1984 Canadian F150 - Zero History, Fresh Start

Hello all,

Finally decided to put “pen to paper” and begin documenting getting the blue 1984 F150 roadworthy and drivable. The following are the truck details and a picture of the truck:

1984 Ford F150 with approx. 250k km mileage

4.9L (300cu-in), six-cylinder (inline-six) engine

New Process (NP435) manual 4-speed transmission (granny first gear)

Manufactured February 1984 in Ontario

3P Medium Metallic Blue (looks to be re-sprayed or touched up based on paint everywhere, although I don’t personally know where should and shouldn’t have paint, but it is on bolts and everything)

2WD with 133” wheelbase – GVWR of 5450 (lbs?)

Door tag has rear axle code of “18” which I believe corresponds to a ratio of 3.08 with capacity of 3.75M

Spring code is “A V”

Brake code is “Class D – 5000-6000 lbs”

Would love some advice on where to start. So far, I have come up with the following list of problems or potential problems. I will need to fix some of these before I can pass safety here in Ontario, Canada:
What I think are necessities to safety:

Fix rust holes in floor-pan

Replace driver’s seat belt

Replace rubber brake lines

Check entire braking system incl. flush brake fluid, check master cylinder, potentially replace pads/shoes, potentially replace drums/discs, replace drum hardware and wheel cylinders

Troubleshoot headlights (side lights, brake/reverse lights, indicators work but not headlights)

Reinstall rear view mirror

What I think are necessary for general maintenance:

Oil change

Coolant flush & replacement

Power steering (replace or just top up?)

Transmission fluid top up (or complete replacement?)

Rear axle fluid top up (or replacement?)

Spark plugs

Other issues with vehicle:

Rust around rear driver’s wheel-well

What seems like major oil leaks within engine

Leaking rear axle – looks to be drive shaft and base of axle

Idles fairly well but the carb might need a rebuild and the previous owner noted the automagical choke seems off. Takes a few attempts to start from cold (pump gas twice, crank 5-10 seconds, repeat 2-5 times)

Passenger door won’t unlock from outside, seems to be getting caught

Replace all door seals and window seals – rotted

Sliding back window clip is broken

Various surface rust around the car

Door inserts are broken/in rough shape

When the heater is on, it looks like there might be a leak in the heater block because it fogs up the front window and not just regular steam – maybe leak in this system

Replace all vacuum hoses and any rubber hoses throughout the engine

Complete uncertainties:

Do I have to do anything with the hydraulic clutch fluid?

Should I be doing a compression test?

How do I read the vacuum diagrams? I don’t think this came with the emissions stuff because the

Canadian versions apparently didn’t, and it seems to have a standard ignition system

What seals can be done in the truck and which ones do I need to take the engine out for? I’m assuming that everything will need to be done at some point but at a minimum, it looks like the oil pan and the valve covers are maybe leaking oil? I assume it would be safest to do the head gasket at some point too based on mileage and unknown history

Please let me know if there is anything you think I’ve missed in order to make this thing road worthy. Also please let me know if any of these should be done immediately and I haven’t flagged as such. I am struggling to decide on order of some stuff. Coolant looks nasty that’s in there but if I end up needing to replace the heater core, does it make sense to hold off on a coolant flush? Or Should I do this before winter regardless?

Below are some pictures and descriptions of what I’ve started this past weekend.

Unbolted the bench seat and ripped out the vinyl floormat and insulation to finally see the damage on the rust:
Driver's floor:


Driver's door floor seal:


Floor pan connection to firewall beneath pedals?:




Passenger floor:


Floor pan connection to firewall passenger side?:


Beneath seat passenger side - transmission hump:


Behind seat:


Pulled the spark plugs to take a look but don't really know what I'm looking at (yellow colour around plug, as well as black carbon or oil looking buildup around plug threads) - in order of front to back, couldn't easily reach closest plug to cab:

The thing I'd really like to get done ASAP is the floor pans/welding. I was looking on LMC's website but I honestly can't figure out which components I actually need based on the rust. It is hard to tell what is considered "floor pan (numbers 1 & 2) vs. "floor pan - outer section" (numbers 3 & 4) and whether I need rocker panels as well because of the seam rust along the door seals. Also what would I use to patch the hump beneath the seat near the transmission.



