Old 70's ford, 120 miles of California highway, and me.

[Schumi]

I took part in a fun adventure today, many of you may be interested in. I had a friend who wanted to buy an old truck. My pal isn't from this hemisphere.. and is a bit appalled by the pricing of good, running vehicles in the state of CA. He sets out a budget for this truck of about $1200. I tell him he's insane, and there is no such $1200 truck for sale in CA that is going to get him up and down the highway safely for hundreds of miles at a time, which is his ultimate intention (we want to use the truck as a motorcycle hauler to trackdays)

He wants to go check a few for sale out up north this morning, and I volunteer to help. In reality, he needed to be heading up to Tahoe to meet his wife, and there were trucks for sale on the way, so I rode with as his intentions were to buy one of them and I would drive it back to my place and he'd pick it back up when he got back from Tahoe. OK, convoluted plan, but whatever.

Well, all the truck viewings fell through except one.

1970 Ford F250. Odd mix of white/baby blue/primer/rust. It's all there, barely. One thing that stood out was a brand new set of really, really nice tires riding on a set of newer alloy wheels. The tires were worth more than the truck.

So it's a bit rough, but we test drive it. It's the 360ci FE motor. It's not what I would call spry. We had one of these trucks when I was a kid and it was exactly as I remember it. The motor makes a quiet, chug-chug-chug sound as it accelerates. This isnt' a CobraJet, that's for sure.

So it drives OK, but my buddy is freaking out. The seat is all torn up and duct taped. There are wires hanging from the dash, not doing anything obviously anymore. The battery is held in the battery tray with a slight suggestion from a bungee cord. The valve covers and oil pan gasket have been weeping for 30 years, and built up a lot of grime. My comment: they are all like that, dude.

He thinks it's not worth more than 700$. I think he's lost it. It went down the highway at 75 MPH and didn't kill us... it's worth the $1200 the dude wants for it.

But my friend passes on it. We goto a coffee shop and try and figure out how I'm getting home. I then change his mind. We go back, buy the truck, I fill it up and take off- alone, mind you, as he keeps heading north to meet up with his wife as I head back south. I also have no cell phone and very little cash on me. Great.

The steering rag joint is trash, so it takes 100% concentration to keep the thing in a lane at 70MPH. I had an hour and a half drive, IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY TRAFFIC in this thing. It has a nice new aluminum radiator (hey, that's a $200 radiator, minimum) but the temp gauge is barely moving off C and probably not working. The dampers are probably original, so it's boating around a bit but not too bad. There is a mis-matched gas cap that is way off from seating right, so after filling up, fuel is sloshing out the side of the truck as I'm cornering. The guy said he wanted to get rid of it because the fuel mileage sucked. Well,, having an unsealed fuel tank probably didn't help that.

I thought forsure it was going to break down at some point. I had a small bag of tools and odd and end things like wires, tape, hose clamps, etc that I grabbed. Didn't need them. I made it the whole way, 120 miles down several packed stretches of highway.. no problems. Thing runs pretty damn well. I got a ton of looks and a few thumbs up from truck guys as well.. it's definitely a cool old truck.


This thing has been going with nothing but oil changes, tires, a radiator and some bungee cords for 40 years... and with just some small maintenance I think my friend got a pretty decent truck for $1200. SMOG EXEMPT! and registration paid for a year already.

I texted him the good news upon it's arrival... a few hundred bucks to fix the little odds and ends and it will run forever. Just don't F with it if it doesn't need it.

He texted me back- 'time for a carb, intake, headers, maybe a 390 crank and cam!' I see a long road ahead.

[steve185]

Old Ford trucks are cool, got a picture of it?
Steve

[onewhippedpuppy]

Very cool. My first vehicle in 1996 was a 1976 Chevy 1/2 ton truck. More rust than body, and I had to fill in the holes in the seat with craft foam. The farmer that owned it previously had epoxied the carb secondaries closed to get better MPG, but after I rebuilt the Quadrajet it would go like hell. It listed to one side like a sinking ship, but with a 3.90 rear end it would power brake all day long. For $1200 it never stranded me.

[Jim Richards]

[Bugsinrugs]

:O.k. I have to ask......how do you go on a truck buying road trip and not have your cell phone?

[speeder]

I had a '71 F-250 with the 360 V-8 about 20 years ago. Hell of a good truck. They are easy as hell to work on and one like you describe will respond really well to basic repairs/maintenance, like that steering joint, etc.. They actually don't drive half-bad in good shape, just not like a newer truck, obviously.

He's a moron if he wants to hot rod or modify it. Why??

[Scuba Steve]

That truck is my truck's sibling (1970 F-100 with a 302). Mine has been maintained only slightly better; the wires for the most part are hooked up and work and repairs over the last 15 years are a steering joint, voltage regulator, thermostat and one headlight. I'd love to add F-250 rear springs sometime.

It still gets around pretty well. I moved enough crushed granite loaded up every day for 5 days to nearly bottom out the rear suspension when I was building a brick driveway last winter, and when I was adding a lot of piers to our house it was routinely loaded up with 15 80lb bags of concrete at a time. These days the truck runs from home to the nearest lumber yard full of wood or building materials instead of driving around on grandpa's farm. I'll restore it someday but for now we have things to build.

[Jim Bremner]

My dad can build a wicked FE engine for you.

His '68 f250 had a 428 CJ motor that hauled a cab-over camper all over the country on vacation with out a hickup My brother tells of running under 11.80's in the 1/4 mile and getting kicked off the strip for being to fast with out a roll cage. Dad has built several FE's that ran Riverside,Ontario, Mesa Marin, Ascot etc.

[oldE]

"the temp gauge is barely moving off C and probably not working"

I'd be surprised if there was a thermostat in there. It would kill the mileage as well (not that a 360 would need any help in that department).

Helping out friends can be so educational and fun!

Best
Les

[Schumi]

Here it is outside my place:

[Bill Douglas]

Nice!!! I'll take a dozen thank you.

[steve185]

That truck deserves a hopped up 390 with a toploader!
I wouldn't touch the paint.
steve

[speeder]

Those rims are hideous...can he sell them?

[Rick V]

I never thought I would ever agree with Denis but those wheels are flat out fugly on that truck. Sweet truck though.
Monster 460 and a 4spd would be killer in that

[Jim Richards]

Painted steel wheels would be a big upgrade.

[Jim Bremner]

Dem Wheels! gotta go! needs steelies and dog dishes!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Lose the bling wheels for some steelies and it is perfect!

[herr_oberst]

If the drivers side looks as good as the passenger side, and the tailgate works, 1200 is a good price.

Sell those wheels to someone without refined taste and put some chrome steelies on it. I like that truck!

[Schumi]

The driver's side indeed looks that good. The exterior will not be touched. The tailgate works, too!

The wheels are 20's and yes they suck, but the tires are brand new and expensive. So... We're thinking about plasti-dipping the rims or something to make them less-gaudy. They are worth money to the right buyer, just not our style. But the tires are nice Falkens and actually very grippy for a truck tire. And have like 500 miles on them. So it's a shame they are on such dumb wheels.

[Schumi]

I'm a bit jealous of the thing... I have so many vehicles and no more space. I really want something similar to this though as a reliable daily that's also a rolling project. Unlike all my other projects which are.... stationary.