81 f100 inline 6

Just wanted to start a project thread for my new project.








Current steps:

swapping all the locks,

cooling system flush as well as new radiator after I get it cleaned up internally, (Spectra OK?)

New clutch (luk brand good?)

Change oil and transmission fluid/filters

Repair the broken shroud thing on the column.
(Does anyone know if this will work? https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F283446200332 same part but different year code)

Other questions, is adding AC feasible for these trucks? What about swapping to a five speed transmission with overdrive?

Glad you started a thread on your truck.  

But, you had lots of questions.  Let's see if I can answer some:

EOTZ 3790-B fits 19890 - 89 E-F-U100/350,FfSuper Duty) - - w/M/T & w/fixed wheel

Spectra is a decent brand of cooling system parts

Luk is a good brand of clutch

Swapping to A/C on a non-A/C truck is a big pain unless you have the High/Low Vent heater system, and in your pics I don't see vents in the dash so don't think you do.  You can check out Dave/FuzzFace2's thread where he replaced half of the firewall to get A/C.  But if it were me I'd consider aftermarket.

A 4 or 5-speed OD transmission is certainly an option.  There are several, such as the SROD, M5OD, and ZF5.  From what I've read, and there's been discussion of this lately, the M5OD might be the best bet for a light-duty truck, and the ZF5 for a heavier-duty truck.

Fred1090 wrote

Just wanted to start a project thread for my new project.
Current steps:

swapping all the locks,

cooling system flush as well as new radiator after I get it cleaned up internally, (Spectra OK?)

New clutch (luk brand good?)

Change oil and transmission fluid/filters

Repair the broken shroud thing on the column.
(Does anyone know if this will work? https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F283446200332 same part but different year code)

Other questions, is adding AC feasible for these trucks? What about swapping to a five speed transmission with overdrive?

On the radiator Spectra should be good I con't remember if it was the radiator or AC condenser that was used in my truck also an 81 with a 300 six and T18 trany.

Lik should also be good as I have seen it posted they are good. Again don't remember who made mine but it is new LOL.

I don't know on that column? part can you take a picture a little farther back to get a full picute where this part goes.

OH DONT GET ME STARTED ON AC! ok you got me started
I take it your truck is not a factory AC truck then?
The easiest way I think in that case is after market. Pull out the HVAC box & controls and bolt in the aftermarket box & controls.

Little harder is to find a factory AC truck and get ALL the parts from it to swap into your truck BUT........
The fire walls are different between an AC truck and non-AC truck. If you take a tracing / pattern from the AC truck and place it over your firewall you can cut the holes needed and fill the others.

The hardest to find a factory AC truck and get ALL the parts from it to swap into your truck including the fire wall to swap into your truck. It can and has been done but it is not easy, takes time and skill to do.
You can see the maroon AC firewall over the red non-AC fire wall.

When you cut the non-AC fire wall out you have a BIG hole

And when done right and painted, some tape is not off the fire wall


On the 5sp there are a few ways to go with this and will let the guys that have don't it post up.
They will ask how do you plan to use the truck and what rear gear do you have in it?
Dave ----

Oh I should also point out for the AC and your 300 six motor.
By farthest the hardest part of adding AC to your truck will be finding the motor brackets for the 300.
You can look at Ford trucks, vans and cars for the parts.
I think you will also need the crank pulley.
Dave ----

Yeah that's way too involved for me for AC Lol i would love to do it but I don't have the tools or the space.

 With all the rust in the bed and the hole in the front driver side wheel well plus wanting a different transmission I'm starting to wonder if getting this old girl running well then selling her for something with more options and less rust might be the better way to go. Anyone have any thoughts there? I know these trucks are becoming desirable I had someone offer me $2500 for this one as she sat on the tow truck when I picked it up.

Wow, $2500 the way she sat is a pretty good deal for you.  I sold a good running 4wd F150 w/a 351M and C6 for ~$3000 a couple of years ago.

But you are probably right that it would be less expensive as well as much easier to sell this truck and buy what you are looking for.  However, I'd drive this truck for a while as what you think you want might change over time.

