80 F100 Flareside

[crestfallinman]

so now that i mostly got my electronics working again i figured i would post a brief history of my truck

first off its an '80 F100 Custom with a 302 and a T18 (used to be a different manual) and 2wd

its actually just her truck, im the chauffeur

i have owned it since 2010 have had 2 small fires (due to previous owners lack of wiring skills) swapped out the old beat up 4 speed for a new to me t18.

i have had a lot of busted knuckles, many frustrating afternoons tracing wiring woes and many lessons learned the hard way, but i wouldn't change a day of it for anything

when i figure out how to make these photos larger i will repost

 

[FuzzFace2]

Welcome to Garagemahal.

Lot of good people and information.

Nice looking truck.

If you can post up the cert sticker from the door jamb if still there. This way we can see what trany it started with and the gear ratio out back.

Being an 80 model year the only thing I know of different is some wiring for the dash gauges mostly.

Cant remember if there is more at this time but don't think so.

What are your plans with the truck? Just enjoy driving it or bigger plans?

As for the pictures when you clicked the "insert image" button up top it should have posted where you can pick the size on the right side IIRC.

This is the 500x500 size of my 81 flare side I am doing a cab off frame rebuild on

Dave ----

[Gary Lewis]

Welcome!!!

On the pics, there are two ways. If they are of sufficient density to look good large, you can edit your post and put width="100%" in the code.

I've copied the URL of your pic and done the "Insert Image" step. Then I added the width info and forced it to be 100%. You can see the effects, below, and the code looks like this, although I left the "" off:

nabble_img src="IMG_0159.jpg" border="0"width="100%"/

And, you can see that the bit-density isn't quite enough to give a good pic at that size. But you can easily edit your post and make it 75 or 80% and see if that works.

[grumpin]

Welcome!!!

On the pics, there are two ways. If they are of sufficient density to look good large, you can edit your post and put width="100%" in the code.

I've copied the URL of your pic and done the "Insert Image" step. Then I added the width info and forced it to be 100%. You can see the effects, below, and the code looks like this, although I left the "" off:

nabble_img src="IMG_0159.jpg" border="0"width="100%"/

And, you can see that the bit-density isn't quite enough to give a good pic at that size. But you can easily edit your post and make it 75 or 80% and see if that works.

Welcome!

[crestfallinman]

Welcome to Garagemahal.

Lot of good people and information.

Nice looking truck.

If you can post up the cert sticker from the door jamb if still there. This way we can see what trany it started with and the gear ratio out back.

Being an 80 model year the only thing I know of different is some wiring for the dash gauges mostly.

Cant remember if there is more at this time but don't think so.

What are your plans with the truck? Just enjoy driving it or bigger plans?

As for the pictures when you clicked the "insert image" button up top it should have posted where you can pick the size on the right side IIRC.

This is the 500x500 size of my 81 flare side I am doing a cab off frame rebuild on

Dave ----

I will get a picture of that and post it

My main plan right now is to fix the few rust spots and get it cleaned up a bit, the patina on the truck is pretty good so I will run with that until I get everything else up to where I want it.

I want to lower it 3/4 and make it into a muscle truck of sorts, it has the 302 which I still have to decide if I want to rebuild it and beef that up or if I just want to drop in a 351. I like keeping the factory engine but there's no replacement for displacement lol

I also have to replace the bed floor, I threw in a makeshift bed floor out if pressure treated decking years ago ( because I didn't have the money or the know how to put the or style in)

It has been in hold for the past few years due to me buying a fixer upper house but now I have some funds to throw back at it

And I swapped in a tach instrument cluster (swapping 2 wires in the factory harness makes everything work right)

[09wingates]

I will get a picture of that and post it

My main plan right now is to fix the few rust spots and get it cleaned up a bit, the patina on the truck is pretty good so I will run with that until I get everything else up to where I want it.

I want to lower it 3/4 and make it into a muscle truck of sorts, it has the 302 which I still have to decide if I want to rebuild it and beef that up or if I just want to drop in a 351. I like keeping the factory engine but there's no replacement for displacement lol

I also have to replace the bed floor, I threw in a makeshift bed floor out if pressure treated decking years ago ( because I didn't have the money or the know how to put the or style in)

It has been in hold for the past few years due to me buying a fixer upper house but now I have some funds to throw back at it

And I swapped in a tach instrument cluster (swapping 2 wires in the factory harness makes everything work right)

I bet it originally had the Clark 4spd. My 82 F100 custom flareside has that. I will say I wish mine had the T18

[FuzzFace2]

I will get a picture of that and post it

My main plan right now is to fix the few rust spots and get it cleaned up a bit, the patina on the truck is pretty good so I will run with that until I get everything else up to where I want it.

I want to lower it 3/4 and make it into a muscle truck of sorts, it has the 302 which I still have to decide if I want to rebuild it and beef that up or if I just want to drop in a 351. I like keeping the factory engine but there's no replacement for displacement lol

I also have to replace the bed floor, I threw in a makeshift bed floor out if pressure treated decking years ago ( because I didn't have the money or the know how to put the or style in)

It has been in hold for the past few years due to me buying a fixer upper house but now I have some funds to throw back at it

And I swapped in a tach instrument cluster (swapping 2 wires in the factory harness makes everything work right)

Sounds like a good plan so far.

