My new old truck...

[Jmoozy27]

Been looking for a work truck to keep around instead of my company vehicle. After much searching I came across this gem.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=233808&stc=1http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=233809&stc=1
Just wondering if I could get some feedback from the wealth of knowledge which is second to none.

Long live 3ww!!!:beer

[bkm]

Wow, not to many extra cab 80-86 F-150's out there running around. Is this an 86?

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[El Camexican]

Clean! 6 or 8? What does the odometer say?

Get it away from that hoop, before it gets dented!

[Jmoozy27]

'85 and clean as I've ever seen. Bought it from a guy who's father was the original owner.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=233810&stc=1

[El Camexican]

The door pads on those things broke up early in life (same with the dash perforations) Is that solid wood? Store bought or homemade? When I was flipping trucks to pay the rent I would fill the inside of the door pads with expanding foam and hope the prospective buyers didn't lean on them (please don't tell DOHC, it would crush him to know this of me):lol:

[Jmoozy27]

Clean! 6 or 8? What does the odometer say?

Get it away from that hoop, before it gets dented!

5.0l efi
Odometer reads 28,xxx hoping its 128k but could very well be 228k, either way I'm cool with it. It's got cold AC too. I'm happy as a fat kid with a cookie cake.

[Jmoozy27]

The door pads on those things broke up early in life (same with the dash perforations) Is that solid wood? Store bought or homemade? When I was flipping trucks to pay the rent I would fill the inside of the door pads with expanding foam and hope the prospective buyers didn't lean on them (please don't tell DOHC, it would crush him to know this of me):lol:

I'm pretty sure it real wood and homemade. I like the custom touch.

[El Camexican]

I always liked the interior of those trucks. They were a decade ahead of the Chevys in that respect. Does your gear indicator still more? If it does someone ether fixed it or I doubt it's at 228,000. They had a few other issues if I recall. The distributors would gum up if the oil changes weren't frequent and I think there was an issue with a vacuum line at the rear of the transmissions.

[El Camexican]

I'm pretty sure it real wood and homemade. I like the custom touch.

Nothing like a 2 X 4 on your pick up door!

[El Camexican]

The gas peddle looks like low mileage:cool:

[bkm]

5.0l efi
Odometer reads 28,xxx hoping its 128k but could very well be 228k, either way I'm cool with it. It's got cold AC too. I'm happy as a fat kid with a cookie cake.
85 should be cfi throttle body. I think multiport efi was in 86. This engine should have a distributor mounted tfi ignition module. Carry a distributor wrench, thin walled 5.5mm socket or a Ford tfi module tool, and an extra ignition module. They will shoot craps if you look at them sideways, but take about 15 minutes to change with the above mentioned tools.

[Jmoozy27]

I always liked the interior of those trucks. They were a decade ahead of the Chevys in that respect. Does your gear indicator still more? If it does someone ether fixed it or I doubt it's at 228,000. They had a few other issues if I recall. The distributors would gum up if the oil changes weren't frequent and I think there was an issue with a vacuum line at the rear of the transmissions.

There isn't really a bunch of info online that I could find as far as reviews, common problems, or red flags. Everything works from why I've seen. The rear fuel gauge doesn't work. That's all Ive noticed thus far.

[Jmoozy27]

85 should be cfi throttle body. I think multiport efi was in 86. This engine should have a distributor mounted tfi ignition module. Carry a distributor wrench, thin walled 5.5mm socket or a Ford tfi module tool, and an extra ignition module. They will shoot craps if you look at them sideways, but take about 15 minutes to change with the above mentioned tools.

Right on, what does cfi mean?

[bkm]

Central Fuel Injected throttle body

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[Jmoozy27]

Central Fuel Injected throttle body

Is that more like a carbuerated setup as opposed to common day fuel injection? Fuel injected into the manifold instead of into each cylinder?

[knappyfeet]

Is that more like a carbuerated setup as opposed to common day fuel injection? Fuel injected into the manifold instead of into each cylinder?

Yes.....throttle body injection.

Looks like a nice rig.

Good find.

[bkm]

`87 was first yr. multi-port and different body style ........i`m glad you knew what a pain in the arse FARD`s can be .......don`t look at it.......just fiddle Fix Or Repair Daily !.......and it`s built Ford tough ! .....the best never rest ! .....listen to the heart-beat ......of America ! ooops my bad ! Nice truck cause you can beat on it and not feel bad Moozy ......wish i had my `79 back i`d build it brick sh!t house style !
86 was the first year for multi port on the 302 only, the 300 six got it in 87 and the 351 got it a little later than the other two.

Ford used the multi port 302 in the F150, Mustang, and Crown Victoria for the first time in 86.

[83ATC185]

Nice truck! Had an '84, short wheelbase 4x4 with the straight 6, 4 speed, granny low... Wrecked into a tree at 40 mph, then driven 15 miles with no water in it. Manifold red hot and hardly running by the time i got it home. Let it cool down overnight filled it with water, it still runs to this day. Absolutely bulletproof. Gave it to my dad...

