Buying an older truck

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted by ram_man
Now regarding your last point. Would you prefer the 302 over the 300? I once had a 302 5speed truck I really liked it was probably the best ford truck I ever had also had a 5speed f250 with the 300 it was great all the automatic fords I've had have been less enjoyable, the last f150 I had the torque converter shuddered it was an e4od
It's been so long ago I don't really remember how the 302 felt.
Also if I work 20 hours or more a week I'll get reimbursed for fuel I believe it's .15 a mile. Which I will work the 20 hours a week minimum most of the time. I also get very good pay when I haul mulch or gravel and spread it. As I said its usually around $1000 to do so.


Good to hear on the mileage thing, that was my main concern. Had you noted that in the OP, I think the advice would have been different IMHO.

I owned an '88 F-250 with the 300 i6 backed by a C6 with 4.11's out back. It ate its nylon timing gears on a trip back from Toronto and I ended up swapping it out for a 302HO, which was a bit of work, since the truck 302's (LoPo like in the Crown Vic) use a different firing order and injector size than the 302HO. I ended up using a 1986 Mustang ECM and harness, which took a bit of work to get in there. The 302 worked well, but it had obvious less off-idle torque, though significantly more power as soon as it woke up. Backed by a stick, it would have been awesome. My buddy had a 1995 with the 302 backed by a stick and even with highway gears (3.27's IIRC) it was fantastic. That would be the combo I'd shop for. I've driven the 300 backed by the 5spd and while it is a stump puller, it falls on its face pretty quickly, whereas the 302 has a more usable rev range.

 

[2_Tall_Mitchell]

I've had very good luck with 90's model trucks of any made with a manual transmission. 2 neat examples of the many I've had. Had a 93 4.3L c1500 5 speed for years. Rock solid. Got 20 mpg. I took it on trips up to 400 miles and she never let me down. Paid $2000 cash for it @170k. Sold 2 years later for what I paid when I got a 4x4. Currently driving a 1996 Ford F-150 4.9L 5 speed that I paid $2200 for. All I've done is scheduled maintenance. 136k miles and runs like new. Paint is ugly as sin but it gets 18mpg and I drive it 75 miles a day with no issue. Just have to keep your ear to the ground and have cash at the ready to pounce when you find the right one. I always use Rotella T4 10w30 and oem filters in my older trucks.

 

[ram_man]

Bought this today.
Needs front brakes
The wiper pulser module and a flasher relay
Paid $1500 for it.
Has 166,000 miles 2 owner truck and is a 350 automatic.
Drove 90 minutes to get it and made the drive home without any trouble.
Paint is about the worst thing on the truck the interior is flawless and there is very little rust.

 

[clinebarger]

Looks to be a '88-'93 TBI truck? The cooling system is usually neglected on these...As is Ford & Dodge products of the same era.
Intake gaskets rotting out is pretty common after this many years if still the original fiber over steel ones.
Check that the gasket between the air cleaner & throttle body is intact & pliable.
If it doesn't have a Heated O2 Sensor.....I recommend adding one!
Advance the base timing 3-5 degrees (Bypass unplugged)

I have a some recommended 700R4 upgrades that can do done with the unit in the truck that will extend the life of the 3-4 clutch & 2-4 band if your interested.

 

[Nick1994]

Solid interior!? Here in the desert the interiors of those are always trash, maybe from the heat?

 

[ram_man]

Yea the interior is just about perfect!

 

[ram_man]

Originally Posted by clinebarger
Looks to be a '88-'93 TBI truck? The cooling system is usually neglected on these...As is Ford & Dodge products of the same era.
Intake gaskets rotting out is pretty common after this many years if still the original fiber over steel ones.
Check that the gasket between the air cleaner & throttle body is intact & pliable.
If it doesn't have a Heated O2 Sensor.....I recommend adding one!
Advance the base timing 3-5 degrees (Bypass unplugged)

I have a some recommended 700R4 upgrades that can do done with the unit in the truck that will extend the life of the 3-4 clutch & 2-4 band if your interested.



Why add the heated o2 sensor?
I will check the gaskets
What's the reason to advance the timing?
And I'd love to hear the 700r4 upgrades!

 

[supton]

I do believe a heated O2 sensor will go into closed loop faster than unheated. Advanced timing, going to guess it can only pull time to deal with ping. Advancing it lets it get more advance, and then it can still pull timing if it pings, but will get the benefits of advanced timing until that point.

 

[01rangerxl]

Looks like a steal. Would be a $3k truck here with the brakes, pulse board, and flasher fixed plus a detail.

Aftermarket pulse boards can be had dirt cheap, but no idea on quality. GM is probably still available, but it has been a while since I sold one. I think there was a recall, may want to check with a dealer and see if anything is still open on your VIN.

 

[clinebarger]

Originally Posted by supton
I do believe a heated O2 sensor will go into closed loop faster than unheated. Advanced timing, going to guess it can only pull time to deal with ping. Advancing it lets it get more advance, and then it can still pull timing if it pings, but will get the benefits of advanced timing until that point.