On the lowering part the rear is no problem it's the front that is.

https://djmsuspension.com/

Makes kits for the rear up front they only make it for the small kingpin suspension.

Do you have power brakes? What is the wheel bolt pattern size would it be 5 x 4.5?

If yes to both you MAY have the small kingpins from what I have look into on this.

What you can do is swap in the later front suspension that has ball joints.

For the motor you are right on the displacement part. How hard do you think it would be to find a 351W then rebuild it to drop in? A member on here just did up his 302 in his flare side I am sure he will tell you all about it.

Don't get me started on the bed! I had nothing to put the boards on in my truck. Someone had 2x2 sq. tubing laid across the frame and planks on them that were all warped. I do not know how the bed stayed on for the trip home?

I used the ribbed metal floor from my parts truck to replace the wood & cross members. I had to cut and weld it to make it work but it looks like the factory did it this way.

I know of a member that did his the same way after seeing mine.

Did I tell you mine is a cab off frame rebuild? There is not 1 part I have not had my hands on.

Dave ----

[PetesPonies]

I bet it originally had the Clark 4spd. My 82 F100 custom flareside has that. I will say I wish mine had the T18

It definitely had the 3speed with OD.

[Gary Lewis]

I will get a picture of that and post it

My main plan right now is to fix the few rust spots and get it cleaned up a bit, the patina on the truck is pretty good so I will run with that until I get everything else up to where I want it.

I want to lower it 3/4 and make it into a muscle truck of sorts, it has the 302 which I still have to decide if I want to rebuild it and beef that up or if I just want to drop in a 351. I like keeping the factory engine but there's no replacement for displacement lol

I also have to replace the bed floor, I threw in a makeshift bed floor out if pressure treated decking years ago ( because I didn't have the money or the know how to put the or style in)

It has been in hold for the past few years due to me buying a fixer upper house but now I have some funds to throw back at it

And I swapped in a tach instrument cluster (swapping 2 wires in the factory harness makes everything work right)

I'd say the engine choice depends on what you are going to do with the truck. If you are going to tow with it the 351 would be my choice. It won't cost much, if anything, more to build than a 302 and will give more torque with the same investment. But if you aren't going to tow and will drive it, and especially if it is going to be a daily driver, then the smaller engine can be both strong enough and more efficient.

[crestfallinman]

I will get a picture of that and post it

My main plan right now is to fix the few rust spots and get it cleaned up a bit, the patina on the truck is pretty good so I will run with that until I get everything else up to where I want it.

I want to lower it 3/4 and make it into a muscle truck of sorts, it has the 302 which I still have to decide if I want to rebuild it and beef that up or if I just want to drop in a 351. I like keeping the factory engine but there's no replacement for displacement lol

I also have to replace the bed floor, I threw in a makeshift bed floor out if pressure treated decking years ago ( because I didn't have the money or the know how to put the or style in)

It has been in hold for the past few years due to me buying a fixer upper house but now I have some funds to throw back at it

And I swapped in a tach instrument cluster (swapping 2 wires in the factory harness makes everything work right)

Sounds like a good plan so far.

On the lowering part the rear is no problem it's the front that is.

https://djmsuspension.com/

Makes kits for the rear up front they only make it for the small kingpin suspension.

Do you have power brakes? What is the wheel bolt pattern size would it be 5 x 4.5?

If yes to both you MAY have the small kingpins from what I have look into on this.

What you can do is swap in the later front suspension that has ball joints.

For the motor you are right on the displacement part. How hard do you think it would be to find a 351W then rebuild it to drop in? A member on here just did up his 302 in his flare side I am sure he will tell you all about it.

Don't get me started on the bed! I had nothing to put the boards on in my truck. Someone had 2x2 sq. tubing laid across the frame and planks on them that were all warped. I do not know how the bed stayed on for the trip home?

I used the ribbed metal floor from my parts truck to replace the wood & cross members. I had to cut and weld it to make it work but it looks like the factory did it this way.

I know of a member that did his the same way after seeing mine.

Did I tell you mine is a cab off frame rebuild? There is not 1 part I have not had my hands on.

Dave ----

Yeah I have the bigger 5 x 5.5 bolt pattern so I have the bigger kingpins, I emailed djm every month for about 4 years asking about the lowering kit, alas when they came out with it I didn't have the funds lol

If I can find a 351 it shouldn't be terrible to bolt up, the only downside is if I keep it "period" I would need a 351m which uses the bb bellhousing so I would have to find a 351c or 351m. I do have to change my oil pan gasket, (dreading that job) so when I do that I feel like I will get a better feel for how the internals are and if it's doable to slap on a better set of heads, a hopped up cam and some headers and go with the 302

In my slightly older years I have the woodworking tools and experience to fit up the right wood bed, I just have to actually do it

Wow cab off, I would love to do that down the road. I can't wait to see yours when it's done, But I love driving this thing it's hard to rip apart a truck that's running well Lol