Oh and you'll get a great deal more life out of those TFI modules if you use thermal paste made for computer heatsinks between the distributor and module, instead of the grease that comes with a new module.

[Jd110]

Nice truck. Had an 85' with a 300-6 banger. Like said above, it was bulletproof. Good find.


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[Jmoozy27]

A little history on how I stumbled on this rig:

I've been wanting an old ride to keep around for quite some time. Something cool, old, minimal electriconics, and most important it must have a reliable power plant. Growing up I was generally a Chevy man, although I've owned both. My father is a master mechanic by trade and a drag racer at heart. He always raced and drove chevys so needless to say that's what I knew to be superior. Nonetheless I've always kept an open mind and liked to experience things one my own.

After getting the wife to approve purchasing a vehicle, (definitely considering a truck isn't something that's easily hide in my backyard like a bike or trike) the search began. I began looking at every box body Chevy in the classifieds. Everything I found was either ragged to shitt or way overpriced or both. I swear it's like the fuggin 3wheeler industry.

While tuning one of my bikes one day I stumbled on a decent looking lwb ford lariat.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=233823&stc=1
Stopped by and gave it a once over and really started to dig the lines of it. Something about the bullnosed front end that really sets these trucks apart IMO. So I called the guy and test drove it. He explained that it ran but needed a little tlc, which is expected. I drove it and liked it even though it did die on me twice. I was ready to buy it, but something was telling me to hold off and shop around a bit. So I did.

I found an 85 f150 stepside about an hour from me. Talked to the guy and told him I would check it out when I could make the trip.

Then I saw this one. And immediately thought screw it lets see it.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=233824&stc=1
So glad I did. The man in the pic is the owner whose father was the original owner and passed away 4 years prior. Very nice fellow, he kept the truck around mainly because of sentimental attachment and cared more about it going to a good home than getting top dollar in return. I asked him how much he wanted for it and he told me 5k. That's over twice as much as I was willing to spend and I explained that to him and told him 2k was like my max. We agreed to sleep on it and talk after work the following day.

Well, I ended up working that whole night and couldn't get my mind off of it. The suspense was killing me. Got off around sunrise and crashed til around lunch time. As soon as I woke up I called him, no answer. Shitt!!!! I felt that he just didn't want to break the news to me that he sold it. So with cash in hand I hopped on my bike and headed to Baton Rouge to check out the red stepside.

I was tooling along on I-10 at a steady 85 mph. I just got off of the atchafalaya basin bridge, which is a 20 mile bridge over the nations largest swamp, I noticed that my fork (which I just rebuilt) was leaking a lot, so I pulled off to check it out. After wiping the oil something was telling me to check my phone. Low and behold I had a text that read "come get the truck". Son of a bitchh!!! U-turn!!!

Moving forward was very pleasant, we had a few beers while completing the swap. His wife took pictures of everything for some reason. I'm guessing it was hard to see the truck go. It wasn't very hard on my end.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=233826&stc=1http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=233827&stc=1http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=233828&stc=1
The last pic is one happy coonass!!!!!! My bike is still at their house, I was not leaving without that truck.

[Jd110]

That's a cool story. Thanks. It sounds like you could have made a friend, also. By the look on your faces, you made out real good. Glad to see a real happy face on here. Hope you enjoy it!

[knappyfeet]

That's an awesome possum story.

Great pics as well......thanks

[sledcrazyinCT]

That is a clean truck! The 80 to 86 Fords are built with more steel...good choice to go old school. Look at the spring shackles on your rig compared to any truck built 20 years later that is what I mean by more steel

[Bren_downe]

Kenneth looks like Randy Quaid in Nathional Lampoons Vacation.

Cool truck JMooz. My father had an 84 "hefty" half ton. Straight six, four on the floor. Fords version of the big red! I love the floor mounted headlight switch too.

[knappyfeet]

Kenneth looks like Randy Quaid in Nathional Lampoons Vacation.

Now he looks like Santa Claus.

233844

[Jmoozy27]

Now he looks like Santa Claus.

233844

That's usually the look that shunned actors go for. Can't blame em. Nobody fuckks wit ol St. Nick.

[Jmoozy27]

After much trouble with the first year of the 'Ford EFI Experiment' I feel better suited with the 100 year proven simplicity of carburetion.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=235776&stc=1http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=235777&stc=1

This truck will be sensorless with the exception of oil pressure, coolant temp, and fuel level.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=235778&stc=1http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=235779&stc=1
No cats, egr, or smog shitt. Just a Holley 4160 and a weiand stealth dual plane.

[knappyfeet]

Nice.

What was wrong with the fuel injection?

Was it giving you problems or just not enough performance

[Herboso]

I had an 86' F350 crew cab with 351. All of those &%$!! plastic vacuum tubes were deteriorated and broken. I went with an Edelbrock intake and carb and tossed all but the a few essential vacuum hoses when I rebuilt the engine and all headaches were gone. Nice truck there.

[Jmoozy27]

Nice.

What was wrong with the fuel injection?

