1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project

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1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project

Rembrant
This post was updated on .
Hi Folks,

I've been wanting to ask some questions about this old truck, and with its future more or less unknown, I was reluctant to start a project thread about it. In any case, I decided to and if I determine that the old thing is not worth fixing then I'll keep all of the good parts and let this thread die off.

Anyway...

I bought this old 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside (locally) that has been sitting in the weeds in this guy's backyard for a number of years (exact amount of years unknown, but at least 5, maybe more).




I'm picking it up this week coming and plan to start disassembling it the following week.

The good:

It's Blue...lol.
The guy disassembled what was left of the Flareside bed and put it all in the house, so that was good news. He had also purchased almost a complete second bed (in parts) so it came with two tailgates, two sets of fender, two sets of steps, etc.
It's a 300/6...

The bad:

Rust, like usual...the frame may be too rough to fix...not sure until I get a better look next week.
For whatever reason, the guy pulled the D44 and 9" 3rd members and also put them inside...so the open 9" diff has been outdoors and exposed to the elements all these years. Maybe it is ruined? Don't know.
The truck has no transmission or transfer case, and no driveshafts.
The certification label is missing.

According to the VIN it was originally a 302 truck. It currently has a manual column and linkages in it, but also has a hole in the rubber floor where a 4spd shifter once was (as well as a patch on the tunnel cover hole).

Any words of wisdom or advice on how to check a 300/6 that has been sitting for a long time? I was thinking I'd pull the plugs and spray a little oil into the cylinders and then see if I can rotate the crank manually...
1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Rembrant
I grabbed all of the loose parts last week. Came with a spare SRW too...



1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Rembrant
In reply to this post by Rembrant
Oh, and I forgot about this...



Right now, it's going to need a bunch of welding, which is cheap, but time consuming. I'm OK with that. Covid-19 has really thrown a wrench into my life and I now how a little more time on my hands, but at the same time quite a bit less money too.

The main plan is to have something to do this winter...
1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Rembrant
One final thing to note...

The truck has 3.00:1 gears in it. I think 13/39 in the 9" and 15/45 in the D44. Does that shed any light as to what transmission might have been in this thing (Knowing it was originally a 302 truck). Just curious.
1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Gary Lewis
Administrator
In reply to this post by Rembrant
Treasure trove of Flareside parts, Cory.  Shame that some parts have been exposed to the weather, but still a lot of good parts.

On checking the 300, I'd spray it with penetrating oil and wait a day before trying to turn it.  If it turns easily then great.  If not, spray it again and wait for that to penetrate.  If that won't get it to turn then you might put air pressure in a cylinder if you have one that has the valves closed.

What about the interior?  Does it have slide locks?  I see it has clear turn signal lenses.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Rembrant
Gary Lewis wrote
Treasure trove of Flareside parts, Cory.  Shame that some parts have been exposed to the weather, but still a lot of good parts.

On checking the 300, I'd spray it with penetrating oil and wait a day before trying to turn it.  If it turns easily then great.  If not, spray it again and wait for that to penetrate.  If that won't get it to turn then you might put air pressure in a cylinder if you have one that has the valves closed.

What about the interior?  Does it have slide locks?  I see it has clear turn signal lenses.
Noted on the penetrating oil Gary, thanks.

Yes it has sliding locks. They stuck out to me.

The interior is not terrible...it's like anything else around here that has been sitting for years. Full of junk, of course.

The truck was undercoated for part of its life sometime early on, so that is good.


1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Gary Lewis
Administrator
In reply to this post by Rembrant
Don't know about the tranny as I haven't found a way to figure that out from the applications listings.  They don't seem to cross-reference axle ratios and transmissions - unless I'm missing something.

What welding is needed?  On the frame?  Or body?  Or?
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Rembrant
Gary Lewis wrote
Don't know about the tranny as I haven't found a way to figure that out from the applications listings.  They don't seem to cross-reference axle ratios and transmissions - unless I'm missing something.
Ya, I figured as much. The earlier Bullnoses are a bit foreign to me, so I need to get up to speed on all of the earlier options.

Gary Lewis wrote
What welding is needed?  On the frame?  Or body?  Or?
Both. Cab floor will need some work for sure, and the frame might have a couple spots that need to be repaired. At a glance, everything looked fixable, but I won't know for sure until I get a real good look at it underneath.

I didn't see anything that scared me...not yet at least.

My good buddy Chris has running gear parts, so once I get a real good look at everything here and start taking it apart I'll be making a journey to his place to scavenge a transmission and some other parts.

1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

FuzzFace2
Dose the motor have a bell housing, any clutch linkage mainly the motor side cross bar mount that screws into the block?
To move the , if motor runs, don't you have a 3 speed you could pop in there till you find something better and a transfer case.

What is that report you can get on trucks? Marty or something?
I bet that would tell you how it left the factory.
Dave ----
Dave G.
81 F100 flare side 300 six / AA OD / NP435 / 2.75 gear
http://cars.grantskingdom1.com/index.php/1980-Ford-F100?page=1
81 F100 style side 300 six/SROD parts truck -RIP
http://cars.grantskingdom1.com/index.php/1981-Ford-F100
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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Rembrant
In reply to this post by Rembrant
Another thing to note about this truck. I think it was David that mentioned in another thread that the front bumper looked different or odd with the bumper guards and no black plastic strips/moldings. I was looking at pictures of 1980 pickups and happened to notice one (from Ford literature) with this same style bumper.



