1979 f100 lariat
What started with a rear main seal replacement has continued to full restoration of the truck. I figured I would start with front and engine area. Things get tight in my small garage but its workable.
Its a lot of work, and 33 years of grease is a bear to get off. All parts were cleaned, blasted or scrubbed then re-painted down to nuts and bolts.
Many parts had to be replaced. Luckily these trucks are still easy to get lots of parts for.
here are a few before and after. I have always enjoyed old cars and trucks. Its my escape when I have free time.
correct!
Poor power due to first gen emmisions.
Part of the upgrade was new cam/lifters and timing chain. 4 barrel holley and aluminum intake as well. I expect gas milage to improve if I can keep my foot out of the secondaires.
I ran the 351C in my '72 Cougar. In '73 Ford switched to the “M” as in Modified for emissions! Crap engine in comparison, although if you found some Cleveland heads, and had them “ported”, it would go a long ways in correcting some of the low performance issues… but… 4 bbl heads for Clevelands were hard to find in the 80’s let alone 2012!
Too bad the old Carter “AFB” isn’t still available. It was a killer, and used to beat the S hit out of Holley’s “12 ways till Sunday”!!! I hear the Edelbrock is good, but have no first hand knowledge of it.
Looks like a fun project. How soon till completed?
I picked up both intake and holley at show for less than $100.00, so figued i couldnt go wrong. Just the 600 runs about 250 new.
From what I have found, the Aussies have the best heads for the C/M motors. They actually make remans as well and just bolting them on raises the compression. At the end of the day you can just buy new alum heads though.
I am trying to keep this motor tuned down a bit, a little towing now and then. Anything is better than what I started with.
Completion is unknown. WHen I have time i guess. Once I have the cab and radiator bushings i ordered I should have it out of the garage by next weekend. I am going to start of the cab interior next, then fininsh the outside paint and work on the bed. Luckily I found a good one, with little rust.
You can buy like new, used, rebuilt, kits all day long on Ebay. I agree though…the Carter AFB was and still is a superb carburetor. My last muscle car was a 70 1/2 (first year) Pontiac Trans Am that I bought back in 73 right after I came back from SE Asia. Wish I had kept it. Worth a pile of money today.
I loved the fact that (with the Carter AFB) you could purchase a full kit to change out the jets and metering rods (within minutes)! We would go down to O.C.I.R. (SoCal) (early to mid 80’s) on Wednesday nights, and have the time of our lives!
I know the feeling. Nothing smells as nice as Nitro Methane gas being burned. My brother and I worked at a drag strip in the late 60s and we got to meet a lot of the old drag racing greats from that era. He worked in the tower and I was a pits go-fer.
I use to do a little drag racing when I was a kid. The main thing I found out is you got to make a Ford breath before it will all out run. I got a 64 Falcon Sprint I tore the motor up on. It is just sitting there waiting for me to retire and become a kid again.
If anybody wants a 70 Falcon four door, I got one sitting there. I bought it from the original owner. It will start and run. Needs new paint. I want $850.00 for it.
The 64 has the 289 with the 4 four speed. Hurst still made the shifter that originally came on the car. I tore up the 7" rear end and replaced it with a 9" out of a 50 ford car and installed a locking differential. Twisted the axles replaced them with some made by Currier. Before I tore up the motor, it was twisting drive shafts.
A got a 80 Fairmont that my great uncle totaled that only has 35,000 miles on it. The front spindles will fit my Falcon, so I will have disk brakes. It is kinda scary going that fast with just drum brakes.
I will use that 302 block and machine the bottom out, so a 351 Windsor crank will fit in it. I got to machine in deeper valve clearances on the pistons because of the bigger stroke, and will need a longer oil pump shaft coming from the distributor. I got a set of 351 Cleveland heads that is already has the water jackets drilled to matched the small block, and a Boss 302 intake. I already got the cam and the lifters in my torn up motor that I will use in my new motor. They stop making that duration of cam.
I told a motorhead I knew what I was going to do and gave him all the specs. A few years later, I ran into him and he said he built that motor and put it in his 67 Bronco mud truck. After he ran a few races he pulled the motor out because it scared the crap out of him. The funny part is this guy’s nick name is Physco.
The 70 has a 200 6 cylinder with an automatic. I bought it from a 90 year old woman who decide to stop driving. She bought it new from the local dealership. If you are interested I can take some pictures.
Sean,
My dad had a 79 Ranger XLT 1/2 ton with the 400 modified and the C-6. It has the trailering package under it. Before my dad died he rebuilt the motor and rear end and had the transmission rebuilt. My dad gave the truck to my brother a couple months before he died. All the truck really needs now is a paint job. This truck can pull and haul with the ton trucks.
The biggest noticeable improvement is when he installed a higher lift cam shaft. Even the original setting on the distributor timing is too low. Just set the timing up enough where you hear some spark click when it is being pulled hard. You will notice a big difference in power.
My first car was a 65 Galaxie with a 351 modified and the FMX transmission. My cousin had it sitting next to his hog pen, storing feed in it. I had the transmission rebuilt, cleaned it up and had it repainted. It got ran over by a raised up pickup truck with large tires while me and my buddy was driving to a street race. The guy was a distant cousin of mine, who got drunk and passed out before he ran over me. Luckily I was driving a big car. We normally take my buddy’s V-8 Vega when drag racing but he was rebuilding the rear end on it at the time. It bent the frame on my car, and when my buddy drove it off the road the driver’s door fell off.
That same cousin, that I bought the car from, has got a pink 56 Crown Victory. He bent the frame on it, when he ran over a hog driving about 90 miles a hour. It would be a sweet total restore for somebody. I think he pulled out the motor and put it in his feed truck though.
All done my friend. New springs, lifters, cam and timing chain. I know the chain was stretched, cause I had it out about 12 deg btc before it would quit bucking the starter.
Now I will have the fun of trying to find timing all over again. :mrgreen: I’m starting at 0
That was a Mercury “Cyclone” 1970. Bought it new in St. Cloud, Florida.
$5,400. Do you believe that?
Dam, sure wish I would have kept it. It is worth about $40,000 now. :mrgreen:
Looked like a Cougar on my iPhone, same lines and centre nose on the grill. The photo goes pretty blurry when I blew it up on my phone. The Cyclone was a great car, not many around any more, at least here in Ontario.
