, so there's a lot of really bad ones around. I am however convinced that an American with a good knowledge of vintage trucks and the patience to deal with the kind of people who sell old trucks on Facebook marketplace could make a lot of money buying old, structurally solid trucks here and shipping them back to the US. There's no end of interesting stuff from the 1950s-1990s available for 1-2k USD, plus loads of cheap parts in dodgy, out of the way junkyards that don't have any online presence.
Your truck looks fantastic - I'm incredibly jealous! I actually went to see two almost identical ones to yours, but sadly both were completely rotten. Whilst dry state or Mexican trucks don't rust, plenty of northern trucks get imported here when they're too rotten to pass inspection, so there's a lot of really bad ones around. I am however convinced that an American with a good knowledge of vintage trucks and the patience to deal with the kind of people who sell old trucks on Facebook marketplace could make a lot of money buying old, structurally solid trucks here and shipping them back to the US. There's no end of interesting stuff from the 1950s-1990s available for 1-2k USD, plus loads of cheap parts in dodgy, out of the way junkyards that don't have any online presence.
You are absolutely right - they made lots and lots of them, but SO many ended up in the rust-belt and northern states that were not really looked after and worked very hard. Consequently many are totally unsalvageable. The trade-off is that you can buy pretty much any component or assembly for these trucks from numerous sources, from an entire drive-train to dash trim pieces.
There is a facebook group called OBS Revolution which has a very large and highly knowledgeable membership. Some of them are real redneck country boys - but so many of them know these old trucks right down to nut and bolt level. Maybe worth a look if you run into any issues, or just need a work-around or are hunting for specific parts.
I'll enjoy reading about bringing this lovely truck back from the abyss - if you choose to share the story.
There is a facebook group called OBS Revolution which has a very large and highly knowledgeable membership. Some of them are real redneck country boys - but so many of them know these old trucks right down to nut and bolt level. Maybe worth a look if you run into any issues, or just need a work-around or are hunting for specific parts.
I'll enjoy reading about bringing this lovely truck back from the abyss - if you choose to share the story.
Matt Harper said:
You are absolutely right - they made lots and lots of them, but SO many ended up in the rust-belt and northern states that were not really looked after and worked very hard. Consequently many are totally unsalvageable. The trade-off is that you can buy pretty much any component or assembly for these trucks from numerous sources, from an entire drive-train to dash trim pieces.
There is a facebook group called OBS Revolution which has a very large and highly knowledgeable membership. Some of them are real redneck country boys - but so many of them know these old trucks right down to nut and bolt level. Maybe worth a look if you run into any issues, or just need a work-around or are hunting for specific parts.
I'll enjoy reading about bringing this lovely truck back from the abyss - if you choose to share the story.
Thanks - I’ve just sent a join request. I’ll be sure to post updates here. I was planning on working on it over the next few days but we’ve got a tropical storm around for today and probably tomorrow, so all I can do is look at it in the drive. There is a facebook group called OBS Revolution which has a very large and highly knowledgeable membership. Some of them are real redneck country boys - but so many of them know these old trucks right down to nut and bolt level. Maybe worth a look if you run into any issues, or just need a work-around or are hunting for specific parts.
I'll enjoy reading about bringing this lovely truck back from the abyss - if you choose to share the story.
Mikebentley said:
Great truck, my wife loves the 1970s F trucks. This is mine that I previously owned and wish I still did.
Stunning! My wife’s uncle had one exactly like that, albeit in poor condition. He sold it several years ago for the equivalent of about £1.5k - to him it was just an old truck that didn’t work very well anymore. If I’d have been living here in those days I’d have bitten his hand off.That is lovely OP. 
In 1977 after finishing school and before starting work I spent a month in Manitoba with relatives who had a 1975 F150 pick-up with a Windsor 351 cubic inch V8 and a 4 on the floor manual gearbox - I loved it!
Despite the big dent in the front from when they were herding cattle and one of them decided to just stop.
In 1977 after finishing school and before starting work I spent a month in Manitoba with relatives who had a 1975 F150 pick-up with a Windsor 351 cubic inch V8 and a 4 on the floor manual gearbox - I loved it!
Despite the big dent in the front from when they were herding cattle and one of them decided to just stop.
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