The only place I see this bumper configuration showing up is on the 1980-1981 Freewheeling optioned trucks. Not that this pile of junk I just bought is a Freewheeler...but I suppose it might have been many years ago with the two tone paint, the bumper, and black? (now faded) grill.
1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Interesting observation.  With the certification label we might have been able to figure that out, but since it is gone....

Love the grille though.  
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

grumpin
Cool find! Interesting truck. Enjoy!
Dane
1986 F250HD SC XLT Lariat 4x4 460 C6-Sold
1992 Bronco XLT 4x4 351W E4OD
1998 GMC Sierra SLE K1500 350 4L60E
Arizona
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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Rembrant
In reply to this post by Rembrant
So this rats nest of a Bullnose finally arrived today...bit of a lean due to the right rear tire being flat (and the right rear spring mount being broken...lol).



Thankfully, somebody undercoated the thing many years ago, and while it makes a slimy mess, the floor is surprisingly intact for a 40 year old east coast truck. It will need a couple small patches, but nothing too serious. Need cab corners for sure, and some other small holes patched (on the b-pillar and on the roof).



Bottoms of the doors are in great condition, which is really rare around here...they're usually full of holes.




The doors open and close really nice, and the cab floor seems to be nice and solid at the four mounting points (which is also rare around here).

The cab is full of junk...I haven't even gone through it yet, but there's a good dash pad laying on top of everything else. I'll clean it out and vacuum it tomorrow.



So far, at a glance, this thing appears to be fixable. Stay tuned for more cleaning, grinding, cutting, etc...

This one is going to take a while.
1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

salans7
Looks to me like you have a found a solid 4x4 FlareSide. The real teller is probably the frame.

I think the possible claim of a Free Wheeler truck is strong, it looks very similar to one on the cover of the 1980 Free Wheeling brochure.
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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Gary Lewis
Administrator
salans7 wrote
I think the possible claim of a Free Wheeler truck is strong, it looks very similar to one on the cover of the 1980 Free Wheeling brochure.
Yep, I agree.  I think this is the one Shaun is thinking of:

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Rembrant
In reply to this post by Gary Lewis
Gary Lewis wrote
Interesting observation.  With the certification label we might have been able to figure that out, but since it is gone....
I finally got the cab of this junker cleaned out today, and while I can find no trace whatsoever of the certification label, I did find this little treasure underneath the edge of the rubber floor liner up behind the glove box. What clues are on this tag that might tell me what was on the certification label?



I assume the 3B3D are the two paint codes for the two tone blue?
The A8 is the DSO code, as I have other documentation that the truck was sold new in that region.
Would the H2 be the axle(s) code? 3.50? (It came with 3.00 gears, but not installed)
Would the F be for the transmission? T18?
What about the D or the 3?

Anyway, just thought I would share...some more pics coming soon.
1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Rembrant
In reply to this post by salans7
salans7 wrote
Looks to me like you have a found a solid 4x4 FlareSide. The real teller is probably the frame.

I think the possible claim of a Free Wheeler truck is strong, it looks very similar to one on the cover of the 1980 Free Wheeling brochure.
The frame is "iffy"...lol.
I'm stripping the truck anyway, so I'm not going to judge the frame until I get it stripped down with the body removed. All four rear leaf spring hangers need to come off, as do the upper shock mounts, etc. I won't be able to get a real good idea on the frame until those parts are removed. As it stands right now it needs some work for sure...but how much I don't know yet. It might be worth a bunch of welding, maybe not.



Interior emptied of junk and cleaned out. It was gross in there, but this thing has been sitting for a long time. The truck was originally a 4spd, but somebody swapped in an auto column but didn't install the auto gear indicator. The hole for the 4spd has a patch welded over it. It's not awful...I've seen worse.






1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Rembrant
Here's all the junk that was in the cab, along with a bunch of garbage, empty beer cases, and cigarette butts...lol. A complete spare dash pad, a couple blue grommet DSII boxes, a set of '85-'86 Burlwood bezels, a 300/6 air cleaner, etc.



The dash pad seems to be in not bad condition...



1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

Rembrant
Now, just out of curiosity, do any of you know what year/generation this 300/6 would be, since it is not original to the truck?




1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: 1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project (Or, parts truck...lol).

FuzzFace2
Do we know when they went to that style air filter over the tear drop type like I have on my truck?
BTW I don't know what filter my 81 should of had as it had one of them 3" want to be air filter on it.

Is there any motor paint color left on it?
I was told the later years went with gray.

Is there a EGR plate between the carb and intake?

Does it make a difference what year it is as long as it runs good?
When I went to look at mine it had a miss that did fire for a little bit on the test drive then missed again.
One of the first things I did was a compression check and new plugs and the motor ran great.
That is all I cared about and then pulled the whole truck apart LOL
Oh my motor was also a swap in and in cleaning found gray paint so think newer than my 81 truck that think should have been blue.

I say get it running, pop in your 3sp so you can move it under its own power and go from there.
Oh wait need a rear drive shaft or a trans & transfer to do it right.
Dave ----
Dave G.
81 F100 flare side 300 six / AA OD / NP435 / 2.75 gear
http://cars.grantskingdom1.com/index.php/1980-Ford-F100?page=1
81 F100 style side 300 six/SROD parts truck -RIP
http://cars.grantskingdom1.com/index.php/1981-Ford-F100
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