Old and Simple: A $200 F150.

Long story short- We had just moved and I needed a second set of wheels. Auction was almost over, I had told myself I wouldnt go any more than $150 on this truck but the bidding bug got the better of me. Took it home, tinkered, replaced the floors (can I say "replace" if the floors werent there in the first place?!), and drove it all winter.

The floor:








After a winter of driving it every day:












Fast forward to now. I *love* this truck. Its a beast- Inline 6 300, no power steering, absolute base model real mans tough truck. 4 mismatched tires, a bed that looks like it got ran over by a bulldozer, no radio, the list goes on. I'd like to fix it up, but I have no money (school teacher). I need a summer job. I'm good at fixing things. Hmmm... Hows about I fix things, locally, and use the truck to do it? Tax return!

That seat is just crying out for a roll of Duct Tape, you know that right? You'd double the value of the truck too!

Good find. I looked at a 300/6 last year but passed on it and ended up with a $5K toyota 4X4 instead, but old beaters are the way to go.

At this point, I was into it about $600, including the purchase of the truck. We had picked up another vehicle or two, bought a house, and started to settle in. It ended up sitting all summer and all winter, until now.

I've been admiring MZcountryboy's '56 Chevy Panel rat build. This isnt going to be anywhere as in depth or nice as that, but it should be fun. I'm going to teach myself some new things- automobile engines being one and auto painting the other. The end goal is something that looks like this:







Yeah. Long ways to go.

The whole point of this excersize is to assist me in my "summer job"- mobile small engine repair and general handyman services. Hoping the truck will be my mobile bill board. If you get a chance, I'd also LOVE feedback about my website- www.mobilemrt.com

Got her (her name's Milly) all situated a couple of days ago for the first part of the process.



While the engine runs like a top, its got some issues. It leaks oil worse than the Exxon Valdez. The oil pan gasket litterally has chunks missing where you can see into the crankcase. Rear main is leaking oil onto the clutch, making it shudder like Japan's last earthquake, front seals/gaskets all leaking, and where the dipstick goes into the oil pan is leaking too. It also never warms up- bad t-stat? And it could a little more "juice". So- Step 1.



Motors out. Holy cow that was easy- 6 bolts and like 6 wires / hoses. Now that I know how to do it if you were hustlin you could get the engine out in a half an hour! Going to install a new clutch, ALL gaskets, and fix the t-stat at a bare minimum. Thinking about a cam OR the SBC rocker conversion and a header. I'd REALLY LIKE to convert the 1bbl intake to my R1 idea- the lower half of a fuel injected manifold cut off, with SIX Yamaha R1 carbs. That or a 6.5 Chev Diesle turbo... *Sigh* So many things to try, so little time and money.

best. truck. evar.

Make it shiny.

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I know of one of these old engines that God only knows when it came out of a truck. It has been on a sawmill for 25 years that I know of. I put rings in it and cut the ridge about 20 years ago and we just did it because we got some new rings from a guy in trade and she burned a little oil . Still runs damn near every day to this day .

Love the 300 I6!! My dad had a '68 F250 Camper Special when I was little. I remember standing between him and my mom while puttering down the backroads up home when I was about 4. Standing in that seat I felt like I was 10' tall.

I still want one, even after all these years...

Don't do that. I much prefer the rust accents.

Subscribing, because beater Ford trucks are da bomb.
There's a magazine True Blue Fords that is ALL Ford content I subscribed to a year ago. They are doing a project six cylinder truck. If you want my back issues, send me a PM and I'll forward them on. I have too many stacks of old magazines around here.

LMCtruck.com for hard to find parts....

A $200 truck, plus somebody left a perfectly good kid under the seat.


"Man, now that's a real shame when folks be throwin' away a perfectly good white boy like that."

I just pulled a good 300 motor of a pump , I installed it new 10 or 12 years ago , its got around 1500 hours of run time and ready for a new home . If the bed is beyond repair and you dont find a good junk yard bed at a decent price build a flat bed . Some angle iron and 2x12 can make a really nice truck bed and somebody thats really creative can trim it nicely with side racks . SEYA

I'm sure you have heard of Clifford Performance right? They specialize in I6 performance parts and have a great website. You can buy some easy upgrades for the 300 from them.

I wonder if the fuel injection off the last models fit the early engine? I've got a 1994 F150 with the EFI straight six, the truck is ugly, but the engine makes up for it. I've got a service body on mine, that's what you should get to replace your bed.

subscribed.

I've owned about 30 cars and trucks in my life, and my '78 F-150 was probably my favorite one. Mine was just like yours except it had power steering, and I eventually relented and installed a radio.

LMC Truck- good stuff, thats where I got the floors for my truck.

Clifford- I'd love to have some of their stuff, but its pretty $pendy.

Service body- kickin myself because at the last auction I went to, they sold TWO of them- one for $60 and one for $130. The $120 bed even had a crane / hoist thingy. The local junkyard has one they want $300 for. Not sure my 150 would be able to handle a heavy bed loaded with tools. Have considered building a flatbed, but I've got a line on a supposedly rust free bed (is that even possible?!) and if it works out thats the route I'll go for now.

And its not going to be *SHINY*, just... shiny-er.

The power of gumption.



Love it.


Rock on, brother.

Few more pics from yesterday. Took quite a few, just in case I cant remember where stuff goes. Dont think thatll be a problem with this engine...

Dont go around corners to fast, or oil will slosh out. If you look really close, you can see the big gap around the dipstick tube as well... :huh Sad part is I had really cleaned the engine off good about 400 miles before this...



Oil leaking out the front. I love the fact that it only has one belt. No power steering, remember?



Oil leaking out the back. Quite a bit of oil in there, which is probably why my clutch shudders so bad. See them two wires on the left side? Those two wires, the alternator, and the battery cables are IT.



Manifold side, yes there are ONLY TWO vacuum lines. One for the vacuum advance on the dizzy and one for the brakes.



Other side.




You might notice a brand new dizzy if you look close. Funny story- I had done a basic tune up when I got it. Cap, rotor, plugs, wires, carb rebuild, air filter, everything but change the oil since this motor was self-changing. Drove it all winter. One beautifull spring afternoon on the way home from school I thought to myself, "man, this truck has been pretty dang reliable". Not 30 seconds later- BANG spluttter pop pop chuuuuuuuuugggggg fart. Dead as a doornail. Turns out the wieghts for the advance in the distributor let go and blew it up. Towed it 1/2 a mile home. Thats what I get for thinking...