Currently "outer section" floor pans are backordered and I don't really want to do multiple orders because of the insane shipping. I've read that LMC has some of the highest quality/best fitting floor pans. Is there anyone else comparable I can order from because of the backordered nature of the parts or do I not need outer pans?

Thanks again for your wisdom everyone!

I think many of us swear by Tabco body panels.
They are heavy gauge, annealed and galvanized.
Their shipping was very reasonable when I ordered.
They also seem to be plenty oversized, so if you need a small piece for the tunnel you can likely get it from what you trim off to fit.

I don't recall right now but I think the outer floor has a lip for the door weatherstrip.

Well that's quite a list you've got there...I remember having a few like that myself!

I can't help with everything on your list, but one thing I would say is that if your 300/6 engine is running OK, I'd make any engine work pretty low priority over some of the other items on your list. The old 300 is a pretty sturdy engine, and has a cult like following in the gearhead world. As long as it has oil pressure and runs OK, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Plugs and filters, oil change, sure...but otherwise the rest should be OK.

I don't always practice what I preach, but it's a good idea to put safety items at the top of the list...ie: Brakes, tires, wheel bearings, front end parts, etc.

Sounds like you have a leaky heater core. My '84 was the same when I bought it. The good news is that heater cores are cheap. The bad news is that they're kind of a pain to change on the non-AC trucks. The whole heater box has to be removed (from the engine bay side of the firewall). An important note from your previous pictures is that your truck has the factory High Output heater, so it requires a specific HO heater core. Just be aware of that when ordering. It's not as simple as AC or Non-AC.



Here's what your heater box looks like from the inside. There are 3 studs, and 2 screws attaching it to the firewall.



I think you can buy upgraded/better latches for your sliding rear window. Do you have any junkyards around there like Kenny U-Pull? Rear windows are pretty cheap, and you can swap one in from 1980-1996 (and I believe even before 1980), but some of the later factory windows were really nice. I got one from a 1996 at the local junkyard for $35. Watch a Youtube video...they're easy to change. However, if you can find one of the good metal latches that's definitely an easier route.

If you haven't read up on it yet, do some searches on clutch master cylinder firewall brace. When Ford first switched over to the hydraulic clutch in these pickups (which was 1984 in the F150's), they had issues with the firewalls cracking around the clutch master cylinder. There was a recall and Ford installed braces to strengthen this area....but that was closed off many years ago. You can currently buy a firewall brace from Jeff's Bronco Graveyard. Nothing to worry about right away, but something to put on your list and investigate.

https://shop.broncograveyard.com/83-91-Ford-Bronco-Ford-Truck-Firewall-Clutch-Repair-Bracket/productinfo/34010/

I'm not much help with all the floor panels, but we have a resident expert on here (Dave  aka fuzzface) that can help with that stuff. He has done them all, and then some and has lots of pictures.

Good luck with it all. I'll help out where I can.

The metal replacement latch is CRL DVL2
https://www.crlaurence.com/crlapps/showline/offerpage.aspx?Productid=5143&GroupID=2719&History=30587:21770:2715&ModelID=2719

It's under $10 delivered from Amazon, but you can find it many places online.

I have one, Gary does too.
They definitely hold up better than the plastic hinge supplied by Ford.

ArdWrknTrk wrote

It's under $10 delivered from Amazon, but you can find it many places online.

Right. I knew somebody would have the part number. It shows $17.40 CAN on Amazon Canada, and free shipping if you have Prime. I swapped in a later window with a good latch (Ford finally used good latches in 1994-1996 lol). Otherwise I would have installed this metal one in a heartbeat.

Thanks for the reality check Cory!  

I'm seeing $8.75 here in the U.S., but there's exchange rate and taxes vary state to state...

Edit: Tabco show 60178U as a "cab floor weatherstrip panel" 33x6".
I'm sure they could confirm that if you called.

Thank you for the Tabco recommendation, I think I will go with them as it looks like they have what I need in stock and they also have more reasonable shipping and are closer to the border! Also thank you for the clip recommendation, I will grab one of these for now and see how it works out. Will consider a new window as a later project down the road per Rembrant's suggestion. Looks like I should be on my way to preparing the surface and welding in no time. Now I'll just have to refresh myself on my welding skills since it's been over 10 years at least. Definitely will grab some scrap similar gauge metal for practice.

