Dad's Truck

1981 F150 Ranger 4x4 with a 351M & C6

Dad bought this truck from an acquaintance, who had purchased it new and used it to pull a travel trailer all over the US. But Dad drive it as his daily driver, including taking it to their cabin on trips, and never really used it to tow much more than an aluminum fishing boat or to do any "work". And other than the Lord or his family, he loved this truck more than any other thing.

So, when his memory was failing he gave me the truck and drove it a bit as it was. However, I also had Rusty, which was another 1981 F150 4x4 with a 351M, and I learned that Dad's tired engine was no match for the rebuilt one in Rusty. Then I swapped in a ZF5 transmission in place of the C6, and the MPG was suddenly approaching 15 on the highway - a far cry from the 10 it was getting with the old engine and tranny. In fact, it drove so well that when our son and daughter-in-law asked us to bring a bunch of my parents' furniture to them my wife suggested we take Dad's truck - to Delaware from Oklahoma!  It made the trip just fine. 👍

However, the bed side had been crushed in a parking lot accident and the cab corners were badly rusted, so I decided to fix it up. Initially it was going to be a mild refurbishment as I wanted to drive it and use it but, as things have a habit of doing with me, there was scope-creep. The first instance of that was with the engine, which got a few goodies and ended up cranking out 500 ft-lbs on Tim Meyer's dyno. Then John Keeline did such a stellar job on the body and frame that I just had to replace all the exterior trim with NOS pieces.  And now I'm powder-coating or POR-15'ing every single thing on the truck. In addition the electrical system will be modernized to include a 3G alternator and an underhood fuse box to replace the fusible links. Plus the interior has been converted to Bronco bucket seats with a console. And the transmission will be a "built" E4OD. 🙈

So, come along for the ride.

 

This sorta sounds familiar...

I'm in! I look forward to the updates on this.

Don't hold your breath.  We have live-in grandkids and I spend lots of time with them.  For instance, yesterday they raked leaves in the yard and then we mulched them with the mower.  Then I spent some time measuring for the bumper, then we read books, then I....

There's just not enough time in any one go to get much done on a truck.  So I spend my time in short bursts on other, truck-related things.  But, we are told that they are headed back to Nicaragua in January, and after I get over the depression I plan to be back working directly on trucks.