These will actually drop out of closed loop during idle without a heated O2, Knowing how these behave makes it easy to spot a bad O2 heater on vehicles equipped with them from the factory.

A TBI 350 won't ping with a functional EGR adding that little of ignition lead, The cylinder heads are terrible along with low compression & needs the extra lead.

 

[clinebarger]

Originally Posted by ram_man

And I'd love to hear the 700r4 upgrades!


Save up a couple hundred bucks, I'll post the mods in a couple days or so.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted by ram_man
Bought this today.
Needs front brakes
The wiper pulser module and a flasher relay
Paid $1500 for it.
Has 166,000 miles 2 owner truck and is a 350 automatic.
Drove 90 minutes to get it and made the drive home without any trouble.
Paint is about the worst thing on the truck the interior is flawless and there is very little rust.

Nice choice. Is that the C frame or the box frame? Is that a southern truck that has never been exposed to snow and salt? Will it be exposed to salt in your area? If so you need to get the undercarriage treated otherwise that truck will melt like butter the minute the salt gets on it.

 

[pandus13]

Ram_man,

Congrats on the find.

Any chance you can leave/park the truck to the closest of the 3 locations?
And commute in the Saturn? (just to save on gas)
Treat/oil it well for rust (I think a member posted a homemade recipe couple years back, something about warm wax cocktail) and find a solution to protect the bed.

And don't mind me saying, but being 3 locations, i think the part time as a building engineer could be a bit more, since usually the buildings are older, and the people/tenants do constant problems (plumbing/HVAC/electrical/drywall/paint/carpet/locked keys) just because.
Keep your eyes and ears open, as a lot of them work for cash and if you are handy/handymen, you can moonlight some projects.

All the best, and keep us posted on the truck going

 

[ram_man]

Box frame. It spent its whole life in waterloo Illinois.
I do need to look into to coating the undercarriage

 

[BrianF]

Sorry to hijack this thread somewhat, Clinebarger, is there much advantage to running the egr on those TBI trucks? Mine requires a new EGR valve and am weighing the benefits versus the cost.

Ram Man, great truck! I am not really a GM fanboy but I sure have respect for those generation of trucks. While my 93 is not in as good of condition, i love driving it, love the simplicity and overall a solid design.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted by ram_man
Box frame. It spent its whole life in waterloo Illinois.
I do need to look into to coating the undercarriage

Yeah they use a lot of salt in Illinois so it's a good idea to treat it soon. I have similar issues with salt here in New Hampshire. I was using oil sprays like fluid film on my GM suv but found something that works better and lasts longer. Its called RP-342 cosmoline. What the military uses to protect vehicles and weapons. It's a wax that is amber in color. Self-healing. Softer a little tacky but not wet in the summer. So it creeps around all summer . Hard in the winter. A hard shell that beads up. the salt and sand rinses off. It will almost clean itself . But not the RP-342 cosmoline. It stays on even in the splash zones. I've only touched up a couple of spots I missed in the past 2 years.

How to use. Spray off the undercarriage so there's no dirt. Scrape off any flakes of rust. Spray it directly into the rust. No converters no paint nothing. A couple coats on everything. Don't worry about the bolts you can work right through that. Rubber bushings plastic clips and fasteners don't worry about it . It's not slippery oil so your working experience underneath is much cleaner.

And because it's a box don't forget the inside of the frame. Use the holes to pressure spray inside the frame rails. Especially up around the bump stops in the rear towards the front. Push all that sand out then spray cosmoline inside the holes

 

[clinebarger]

Originally Posted by BrianF
Sorry to hijack this thread somewhat, Clinebarger, is there much advantage to running the egr on those TBI trucks? Mine requires a new EGR valve and am weighing the benefits versus the cost.



With a stock camshaft profile & timing curve.....EGR is just about mandatory! I'm sure you're aware to use a Delco valve of the same part number.

 

[dave1251]

It looks great from the photos and it sounds like a steal. Good job and Good luck.

 

[ram_man]

Hey everyone so just an update I gave the truck a full tune up, new falken wildpeak tires (I love them so far)
New front brakes rotors and wheel bearings. Replaced the idler arm. Greased everything. I replaced the radiator didn't have to but my son was helping me and he knocked the petcock off the fans shroud and we couldn't find it and no part stores had one to match since it wasn't the original radiator so I just took the easy expensive way out and replaced it. It did have a spot where it was hit with something and I'm surprised it wasn't leaking anyway. Check the rear brakes they were decent. Rear end and trans fluid look good but I plan on doing them in the spring. I also pulled the throttle body and cleaned it the pcv port was completely plugged up so I cleaned that and replaced the pcv. I'm going to do a few oil changes early to clean it up inside a little bit since I imagine the plugged up pcv didn't help matters. The wiper acted up when I got it so I cleaned the motor wiring connectors and put dielectric grease on it and it's working perfect now. I replaced the wipers and blew out the washer nozzles one was plugged up. The egr was unhooked when I bought it so I installed a new one and hooked it back up . And a blinker relay. Sounds like a lot but most of it was stupid easy piddly stuff. I have about 2200 total in the truck including tires. All in all I'm happy with it. Averages about 17mpg so far as well.