Glad to hear I can leave some of the mechanical stuff outside of super basic maintenance for now. Definitely my number 1 priority is getting this thing safetied so that I can license it and get it on the road. Also appreciate the advice on the heater core, the fan is fairly noisy as well so I definitely think it would be good to take the whole unit off anyways and give it a thorough cleaning too.

Also appreciate the link for the firewall bracing. I had read about this but didn't really understand what it would look like or if I had it or not. After looking at the truck, I definitely don't have it and should investigate grabbing it at some point. Seems like a fair enough price for the peace of mind.

Thanks again for all the advice!

First I am far from an expert
But I stayed in a Holiday inn once

I think the guys nailed everything pretty good.
I used Tabco for the floor pans, rockers, cab corners and that weather strip channel.
I did a 4 year cab off frame rebuild so as it was going back together if it was bad it got replaced or rebuilt.

You have the brake rebuild down. If you replace everything now you know you will not need to look at it again for some time and know it will stop when you want it to.

On the oil leaks because I had the motor out I replaced the oil pan gasket, side cover & valve cover gaskets as I thought they were all leaking. When I got the truck on the road I had another oil leak that took some time to find. It was the gasket at the top of the timing cover.
I replaced gasket and the front seal at that time and so far no oil leaks from the motor.

Here is a link to pictures I took during the rebuild. If you have any questions just ask and when I check in I will try and answer them.
http://cars.grantskingdom1.com/index.php/1980-Ford-F100

BTW I love my 300 six and NP435 granny transmission truck.
Dave ----

Hey Dave, appreciate the information and photos. Sorry for the delayed response, weekends have been crazy this year and I haven't had any time to think about the truck since pulling all the rotted carpet/vinyl flooring and insulation out.

When looking at your photos, it looks like you replaced pretty much the entire floor assembly. The one spot I'm uncertain about is where the floor pan connects to the firewalls, as mine looks to be rotted all the way along this joint. I was wondering if you know if this will be an issue when I need to weld up near the firewall (don't know if it's called this from inside the truck cab). I'm thinking of the following as a parts list from tabco but can't 100% tell if some pieces are redundant or almost duplicates of others:

60171R - Cab Floor w/ Outer Flanges 31Lx24W

60171L - Cab Floor w/ Outer Flanges 28Lx27W

60173L/60173R - Outer Cab Floor Section (these seem pricey compared to other parts)

60178U - Cab Floor Weather Strip Panel 33Lx6W (x2? There is no picture for these)

Rocker panels? - Can't tell which ones I will need or not, if I even need any. Do these have weather stripping already?

Also did you just tack weld and fill with some kind of caulking and paint directly over? I am wondering if there is a benefit to this or if I am already welding if I should just try to butt-weld everything completely. I don't have a welder and figure with the gauge of sheet metal I'll be working with, I'm going to need to buy a proper (cheap) MIG welder. From what I've read, the flux-cored will be too hot and eat through the sheet metal. CO2/Argon tanks seem like one of the most expensive parts!

None of the panels come with any weatherstrip.

I did extensive cab rot repair a couple of years back (08/20)
Usually you punch or drill holes and emulate the factory spot welds with MIG or FCAW.
If you get into something structural like the under floor cab mounts at the cross member it's better to fully weld them in.
Butt welding and seam finishing takes practice.

I like a brush-on seam sealer over one in a caulk gun tube.

The first thing to do is cut out all the rust back to solid metal.
There's just no way to tell from your photos how bad it is or where it's ultra thin.

Be really mindful of the z section floor stiffening brace that the seats bolt to.
You want to save that if possible. I don't see them offered in any catalog.

That firewall pinch weld is a real pita. I'm surprised it rotted so much from the engine bay.
You need to remove the parking brake assembly and cable on the DS.
Check the cowl seam above it too while you have the grinder and welder out

That outer floor is expensive because it has deep sharp creases and is trimmed close on all sides. It's pretty much the same cost from anyone (Raybuck, Mill Supply, NPD... )

If you're going to take the floors and rockers out, get some kind of brace tack welded across the door opening. You don't want that dimension to have changed when you go to put the doors back on.

