1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project

Those are very likely once upon a time reasons.  And I'm especially glad you are now sleeping like a normal person.

As for not wanting to tackle another project like that, for a while, I certainly understand.

And, I'm glad to have been able to contribute to that project, even if only in a very limited capacity.  

Good job Cory! It is nice to see the attention after all that work.

Well, I'm still wrenching on the old 1980 F150, trying to get all of the little loose ends tied up. After searching for about 6 months for a factory FM radio to fit the 1980 Custom bezel (and having no luck), I decided to re-used the old Kenwood tape deck that came with the truck. I don't even know why I was avoiding it, but I guess it was because it didn't fit the factory 1980-84 radio opening properly. I ended up making my own adapter plate using 22ga sheet metal. It fits snugly into the radio bezel as it is about the same height as the ridge around the radio opening.

Anyway, it's in, and it works GREAT! I'm really pleased with it. The sound was all scratchy and covered in static for the first few minutes, and then it settled down and was as crisp as new. Almost like it brushed all the cobwebs off the internals, ha.



I'm going to pull the dash again and run one more wire. The Kenwood requires a constant power wire for memory, and I tied the constant and IGN power wires both to IGN, so I lose my radio stations when I turn it off. I didn't think it would bother me much, but it does lol.

In any case, I'm now pretty happy to have a vintage period correct Kenwood in the truck. I know a lot of people won't care, but some will appreciate it. Considering that the single DIN style radios were coming into wide use by the mid-1980's, I'm guessing that this Kenwood is from the early 1980's, if not older. Anybody care to guess on it's age or era?



 

Well done, Cory!  That looks great.  

And I agree with you, having my presets is a requirement.  I would not like having to reset them every time I turned the key off, and that might be enough fuss not to even turn the radio on.  Which would be a shame.

No guesses on the year of the radio, but I see the model number in the lower right of the pic, and while I can't read it you sure can and may be able to figure it out that way.

Ten months to go from scrap heep to car show.....IMPRESSIVE! Looks awesome Corey!

Machspeed wrote

Ten months to go from scrap heep to car show.....IMPRESSIVE! Looks awesome Corey!

Haha, ya...it was a bit of a hectic journey that cannot be easily recreated...and nor would I really want it to be, lol. Mind you, if I was wealthy and didn't have to work...maybe I'd spend all of my time doing it, but for now I'm OK. I had the old girl out again last night...Thursday night is our local weekly car show, and I must say I'm quite pleased with the old thing. It shows fairly well for what it is. The truck doesn't have a patina per se, but the 30 year old repaint really shows its age...lots of chips and scratches, and then of course areas where I've touched it up. However, I like it...it kinda makes it look like a survivor truck, rather than one that's been all fixed up. You can see a few different shades of paint on it depending on what angle you're looking at.. Ahh well, they can't all be show trucks, and this one wasn't getting a $10k paint job, not while I own it.

I think it looks FAR better than the mall crawler.

Factory radio or old school from that time is good with me

Want to ask how it that truck with the 300 motor and the 5sp transmission?
I know you said the other truck could use a lower rear gear with the over drive just wonder what its like with the low RPM TQ of the six?

Truck dose look good
Dave ----

FuzzFace2 wrote

Want to ask how it that truck with the 300 motor and the 5sp transmission?
I know you said the other truck could use a lower rear gear with the over drive just wonder what its like with the low RPM TQ of the six?

Dave,

This one seems to be geared a little better, sort of. The two trucks have the exact same 5spd, but the other truck is a 302 with 3.08 diff, and this one a 300 with 3.55 diff. The 5spd with the 300 and 3.55's is almost perfect, and I'm quite happy with it. The only issue I have with this combo is that 1st gear is a little too low now. It would be great for hauling or towing, but pulling away from a stop 1st is a little too low, and 2nd a little too high. I can pull away in 2nd, but I'd have to ride the clutch a little. At cruising speed, say between 50-65 mph, the 300 with the 5spd and 3.55's is great. It pulls very nice in 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

The issue with the 302, 5spd and 3.08 diff is that unless you're doing 70+ mph, it always wants to be below 2000 RPM, and that is where the 302 is a bit on the lazy side. I have to drive a little over 10 miles to get to a highway (or to get to "town"), and that is usually at 50mph, and sometimes a little less. 4th gear feels too low, and 5th is too tall....so I always have to speed up or slow down to get into the sweet spot. With the "new" truck, this is a non issue with the 300 and 3.55 diff. It cruises just fine under 2000 RPM.

So the 5spd with 3.08 feels like a highway truck, and the 5spd with the 3.55 feels like a work truck, if that makes any sense. It would almost be ideal to swap engines between the two, haha. That, or a 3.25 diff might be ideal between the two.

It dose make sense as the 300 likes to pull in the lower RPM range where the 302 is in the higher RPM range.
I dont bring the RPM up over 2000 when shifting as I dont feel the need to it just pulls.

I know the 300 is also a 4x4 so a little heavier and different gear ratio than the 302 truck but just wondered being the same transmissions.
If you do the 302 / 300 swap  I would like to know how the 2 motors do with the different gears.

I wish my truck had a little lower gear out back as the 2.75 is a little to high for me starting in 2nd gear and the granny first (NP435) is way to low with out a load.
I do like the granny first and over drive split for staring off with out a load but it is hard to get it into 2nd gear from granny. Then I would go to 3rd non OD, 3rd OD, 4th non OD, 4th OD, so a lot of stick moving LOL
Most of the time I just split 3rd as the spread between 3rd & 4th is pretty big and pulls the 300 down pretty low if you dont shift at a higher RPM.

Thanks for the report
Dave ----

Good time to learn some paint skills, Corey. Having never painted before, I painted my tailgate and the roof of my truck and ultimately was quite pleased. It's only paint. If it doesn't go as pleased, sand it off and start again. Huge learning curve but there is nothing more rewarding in auto restoration than saying, "I painted that".

Machspeed wrote

Good time to learn some paint skills, Corey. Having never painted before, I painted my tailgate and the roof of my truck and ultimately was quite pleased. It's only paint. If it doesn't go as pleased, sand it off and start again. Huge learning curve but there is nothing more rewarding in auto restoration than saying, "I painted that".

I had body fill and paint practice on this truck actually. All I have left to do now it one cab corner, but I painted the roof, both b-pillars, a cab corner, and parts of the front fenders. I would have liked to paint the whole thing, but I still pretty happy with it overall. It looks and feels like an old truck haha.

Machspeed wrote

Good time to learn some paint skills, Corey. Having never painted before, I painted my tailgate and the roof of my truck and ultimately was quite pleased. It's only paint. If it doesn't go as pleased, sand it off and start again. Huge learning curve but there is nothing more rewarding in auto restoration than saying, "I painted that".

Oh yes there is

And Cory is right there
Dave ----