Murraymountain's 1978 F-250

Well guys, it's finally happened. I was finally able to get ahold of the owner and work it out to get this 1978 F-250! And the best part, it was FREE! (aside from $90 for a title and $75 for the tow).






Okay, time for some details... First off, we'll start with this. This is a 1978 Ford F-250 4x4 4 speed (i think) manual with a 351 Windsor and long bed. It ran when parked 11 years ago. The old owner tried to revive it once but stopped when the carb leaked and caught fire.

This is THE truck that I wanted. I had a very specific truck in mind when I decided I had to have a 78/79 F-150/F-250 7 years ago. I wanted a long bed, single cab, blue, 4x4, V8, and a manual. This truck meets every one of those things!

The downside to this truck, though, is that it is FULL of rust. And I mean rusted. The entire bed has to be redone as anything you put in it falls to the ground. Also needs the entire floor in the cab. ALL of it. Might even need another cab to cut up for the floor. I'll get more pics of that when I get to cutting it out. One of the bedsides might not be savable either which really sucks because this thing has some of the best patina I've seen in a while.

The very second it came off the flatbed, we pulled the battery out of the Eagle and popped it in the Ford to see what happened. We turned the key and whattaya know, it spins over with the key! The A/C motor, windshield wipers, headlights, taillights, rear turn signals, horn, and wiper fluid motor all work!







Time to name some things wrong with it. First and foremost, rust rust and rust. The rust is terrible. So that might be one of the later things I tackle. Obviously needs tires, tailgate, mirrors, and stuff of the like. Needs the seat redone and a whole new sound system eventually. Lots and lots of body work. Door hinges, brake lines, plugs and plug wires, I know the carb needs work, the throttle is stuck, mice done a number on the wires and some rigging has been done, ALL the weather stripping needs replaced, fuel lines, fuel tank needs replaced, dash cover, and I'm sure plenty more. Hopefully I can keep the overall rebuild under $5k, but with the rust, I think not.

Anyway, let me know what ya think of the new addition to the fleet.

Nice find and congrats! Glad you guys get to play with antiques.

Thanks! So am I! Lol

Murraymountain wrote:

Well guys, it's finally happened. I was finally able to get ahold of the owner and work it out to get this 1978 F-250! And the best part, it was FREE! (aside from $90 for a title and $75 for the tow).

Nice and a-ford-able.

man a free 78 ford what a deal! the rot in the box is in sorta an unusual spot, normally they like to rot out behind-the-wheel wells. looks like she's got a 4 speed? pretty close to my dream truck a 76 ford f250 highboy,4 speed, divorced np203 transfer case, and a 300 straight-six.

MN mudder wrote:

man a free 78 ford what a deal! the rot in the box is in sorta an unusual spot, normally they like to rot out behind-the-wheel wells. looks like she's got a 4 speed? pretty close to my dream truck a  76 ford f250 highboy,4 speed, divorced np203 transfer case, and a 300 straight-six.

Yeah I don't know why it rotted there. Maybe because of the way it was leaning and all the water most likely would collect there when it rained. The previous owner also had a tool box in there up until a week ago when he decided to give it to me.

Yes I believe it is a 4 speed. I gotta confirm it but I'm pretty sure.

If you're ever in NC/GA/TN tri-state area LMK. There's 73-77 F series trucks everywhere. There's a guy about 2 miles from me with 30 cars and trucks in his yard. He has 1 '76 4x4, a '79 service truck, a '69ish F-100, and a '78 short bed 4x4. And there's more all around in other yards lol.

@Murraymountain cool I wish I lived closer now, 70s fords are tempting ! the problem isn't finding them around here it's finding the owners who are willing to give them up. most people usually say"I will get to it one day" so that's how that goes

Hahaha, yup. Same here. That's exactly what the owner of all the other trucks told me lol. The one guy 2 miles from me says he saved those 30 cars from the scrapyard, but yet he refuses to get rid of almost any of them. I find it funny cause they're all just gonna go back to the scrapyard due to rust anyway if he doesn't sell them. Some people just don't make sense.

Welp, done quite a bit to the ol' girl this week. Started with a good clean out, vacuum and pressure wash:









Here's the passenger side floor... Got some free heat for the winter there  



From there, we redneck-fixed the chewed through wires and gave 'er some dinosaur juice and hit the key. Took a while, but it eventually fired off and ran for about 2 seconds. The next day we were able to get run time to about 30 seconds, but stopped it pretty quickly due to rust holes in the oil filter and it was puking everywhere. The next day we changed the plug wires and tried to change the oil, but there apparently was no oil to change... It was all sludge. Anyway, we then cleared the fuel pump out, and hooked up a little 1 gallon tank to it. Gave 'er some Berryman and that just brought 'er right back around. Needs more though. Anyway, it is now running and driving!