Periwinkle wrote

Rocker panels? - Can't tell which ones I will need or not, if I even need any. Do these have weather stripping already?

I'm no help with the floor pan panels, but I can confirm that the weather stripping/door seals do not come with any of the body patch panels.

Periwinkle wrote

From what I've read, the flux-cored will be too hot and eat through the sheet metal. CO2/Argon tanks seem like one of the most expensive parts!

I have a small commercial Lincoln welder with C02/Argon and while it was a bit expensive getting set up, it is a dream to weld with. Anybody could lay a beautiful bead with it, and I mean anybody. A roll of flux core wire came with it and it's still in the wrapper. I know lots of guys use flux-core, but I have zero experience with it so I can't comment on it at all. I have an Albee tank I bought from Air Liquide, so all I have to pay for now are refills. Its a bit more money up front for sure.

Sorry getting back so late.

I did not butt weld any of my patch panels as that is a lot of work and is for trailer queens, mine is a driver.

As Jim said be careful of any braces under the floor as you dont want to cut thru them.
I dont remember the floor pans going to the pinch weld of the firewall but with some flat sheet metal you should be able to repair that. I have a home made metal break so I could bend a sheet to fit that if I had to, I did not.

I laid the new panel over the old and marked around the outside so when the new was removed could see what it covered.
The front cab mount is there and to remove the old floor I drilled out the spot welds. Same for any other areas that might be held with spot welds. There is a drill bit made just for drilling spot welds worked great.

I then cut the old floor out 1 to 2 inches in from the mark of the new panels.
On the mew panels I punched or drilled holes if the punch would not fit around the outside of the patch panels and the truck as needed. Remember the cab mount already had holes to remove the old floor.
I used the punched & drilled hole to do plug welds to weld in the patches.

I had to use some heavy weight on the floor to hold it down when I welded it.
I also have a bunch of different size clamps and bar clamps that I used.

I have a MIG welder and use Argon gas but have used Co2, better welds than Flux core, and flux core.
Unless I am welding out doors or it is windy (or maybe ran out of normal wire and have to get it welded) I will never use flux core again.
You can get thinner wire for gas than for flux and why you burn thru with flux core wire.
Once you have a welded you will find other things to weld and wonder how you got by with out one for so long!

On the seal sealer and the patches.
I used the caulk gun type first and forced it in the seams on both side like on the floor patches.
Let it set up good and then did a coat of brush on sealer again both sides were I could get to.
I then went over the floor, both sides, with 2 coats of roll on bed liner.
I feel with the seam sealer and the 2 coats of bed liner the floor should out last me!

BTW because my cab was off the frame and I replace half the firewall so I could have AC I also resealed the cowl the best I could.

Just take your time, think it out and if you need to shout back and hope I check in sooner than I did now LOL
Dave ----

Dave is right. Using .023-.025" MIG wire on this job is much easier than flux core for a beginner on car sheet metal.
There's no slag or haze to remove, and you don't have issues getting the right wire for multi-pass welds.

Don't entirely discount structural body panel adhesives.
3M has a very expensive applicator but there are other brands like SEM and TCP Global.
These work really well if you grind/sand back to bright metal, don't require learning to weld and have the advantage that absolutely no water can get into the joint if you have squeeze out on both sides of your seam.

Gary used this stuff to modify the floor of his Dad's Truck, and while I think he went a little OTT I've always had good luck just holding the joint together with self tapping screws while the epoxy cured. (Then filling the holes)
This is especially handy for cab corners if you don't want to remove the bed.

Thank you all for a wealth of knowledge. I just assumed that butt-weld was the go-to. This will definitely be a driver and I only really care about the function, not so much the aesthetics, especially for floor sections. Really appreciate the information as well surrounding the structural bracing near the seats. I am going to do a bit more research around the cowl as well as the firewall pinch weld. I'm wondering (thinking) the floors were previously repaired and maybe that was skipped over the first time, based on some of what looks like painted caulk on the passenger side near the rockers. Will be placing a tabco order shortly and then the waiting game begins!

