i am looking at buying an 85 f150 with an inline 6 the guy that owns it now said it needs timing gears. i had a 90 with the inline 6 and did alot of work on it but never the timing gears didnt know if anyone knew how dificult or easy it may be to do. also it is a 5 speed manual and was wondering how reliable that transmision is i dont really have any experence with ford 5 speeds. thats really all the info i have on the truck is it does not run it has 98,000.3 miles, and its a manual. any help would be appriciated just want to know if its going to be worth $500 dollars to buy a nonworking truck or just keep looking.

 

Keep looking...buy something that runs well or it will cost you way more than than the cost of buying it. In this case I would I would offer 10 bucks and use the other $490 for a recycled engine.

 

If the timing gears are bad after only 98Kmi, then the rest of the engine is trash. But a truck that needs an engine is worth $500, and I doubt the timing gears are bad anyway. They're not the first thing to wear out when an engine is abused or neglected, especially on a 4.9L. Take the truck to a mechanic you trust (make sure he can't contact the owner & buy it out from under you) and find out what he says is wrong with it. Don't tell him anything about timing gears or anything else - just have him do a "pre-purchase inspection". If he asks you how much you're paying, tell him $1200.