Was it giving you problems or just not enough performance

The fuel injection was fine for about a week. Then I was having hard start, long cranking issues. Also ran very rich with horrible mpg. 8-11 city 10-14 hwy depending on the mood she was in. On this year ford decided it would be a good idea to run the entire wiring harness from the computer underneath the radio through a firewall in the middle of the cab over the head and intake then above the timing cover making sure all wiring was subject to the hottest areas of the engine bay. This was not a problem in 1985 but 30 some odd years later the now bare wires which connect to an insane amount of sensors and solenoids which can all leave you stranded in bumfukk with nothing but a multimeter and slowly dwindling amount of hope and patience to possibly get the motor to fire off. So I just felt the need to simplify my situation. And I hate computers.

As far as performance goes, it would take a lot of time and basically a revamp of the entire drivetrain to get a drivable 300 hp. I'm looking to get around the 250 hp range eventually but this would take some head work, knobby cam, and headers which just isn't feasible at the time. Stock numbers for this model 185hp/270ftlb although they may be exaggerated a bit. I think with the intake, carb, hei dizzy, and the already modded exhaust (muffled stainless 2 1/4" pipe w/o cats) 200-215 should be possible with the proper timing adjustment. As always reliability is first priority in my eyes.

[knappyfeet]

It sure is a nice rig.

The 80s and early 90s were a time when performance was at best bad and worst horrible. When sports cars of the time advertised 190hp......I think an 1984 corvette......you can see where simple trucks and family cars HP were worse.

I'm going through the same kinda issue with a 93 Silverado with a 5.0 and 35 inch tires. I had to re gear it to get me up to more of a stock feel of 1993......which sucked as well.

The good news is is that you seem to be doing the right stuff and your not in a part of the country that is less restictive than where I'm at.

[Jmoozy27]

Well, looks like I up and locked up the old motor. Coolant doesn't belong in the oil pan. If you hook up the coolant line to the vacuum port, problems occur. What a kick in the nuts...

Fear not, for we are a forum of problem solvers, and solve problems we shall.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=236394&stc=1http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=236395&stc=1http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=236396&stc=1

Luckily my dads shop had a sbf motor that he pulled from a fox body one year prior. Amongst countless bow tie blocks scattered amongst the shop lies this one motor. So we stripped it down for a rebuild. This is what going back in.

New rod bearings
New main bearings
Polished flat top high compression pistons std bore(came in the motor)
Crane 'Energizer' cam (#284-H12)came in the motor
New valve springs
New timing chain
New oil pump
New roller rockers
Flowtech headers blasted and ceramic coated
Stock E5TE heads port matched to intake and headers
2600 stall converter

http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=236397&stc=1http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=236398&stc=1http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=236399&stc=1

Not sure one the rest of the exhaust just yet. I may go with true duals exiting before the rear right tire. Not set on mufflers just yet either. My how things can change in such a short period of time.

[barnett468]

.
If you are putting those heads on a 302 and want optimum performance from that combo with low cash input I would mill the heads to around 56 cc . The dynamic compression will be pathetically low with those heads in stock form and that long duration cam, especially if the pistons are below the deck at tdc . If you have to mill the heads more than around .035" from stock you may need to mill the intake face of the heads or the intake manifold . Milling the intake is the correct way to do it but that costs a fair bit more . I would also try to get the quench/squish clearance between .043" and .034" with closer to .034" being best . Cometic has some .027" thick head head gaskets if needed . If you are doing a valve job and using stock type valves, I would also back cut the intake valves.


PREVIOUS KAWASAKI INTERNATIONAL R & D PROJECT ENGINEER AND ATV DEPARTMENT SUPERVISOR

[Jmoozy27]

Mocked up the valvetrain and headers...
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=236598&stc=1
Painted the intake today...
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=236599&stc=1

[Jmoozy27]

Finally got the motor built and in the truck. Just need to finish hooking everything up, then it's off to the muffler shop.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=236961&stc=1

[Jmoozy27]

Fired the motor up for the first time today. Those open headers made my heart skip a beat. Should be able to get the rest of the exhaust on there tomorrow. So fuggin ready to get the 'Grey Ghost' back on the road again. It's gonna be like a brand new truck.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=237005&stc=1

[Jmoozy27]

The Ghost made it home Friday. Been breaking the motor in all weekend.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=237149&stc=1http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=237150&stc=1
Went with stainless 2.5" true dual exhaust with the mufflers ran along the outside of the frame and the pipe ending right before the back wheels. It sounds great!!!
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=237151&stc=1http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=237152&stc=1

[knappyfeet]

Looks great.......I'm sure it's running great as well.

Power good?

[Jmoozy27]

Looks great.......I'm sure it's running great as well.

Power good?

It's like night and day compared to the old motor. Definitely glad I did it. All in all it's a very easy motor to build. I plan on doing more motor builds in the future. Learned a lot this go around.

[sledcrazyinCT]

Boy that turned out nice! what kind of mufflers did you go with? My next truck really should come from outside the rust belt - your frame still looks new

[Jmoozy27]

Boy that turned out nice! what kind of mufflers did you go with? My next truck really should come from outside the rust belt - your frame still looks new

Flowtech raptors, picked them up for $30 a piece.