What's the fun in getting a truck that does not need work or vary little work

I guess it all depends on what you are looking for in a truck and how much work you want to do.
Did I want a truck that needed all the work (cab off frame rebuild) I have done to mine?
Not really but I would not of been happy not to do it the way I have.
Dave ----

Fuzzface, not gonna drop it like that to languish. I'll get all the mechanical issues lined out, stop the degradation and see where I stand after. Half the fun is working on them for sure!

But at a certain point if I'm taking two donor trucks to make this one what I want, it may make more sense to use one of those donors as my keeper and just sell this one to someone who can get some use out of her or maybe wants to do the full restoration thing.

Also, would the column be available out of your parts truck, and or the tach if it has one?

A tach can be had from any '81-'86 truck ('cept diesel) but you need the flexible circuit board behind the cluster as well.

V-8's and I-6's use the same tach but there is a point that needs to be grounded(or un-grounded) to change the number of cylinders.

The parts truck did not have a tach but was able to get one thru a member on here.
It is a 6K tach but I am not complaining it fills that blank in the center.

As for the column the one that was in my truck was not in great shape so I used the one from the parts truck. I used more form the parts truck than I did from mine LOL.

I also don't really want to give up any parts till I have mine on the road and know I will not need them.
I have already needed to rework some of the column and that is just from moving it in & out of the garage.

2 members were looking for that same part. One went from column shift to floor and he reworked that part and painted it don't know if the other member found one yet.
I would say if all you can find is a column shift (auto?) to get it and rework it.
Maybe the other member (Rembrant) will post how he did it?

My project truck was well trashed and I should not have bought but it looked pretty good (floors / rockers) from the bottom but when I got it home and pulled the rubber mat I could see it was hard dirt & grease I was looking at.

Sorry I can be of more help.
Dave ----

Pictures of damage to the column. Found a guy who parts 80s f series trucks out here in Atlanta. Gonna see what all he has available, and if not successful I'll take a gamble on that part I found on eBay.

The second view is what I was thinking of when I said the thief was prying on the actuator to try and get it started.

thankfully it doesn't seem like he was that smart lol but the good news is I found the shroud for $40 on ebay. so adding that to the list for friday.

Another question for you gurus, what's the best way to repair the sliding back glass latch, just new windows or can I get a repair kit?

Fred1090 wrote

Pictures of damage to the column.

By the way, those shift collars were notorious for breaking, so it is possible somebody broke that thing off after the shifter got stuck at some point...lol. It happens.

PS: If you replace that column...you might be able to sell the old one FYI. If it is the original 3-on-the-tree column there are some parts in there that people will buy. I sold a bunch of column parts for around $80 to a guy in NJ. Just an FYI is all...in case you go to throw it away, there are people out there that will pay for some of these obsolete parts.

Get the CR Laurence metal latch from Amazon.

Give me some time to get home and I'll get you the number and link.

Those plastic latches always tear the hinge.

Another question Gary, what do you mean by high/low vent system? Like Defrost, High, and Low vents? or Defrost and foot/heat vents. Sorry, just not familiar and google doesn't seem to turn anything up.

Rembrandt, if I can avoid it I'm going to keep the column and just swap that collar out, but if not, I will give it away to another member before I chuck it. I'm finding out how hard the parts are to find for these old things. If anyone knows where I can find a flareside bed for my truck.... LOL

CR Laurence DVL-2

C.R. LAURENCE DVL2 CRL Replacement Metal Backslider Latch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002CXH0YM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_R78iDbXDCPGGQ

There were three levels of heater or A/C in some years:

1. Heater: These had only floor & windshield registers and no vents in the dash.
2. High/Low Vent: These systems had the vents of the heater plus vents in the dash. So you could direct cool air on you from the outside. But no A/C.
3. A/C: This added an A/C system to the High/Low Vent

Fred1090 wrote

Rembrandt, if I can avoid it I'm going to keep the column and just swap that collar out, but if not, I will give it away to another member before I chuck it. I'm finding out how hard the parts are to find for these old things. If anyone knows where I can find a flareside bed for my truck.... LOL

If that broken part in the column is aluminum then it is the original 3spd shift collar, and will likely be very hard to find. Just an FYI...a truck with a factory floor shift will have a plastic spacer ring where that aluminum piece is, so if you see one of those it should also work as a filler piece. The lower plastic section was the same on all of them. The columns are not bad to work on...the non-tilt ones at least.

Now...finding a Flareside bed...that's a whole different story!