Gary Lewis Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Another thing to note about this truck. I think it was David that mentioned in another thread that the front bumper looked different or odd with the bumper guards and no black plastic strips/moldings. I was looking at pictures of 1980 pickups and happened to notice one (from Ford literature) with this same style bumper. The only place I see this bumper configuration showing up is on the 1980-1981 Freewheeling optioned trucks. Not that this pile of junk I just bought is a Freewheeler...but I suppose it might have been many years ago with the two tone paint, the bumper, and black? (now faded) grill. Interesting observation. With the certification label we might have been able to figure that out, but since it is gone.... Love the grille though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Interesting observation. With the certification label we might have been able to figure that out, but since it is gone.... Love the grille though. Cool find! Interesting truck. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 Don't know about the tranny as I haven't found a way to figure that out from the applications listings. They don't seem to cross-reference axle ratios and transmissions - unless I'm missing something. Ya, I figured as much. The earlier Bullnoses are a bit foreign to me, so I need to get up to speed on all of the earlier options. What welding is needed? On the frame? Or body? Or? Both. Cab floor will need some work for sure, and the frame might have a couple spots that need to be repaired. At a glance, everything looked fixable, but I won't know for sure until I get a real good look at it underneath. I didn't see anything that scared me...not yet at least. My good buddy Chris has running gear parts, so once I get a real good look at everything here and start taking it apart I'll be making a journey to his place to scavenge a transmission and some other parts. So this rats nest of a Bullnose finally arrived today...bit of a lean due to the right rear tire being flat (and the right rear spring mount being broken...lol). Thankfully, somebody undercoated the thing many years ago, and while it makes a slimy mess, the floor is surprisingly intact for a 40 year old east coast truck. It will need a couple small patches, but nothing too serious. Need cab corners for sure, and some other small holes patched (on the b-pillar and on the roof). Bottoms of the doors are in great condition, which is really rare around here...they're usually full of holes. The doors open and close really nice, and the cab floor seems to be nice and solid at the four mounting points (which is also rare around here). The cab is full of junk...I haven't even gone through it yet, but there's a good dash pad laying on top of everything else. I'll clean it out and vacuum it tomorrow. So far, at a glance, this thing appears to be fixable. Stay tuned for more cleaning, grinding, cutting, etc... This one is going to take a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 So this rats nest of a Bullnose finally arrived today...bit of a lean due to the right rear tire being flat (and the right rear spring mount being broken...lol). Thankfully, somebody undercoated the thing many years ago, and while it makes a slimy mess, the floor is surprisingly intact for a 40 year old east coast truck. It will need a couple small patches, but nothing too serious. Need cab corners for sure, and some other small holes patched (on the b-pillar and on the roof). Bottoms of the doors are in great condition, which is really rare around here...they're usually full of holes. The doors open and close really nice, and the cab floor seems to be nice and solid at the four mounting points (which is also rare around here). The cab is full of junk...I haven't even gone through it yet, but there's a good dash pad laying on top of everything else. I'll clean it out and vacuum it tomorrow. So far, at a glance, this thing appears to be fixable. Stay tuned for more cleaning, grinding, cutting, etc... This one is going to take a while. Looks to me like you have a found a solid 4x4 FlareSide. The real teller is probably the frame. I think the possible claim of a Free Wheeler truck is strong, it looks very similar to one on the cover of the 1980 Free Wheeling brochure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 I think the possible claim of a Free Wheeler truck is strong, it looks very similar to one on the cover of the 1980 Free Wheeling brochure. Yep, I agree. I think this is the one Shaun is thinking of: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 Interesting observation. With the certification label we might have been able to figure that out, but since it is gone.... I finally got the cab of this junker cleaned out today, and while I can find no trace whatsoever of the certification label, I did find this little treasure underneath the edge of the rubber floor liner up behind the glove box. What clues are on this tag that might tell me what was on the certification label? I assume the 3B3D are the two paint codes for the two tone blue? The A8 is the DSO code, as I have other documentation that the truck was sold new in that region. Would the H2 be the axle(s) code? 3.50? (It came with 3.00 gears, but not installed) Would the F be for the transmission? T18? What about the D or the 3? Anyway, just thought I would share...some more pics coming soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 Looks to me like you have a found a solid 4x4 FlareSide. The real teller is probably the frame. I think the possible claim of a Free Wheeler truck is strong, it looks very similar to one on the cover of the 1980 Free Wheeling brochure. The frame is "iffy"...lol. I'm stripping the truck anyway, so I'm not going to judge the frame until I get it stripped down with the body removed. All four rear leaf spring hangers need to come off, as do the upper shock mounts, etc. I won't be able to get a real good idea on the frame until those parts are removed. As it stands right now it needs some work for sure...but how much I don't know yet. It might be worth a bunch of welding, maybe not. Interior emptied of junk and cleaned out. It was gross in there, but this thing has been sitting for a long time. The truck was originally a 4spd, but somebody swapped in an auto column but didn't install the auto gear indicator. The hole for the 4spd has a patch welded over it. It's not awful...I've seen worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 Looks to me like you have a found a solid 4x4 FlareSide. The real teller is probably the frame. I think the possible claim of a Free Wheeler truck is strong, it looks very similar to one on the cover of the 1980 Free Wheeling brochure. The frame is "iffy"...lol. I'm stripping the truck anyway, so I'm not going to judge the frame until I get it stripped down with the body removed. All four rear leaf spring hangers need to come off, as do the upper shock mounts, etc. I won't be able to get a real good idea on the frame until those parts are removed. As it stands right now it needs some work for sure...but how much I don't know yet. It might be worth a bunch of welding, maybe not. Interior emptied of junk and cleaned out. It was gross in there, but this thing has been sitting for a long time. The truck was originally a 4spd, but somebody swapped in an auto column but didn't install the auto gear indicator. The hole for the 4spd has a patch welded over it. It's not awful...I've seen worse. Here's all the junk that was in the cab, along with a bunch of garbage, empty beer cases, and cigarette butts...lol. A complete spare dash pad, a couple blue grommet DSII boxes, a set of '85-'86 Burlwood bezels, a 300/6 air cleaner, etc. The dash pad seems to be in not bad condition... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 Here's all the junk that was in the cab, along with a bunch of garbage, empty beer cases, and cigarette butts...lol. A complete spare dash pad, a couple blue grommet DSII boxes, a set of '85-'86 Burlwood bezels, a 300/6 air cleaner, etc. The dash pad seems to be in not bad condition... Now, just out of curiosity, do any of you know what year/generation this 300/6 would be, since it is not original to the truck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Now, just out of curiosity, do any of you know what year/generation this 300/6 would be, since it is not original to the truck? Do we know when they went to that style air filter over the tear drop type like I have on my truck? BTW I don't know what filter my 81 should of had as it had one of them 3" want to be air filter on it. Is there any motor paint color left on it? I was told the later years went with gray. Is there a EGR plate between the carb and intake? Does it make a difference what year it is as long as it runs good? When I went to look at mine it had a miss that did fire for a little bit on the test drive then missed again. One of the first things I did was a compression check and new plugs and the motor ran great. That is all I cared about and then pulled the whole truck apart LOL Oh my motor was also a swap in and in cleaning found gray paint so think newer than my 81 truck that think should have been blue. I say get it running, pop in your 3sp so you can move it under its own power and go from there. Oh wait need a rear drive shaft or a trans & transfer to do it right. Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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