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I just bought a 1973 F100 Custom. I got it from the original owner who's had it for 43 years. The body and interior is in excellent shape, has 93,034 original miles on it. The story is, he no longer needed/used the truck, and parked it back in 2000, with absolutely nothing wrong with it, and has been sitting for 15 years.
I nagged him for about two years to sell it to me, and he finally gave in today. My plan is to get the truck running and restored again. I have limited knowledge on these trucks, heck, I couldn't even tell you what kind of motor oil it uses.
I know I will have to flush and change all the vital fluids, belts, master cylinder(has rust inside it really bad), and a new battery. With all that said, I'm just looking for advise, direction on what else to consider working on, to get this truck on the road again. Any help/advice and input will be greatly appreciated.
The truck is completely and entirely original, except for the gearing. He had swapped out the gears to 4:10 ratio for better towing, back in the early 90's. The truck has a 302 ci, I'm not sure what transmission it has( it's and automatic), no power steering, no power breaks, no a/c, just a plain Jane 1973 Ford F100 in exceptionally good conditions for its age. Oh, and hat some point had the heads reworked to accept unleaded gasoline.
1973 heads don't have to be reworked to use unleaded gasoline, 1971 was the first year that engines were "required" to accept unleaded. Almost everyone lowered compression ratios to compensate.
Transmission could be a FMX, C4, or C6. Take a picture of the pan and compare it to Google images.
I would use 10W30 or 10W40 oil in it. Transmission fluid needs to be "Type F" compatible. Differential takes 80W90.
I would drop the fuel tank and get it flushed and inspected. You may have to rebuild the carburetor and replace the mechanical fuel pump.
Replace the PCV valve, air and fuel filters, spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor, points, and condenser.
This thread got to me to look at the owners manual for my 74 F100. It specifically states on page 58 :
"All 1974 engines are designed to operate on "regular" gasoline with a research octane rating of at least 91 when the engine is adjusted to factory recommended specifications".
So yes, the truck engines must be converted in regards to the heads. Valve recession was and is an issue with these engines. Finding a truck with the original virgin engine is rare find these days and it's kinda irrelevant. As I looked in this 74 manual, the 302 IN 74 was only offered in the F100 4x4, not a 2 wheel drive. That would be on page 97 and shows the transmission to be C4 only. Considering this is a 74 manual, your 73 MIGHT be different but I doubt it. As a 1974 Job 2, Ford offered the trucks as an F100 or the heavy half which was badged as an F150. The F150 had 500lbs more capacity and used unleaded or low lead gas. The easiest way to tell, check the gas fill neck. If it's wide open, it's a regular gas engine and 5000lb GVW capacity. If it has the narrow plug for the smaller unlead gas pump nozzle, it is a 5500lb capacity and uses low or unleaded gas.
Oil was speced in 1974 as a 10w-30 as standard with 10w-40 as a heavy weight in temps over 60F. I have all of the spec numbers and several shop manuals for this model of the F Series if you need numbers or help on parts. FWIW, if you decide to change transmission fluid, it takes Type F, not Mercon V if you want to stay with factory specs.
1971 and later engines had the hardened valve seats for unleaded gas. 91 research octane is roughly equivalent to today's 87 pump octane, which is the average of research and motor octane. The cat converters and the filler neck restrictor didn't show up till 1975 for vehicles under 6000 GVWR.
The '87-96 Aluminum MC is a nearly-direct swap for that old cast Iron POS. The corresponding thinner (lighter) booster IS a direct swap on '80-86 trucks. IDK if the firewall pattern is the same on yours.
The '87-96 Aluminum MC is a nearly-direct swap for that old cast Iron POS. The corresponding thinner (lighter) booster IS a direct swap on '80-86 trucks. IDK if the firewall pattern is the same on yours.
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Will the 87-96 MC still bolt up, even if mine doesn't have a booster?(all manual).
I fully expect it to, but I'm not familiar with trucks older than '80, except '66-77 Broncos. Your current pushrod (attached to the pedal) should fit into the later MC just like it does the cast Iron one, and I know the mounting bolt holes are the same (because they fit onto the booster the same). But you can probably add a '73 booster - maybe even an '87-96.
BTW
I edited those links so they should actually work now.
Well, I think I got bigger issues with the truck. Today I tried to rotate the crank by hand with a breaker bar and socket on the harmonic balancer, and it wouldn't budge. I think its seized from sitting. I just hope the cylinder walls don't look like what the inside of my master cylinder did. I have read about spaying some penetrant lube inside the cylinders through the spark plug holes. Anybody have any experience with this?
10-13-2015, 12:03 PM
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