I purchased a 94 F150 XLT with a 302, 4 wheel drive and 5 speed manual tranny today for a low cost of $1000 cash!

The rig runs fine but needs a few things resolved.

The digital gauge cluster doesn't come on and the speedometer doesn't work and I want to get this fixed ASAP.

The other minor issue is the drivers side door handle (interior) is gone. He said it was broken when he bought it. So I plan to go to a junk yard tomorrow and fix that...

It has power steering, power locks, power windows, cruise control, two tanks a truck bed box and a ladder rack. I think I stole it!

I will attach a few pictures of the problem areas.

 

Ok, so I replaced fuse #8 and that fixed the issue with the cluster. It has 190k miles on the odometer. Fuse #16 was out as well and thats the cig lighter, so not a big deal. So just need a door handle and I am golden!

 

Any idea what wheels this guy has? I am looking to duplicate that wheel/tire combo. Really like how clean it looks.

 

Those look to either be factory ford wheels off a bronco or mickey Thompson wheels.you can go to most any parts store and get that handle

 

Well, i managed to snap some pictures.... I paid $1000 for this pickup and so far only have $100 into it. First picture is the before, and second is the after. I was going to buy bigger tires.... Really want some duratrac 33x12.5-15's... But the tire tech said I had another good 2-3 years left on my current ones. Plus I think I need a lift to fit them tires?

I sold the ladder rack for $200 and bought the new wheels with that cash.
I then sanded the bed rails and plastidip'd them to give them some more durability and hopefully to prevent rust.

The carpet was trashed as this was a service truck. I had a roll of dark grey outdoor carpet, so I re-carpeted the interior floor, got an interior handle for free, the drivers side mirror was cracked... I managed to get one at the junk yard for $25.

The drivers side door area is banged up... Don't think I can really do much about that. But for $1000 who cares right? Oh, and she runs WELL!




Can I peel that molding off using a heat gun and not leave any holes in the panels? I am gonna try and two tone the truck.

Thanks.

 

Ok, so I removed the molding and I really am not a chrome fan. I decided to paint as much chrome black as I could today. Once I get a new front window I will be painting the trim black to match. Paint needs to dry but figured I would post an updated picture of where I am. PS. (iphone sucks for photo's) It looks great in person!

Painted so far....

Bedliner
Front Bumper
Front Grill
Windshield wipers
Mirrors

Still to do....

Paint Rocker Panels.

 

If you haven't already replaced the missing door handle, they can be obtained at most auto parts houses (e.g., O'Reilly, AutoZone, etc.) at somewhat lower cost than through a Ford dealer. The '94 models used plastic handles that eventually become overstressed and fail, but the '93 and earlier models used metal (chrome) handles that were identical and fit without a problem -- you can get those metal ones through LMC. You won't need to pull off the interior door panel to reach the hex-head screw which holds the handle into place on the lever, but if you want to see underneath, just remove a few screws then pop out the plastic push-in studs with an appropriate tool, even a flat-blade screwdriver.

One thing you might want to check is whether the passenger-side end of the dash panel is loose and bouncing up and down or rattling a little (maybe more than a little) -- there was a TSB on it with a kit to fix the original not-so-hard point where its plastic frame was bolted into the steel body, which naturally didn't last very long as the plastic "hard" point fractured pretty quickly under even normal pavement driving, much less anything off-road. The kit consisted of a metal brace which provided a new hard point and pop rivets to use for mounting the brace to the dash, and installing it was only a minor PITA. You might still be able to find a NOS kit through Ford's dealer network, but I don't have the p/n (probably in the TSB, though).

One other thing -- you'll discover that the dual-tank switch has a tendency to become loose on the top or bottom (or both) if it's been pressed too hard over its earlier lifetime, because the screw-in posts on the backside of the instrument panel bezel crater from fatigue or overstress. You can still get new bezels for a hefty fee from either Ford or LMC, but the cratered bezel posts on your existing one can be replaced by some JP Weld epoxy (the solid moldable type, not the more liquid tube-type) and drilled to serve quite well.

 

Ok, last update. Everything has been fixed and finished painting the lower kick panels today... Been busy considering I have only had this thing for a few days now.



Neighbors like the new paint and was wondering if I was going to do the whole truck... I laughed and said no, this was just to make it look a little better. I had no intentions on completely painting the pickup.

 

If you were asking about the rims on your truck, they are aftermarket, the ones in the video are from a '90 to '93 with the rivets on the rim.

Adrianspeeder

 

Looks a tough one, nice deal! New set of wheel and tire with 3-4" lift would give her a better look.

 

The wheels that are on the truck now are 9" wide. I like the style of the wheel and won't be swapping them out. However, I already ordered the cc884 springs for the front end and bought the adjustable bushing from napa to tighten up the suspension some and hopefully raise it another 2" up front.

I'm planning on throwing some 33x12.5-15 dura track tires on it in the future.... I still have a good 2-3 years left on my current tires and don't see the point to spend $600-800 on tires when these function just fine for now. Especially considering I already have a new SUV and this is mainly going to be my dump rig/hunt rig/fishing rig. So it will only see light use for another year until I sell my current SUV and make it my full time rig.

Gives me plenty of time to slowly change things out over time.

Today I managed to complete some maintenance.
New motorcraft spark plugs
New 8mm wires
New distributor
New air filter
Oil changed

She should be good to go for the winter.

Only other things planned before winter is possibly tinting the windows and getting them new springs in.

 

Nice looking truck for a good price man! Keep us updated

 

This body style is perfect lookin' with 33's. If you buy the tires before going with any altitude however, you'll have to space the bumper forward about a half an inch for clearance. Not hard to do at all with a set of old lugnuts as spacers on the mounting bolts.





Adrianspeeder

 

Adrian, nice looking rig! I was half tempted to paint the truck almost exactly like yours with the black upper and leaving a two tone look.... Weather got bad and not ideal for paint to set and I don't have a paint booth. I also decided to go with flat black instead of gloss.... Not sure how it would look with the two tone using flat black against the glossy grey.

Thanks for the info. I Received the springs last night and I will be installing them tomorrow.

 

Got the new springs in... Drives really well! Doesn't even need a alignment. I gained a little up front, but I have a few overload springs in the back so the back is always gonna sit higher.

Subtle change visually, but drastically drives better.

Before:


After: