Pleasant ride in an original 1984 F150!

Yesterday, my son drove us to church in his truck. I bought this truck from the original owner in 1999 and gave it to my son when he entered the Army in 2005.

The engine is a 4.9L with 4 speed manual and 3.55 rear gears.

This truck now has 261K miles with zero internal engine work. The feedback system is still functional. It was about 35F; he depressed the accelerator 1 time and it started immediately. The tachometer showed about 1300 RPMs until he "blipped" the throttle prior to engaging reverse, when the engine speed decreased to ~1100 RPMs. As we left our house, the engine torqued up the hill with no strain. Within approximately 1/2 mile, the idle was ~750 RPMs.

Gear changes were made with no noise or difficulty and this is the original transmission.

I have watched the truck being started and there is no smoke or clatter. Following him, I have never observed any smoke even when decelerating.

He changes oil every 5K miles using Rotella T5 10W-30 and a Motorcraft FL-1A oil filter.

It was a nice drive spending time with my son!

That is cool!

That's special, David!  Must be a good, good feeling.  

David,

This is great stuff, thanks for sharing! It sure is a nice feeling when all of that original stuff is still working well. There's a lot of pride in that. Stuff doesn't stay in good condition and in good working order by accident.

This is a wonderful post David! It’s hard to put a price on the value of enjoying a vintage vehicle, and impossible to to put a price on sharing that moment with your son. I am envious of how well everything still works! That is very impressive indeed... especially given that it’s the feedback carburetor system. He should be proud!

He's had that truck for 15 years, he obviously cherishes it and must really like it. I suspect, part of that is because you gave it to him. That, my friend, is pretty special!