Well, winter had me pause my ambitious repair but I've finally ordered some parts. Ordered floor pans for the right and left side as well as the OEM style rockers from Tabco. I called and spoke with someone at Tabco (very friendly guy) and he advised me that he would toss in some scrap strips in the box so that I could make my own weatherstrip channel. I've ordered the the following:

60143L - Rocker Panel O.E. Duplicate With Fender Brace and Seat Belt Retainer 80-86 52Lx8H

60143R - Rocker Panel O.E. Duplicate With Fender Brace and Seat Belt Retainer 80-86 52Lx8H

60171L - Cab Floor w/ Outer Flanges 28Lx27W

60171R - Cab Floor w/ Outer Flanges 31Lx24W

I'm also about to pull the trigger on a RockAuto order as with shipping it is still cheaper and has more parts than whatever I could find in Canada at Napa. If anyone has a better recommendation let me know. Plan is just to get enough to get this safetied and start driving it once the floor pans are in. The following is my list of items from RockAuto:

Front pads - RAYBESTOS MGD50M R-Line Metallic

Rear shoes - CENTRIC 11102630 Bonded

Drum Hardware - RAYBESTOS H7071

Rear brake line - RAYBESTOS BH38625 (do I just need the one?)

Front brake lines - RAYBESTOS BH36984 & RAYBESTOS BH36983

Wheel cylinders - RAYBESTOS WC370192 & RAYBESTOS WC370193 (15/16 - not 100% sure this is the right size)

Thermostat - MOTORAD 200195 195 Degree

Heater core High Output - FOUR SEASONS 98522

Door lock strikers - DORMAN 38448 Thread Size: 7/16"-14 ; OAL - 2.240" ; Diameter (In) -.400"

Brake and clutch pedal pads - DORMAN 20729

Headlamp sockets - DORMAN 85810 3-Wire/Terminal Seal Beam Lamp 4002 & 4005 Bulb Info High/Low Beam

PCV Valve - STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS V202 Info w/ Canada Emissions (precautionary buy, do I need anything other than the valve?)

Headlamp bulbs - PHILIPS H6054 Standard

I figure any wiring or tubing I need I'll get locally. Might need a horn as well for safety but planning to see if I can fix the one I have first. Also need seatbelts and door inserts which are both pretty pricey. I may pick up some red salvaged seatbelts locally for $75 that don't match the interior but the new prices are decently higher on LMC plus LMC shipping to Canada is crazzzzy.

A couple pictures for sticking with me. I've started cleaning up some rust to get a better idea of how bad it actually is:

LH Side:






RH Side:






Seat area:


Some measurements of the weatherstrip location because the person I spoke with at Tabco was interested on the dimensions to see if it was easy to add at the factory to their parts before sending out to me:

That looks like an ambitious list!  But the results should be significant.

As for your questions:

Rear brake line: Yes, there is only one and it goes from the axle up to a fitting under the bed

Wheel Cylinder: The MPC shows most take a 15/16" but 1984's "built prior to 10/83" take a 1".  Look on the certification label to see when yours was built.

Heater: Does your housing under the hood say "High Output"?  The HO core will only fit a housing that is also HO.

And I agree, the folks at Tabco have always been very friendly and helpful to me.  But how are you going to "install" those pieces?  Weld?  Glue?

Some of your perforations could be brazed shut, but if the surrounding metal is also very rusty then maybe it would be best to replace.

Hi Gary,

Appreciate you looking out! The truck was built 02/84 so hopefully good on the size of the cylinders then. And yep, they heater core is a high output unit:



My plan to install the new pieces is still to weld but with a bit of practice first. I'm a bit torn on the rockers as the outer part honestly looks pretty good but the part where the weather strip is to the floor pan and seat hump is rotted. From what I can tell, I think possibly someone installed a floor pan overtop of the previous pan via rivets. Where it is rusted out, you can see another layer of sheet metal beneath in spots. I imagine water and debris gets trapped in here and continues the rot. My hope is to do a full weld job on the floor pans and use leftover scraps for the holes in the transmission humps. Brazing would be a great idea for the smaller stuff everywhere that isn't the floor.

I'm still not 100% sure how I will tackle the floor pan connection with the firewall given the rot at the seam there.

I'm definitely going to practice my welding prior to further cleaning up the metal, cutting, and installing the new stuff.

There are some very good adhesives that will permanently bond the panels, and I’ve wondered if one of them might be a good solution for floors. My SiL, TJmac, is facing the same problem and doesn’t have a welder. So I’m keeping my eyes open to how people do this.