We were unfortunately able to rip the entire bed floor out of it with nothing more than a regular sized hammer and our hands. I still have the rusty diamond plate on that just folded back over the missing floor lol.



And to top it off, I put some stickers on it.



The next things I want to tackle are getting the fuel system plumbed, getting the motor tuned up and running top notch, and going through the brakes, as those do not exist.

boy, she cleaned up pretty nice! the floors look great compared to the last f150 I had the entire floor of the cab was either tin or fiberglass.

The stickers are good Karma, everything will work out beautifully now! Lol

MN mudder wrote:

boy, she cleaned up pretty nice! the floors look great compared to the last f150 I had the entire floor of the cab was either tin or fiberglass.

Thanks! Yeah I'm at least glad it's not fiberglass lol.

Brianator wrote:

The stickers are good Karma, everything will work out beautifully now!  Lol

Haha, yeah I might need to think it out a little if I ever take this thing through Atlanta and places alike lol.

Just crank some Lynard Skynard while you're at it, you'll be fine! Lol

This Truck is similar to mine. I have a 1978 Ford f100 custom. It is a short box 2wd. It has a 302ci V8 and the Original 3 speed transmission.

cool that sounds like a neat old truck! any mods like crown Vic front cradle, drop spindles, or rear axle flip?

@MN mudder I'm think i get it roadworthy 1st then a 2 inch drop kit, some chrome steelies, and mabye down the road a 5 speed swap

Joe_the_mower_man_1320 wrote:

This Truck is similar to mine. I have a 1978 Ford f100 custom. It is a short box 2wd. It has a 302ci V8 and the Original 3 speed transmission.  

3 on the tree?

Here is a picture of the truck. I think I did this right Still kind of new at this

@Brianator It used to be a 3 on the tree but it has been converted to be on the floor

Nice!

The truck does have some rot in the floor and some rust on the box but the rest is good

Welp, I didn't do anything to the ole girl as far as wrenching goes up until today. I ran it around the property a couple times for about a week after the last update. Let a couple people who had never driven stick try to drive it a little. I also gave it the donut test... And it freaking failed. I'm more upset that it doesn't do donuts than I am about the rust lol. Anyway, I finally got around to doing some work on 'er today.

Pulled the whole bed, fuel tank, filler neck, rear half of the fuel lines, and the old exhaust hangers.




I've made my call as far as the bed goes. I'm gonna try to get it up off the ground to slow the rot because it is gonna be off for a while cause I'm gonna flatbed this thing until I get the original bed all fixed up. But I'm not gonna touch the bed until the truck itself is done... So the bed is way way way on the back burner.

Tomorrow I'm gonna try to pull some rotted frame support thingies, pull all of the rear brake stuff off and go through what I need and don't need. If I get through all that in time then I'll tackle the rest of the brake lines, fuel lines, front brakes. Also gonna connect the heater core hoses together cause the heater core is far past shot. The whole cab gets flooded with fluid when I give it the beans so. That explains the recurring issue of over heating. Not sure where I'll go from there, but I'm not worried about it right now cause I won't get past all that in a day's timeframe. Prolly go inside and work up a cart in LMC truck and then cry about the price lol.

looking like some good progress going on here! LMC truck ain't too bad on the prices but can add up very quickly.

Welp got some more done to the ole girl. Some plans have changed like they always do. I’m really thinking about pulling the drivetrain and cab and taking it to the frame and having it sandblasted and repainted and having all the body panels repaired and clear coated while it’s all apart. I might as well do it right the first time around… Anyway, some random pics





Here’s where the progress was made. Was able to pull the headlight bezels, turn signal lights, and grille from the front, but I was also able to really start stripping out the interior:




Anyway, making progress slowly but surely! I expect to really be getting into in the next couple weeks.

Welp, weather was nice and in the high 50s today and is supposed to be for the rest of the week so I finally was able to really get my teeth into this thing today lol. The exterior of the truck is pretty much all gone now besides the bumpers. Hopefully those come off tomorrow. Not any good pictures cause it was dark and stuff.



Anyway, hoping to get the rest of the front clip off tomorrow. If I’m not too tired by then than maybe I’ll start getting the cab ready to be pulled. In case I didn’t say, I am going to frame with this and am going to have the frame sandblasted and repainted as well as having the body panels wet sanded and clear coated after the rust repair is done. Figure I might as well do all that while it’s apart. I plan to have the blasting and painting done as soon as I get the Troy Bilt sold. Should be one nice truck when she’s done!